For information and to register: Contact Fariss Samarrai at 804-924-3778 or email: [email protected]
The University of Virginia Department of Environmental Sciences presents a two-day media workshop; On Shifting Sands: The Ecology of Change in Coastal Environments.
May 27 & 28, 1999 NSF Virginia Coastal Reserve Long-Term Ecological Research Station, Oyster, Virginia (Meetings will be held at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge Conference Room, Cape Charles, Virginia)
* A two-day media workshop specially designed for science and environmental journalists on long-term studies of the dynamics of coastal zone environments. These zones are located within the range of some of the most populated areas of the United States and are affected by upland development, agricultural runoff, and periodic storms. The study sites are representative of sixty percent of the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coastlines.
* The workshop will feature leading marine biologists and coastal geologists from the University of Virginia's pioneering Department of Environmental Sciences, as well as invited representatives from federal and state science agencies.
* A newsworthy review of recent research findings, including an educational overview of the issues affecting coastal zone environments, with special emphasis on barrier islands, coastal marshes, lagoons and shoreline.
* Discussion of human factors on marine and coastal zone life such as fish, crabs, oysters, wading birds and migratory waterfowl.
* Examine barrier island dynamics, sea level rise, sinking land and the effects of these factors on human populations.
* A review of the lifestyles and economics of coastal communities and a preview of the future for commercial fisheries in the region and nationwide.
* Workshop includes lectures and field trips to research sites, including a trip aboard the R/V Nema, a 32-foot Grand Banks Trawler used for water column and plankton studies.
Registration Fee: $50 (includes optional breakfasts and lunches).
The following is the itinerary for the media workshop. All sessions will be held in the Conference Room at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge.
MAY 27
8:30-9 a.m. Registration, coffee and continental breakfast.
9:00-10:30 a.m. Bruce Hayden, UVA Professor of Environmental Sciences, and Director, Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation, will give a global perspective on the forces that drive coastal change.
10:30-11:45 a.m. Robert Dolan, UVA Professor of Environmental Sciences, will speak on the effects of coastal change on human systems, including impacts of beach erosion and associated mitigation strategies.
Noon- 1:30 p.m. Seafood Lunch with participating scientists and journalists.
1:30-2:30 p.m. Mark Luckenbach, Director, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences Eastern Shore Laboratory, will speak on seagrass and oyster reef restoration and coastal land management issues.
2:30-3:30 p.m. Linda Blum, UVA Research Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences, will contrast the estruarine environments on the bay-side (Chesapeake Bay) and sea-side (Atlantic Ocean) and discuss the dramatic changes in ecological conditions that have occurred in both.
3:30-6:00 p.m. Field Trip on R/V "Nema" on Chesapeake Bay or possible flights in small plane along the barrier island chain with researchers and journalists.
May 28
8:30-9 a.m. Coffee and continental breakfast.
9:00-10:00 a.m. John Briggs, Program Officer, National Science Foundation, will address new approaches to understanding ecological systems on local, national and international scales through the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research Network.
10:00-11:00 a.m. Jay Zieman, UVA Professor of Environmental Sciences, will discuss the impact of coastal change on salt-marsh systems including the development, maintenance and loss of marshes, and their impacts on the associated ecosystems.
11:00-11:45 a.m. R. Michael Erwin, UVA Research Professor and Wildlife Biologist, USGS, will address changes in the composition and abundance of birds that colonize on the Atlantic Coast and their relationship to changes along the coast.
Noon- 1:30 p.m. Pasta lunch with participating scientists and journalists.
1:30-2:15 p.m. Barry Truitt, Director of Stewardship, The Nature Conservancy, and co-author of the book "Seashore Chronicles: Three Centuries of the Virginia Barrier Islands" (1998) will discuss cultural and stewardship issues on the Virginia Coast Reserve.
2:15-3:00 p.m. John Porter, lead investigator, Virginia Coast Reserve Long-Term Ecological Research Project, UVA, will discuss changes in the fauna and flora of the barrier islands and the lessons in biocomplexity that they teach.
3:00-6:00 p.m. Optional Field trip to Hog Island Chronosequence via boat.
RSS