NWRC Weekly Highlights 2/5/2009

Weekly Highlights

MEMORANDUM

From: Gabrielle B. Bodin
Subject: Weekly Highlights, USGS National Wetlands Research Center, February 5, 2009

Departmental/Bureau News - Current

NWRC Scientists Participate in Working Wetlands Group Meeting: USGS National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) scientists Clint Jeske and Wayne Norling met with a working wetlands group that includes farmers, land managers, and researchers to identify the importance of working wetlands (rice fields and crawfish ponds) as waterbird habitat, potential threats to the habitat, and the responses of waterbirds if that habitat base is lost. The meeting was held at the Louisiana State University Rice Experiment Station on January 23. (Clinton Jeske, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8652)
NWRC Scientists Meet with Gulf Coast Joint Venture Team: USGS National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) scientists met with the shorebird Management, Evaluation and Research Team (MERT) for the Gulf Coast Joint Venture on January 28 to review progress and to start assessing habitat needs for spring migrants as well as beach-nesting shorebirds. (Clinton Jeske, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8652)
NWRC Information Specialist Educates Conservationists About Louisiana Wetlands: David Marks, USGS National Wetlands Research Center information specialist and Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) Outreach Coordinator, managed a display at the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) 2009 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, La., February 1-3. Conservationists from across the nation learned about the challenges facing the Louisiana coastline as well as the progress CWPPRA has made in designing solutions to protect and restore Louisiana's wetlands. (David Marks 337-266-8623).
NWRC Scientists Meet with Greater Everglades Ecosystem Recovery Partners: USGS National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) scientists Scott Wilson, Steve Hartley, Craig Conzelmann, and contractor Prasanth Chintameneni conducted a series of meetings with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and South Florida Water Management District on the development of new data integration and visualization tools to support the Greater Everglades Ecosystem Recovery. The meetings took place in various Florida cities between February 3 and 5. (Scott Wilson, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8644)
NWRC Scientist Participates in LUMCON Seminar Series: USGS National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) scientist Ken Krauss presented a talk at Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) in Cocodrie, entitled "Climate Change and Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands" for approximately 25 members of the faculty and students on February 4 for their seminar series. (Ken Krauss, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8882)
NWRC Scientist Presents at Gulf Coast Diamondback Terrapin Workgroup Meeting: USGS National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) scientist Hardin Waddle presented “Occupancy Models and Population Estimates” to attendees of the Gulf Coast Diamondback Terrapin Workgroup Meeting in Gautier, Miss., on February 5. (Hardin Waddle, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8671)
NWRC Staff Hosts Job Shadowers: Several USGS National Wetlands Research Center scientists and other staff hosted job shadowers February 2 and 5. Eight students from various schools in the area learned about the variety of scientific work being conducted at NWRC as well as about positions that provide support to the scientists. (Gabrielle Bodin, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8655)

Agency Work on Presidential Initiatives

USGS Representatives Meet with State Department Officials to Discuss DRAGON: USGS Associate Director for Biology Susan Haseltine and National Wetlands Research Center Director Gregory Smith met with officials at the State Department's East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau and the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in Washington, D.C., on February 4. They discussed the Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON) project partnership and opportunities to cooperate with the State Department on projects specifically in Southeast Asia. (Gregory Smith, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8501)
USGS Representatives Meet with White House OSTP Office to Discuss DRAGON: USGS Associate Director for Biology Susan Haseltine and National Wetlands Research Center Director Gregory Smith met with Joan Rolf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on February 4 in Washington, D.C. They briefed her on the activities of the Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON) project and discussed future science needs for large deltas, especially the Mississippi Delta. (Gregory Smith, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8501)
USGS Scientist Invited to Represent U.S. Government at IPCC Meeting: The Department of State invited USGS scientist Virginia Burkett to represent the U.S. Government at an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scoping meeting for a special report on Extreme Events and Disasters on March 23-26. She and delegates from more than 80 countries will meet in Oslo, Norway, to discuss the scientific information available for such a report and, if the decision is made to proceed, the outline for the special report. A call for lead author nominations for this IPCC report will occur in the fall or winter of 2009. (Virginia Burkett, Many, La., 318-256-5628)

Press Inquiries/Media - Newspapers/magazines/wires, etc.

An interview with Virgnia Burkett, USGS Chief Scientist for Global Change, appears in an article about climate change in the February issue of Field and Stream magazine. She discusses sea level rise and coastal wetland losses in the Gulf Coast and implications for fish and wildlife.
Virginia Burkett, USGS Chief Scientist for Global Change, was interviewed by Science magazine on February 4. She reviewed an upcoming article describing the gravitational effects of the loss of land ice in the Antarctic, which enhances the rate of sea-level rise in the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and Indian Ocean. She commented on the implications of accelerated sea-level rise for low-lying coasts, small islands, and deltas.

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