NE CSC Newsletter

Thursday, November 13, 2014

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Upcoming webinar: “Making decisions in complex landscapes: Headwater stream management across multiple agencies using structured decision making” On November 19 at 3:30pm ET, Rachel Katz from the University of Massachusetts presents. There is growing evidence that headwater stream ecosystems are vulnerable to changing climate and land use, but their conservation is challenged by the need to address the threats at a landscape scale, often through coordination with multiple management agencies and landowners. This project provides an example of cooperative landscape decision-making to address the conservation of headwater stream ecosystems in the face of climate change using case studies from two watersheds in the northeastern U.S. Read more…

WaterViz for Hubbard Brook Funded in part by the NE CSC, WaterViz for Hubbard Brook represents the nexus between the hydrologic sciences, visual arts, music, and computer design. Hydrologic data captured from a small watershed at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire using an array of environmental sensors, is transmitted to the internet and used to drive a computer model that calculates all components of the water cycle for the catchment in real time! Read more…

The stand against climate change In a recent article in International Innovation, NE CSC PI Anthony D’Amato explains his investigations of land use and weather impacts on North American temperate forests. His findings will help establish evidence-based management strategies to cope with climate change and invasive species. Read more…

NE CSC Fellow Highlight Master’s candidate Lynn Brennan has been working alongside Dr. Richard Palmer on the NorEaST Stream Temperature Project for the NE CSC. This project is a comprehensive assessment of current stream temperature models; the goal is to aid natural resource managers in figuring out which models are needed for specific basins in the NE CSC region. Read more…

Shifting Seasons: Building Tribal Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation Summit On October 14-17, participants from tribal, federal, state, higher education and non-profit agencies and organizations came together to focus on building relationships and increasing involvement in climate change. Pre-summit events included a tour of the Menominee community and forest, and a student information session to help provide better understanding on how to present and network at conferences. The site visits of the Menominee community and forest plots set the stage for climate change discussion and provided a context for participants to generate and share thoughts and provide recommendations on how local resources can be coordinated to build community resilience. Read more…

Massachusetts Envirothon NE CSC Science Coordinator, Michelle Staudinger, and NE CSC Affiliate Mike Rawlins hosted two workshop sessions as part of the Envirothon team-based competition for high school students held at UMass Amherst on Wednesday, November 5th. Read more…

Fellow attends Graduate Climate Conference Dan Miller, NE CSC Graduate Fellow presented his poster, "Understanding Extremes: A Multi-Proxy, High Resolution Record of Hurricane, Fire, Flood, and Drought History from Basin Pond, Maine". Dan says, "It was great getting to meet grad students working on the forefront of climate research from across the world." Read more…

Upcoming Presentations from the NE CSC:

• November 20. D'Amato, A.W. Long-term structural and compositional development of fire-origin red pine forests in north-central Minnesota. Lake States Fire Consortium Webinar Series.

Recent Publications from the NE CSC:

• Guilbert, J., Beckage, B., Winter, J. M., Horton, R. M., et al., 2014. Impacts of projected climate change over the Lake Champlain basin in Vermont. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

• W.S. Beatty et al., 2014. The role of protected area wetlands in waterfowl habitat conservation: implications for protected area network design. Biological Conservation 176:144-152.

Recent Webinar recordings from the NE CSC:

• Jana Stewart: "NorEaST: A Stream Temperature Inventory Network and Decision Support Metadata Mapper”

• Richard Kraus: “Developing Fish Trophic Interaction Indicators of Climate Change for the Great Lakes”

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CLEAN, the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network Portal, was launched in 2010 as a National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Pathways project. CLEAN's primary effort is to steward a collection of educational resources around energy and climate topics and foster a community that supports learning about climate and energy topics. CLEAN's focus has been to integrate the effective use of the educational resources across all grade levels – with a particular focus on the middle-school through undergraduate levels. Read more…

------ LCC NEWS HIGHLIGHTS: ---------------------------------------------

Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers LCC

- Mississippi River Basin/Gulf Hypoxia Structured Decision Making Workshop report

- Floodplain Science Network

North Atlantic LCC

- Key landscape design initiatives receive funding for next steps

- Preparing for future storms in the wake of Hurricane Sandy

- Looking for common language to integrate marine habitat data

------ UPCOMING EVENTS: --------------------------------------------------

Conference: Linking Science, Practice and Decision Making, December 8-12, 2014, Washington, DC. Focus of the conference is to bring together the ecosystem services community from around the United States and the globe. Read more…

Climate Prediction Applications Science Workshop, March 24-26, 2015, Las Cruces, NM. brings together a diverse group of climate applications researchers, climate product producers, and users to share developments in research and applications related to the use of climate predictions in societal decision-making. Read more…

------ OTHER NEWS: -------------------------------------------------

Researchers Develop Neural Network Ensemble Model to Predict Daily Water Temperatures in Rivers This new model is unique in that it can predict daily water temperatures throughout a large region, whereas other models often predict at coarser resolutions. Read more…

Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts in the Great Marsh The Great Marsh is the largest contiguous salt marsh in New England and is home to a variety of wildlife, provides storm protection, recreational opportunities, clean water and other benefits to surrounding communities. Read more…

Japan's Kamikaze Winds, the Stuff of Legend, May Have Been Real NE CSC Affiliate Jon Woodruff has uncovered evidence of some truth to the legend of the ancient kamikazes, typhoon-strength winds that saved Japan from Kublai Khan in the 13th century. Read more…

EPA Issues Final Climate Change Adaptation and Implementation Plans The plans aim to reduce EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions and prepare the agency for climate change impacts, including risks from extreme weather, sea level rise, and flooding. Read more…

NOAA’s U.S. Winter Outlook Last year’s winter was exceptionally cold and snowy across most of the United States, east of the Rockies. A repeat of this extreme pattern is unlikely this year. Read more…

Measuring Landscape Disturbance of Gas Exploration in Eight Pennsylvania Counties Landscape change resulting from construction of well pads, new roads and pipelines for natural gas and coalbed methane development is being documented to help determine the potential consequences for ecosystems and wildlife, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report. Read more…

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NOAA’s new Lake Level Viewer aids Great Lakes community planning Promotes community resilience through scenarios for land use, infrastructure. Read more…

EPA Releases “Being Prepared for Climate Change: A Workbook for Developing Risk-Based Adaptation Plans” The workbook helps users to identify, analyze and prioritize climate change risks. In developing an action plan, it guides users to address their most pressing risks and find appropriate responses. Read more…

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan Includes Climate Resiliency Focus EPA last week released the Great Lakes Action Plan II which identifies the major environmental threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem and describes the steps federal agencies will take over the next five years to manage those risks. Read more…

Predicting Shorebirds’ Vulnerability to Climate Change Scientists and conservationists have long been concerned about how climate change may exacerbate population declines already occurring for individual species, and for shorebirds in general. Read more…

Scientists Discuss Ten Ways Remote Sensing can be Used for Conservation The article includes a summary of the way remote sensing can be used to monitor the rate, magnitude, and spatial and temporal effects of climate on ecosystems. Read more…

New Paper Examines Perceptions of Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability In a new publication from the North Central CSC, authors use the Cultural Theory of Risk framework to look at community understandings of, and responses to, climate change impacts and adaptation. Read more…

New video illustrates the basics of climate change effects on forests The Forest Service’s Climate Change Resource Center created a video that tells the story through drawings of how climate change could cause potential benefits for some forests, and increase stresses on most forested ecosystems. Read more…

Recent changes of climate in mountain regions of the American Cordillera and the Tropics Recent publication from NE CSC PI Raymond Bradley and Fellow Liang Ning in Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research. Read more…

CAKE Highlight: Water Supply in a Changing Climate Maryland citizens are blessed with an abundant supply of water. However, many water systems are already stressed during droughts, and infrastructure damage and water contamination occurs during floods. Read more…

CERES Report Shows Insurers Retreating as Climate Change Impacts Increase Recently, CERES published a report on the preparedness of the 330 largest domestic insurance companies regarding climate change. Read more…

TED Talk by Lord Nicholas Stern State of the Climate and What We Might Do About It. Read more…

------ OPPORTUNITIES: ---------------------------------------------------

Water Quality Benefits Funding Opportunity USEPA, as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing research to advance knowledge of how changes in water quality, including incremental or step improvements, can be valued at appropriate spatial scales using advanced non-use valuation methods for the Nation’s inland fresh water small streams, lakes and rivers, estuaries, coastal waters, and the Great Lakes. (Deadline Jan 14) Read more…

New NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship Funding Opportunity Supports postdoctoral research using biological collections. (Deadline Jan 8) Read more…

------ WEBINARS: ------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, November 19, 12:00pm ET

OneNOAA Science Seminars presents,

"A Movie - Ocean Frontiers II: A New England Story for Sustaining the Sea"

Karen Anspacher-Meyer, Executive Director of Green Fire Productions

To join, visit: http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/OneNOAASeminars_All.php

Thursday, November 20, 2:00pm ET

Lake States Fire Consortium Webinar Series presents,

"Long-term structural and compositional development of fire-origin red pine forests in north-central Minnesota"

Anthony D'Amato, University of Minnesota

To join, visit: http://lakestatesfiresci.net/webinar_11_20_14.html