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Monday, February 28
1:30 PM, Campus Center, Room 163
The Future of Water Sustainability in Massachusetts
Kathleen Baskin
Director of Water Policy, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Kathleen Baskin, Director of Water Policy at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), develops and implements state water policy on issues such as flow and habitat alteration, stormwater management, water quality, and water supply allocation. She is managing EEA’s climate change adaptation initiative, which is preparing a report for adapting to the predicted impacts of climate change and the MA Sustainable Water Management Initiative, which provides advice on how to protect and sustainably manage the water resources for habitat protection and economic development. Before joining EEA, Ms. Baskin developed and directed technical research programs and established watershed management priorities for a not-for-profit watershed association and was employed at an international engineering consulting firm. She has an MS degree in Environmental Engineering and BS degrees in Civil Engineering and Biology, all from Tufts University.
Sustainable Water Management Initiative
Co-Sponsor: Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center
Tuesday, March 8
3:30 PM, Bernie Dallas Room, Goodell
Riverscaping: Rethinking Art, Environment, and Community
Thom Long
Assistant Professor of Architecture + Design, Hampshire College and Co-Director, Five College Architectural Studies Program
Riverscapes is a term that has emerged recently to describe the most immediate landscapes that follow and flank rivers. Historically, this term is used to describe the physical earth around the river as a place impacted by and connected to the water––it refers to both actual places and represented landscapes. Why stop there? The impact of the river on space and environment seems obviously far more complex and fluctuating. Most interesting is the the changing, fluid, ecological soft boundary between a flowing, rising and sinking, inhabited water body and its adjacent man-made and natural topologies and material conditions. While both the landscapes and the water follow predetermined natural rules, the resultant form and interaction at any given place along the river is wholly unique and its mutations are infinite. This same notion defines the riverscaping project. While there are clear systems of ecology, economy, transport, arts and public space surrounding the river, we hope to uncover and dissect the many interdisciplinary topologies and convergent iterations that the presence of the river cultivates. our goal is to utilize our research, learning and design laboratories to effect and transform these environments. Faculty, students, architects, planners, designers, water specialists, and members of the community will work interactively to think about and explore ways to strengthen the relationship between communities and the Connecticut River.
As a Five College joint-appointed professor, Thom Long teaches a variety of architecture and design courses at Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Amherst College. He is the Principal Investigator of the 18-month interdisciplinary project, Riverscaping: Rethinking Art, Environment and Community, which is made possible by a grant to Five Colleges, Incorporated from the European Union’s “Getting to Know Europe” initiative. Led by the Five College Architectural Studies program, the project will support discussion among scholars, designers, scientists and planners here and in Hamburg, Germany, (designated Green City of the Year by the Union for 2011). Thom Long is a practicing architect and graphic/media designer, and is the founder and Creative director of visionLaboratory in Northampton. His work, in practice and theory, explores concepts of communication through and across various design disciplines, working on a broad range of projects including architecture, print and web design, corporate branding, film and multimedia, and interior design. He works collaboratively with a network of architects, artists, and designers on a wide range of international memorials, residential, and interior design projects. He has taught architecture studios at Columbia University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Thom Long holds a B.Arch. from Roger Williams University and an M.S. in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.
Co-sponsor: Five College Inc.
Thursday, April 7
9:30 AM, Campus Center Auditorium
Water Resources Planning in a Changing World
Richard Vogel
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director, Water: Systems, Science and Society Graduate Program, Tufts University
Professor Vogel has been at Tufts since 1984. His primary expertise is in the areas of hydrology and water resource engineering with emphasis on hydrologic, hydraulic and statistical methods for analyzing water resource systems. His current research program focuses upon the areas of watershed modeling and management, water quality, regional hydrology, environmental statistics and the new field of hydromorphology. Hydromorphology deals with improving our understanding of how hydrologic systems have evolved due to anthropogenic influences including climate change, water infrastructure and urbanization. His consulting experiences have included: world water resources assessment, reservoir systems analysis, hydropower feasibility analyses, water supply investigations, floodplain delineations, stormwater management modeling, reservoir design, dam safety analyses and ice jam control. He is currently the contributing editor of the ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management . Vogel received his Ph.D. in Water Resource Systems from Cornell University, and M.S. and B.S. degrees from the University of Virginia in Environmental Science and Hydrology and Engineering Science and Systems, respectively.
Co-sponsor: Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center
Tuesday, April 26,
4:30 PM , Student Union, Cape Cod Lounge
The Connecticut River: A Confluence of People, Place and Environment
Nathaniel Tripp
Environmental Author, Producer
As part of the Connecticut River Joint Commission, a bi-state advisory body made up of members from two states the river divides, Vermont and New Hampshire, Tripp has worked with scientists, bureaucrats, politicians, lobbyists, property holders, and advocacy groups to balance federal, state, corporate, and individual interests. His book, Confluence (2005), is a true confluence of art and science, politics and pragmatism, ideas and plans for action. It highlights the ways in which rivers connect us all to one another. “Nat” Tripp has lived on a Vermont hill farm for over thirty years where he raises sheep and vegetables. At various times, he has worked in film and television writing and producing for Public Television, corporate clients and advertising agencies. A Vietnam veteran, his memoir Father Soldier Son was published by Steerforth Press in 1996.
Co-sponsors: Dept. of Geosciences, Dept. of History /Public History, Five Colleges Inc., Five College Sustainability Series