BIOL 6064: Spring Semester 2015
2 credits- M/W 9:05-9:55am
Dr. Cayelan Carey is teaching a new special topics graduate course in the spring, ‘Freshwaters in the Anthropocene,’ which will be centered on reading discussions of research papers and policy-related documents (e.g., the EU Water Framework Directive), as well as a few in-class modeling exercises and lectures. The overall goal of the course is to examine the effects and interactions of altered climate, eutrophication, invasive species, and unsustainable withdrawal on ecosystem function in lakes and streams, as well as the implications for future human use.
The capstone of the course will be writing an independent research proposal on a freshwater/Anthropocene-themed topic of the student’s choice and debating it in an in-class review panel. Dr. Carey hopes that these proposals will serve as a seed for future NSF GFRP, EPA Star, or NSF DDIG applications.
Laura Schoenle, a fellow in the Interfaces of Global Change Program, was recently awarded a EPA STAR Fellowship for 2014. This very competitive graduate fellowship program from the Environmental Protection Agency supports masters and doctoral candidates in environmental studies. Her award will cover tuition, salary, and $10,000 for research/expenses.
Laura will be studying the effects of mercury exposure on how red-winged blackbirds resist and tolerate infection with avian malaria. Laura is co-advised by Ignacio Moore(Virginia Tech) and Fran Bonier (Queen’s University).
Laura Schoenle
“Laura’s work is really novel in that she is investigating interactions between stress and disease,” Moore said. “Most people look at one or the other. And yet, wildlife are facing assaults from multiple factors and thus studies like Laura’s are truly important for understanding how they will respond to these threats. Her participation in the Interfaces of Global Change graduate program highlights the importance of understanding interactions between multiple threats.”
Amy Pruden, professor of civil and environmental engineering and associate dean and director of interdisciplinary graduate education in the Graduate School at Virginia Tech, is the 2014 recipient of the Paul L. Busch Award which includes a $100,000 research grant.
A well-recognized researcher in her field, Pruden is instrumental in developing a new way of thinking about controlling aquatic pathogens and expanding the use of recycled water. She has an international reputation in applied microbial ecology, environmental remediation, and environmental reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance.
Her accomplishments in these areas led to the 2014 Busch Award from the Water Environment Research Foundation’s Endowment for Innovation in Applied Water Quality Research. The foundation cited her outstanding efforts that have contributed significantly to water quality research and its practical application in the environment. The grant with the award is given to support work that will bring new benefits to the water quality community and the water-using public they serve.
Amy is a core faculty member in two interdisciplinary graduate education programs, Water for Health and Interfaces of Global Change. Here is what she had to say about the award:
“Last week I was honored to receive the Paul L. Busch award at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference in New Orleans. There are so many folks to thank, not the least of which my kind and thoughtful nominators, Joan Rose and Pedro Alvarez, and the Water Environment Research Foundation. Thanks also goes to my PhD advisor, Makram Suidan, the so many folks that have patiently mentored, supported, and encouraged me since my graduate school days, and now my own students who give their 100% every day- you are the future! As the photo implies, I also very much have my family to thank- they have sacrificed much to support their “science mom” – and I sincerely hope that one day my children will look back and think it was all worth it to have a mom that got so excited about “good” bacteria and “bad” bacteria.
But where I really got choked up at the award ceremony was to learn about who Paul L. Busch was and what he stood for. Paul Busch was the President and CEO of the environmental consulting firm, Malcolm Pirnie, which is now ARCADIS. He was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the President of the American Academy of Engineers, and a member of the U.S. EPA’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology. He played an essential and personal role in developing the clean drinking water infrastructure in several major cities across the U.S. and around the world. These are just a few examples. But transcending this all, it is clear that he was a person with vision, a vision that drew strongly from an interdisciplinary perspective. In his undergraduate days at MIT, Paul Busch essentially double majored in Civil Engineering and Philosophy- not a combination you see every day! His colleagues at Malcolm Pirnie noted that he marveled at rapid advances taking place in the medical realm and encouraged others around him to similarly reach out to other disciplines in order to advance the science and practice of water engineering. It is also clear that Paul Busch was not alone, he believed in mentoring young leaders and was the true essence of a team player, an essential asset of an interdisciplinary professional.
I am very grateful to now be at Virginia Tech, where we strongly embrace interdisciplinary education and research through the IGEP programs, ICTAS, and numerous other grass roots efforts across the university. I am aware of the challenges of interdisciplinary graduate education, but also the tremendous rewards. And thus I marvel that Paul Busch was already doing this 15 to 50 years ago, apparently because that was his nature and that is what worked. I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this award and I hope that I can achieve even a fraction of the positive impact to the world that Paul Busch was able to in his lifetime.”
Congratulations, AMY!
Pipes photo by: Rama (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons
Message from the World Wildlife Fund International Director General
“The latest edition of the Living Planet Report is not for the faint-hearted. One key point that jumps out and captures the overall picture is that the Living Planet Index (LPI), which measures more than 10,000 representative populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, has declined by 52 percent since 1970. Put another way, in less than two human generations, population sizes of vertebrate species have dropped by half. These are the living forms that constitute the fabric of the ecosystems which sustain life on Earth–and the barometer of what we are doing to our own planet, our only home. We ignore their decline at our peril.”
A special supplement to this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is dedicated to science communication.
“Better communication to the public and policy makers can help scientists send clearer signals regarding the accomplishments, promises, and uncertainties of their work. Better communication from the public and policy makers can provide scientists with clearer signals regarding the public’s concerns and science’s role in addressing them. The result would be a more productive dialogue about the science and the political, social, and moral implications of its application.”
Please see the complete Table of Contentsfor a free listing of the new articles!
Dr. Leandro Castello and his colleagues at Woods Hole Research Center and University of California Santa Barbara recently received a grant from NASA to study the impacts of extreme weather events (floods and droughts) on aquatic plants, forests, and fisheries of the central Amazonian river floodplain. This study was recently featured in VT News. A Public Radio interview on WVTF also highlighted this project.
“The latest edition of the Living Planet Report is not for the faint-hearted. One key point that jumps out and captures the overall picture is that the Living Planet Index (LPI), which measures more than 10,000 representative populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, has declined by 52 percent since 1970. Put another way, in less than two human generations, population sizes of vertebrate species have dropped by half. These are the living forms that constitute the fabric of the ecosystems which sustain life on Earth–and the barometer of what we are doing to our own planet, our only home. We ignore their decline at our peril.”
