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Hubbard Brook Research Experience for Undergraduates

June 19th, 2013 by June

Plymouth State University, in cooperation with the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (HBRF), hosts a unique summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program based at the Hubbard Brook Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  The program emphasizes the societal relevance of ecology and ecosystem science.

This year, nine students from around the country are engaged in a research project developed from the major areas of ecosystem research at Hubbard Brook. Students work under the mentorship of scientists active in research at Hubbard Brook.  In addition, through weekly presentations given by the mentors and other scientists, students are also exposed to a full spectrum of ecosystem research.

Throughout the summer, the REU students will be posting information about their work. Check the Hubbard Brook REU Blog for updates!

Posted in News and Events |

Talk on Recreation and Land Management Decision Making on Squam Lakes

May 15th, 2013 by June

Please join us onThursday, May 16, 2013, from 7:00pm to 8:00pm at the Squam Lakes Association in Holderness, NH, for a talk by CFE graduate student Andrew Veilleux on “Recreation and Land Management Decision Making on Squam Lakes.”

Andrews is completing his research that investigates how Squam is used and the opinions of those that enjoy the lakes. This project has involved an innovative GIS system to gather from people their perspectives about recreational use on the lake.

As part of the project, Andrew has completed a brochure summarizing his work.

Posted in News and Events |

Calcium-Fertilized Forests Use More Water According to New PSU and Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study

April 1st, 2013 by June

Mark Green from CFE is lead author on a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper summarized the results of a forest fertilization experiment that the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. The research showed that a forest fertilized with calcium grew faster and in doing so transpired, or evaporated through their leaves, more water than the control watershed. The difference was so great that streamflow substantially declined in the fertilized forest. This is interesting because the forest may have been limited by calcium due to the legacy of acid rain in the region. Also, it highlights an unintended consequence of forest fertilization. While the goal of fertilization is often to optimize biomass production, this practice may reduce water supplies in the process. CFE member Scott Bailey is a co-author of the paper.

Posted in News and Events |

CFE Hosts the 2013 NH Water & Watershed Conference

March 5th, 2013 by June

East Inlet, Photo by Phil Haskell

Plymouth State University’s Center for the Environment (CFE) hosts the 2013 New Hampshire Water and Watershed Conference, Friday,  March 22 in PSU’s Hartman Union Building. The event features more than 30 talks addressing current water related research as well as effective strategies at the local, regional, state, and federal levels about changing environmental and societal conditions and their effects on New Hampshire’s water resources and aquatic environment. Specific topics to be covered include watershed planning, restoration, and management; education and outreach; ecosystem services of lakes, rivers, and watersheds; coordinating a response to climate change; and water quality and quantity.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted in News and Events |

CFE Signs Partnership Agreement with NH Dept. of Environmental Services

January 31st, 2013 by June

The Center for the Environment has coordinated with the NH Department of Environmental Services on a new partnership agreement that addresses mutual areas in interest and opportunities for collaboration. DES Commissioner Tom Burack visited PSU on January 28, 2013 where he and PSU’s President Sara Jayne Steen signed the agreement. Following the signing ceremony, Commissioner Burack met with CFE faculty and students to discuss environmental issues on the state horizon, legislative initiatives, student internships and workplace development, and interests in furthering STEM initiatives.

Posted in News and Events |

Recent News from CFE

January 31st, 2013 by June

Mark Green is co-Principle Investigator on a $50,000 NSF grant, “US-Japan Joint Seminar on Responses of Catchment Hydrology and Forest Biogeochemistry to Climatic and Environmental Change.” This project will support a joint US-Japan meeting on catchment hydrology and biogeochemistry on March 7-11, 2013 in Hawaii.

On November 11, 2012, Shannon Rogers successfully completed the year-long Environmental Leadership Program(ELP) and graduated into the Senior Fellow’s class.  ELP’s mission is to support visionary, action-oriented, and diverse leadership for a just and sustainable future. ELP catalyzes change by providing talented individuals early in their careers with the support and guidance they need to launch new endeavors, achieve new successes, and rise to new leadership positions. On November 14th, Shannon participated in one of her first activities as a Senior Fellow by co-hosting a webinar on Ecological Economics.

Recent publications by CFE faculty include:

Posted in News and Events |

2013 Spring Colloquium Series

January 24th, 2013 by June

Each semester CFE organizes the Environmental Science Colloquium which is held on Wednesday afternoons from 4-5 pm at the Boyd Science Center, Room 001. The talks cover a wide range of topics around environmental science and sustainability. The colloquium is available for graduate credit and we also invite the community to come for free. For more information, contact Doug Earick. Read on for the complete list of dates and speakers.

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Posted in News and Events |

LoVoTECS News

November 27th, 2012 by June

The NH LoVoTECS project recently published a newsletter and  launched a blog dedicated to updates, interesting findings and additional information about the LoVoTECS network. Graduate student Ashley Hyde presented a poster, “Using Specific Electrical Conductance to Compare Rainfall Runoff in NH Urban and Rural Catchments,” at the EPSCoR All Hands Meeting on November 7, 2012 in Waterville Valley, NH.

The New Hampshire Lotic Volunteer Temperature, Electrical, Conductivity, and Stage Sensing network  (LoVoTECS) involves a state-of-the-art, broad scale and high-frequency hydrologic sensing network using simple sensors operated by a diverse group of partners. The network sensors continuously measure conductivity, temperature, and water level. These indicators of water quality and physical condition are key to understanding the natural variability of, and human influences on, streams and rivers. LoVoTECS is funded by the National Science Foundation through a cooperative agreement to the New Hampshire Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program. The network is coordinated by a group of researchers, staff, and students at Plymouth State University – and implemented by our broad group of partners, including educators,researchers, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and citizen scientists. Our goal is to improve our understanding of New Hampshire’s water resources and help develop a technically advanced workforce by providing educational opportunities to interact with large data sets.

Posted in News and Events, Uncategorized |

Shannon Rogers Attends Living on Earth III Workshop

October 29th, 2012 by June

LOEII Participants with US Virgin Island Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr.

Shannon H. Rogers attended the Living on Earth III (LOE III) workshop from October 23-26th in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.  This workshop was hosted by the University of the Virgin Islands and sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Shannon was one of three New Hampshire scholars nominated to participate in this ongoing endeavor to address the need for effective integration of processes linking scientific knowledge and analytical approaches in social-ecological systems (SES) research. Several goals of the workshop were building science and research capacity in sustainability science and coupled human-natural/socio-ecological systems science across EPSCoR jurisdictions and facilitating the formalization and functionality of a LOE-SES scientific network that will promote cutting-edge and transformative science ideas.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted in News and Events |

CFE’s Lisa Doner Partnering on NSF Grant

October 24th, 2012 by June

Lisa Doner, research assistant professor, is collaborating with Bentley College on a $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to work  on assessing how climate change is communicated by broadcast meteorologists to their audiences. The project is titled “Enhancing Climate Change Communication between Broadcast Meteorologists and Viewing Audiences.” Through a series of interviews with broadcast meteorologists and surveys of meteorology training programs, researchers will investigate the extent to which meteorologists receive training about climate science and the geophysical mechanisms for climate change. In addition, workshops on climate science will be developed for TV/radio broadcast meteorologists and news directors within the New England area as well as a larger community of meteorology practitioners within the northeast U.S. region. Others working on the project at PSU include Lourdes Aviles, associate professor of meteorology, Samuel Miller, associate professor of meteorology, and Mary Ann McGarry, associate professor of science education. Collaborators at Bentley College are P. Thompson Davis, professor of geology and climatology; Eric Oches, associate professor of geology; David Szymanski; assistant professor of geology; and Helen Meldrum, associate professor of psychology.

Posted in News and Events |

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Contact Us

Contact Us

January 9th, 2013 by Michael

Center for the Environment

Plymouth State University
Russell House
MSC #63, 17 High Street
Plymouth, NH 03264
psu-cfe@plymouth.edu

phone (603) 535-3179
fax (603) 535-3004

Posted in Contact |