Weekly Highlights
MEMORANDUM
From: Susan Horton
Subject: Weekly Highlights, USGS National Wetlands Research
Center, April 30 2007
Current News
Evergreen State College Group Visits USGS Science Center: On April 27 and 28, USGS scientist Wylie Barrow hosted Evergreen State College (Washington) students and professors at the National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC), Lafayette, LA, as part of their field ornithology course studying the Gulf of Mexico coast to better understand the habitat needs of spring trans-gulf migratory birds. The group visited several of Barrow’s field sites in the Atchafalaya Swamp, Avery Island, and the chenieres (oak forests) looking at the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on bird habitat. Barrow also discussed his research on the ivory-billed woodpecker and demonstrated the capabilities of NWRC’s radar ornithology lab. (Wylie Barrow, 337-266-8668, Lafayette, LA)
USGS Wins Awards: The U.S. Geological Survey received eight awards from the National Association of Government Communicators’ 2007 Blue Pencil-Gold Screen competition. Awards were presented at NAGC’s annual Communications School in Chicago, Ill., on April 26, 2007. Winning USGS entries included maps, technical reports, folders, news stories, and science picks for the media. More than 550 participants entered the competition. The NAGC is a not-for-profit professional organization for writers, editors, and public affairs specialists in local, state, and federal government. Gaye S. Farris, information branch chief at the National Wetlands Research Center and board member of NAGC, attended the Communications School and awards banquet. (Gaye Farris, 337-266-8550, Lafayette, LA)
On April 27, USGS National Wetlands Research Center Director Greg Smith met with Mike Jawson, director of the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in LaCrosse, WI, to discuss integrating science the entire length of the Mississippi River (discussions also included the work of the Columbia Environmental Research Center in Missouri, headed by Michael J. Mac). Specifically they discussed ways of integrating their data into the Delta Science Network which is an effort to understand ecological, hydrological, geological, and biogeochemical processes and management outcomes for massive deltaic coastal systems like that of the Mississippi River Delta. (Gaye Farris, 337-266-8550, Lafayette, LA)
Press Inquiries/Media
USGS scientist Virginia Burkett was quoted in the Environmental & Energy Daily (April 18) about her climate change testimony at the April 17 hearing of the House Science and Technology Committee. Burkett was also interviewed April 23 about the impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems for scienceline, a Web magazine.
USGS geographer John Barras was interviewed and provided a pre- and post- Hurricane Katrina Landsat TM image for an upcoming article in National Geographic magazine.
On May 1-4, USGS scientist Jacoby Carter will be working with a film crew from the Korea Broadcasting System as they film nutria at several Louisiana study sites for a television documentary the group is producing on the invasive species.
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