Undergraduate Notes
Margot Halpin, Seren Bagclair, Molly Bruno, Caitlin Broman, and Katie Bigbee worked on the EPA's Campus RainWorks Challenge for the NR 206 capstone project. This challenge encourages students in Universities across the country to design an area on campus to mitigate stormwater impacts. Our group focused on the green outside of Mercy Hall [Trinity Campus] because it is one of the few areas with sandy soil.
Our design includes a terraced rain garden down the main slope with a boardwalk over it as well as a retention pond that will filter water to recycle it through the dorm's greywater system. A biodome will be included as a green house and an area to hold the tanks of water used for recycling. Our design focuses on creating green roofs and a living wall to supply the campus with fresh food. Lastly, a buffer around the top of the cliffs around the campus will reduce erosion and slow the flow of water to the lower areas.
This will improve Burlington's watershed health and will also educate students on campus about the importance of reducing water runoff. We understand that this project is unlikely to be implemented, but we feel that we learned a lot in the process and are inspired to continue to find ways we can reduce the effects of stormwater through low impact development.
Jon Liebherr and Tucker Kinne, ENVS majors of RSENR, became captains of the UVM Crew Team this semester!
Students in the UVM Wildlife and Fisheries Society (WFS) assisted state biologists at deer reporting stations throughout Vermont in November. Over 30 members of WFS helped biologists weigh, measure, sex and age deer hunted over youth hunting weekend and opening weekend of rifle season. The group also collected blood samples for the Vermont Department of Health that will be used to track Eastern Equine Encephalitis. The WFS is an official UVM club and includes students from various programs across campus. For more details (and photos), see the WFS Facebook page.
Bonnie Ricord, a senior natural resources ecology major, attended the National Wilderness Conference in October in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received a Youth Leader Scholar scholarship and a Casella Award from UVM. She enjoyed a week of interacting with fellow wilderness enthusiasts, and attending panels with speakers from federal agencies and nonprofit organizations. One highlight for her was hearing Terry Tempest Williams speak. She feels honored that she was able to attend a historical event marking the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.
Internship Opportunity: UVM Watershed Alliance
Interested in gaining teaching experience in the field and classroom? Would you like to learn more about stream ecology and watershed science? Do you want to improve the health of Vermont’s streams and rivers?
UVM Watershed Alliance is looking for Watershed Educators for the Spring 2015 season. As a Watershed Educator you’ll facilitate and support place-based education through classroom activities and hands-on aquatic field studies with middle and high school students throughout VT.
Position Details:
- 5-10 hours/week during the spring season
- Course credit or hourly pay ($10/hour)
FEBRUARY 1st APPLICATION DEADLINE
To apply: visit the Watershed Alliance website and look for the “Undergraduate Spring and Fall Internship Opportunities” page.
Contact: Holly Kreiner
Awards
Associate Professor Allan Strong was elected as a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union for his "exceptional and sustained contributions to ornithology and/or service to the Union." The American Ornithologists' Union, founded in 1883, is one of the oldest organizations in the world devoted to the scientific study of birds.
Bess Perry, PhD student with Professor Bob Manning, was selected as the Park and Recreation Management Topic Editor for Illuminare: A Student Journal in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Studies. The Illuminare is an online, open access, peer-reviewed journal that aims to publish original student work in the field of leisure studies.
Associate Professor Jennie C. Stephens received a 2015 Leopold Leadership Fellowship. Twenty selected Fellows from the U.S. and Canada will receive intensive leadership training to help them engage effectively with leaders in the public and private sectors who face complex decisions about sustainability and the environment.
Presentations & Conferences
Professor Tom Hudspeth presented at multiple conference in the US and Canada:
“Active Student Engagement in Developing Sustainability Features for LEED-Platinum Renovated Building.” Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences Conference, New York City, NY, 11-14 June 2014.
”Students’ Videos Tell Sustainability Stories, Work toward Hopeful, Local/Place-based Sustainable Futures.” North American Association for Environmental Education Conference, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 8-11 October 2014.
“Cultivating Students’ Knowledge of Community-based Food Systems through Community Connections.” Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Conference, Portland, OR, 26-28 October 2014.
Jennie Stephens, Associate Professor in RSENR, presented at various conferences this fall:
National Summit on Smart Grid and Climate Change. Washington DC. December 2-3.
International Conference of the Society for Human Ecology. College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine October 22-25, 2014.
Invited speaker for Huxley Lecture Series at Western Washington University's Institute for Energy Studies, Bellingham, Washington, October 9, 2014
Associate Professor Lini Wollenberg and Research Analyst Meryl Richards co-hosted a workshop on the Measurement of GHG Emissions with FAO in Rome.
Associate Professor Kimberly Wallin presented on a number of topics at the Entomological Society of American Annual Meeting and the Annual Ohio Valley Entomological Association conferences:
Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting in Portland, OR:
Orantes L.C., Dorn P., Hanley J., Monroy C., Morrissey L.A., Fredericksen R.M, Rizzo D.M., Stevens L., Wallin K.F., Helms Cahan S. 2014. Community genomics of the Chagas Disease vector, Triatoma dimidiata: Uncovering genetic variation and gut microbial fauna of a deadly kissing bug. . Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, OR, November 17.
Pears, S. and Wallin, K. 2014. Insect biodiversity following windstorm and salvage harvest disturbance in northeastern mixed deciduous forests. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, OR, November 17.
Ross, D., Wallin, K., Kohler, G., Grubin, S., and Havill, N.P. 2014. Predators of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in the Pacific Northwest: Potential for Biological Control in the East. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, OR, November 17.
Perry, K.I., Wallin, K.F., Wenzel, J.W., and D.A. Herms. 2014. Ground beetle response to forest disturbance: a test of the competition-colonization trade-off model. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, OR, November 17.
Annual Ohio Valley Entomological Association:
Perry, K.I., Wallin, K.F., Wenzel, J.W., and D.A. Herms. 2014. Ground beetle response to forest disturbance: a test of the competition-colonization trade-off model. 27th Annual Ohio Valley Entomological Association Forum, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, October 31.
Bob Manning Represents Rubenstein School at World Parks Congress
The World Parks Congress, organized by IUCN, meets only every 10years, so last November’s Congress in Sydney, Australia was a special opportunity to help shape the agenda for parks and protected areas for the next decade. The Congress was attended by over 6,000 delegates representing more than 170 countries. Bob Manning published a paper in a special issue of Koedoe: African Protected Area Conservation and Science that served as part of the scientific and professional foundation for the Congress. Bob’s paper described the conceptual and analytical approach of the US National Park Service to balancing park use and protection. He also contributed to Tourism and Visitor Management in Protected Areas: Guidelines for Sustainability, a 245-page report that had a “soft” release at the Congress and that will be published by IUCN in early 2015. And he presented an e-poster on a park and outdoor recreation management matrix that he and former Rubenstein School Postdoc Laura Anderson developed.
The eight-day Congress built the “Promise of Sydney," a document that will help shape the future of national parks and related areas. The document is built on four pillars: a vision for the future, twelve innovative approaches to transformative change, a series of solutions to the problems facing parks and protected areas, and a series of promises by countries, NGOs, and other stakeholders to help implement the “Promise of Sydney.” The document includes a pathway for achieving the global target to protect at least 17% of land and 10% of oceans by 2020.
Publications
Books
Bob Manning’s new book, Sustainable Transportation in the National Parks: From Acadia to Zion, was recently published by the University Press of New England. The book describes the historical and contemporary relationship between transportation and the national parks. The US national parks receive nearly 300 million visits per year, and transportation to and through the parks has become an increasingly important environmental and social issue. The book describes the way in which conventional demand-driven transportation has led to crowding and environmental impacts in the parks, and suggests a new model of sustainable transportation in which transportation is planned and managed to meet the environmental and social objectives of park management. Steve Lawson (RSENR Adjunct Associate Professor), Peter Newman, and Jeff Hallo, all of whom earned a doctorate in RSENR, served as Co-Editors with Bob. The book draws on research that all of them have conducted in a suite of national parks.
Elsevier Science Publishes “Bioenergy: Biomass to Biofuels” by Anju Dahiya (Editor)
Bioenergy: Biomass to Biofuels examines all current and emerging feedstocks and the advanced processes and technologies enabling the development of their end products, ranging from solid (wood energy, grass energy, and other biomass) to liquid (biodiesel from oil seed crops, algae biofuel, waste-oil, ethanol etc.) and gaseous/electric (biogas, syngas, bioelectricity). Life cycle analysis, Energy Return on Energy Invested, integrated sustainability assessments, environmental, economic, and social issues are all given thorough consideration. Guest authors from industry and academia contribute their expertise to ensure you obtain the most nuanced, comprehensive information. Quizzes, case studies and project ideas will help you to master the technological details included, and connect theory to real-world implementation.
Gund Fellows, Brendan Fisher and Taylor Ricketts, and Gund Affiliate, Robin Naidoo, published their book, "A Field Guide to Economics for Conservationists."
Papers
“Structural Complexity Enhancement increases fungal species richness in northern hardwood forests” by Nicholas Dove and Gund Fellow, William Keeton was published in Fungal Ecology.
Gund Fellow, Chris Koliba and and Russell Mills published “The Challenges of Accountability in Complex Regulatory Networks: The Case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,” in Regulation & Governance.
Gund Fellow, Ernesto Mendez, released “The Thin Months Revisited”, and a policy brief, “Revisiting the ‘Thin Months’ – A Follow-up Study on the Livelihoods of Mesoamerican Coffee Farmers”.
Gund Fellow, William Keeton, and Charles Kerchner published “California’s regulatory forest carbon market: Viability for northeast landowners” in Forest Policy and Economics.
Gund Fellow, Asim Zia, published “From the Habit of Control to Institutional Enablement: Re-envisioning the Governance of Social-Ecological Systems from the Perspective of Complexity Sciences” in Complexity, Governance and Networks written with Gund Fellow, Chris Koliba, and collaborators: Stuart Kauffman, Brian Beckage, Gabor Vattay, and Arne Bomblies.
Gund Fellow, Asim Zia, published “Spatial discounting, place attachment, and environmental concern: Toward an ambit-based theory of sense of place,” in the Journal of Environmental Psychology
Statham, M., J. Murdoch, J. Janecka, K. Aubry, C. Edwards, C. Soulsbury, O. Berry, Z. Wang, D. Harrison, M. Pearch, L. Tomsett, J. Chupasko, and B. Sacks. 2014. Range-wide multilocus phylogeography of the red fox reveals ancient continental divergence, minimal genomic exchange and distinct demographic histories. Molecular Ecology 23:4813-4830.
News release:
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=11036
Murdoch, J., H. Davie, M. Galbadrah, and R. P. Reading. 2015. Factors influencing red fox occupancy probability in central Mongolia. Mammalian Biology, accepted/forthcoming.
Zapletal, M., B. Sodnompil, J. Atwood, J. Murdoch, and R. Reading. 2015. Fine-scale habitat use by Daurian hedgehogs (Mesechinus dauuricus) in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia. Journal of Arid Environments, accepted/forthcoming.
Statham, M., J. Murdoch, J. Janecka, K. Aubry, C. Edwards, C. Soulsbury, O. Berry, Z. Wang, D. Harrison, M, Pearch, L. Tomsett, J. Chupasko, and B. Sacks. 2014. Range-wide multilocus phylogeography of the red fox reveals ancient continental divergence, minimal genomic exchange, and distinct demographic histories. Molecular Ecology 23:4813-4830.
Herendeen, R. In press. Net energy's effect on the price of energy and other goods and services. Ecological Economics.
In the News
Gund Fellow, Jon Erickson and Gund Graduate Fellow Christopher Clement made news around the state for the first Vermont Youth Climate Summit.
• WCAX News (CBS affiliate)
• WPTZ News (NBC affiliate)
• WVUN News (ABC affiliate)
Gund Fellow, Gillian Galford's work on the Vermont Climate Assessment was published in GRIST.
Gund joined with a coalition of environmental, business and low income advocates in a call for a carbon tax in Vermont.
Lini Wollenburg posted on the Research on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Website:
10 Things you need to know about agriculture at December’s UN Climate Talks in Lima, Peru
Lini Wollenberg published an Info Note about the Role of Agriculture in the UN Climate Talks.
Jed Murdoch talked about coyotes on VPR's Vermont Edition.
Announcements
A new online portal has been launched, ecoNEWS VT, highlighting ecological research and monitoring findings from across Vermont. Researchers from the Rubenstein School have been included in this resource. Partners involved in the development of this website include Lake Champlain Sea Grant, the Vermont Monitoring Cooperative, the Northeastern State Research Cooperative, Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory. The website is maintained to continuously update with new stories, as well as events of interest to the community.
The Gund Institute is recruiting 2 PhD Students.
Gund held their second Research Slam at Echo on Nov 20th with over 100 people in attendance from UVM and beyond.
Gund hosted or co-hosted the following speakers, workshops and conferences:
James Marsh Professor Stephen Polasky, Helda Morales and Bruce Ferguson;
New Economy Week - "Walmart to Walden Pond: A Workshop on the Economic Incentive for Conservation" with Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and Department of Fish & Wildlife;
Eliese Dysktra, Jed Murdoch's graduate student, successfully defended her MS thesis entitled: Using stable isotope analysis to estimate black bear (Ursus americanus) diet in Vermont.
New Research Projects
Wallin, K., Ross, D., Havill, N.P. 2014-2015. Laying the foundations to use silver flies for biological control of hemlock woolly adelgid in the eastern US. $45,000.
Wallin, K., Ross, D., Havill, N.P. Albert E. Mayfield III. 2014-2016. Laying the genetic foundations to use silver flies for biological control of hemlock woolly adelgid in the eastern US. $26,000.
Bob Manning and the Parks Studies Lab in partnership with Resource Systems Group (RSG) and others received a contract with the National Park Service to study visitor use and social science in national parks. The 5-year contract with the Social Science Program Office of the National Park Service calls for surveying and analyzing experiences of park visitors to determine who is visiting and why, the economic impact of park visitation, transportation management issues, and underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minorities in the national parks. The Director of RSG's Public Lands Division is Steve Lawson, a graduate RSENR's doctoral program and an Adjunct Associate Professor with RSENR.