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.;
<br />Larry Baker (WRS graduate faculty,
<br />WRC) taught at the International Institute
<br />for Water and Emrironmental Engineering
<br />in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on the Ful-
<br />bright Senior Specialist program November
<br />10-24, 2009.
<br />Larry Baker (WRS graduate Faculty,
<br />WRC), Sarah Hobbie (WRS graduate
<br />faculty, EEB), Kristen Nelson (WRS
<br />graduate faculty, Forest Resources), K.V.
<br />Cadieux (Geography), Paige Novak
<br />(WRS graduate faculty, CE), and Larissa
<br />Schively-Slotterback (HHH) are orga-
<br />nizing asymposium, "Urban Ecosystems
<br />and Human Well-Being: Integrating Social
<br />and Ecological Knowledge," funded by a
<br />grant from the Minnesota Futures Pro-
<br />gram, to be held at the Continuing Educa-
<br />tion and Conference Center on the UM
<br />St. Paul Campus, January 25, 2010.
<br />Dan Engstrom (WRS graduate faculty,
<br />St. Croix Watershed Research Station)
<br />traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi, in October
<br />2009 to receive the USEPA's Gulf Guardian
<br />Award on behalf of The Science Museum
<br />of Minnesota (SMM). The SMM received a
<br />first-puce award for water quality research
<br />and its efforts to educate the public about
<br />the impact of human behavior at the start
<br />of the Mississippi on the health of the river
<br />downstream. The museum was nominated
<br />for the award by the Minnesota Pollu-
<br />tion Control Agency (MPCA) both for its
<br />work as a premier science center in the
<br />upper Midwest and for the research that
<br />takes place at its em~ironmental research
<br />institute, the St. Croix Watershed Research
<br />Station, ~~hich is located in Marine on St.
<br />Croix. Initiated in 2000 by the Environ-
<br />mental Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico
<br />Program, the Gulf Guardian awards are a
<br />v,~ay to recognize and honor the businesses,
<br />community groups, individuals and agencies
<br />that are taking positive steps towards keep-
<br />ing the Gulf healthy and productive. For
<br />more information on the program, visit
<br />~vww.epa.gov/gmpo
<br />Jacques Finlay (WRS graduate faculty,
<br />EEB) and Robert Sterner (WRS gradu-
<br />ate faculty, EEB) received afour-year NSF
<br />grant "Sources and Sinks of Stoichiometri-
<br />cally hnbalanced Nitrate in the Lauren-
<br />tian Great Lakes." The UM budget is for
<br />$824,761. Partnering institution Bowling
<br />Green is receiving an additional X343,290.
<br />John Gulliver (WRS graduate faculty,
<br />CE) was awarded a 319 grant from the U.S.
<br />Em-ironmental Protection Agency through
<br />the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency,
<br />"Aqueous Pollutant Capture by Enhanced
<br />Filter Media," for X404,000 over three-
<br />and-one-half years. The research will de-
<br />velop adesign standard for enhancing sand
<br />and soil media that can be used in new or
<br />renovated sand filters, infiltration systems,
<br />rain gardens, and buffer strips to capture
<br />significant amounts of dissolved heavy
<br />metals, phosphorus, and nitrogen that are
<br />typically found in urban and agricultural
<br />runoff.
<br />Nick Haig (Program Co-ordinator for the
<br />Onsite Sewage Waste Program) oversaw
<br />the revision of the Manual for Septic System
<br />Pro, fessionals in ~Ylinnesota, written to coincide
<br />with significant administrative rule revi-
<br />sions affecting the septic system industry in
<br />2008. The new manual contains the latest
<br />information for septic system professionals
<br />about the design,
<br />installation and
<br />care of septic ~~~~~~~~ s;~``~ "•
<br />N. ,~n;.~~. ,i ~„ .:; ~ ~
<br />systems in Minne-
<br />sota. This manual ""'t '`,~' ~~
<br />-~;, -~
<br />is available inits -- ~,-~
<br />entirety online ^.?r~nu„lisrswptk
<br />~, ,;~ a t'~oi; a~tn, alp
<br />at: septic.umn. ~ ,;,pgln~maola
<br />edu/sstsmanual. ]t
<br />can be purchased
<br />in print at: shop.
<br />extension.umn.edu/ as item # 08650.
<br />Randall Hicks (WRS graduate faculty;
<br />UMD-Biology) and colleagues from Old
<br />Dominion University, the University of
<br />Connecticut, and the University of Georgia
<br />received afour-year, X2.3 million, collabor-
<br />ative research grant from NSF to imrestigate
<br />the role of organic-rich aggregate particles
<br />in the persistence of pathogenic microbes
<br />in aquatic ecosystems. They will evaluate
<br />whether fundamental concepts of island
<br />biogeography apply to these "microscopic
<br />islands" and bacterial pathogens that enter
<br />aqueous environments and are subsequently
<br />incorporated into these organic-rich
<br />aggregate particles.
<br />Thomas Johnson (WRS graduate faculty,
<br />UMD Large Lakes Observatory, UM
<br />Regents Professor), presented the 2009
<br />Distinguished Aquatic Scholar Lecture on
<br />October 14, 2009, at the Weber Music
<br />Hall on the UMD campus. The title of Dr.
<br />Johnson's presentation was "Chasing Past
<br />Climate: Tales from East Africa." This
<br />annual lecture is sponsored b;~ the UMD
<br />Center for Freshwater Research and Policy.
<br />Sergei Katsev (WRS graduate faculty,
<br />UMD) and David Fowle from Kansas Uni-
<br />versity have received NSF funding to study
<br />the geobiology, geochemistry, and physics
<br />of Lake Matano in Indonesia. The lake is
<br />host to a unique microbial community that
<br />is likely to shed light on the microbial ecol-
<br />ogy of the early Earth.
<br />Robert Sterner (WRS graduate faculty,
<br />EEB) has returned to campus full-time after
<br />working for two years as Director of the
<br />Division of Environmental Biology at the
<br />National Science Foundation. Sterner
<br />is also the ASLO co-chair of the upcom-
<br />ing ASLO-NABS 2010 joint meeting of
<br />the American Society of Limnology and
<br />Oceanography and the North American
<br />Benthological Society to be held in Santa
<br />Fe, New Mexico, June 6-10, 2010.
<br />Robert Sterner will give the Kilham
<br />Lecture at the SIL 2010 Congress in Cape
<br />Town, South Africa, August 15-20, 2010.
<br />Deborah Swackhamer, co-director of
<br />the Water Resources Center, is the 2009
<br />recipient of The Society of Environmen-
<br />tal Toxicology and Chemistry's (SETAC)
<br />Founders Award. The highest award given
<br />by the organization, the Founders Award
<br />recognizes outstanding career accomplish-
<br />ments that promote research, education,
<br />communication, and training in the envi-
<br />ronmental sciences. SETAC is anon-profit,
<br />world-wide professional organization made
<br />up of 5,000 members in 70 countries dedi-
<br />cated to the development of principles and
<br />practices For the protection, enhancement,
<br />and management of sustainable environ-
<br />mental quality and ecosystem integrity.
<br />In addition to co-directing the Water Re-
<br />sources Center, Swackhamer is a professor
<br />in the University's School of Public Health
<br />and holder of the Hubert H. Humphrey
<br />Institute's Charles M. Denny, ]r., Chair in
<br />Science, Technology, and Public Policy.
<br />The award was presented at SETAC North
<br />America's 30th annual meeting in New
<br />Orleans, November 2009.
<br />
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