NWRC Weekly Highlights 1/28/2010

Weekly Highlights

MEMORANDUM

From: Gabrielle Boudreaux Bodin
Subject: Weekly Highlights, USGS National Wetlands Research Center, January 28, 2010

Departmental/Bureau News - Current

USGS Participates in United States-New Zealand Joint Commission Meeting on Development of Opportunities for Collaboration: On January 25, 2010, USGS National Wetlands Research Center scientist Karen McKee participated in one of several workshops held simultaneously in Hamilton, Rotorura, and Wellington, New Zealand to begin discussions of areas of mutual interest and opportunities for collaboration. McKee attended the Agriculture and Food Workshop held at the Ruakura Research Centre in Hamilton, which was co-chaired by Nina Federoff, Science and Technology Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State and Andrew West, Chief Executive of AgResearch, one of the New Zealand government’s principal research and development institutes. Other U.S. delegates included representatives from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Department of State. (Karen McKee, Lafayette, LA, 337-266-8662)
NWRC Research To Be Presented at Louisiana Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Meeting: USGS National Wetlands Research Center research will be presented at a poster session at the Louisiana Chapter of the American Fisheries Society meeting in Baton Rouge, La., January 28 – 29, 2010. Center scientist Jill Jenkins is co-author on all three NWRC posters. Two posters, “Quantifying adenosine-5-triphosphate in spermatozoa” and “Induction, Verification, and production of triploid hybrid crappie: lessons learned,” are also co-authored by center contractor Tyler Thigpen. The third poster, “Development of a novel method for assessing DNA integrity in spermatozoa of yellow perch,” is co-authored by center contractor Heather Olivier. (Jill Jenkins, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8607)
NWRC Staff and Contractors To Educate Students About Careers in Science: USGS National Wetlands Research Center staff and contractors will participate in Career Connections on January 28, 2010, in Lafayette, La. The career fair is designed to educate approximately 4,000 tenth graders from four parishes about career options. Center Director Janine Powell, scientists Nicole Cormier, Clint Jeske and Ches Vervaike, and contractors Patrick Boland, Gabrielle Bodin and Camille Stagg will teach students about careers in biology, ecology and geography. (Gabrielle Bodin, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8655)
NWRC Scientists To Present Symposium Talks at the University of Botswana: USGS National Wetlands Research Center scientists Beth Middleton and Karen McKee will give a seminar hosted by the Henry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Center at the University of Botswana on flood pulsed wetlands, January 31 – February 5, 2010. Middleton organized the symposium on "Climate change and the function of Ramsar sites." McKee's talk is entitled "Mangrove-dominated Ramsar sites: potential effects of climate change and sea-level rise." Middleton's talk is entitled "Flood pulsing, climate change and regeneration dynamics of Ramsar sites along the Mississippi and Gangetic Floodplains." (Beth Middleton, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8618)
NWRC Staff To Host Job Shadowers: Several members of the USGS National Wetlands Research Center staff will host nine eighth grade students for job shadowing on February 2, 2010. The students from various schools in the area will learn about careers in biology, ecology, writing, geography, computer programming and mechanics. (Gabrielle Bodin, Lafayette, La., 337-266-8655)

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

Panel: Rising ocean levels threaten N.C. coast (Associated Press: The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C., and The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C., January 16, 2010) “Sea levels along the North Carolina shore could rise from just over a foot to as much as 4½ feet this century and possibly reshape the state’s coastline, according to a panel of scientists and engineers gathered by the state…. North Carolina is ahead of most states in preparing for the ocean’s rise because it collects accurate data and has coastal scientists who are aggressively looking at the issue, said Virginia Burkett, the U.S. Geological Survey’s chief climate scientist.” (Virginia Burkett, Many, La., 318-256-5628)
Scientists: Sea levels on the rise (Jacksonville Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C., January 23, 2010) “Some scientists predict that sea levels could rise by as much as a meter by the end of the century, endangering North Carolina’s low-lying barrier islands and coast. …During the forum, Virginia Burkett of the U.S. Geological Survey said that global sea level rises were 1.7 mm per year. From 1993 to 2003, sea levels rose 3.1 mm per year, she said.” (Virginia Burkett, Many, La., 318-256-5628)

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