Past Seminars and Events at the Center

Dr. Grace Brush

Professor, Geography and Environmental Engineering

Historical land use, nitrogen and coastal eutrophication: a paleoecological perspective

Abstract
Organisms and chemicals preserved in sediment cores from the Chesapeake estuary in mid-Atlantic USA show a pre-colonial landscape covered with a diversity of forests and marshes, large and small. During the past 300 years, many of the wetlands have been drained and the landscape converted to agricultural fields and urban and suburban development. During this time, sources of nitrogen have diversified and loadings increased. These changes are recorded in sediment cores by increases in ragweed pollen, dry taxa, sedimentation rates, nitrogen influxes, and a major change in estuarine autotrophs from benthic to planktonic. Attempts to reverse estuarine eutrophication and anoxia have centered on restoring streams and riparian areas and reducing fertilizer use on agricultural lands. However, data from soils and historical reports and the paleoecological record suggest that to reduce the effects of modern nitrogen inputs, it may be necessary to locate and enhance denitrifying areas throughout the watershed.

The seminar will be followed by a lunch gathering for serious and casual discussions.

Kathryn M. Conko

U.S. Geological Survey
National Research Program, Reston, Virginia

Mercury and Arsenic in Gorlovka, Ukraine: Potential Human Health Impact

The city of Gorlovka (population 320,000) in southeastern Ukraine includes the Nikitovka Mercury Mines, a series of open-pit mines surrounding an ore processing facility. For more than 50 years, this industry extracted mercury ore and coal in one of the largest mercury production facilities in the former Soviet Union. Coals from these mines are elevated in both Hg and As (more than 10-times the average US coal). Commercial extraction and processing ended in 1995, but part of this facility has been used for mercury recycling from batteries and fluorescent light tubes since 2000.

The local landscape contains numerous mine tailings piles and run-off collection ponds, as well as abandoned industrial structures. Access to the mine area is unrestricted; some local residents collect coal for home use and consume fish caught in the run-off ponds.

In 2005, a team of US and Ukraine environmental scientists and epidemiologists collected a series of human biological samples (blood, urine, hair and nail) and environmental samples (water, soil, dust) to assess the potential environmental exposure to metals and metalloids, and human health impacts. We have documented both an increase of Hg and As concentrations in the soil of the current recycling facility (compared to the surrounding areas) and a strong association of both blood and urine Hg levels with occupational exposure.

Dr. Raymond Hoff

Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Director of the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET)
Director of the Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center (GEST)

The UMBC NASA Goddard Centers: JCET and GEST
A neighbor of USGS in the Research Park at UMBC, three hundred feet to the northeast, houses the offices for two NASA research centers, JCET and GEST. This presentation will begin by introducing USGS and colleagues to the range of activities in these two Centers. Over 170 UMBC research faculty work as part of these Centers in the Research Park, on the UMBC Campus and at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

Third Dimensional Air Quality System (3-D-AQS)
The second half of the presentation will introduce Dr. Hoff's Physics Department research group's activities in atmospheric lidar and atmospheric remote sensing, particularly of air quality and water vapor profiles. The Physics Building (near the UMBC Commons) houses three laser radar (lidar) systems which profile aerosols above the campus routinely. As part of a Global Atmosphere Watch Atmospheric Lidar Observing Network (GALION) activity, we also profile water vapor and atmospheric extinction on Mondays and Thursdays. Finally, the group's research using the CALIPSO satellite will be discussed for air quality, clouds, and fire detection.

The seminar will be followed by a gathering off-site for serious and casual discussions.

Janice Outen

Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE)

Water Resources Elements of the HB 1141 Bill

During the 2006 legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly enacted HB 1141 concerning land use and local government planning. This bill requires local jurisdictions to include their future plans for water supply, wastewater and stormwater in their comprehensive plans. Each jurisdiction must also include reasonable population projections in its planning documents. The first set of local comprehensive plans that address the requirements of HB 1141 must be submitted to the State by October 1, 2009. MDE will then have 60 days to review the Water Resources Element (WRE) of each local comprehensive plan. If a local jurisdiction fails to submit its WRE, the State law mandates a freeze on all zoning changes in that jurisdiction.

Dr. Milan Pavich

U.S. Geological Survey
National Research Program

Chesapeake Glacioisostacy: Is There a Yo Yo, Ma?

Chesapeake Bay exhibits many unique landforms and stratigraphic histories. Geologically, it is part of a subsiding basin (Baltimore Canyon Trough) that has periodically been flooded by rising sea levels, most recently in the last 8ky. The ages of units and rates of change are difficult to explain using eustatic sea level variations alone. This implies tectonics, but what kind? I am testing the hypothesis that glacio-isostatic cycles are a major driver of what we see over the past 200ky. Apologies to the cellists in the audience.

The seminar will be followed by a gathering off-site for serious and casual discussions.

Dr. Stephen Silliman

Water in Benin, West Africa: Students, Research, and Collaboration with Friends

Dr. Silliman will discuss a program that focuses on water supply and education in Benin, West Africa. This program provides education, research, and service experiences for undergraduate and graduate students at Notre Dame. Projects include monitoring of water quality (from hand-pump wells) by rural populations, grade-school education and exchange, and assessment of management strategies for ground water in rural areas of southern Benin. Success has been based to a large degree on long-term relationships that have been built with Benin partners including representatives from the national university, local government and non-government organizations, and rural populations.

Dr. Silliman is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame. He is also Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in Engineering. His research interests include ground-water hydrology, transport of contaminants and microbes in ground water and the unsaturated zone, and development of water supplies in third world countries. Over the past decade, he has led field programs for students both in Haiti and Benin, West Africa.

A reception with refreshments will follow the lecture.

This lecture is part of the Hesburgh Lecture Series, a program of the University of Notre Dame and its alumni association that brings its professors to communities with alumni and friends of the university. Support for this lecture is also being provided by the USGS and UMBC.

Dr. Claire Welty

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Director, Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education
UMBC

Microbial Transport in Heterogeneous Aquifers

Motivation for this work stems from continued reports of waterborne disease outbreaks in the US and detailed field surveys revealing the presence of pathogens in groundwater. Such findings point to a need to advance our ability to predict the transport of pathogens from their sources to drinking water supplies and to incorporate such model predictions in risk assessment. This presentation lays out the problem and reviews modeling approaches with selected recent mathematical simulation results.

Colloid filtration models developed in the 1970s for application to homogeneous sand filters used in water treatment have been coupled with the advection-dispersion equation and successfully applied to transport of microorganisms through lab-scale sand columns. Application of this approach to field-scale problems requires adjustment of the model formulation to address the realistic complexity posed by spatial variability of geologic materials known to affect flow and transport processes in aquifers. Representation of geologic heterogeneity as a three-dimensional random permeability field has been incorporated analytically and numerically into mathematical models of microbial transport. In both cases applications to field-scale scenarios show significant effects of aquifer heterogeneity on the colloid transport process compared to homogeneous systems. Implications of model simulations will be discussed, as well as needs for future modeling and field work in this area.

2008 Darcy Lecture

Dr. Michael Celia
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Princeton University 

Geological Storage as a Carbon Mitigation Option

Dr. Allen P. Davis

Dr. Allen P. Davis
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Maryland, College Park
Director of the Maryland Water Resources Research Center

Overview of the Maryland Water Resources Research Center and "Creating 'Green' Stormwater"

Water Resources Research Institutes have been established in every state, as mandated by the Federal Water Resources Research Act of 1964, to promote research, education and outreach on local and regional water issues. The Institutes receive their funding through the USGS. The Maryland Water Resources Research Center is housed at the University of Maryland and uses its appropriation to support small research projects, summer graduate student fellowships, and an annual Maryland Water Symposium. Several opportunities exist through the Center for collaboration among university faculty and other water scientists and engineers throughout the State.

Bioretention and related technologies have been promoted as "low impact" stormwater management practices. Fundamental, applied, and monitoring research has been completed demonstrating performance on common (sub)urban stormwater runoff water quality concerns such as suspended solids, heavy metals, bacteria, phosphorus and nitrogen species. Results demonstrate that these technologies can be very effective for removal and treatment of several pollutants, but less so for others. These facilities will also moderate flow rates and volumes, which can have a significant impact on the local environment and on mass pollutant discharge. Long term issues related to facility maintenance and pollutant buildup and/or degradation are also important. With integration of these technologies into our landscapes and with changing regulations, however, new challenges have arisen. These new challenges require looking at stormwater management differently than we currently do.

The seminar will be followed by a lunch gathering for serious and casual discussions.

Bruce Sullivan

Maryland State Coordinator for
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Observing Network
(CoCoRaHS)

Volunteer Weather Observations: The CoCoRaHS Network

Bruce Sullivan, Maryland State Coordinator for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Observing Network (CoCoRaHS) will be discussing volunteer data collection in Maryland and across the United States. CoCoRaHS is a National program of volunteer precipitation observers of all ages that observe and report precipitation and other weather observations on a user friendly web site (www.cocorahs.org). Using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, the aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications.

Please join us to learn about this program, which continues to seek enthusiastic volunteers who enjoy observing the weather.

About the speaker: Bruce is a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service working at the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Maryland where his focus is on quantitative precipitation forecasting across the U.S.

For more information visit the website at www.cocorahs.org or contact Bruce Sullivan at bruce.sullivan@cocorahs.org