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Water Resources Conference Call for Abstracts
October 22, 2007: A call for abstracts has been released for WRRC's fifth annual conference, Integrating Water Resources Management for a Safe Water Future.
Fiscal Year 2008 Request for Proposals Released
October 12, 2007: WRRC released its RFP for the WRIP program for the 2008 Fiscal year. This year, four grants will be awarded to graduates students in the Commonwealth. Read more...
Rees
Appointed Interim Director MA Water Resources Research Center September21, 2007: Effectively immediately, Dr.
Paula L. Sturdevant Rees, Assistant Professor
of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UMass Amherst, has been appointed
Interim Director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center
and will oversee the Center on a part-time basis. Rees will also help
lead The Environmental Institute’s interdisciplinary Water Working
Group in engaging in water related research and educational activities.
Dr. Rees has been teaching at UMass Amherst since 1999. She received
a Ph.D. (1997) and MA (1994) in Environmental Engineering and Water
Resources from Princeton University and a BS in Civil and Environmental
Engineering from the University of Iowa in 1992.
She has diverse and interdisciplinary research interests, with a current
focus on hydrology and hydrometeorology. Presently, Rees is leading
a major interdisciplinary multi-year research project on the Blackstone
River Watershed, investigating water quality, ecological health, and
ecological risk through data collection and modeling and identification
of non-point source pollution to the river and watershed. Rees is an
expert in watershed dynamics and management and brings extensive experience
leading interdisciplinary projects in water resources research to the
Center. She is also interested in the impact of emerging contaminants
and global change on water resources sustainability.
As Interim Director, Rees plans to build upon the ongoing work of
the center to integrate researchers and students across both the Amherst
and other UMass campuses. “Water is a key unifying element across
diverse research focus areas. The Center is thus in a unique position
to provide a focal point for jumpstarting interdisciplinary efforts,” says
Rees. Such efforts will build upon historical strengths at the Amherst
campus while expanding into new areas. In particular, Rees hopes to
promote interdisciplinary graduate education through research study
groups and, eventually, to coordinate an interdisciplinary water education
or certificate program. In addition, she hopes to expand outreach activities
of the Center. Such efforts would involve work with K-12 students,
regional volunteer groups, and local federal offices such as the US
Fish and Wildlife Service and US Department of Agriculture. The Center
has several ongoing projects working across campuses and departments
to develop effective Information Technology tools for dissemination
of knowledge. For all of these initiatives, strong synergy between
the Center and researchers at the campus is critical.
Dorner steps down
as WRRC Director
September 1, 2007: Dr. Sarah Dorner has left the MA Water Resources Research Center
as of August 31, 2007 to join the Ecole Polytechnique in Montréal.
Vice-Provost Paul Kostecki has named Associate Director Marie-Françoise
Walk Interim Director until a new Center Director is recruited,
and thanks Dr. Dorner for
her nearly three years of leadership at WRRC. The whole staff at The
Environmental Institute, home of the WRRC, wishes Dr. Dorner all the
best in her new position.
WRRC to Lead Stormwater Technologies Evaluation Project
April 1, 2007: Jerry Schoen will oversee a new contract from the Massachusetts Department
of Environmental Protection to evaluate studies on stormwater treatment
technologies. He and Marie-Françoise Walk worked with Eric
Winkler on the first phase of that project, which ended June 2006.
They will resume their review of technical studies performed on innovative
proprietary best management practices to treat stormwater on development
sites, and add to the established database information
for Low Impact Development technologies and traditional treatment
practices. The project period is January 2007 - June 2009.
Fourth Annual Conference slated for April 9
March 1, 2007: Sustainable Waters in a Changing World is the title of this year's conference on water resources research. Held on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, this conference attracts a couple of hundred of professionals from academia, agencies, non-profits, and consulting firms. Thirty-six speakers will present their research and projects in four concurrent sessions. Track topics are Water, Climate, and Ecosystems, Transboundary Waters, Managing Water Resources for Sustainability, and Science, Community, and Information Technology. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Evan Dollar of South Africa, discussing that country's forward-looking water legislation and his project to classify South Africa's water resources according to ecological importance as well as economic priority. Poster presentations will also be featured, and the best student poster will be awarded a cash prize by sponsor Tighe & Bond.
WRRC hosts Acid Deposition Summit
January 25, 2007: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection commissioned WRRC to gather experts in the field of acid deposition. Fifteen scientists met at UMass Amherst to discuss the current state of knowledge on acid deposition and mercury, and shared ideas and recommendations for future research needs in this field.
WRRC awards Grants to Three Massachusetts Researchers
January 2, 2007: Three research projects will be funded through the WRIP program in FY'07: Environmental Behaviors of Engineered Nanoparticles in Water, by
Dr. Baoshan Xing of UMass Amherst; Using Hydromorphological Signatures to Determine Flow
Related Habitat Thresholds for Instream Communities, by
Scott D. Jackson of UMass Amherst, Dr. Piotr Parasiewicz of Mount Holyoke College,
Development of a Standardized Protocol for Fish Bioassays Detecting Estrogenic Exposure
by
Lauren Moffatt and Dr. Kathleen Arcaro of UMass Amherst.
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