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Wednesdays, 4:00 – 5:00 pm
Boyd Science Center Room 001

**Students, Faculty, Staff and the Public are all welcome **

January 31, 2007

The Secret Life of Lobsters

Win Watson, Professor, University of New Hampshire

The behavior, physiology and ecology of lobsters can be studied using tools ranging from ultrasonic telemetry and time lapse video in the field, to respirometers and microelectrodes in the laboratory. This talk will review the life history of the lobster, from egg to adult, and put into context studies that are both basic, such as how lobsters both produce and hear sounds, and practical, such as how lobster behavior around traps influences subsequent catch. The lobster fishery will also be discussed in terms of how it is managed and how our results might impact how the fishery is managed. Additional information on this subject can be viewed at www. lobsters.unh.edu.

Win Watson received his PhD from UMASS, Amherst in 1978 and has been a professor at UNH since then. During his career he has published papers about a variety of animals, most of which are marine invertebrates, such as horseshoe crabs, nudibranches and lobsters. Much of his recent work has focused on lobster behavior and ecology and this work has appeared on Public Radio and Television and well as in the NY TImes, Boston Globe, various magazines, and several books. In the last 3-4 years he has also worked closely with Chris Chabot of Plymouth State University and his students on studies concerned with biological rhythms in horseshoe crabs.

Friday, February 23; 2:30 – 3:30 pm (note change of day & time)

Bedrock Geology of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range

Dykstra Eusden, Professor of Geology, Bates College

For the last 15 years, extensive field work and mapping has been underway to better understand the story of plate collisions in the Paleozoic Era to form the ancient Appalachian Mountains. The results of this work have been compiled in a new bedrock geologic map of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, to be published in Spring 2007 by the New Hampshire Geological Survey under the auspices of NH State Geologist, David Wunsch. This talk will feature the map, cross sections and description of the circa 400 million year old bedrock and tectonic history of the Acadian Orogeny which includes the stratigraphic, deformational, metamorphic and plutonic events that have shaped the Granite State's most famous mountain range.

Dykstra Eusden, or Dyk for short, lives in South Paris, Maine and spends most of his time doing fieldwork as a geologist. He is a professor of geology at Bates College and enjoys teaching a variety of field-based courses; his two favorite being “Geology of the Maine Coast by Sea Kayak” and “Katahdin to Acadia: Exploring Maine Geology”. He loves maps, map making and explaining to people the stories that rocks and landscapes can tell. In an effort to stay within a 50 mile radius of most of New Hampshire and Maine’s finest natural attributes, he went to Bates for his B.S., then University of New Hampshire for his M.S. and finally Dartmouth College for his Ph.D., all in geology and always to make geologic maps! Since 2000, he has lived for a total of 2 years in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he is researching landscape geomorphology maps of fault lines along the active plate tectonic boundary in the South Island.

February 28, 2007

New Developments in Lead (Pb) Stabilization Technology

Keith Forrester, P.E., President, Forrester Environmental Services, Inc.

Solutions to hazardous waste and heavy metal bearing waste material often involve methods to stabilize the hazardous material. This talk will focus on lead (Pb) and heavy metal stabilization technologies developed in response torecent Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) regulations anddemands, as well as new project stabilized material end-userequirements for both United States and international remedial projects.

Keith Forrester is a licensed professional environmental engineer. He has worked as a corporate environmentalengineer for both Exxon Co., USA and Wheelabrator before starting Forrester Environmental Services, Inc. (FESI) in Meredith, NH, where he now serves as president of both FESI-USA and FESI-ShangHai. He is an inventor and currently holds 12 U.S. patents with 20 international patents pending. Keith also is an advisor to the United States Congress CERCLA and RCRA Programs, and a member of the New Hampshire Energy Siting and Oil Spill Fund Committees. He has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, and holds a M.S. in Environmental Engineering. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society.

March 14, 2007

The Shoreland Protection Act Revisited

Bill Smith, Adjunct Faculty, Plymouth State University

In 1989 the New Hampshire Legislature passed the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act (Chapter 483-B).  They did so in recognition of the fact that the “shorelands of the state are among its most valuable and fragile natural resources and [that] their protection is essential to maintain the integrity of public waters”.  Despite limited funding in 1994 and minor amendments to the original law, the statute has not been effective, has been poorly understood, inconsistently administered, underfunded and many times simply ignored.  In August 2005, Governor John Lynch appointed a 24 person Commission to “study issues relative to the Act”.  The Commission was specifically charged with review of ten themes.  The Commission is very ecumenical in composition with representation from relevant interest groups ranging from Association of Realtors, Home Builders and Remodelers, Marine Trades Association and Timberland Owners to Rivers Council, Conservation Commissions, Wildlife Federation and New Hampshire Lakes Association.  The seminar will update the progress of the Commission and their recommendations.

Bill Smith is an Adjunct Professor at PSU. Bill taught for many years at the Yale School of Forestry before moving to New Hampshire. In addition to his academic interests, he serves as the chair of the Stewardship Committee of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust; the chair of the Water Quality Committee of the New Hampshire Lakes Association; and is president of Bees and Trees Environmental Consulting.

March 28, 2007

Changing Homeowner’s Lawn Care Behavior to Reduce Nutrient Runoff: Applying Social Science Research in an Interdisciplinary Project

Brian Eisenhauer, Assistant Professor of Sociology & Associate Director of the Center for the Environment, Plymouth State University

Water quality issues are of great importance in New England, and continued residential growth in the region has a number of negative impacts, including those resulting from too much fertilizer use on lawns. Addressing this issue is very complex due to regulatory challenges, and effective solutions involve education and outreach designed to catalyze behavioral change among homeowners. To address these needs the USDA funded a three year, $486,000 interdisciplinary research project that will apply environmental and behavioral research results to extension efforts to reduce the application of excess nutrients by homeowners. Dr. Brian Eisenhauer and a team of graduate and undergraduate students will conduct social science research in five communities across New England using in-depth interviews and scientific surveys to identify the primary drivers of homeowners’ fertilizer choices and application behaviors. The information will be used by extension at universities throughout New England to develop education and outreach to change lawn care behavior to improve water quality. In this presentation Dr. Eisenhauer will describe the integration between the social sciences and other fields in this research, the theories and hypotheses guiding the social science research, and the progress on the project to date.

Brian Eisenhauer serves as the Associate Director of the Center for the Environment and Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Social Sciences Department. Brian's primary area of specialty is natural resource / environmental sociology, a field that studies community in its largest sense by examining the interrelationships between society, culture and the environment. He has a strong background in social research methods, and an active and varied research agenda focusing on the interaction of environment and society through investigating rural community change and development, community attachment and grassroots activism, wilderness values and perceptions, the evaluation of environmental education and conservation programs, outdoor recreation issues and management, and public opinion about environmental and natural resource issues. Brian received his Ph.D. in sociology from Utah State University.

April 11, 2007

Energy, Fuels and Sustainability

John Allen, Adjunct Faculty, Plymouth State University

The current emphasis on renewable energy has its roots in the 1974 Oil Shortage, which precipitated much discussion concerning alternative energy sources and the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels as well as consideration of environmental impacts. This seminar will explore comparisons between the energy pictures of 1974 and the present as well as within the U.S. and abroad. What has changed since then? What are the technological improvements that now make some of the formerly farfetched energy alternatives practical? Have we squandered the last 30 years after the “wake-up call”? Topics emphasized include Peak Oil, the renewable energy resources, as well as the impact of policy non-decisions.

John Allen received his B.S. from the US Naval Academy and worked for over ten years as a military aviator. He has also studied in the U.K. and has a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. John was a tenured Associate Professor at the US Naval Academy, where he taught engineering for 14 years. Since 1992, he has also worked as a forensic engineering consultant and expert witness.

April 18, 2007

Data Blitz: Recent Environmental Science Research at Plymouth State University

Are you curious about environmental research at Plymouth State University? Come hear short presentations about research projects at PSU! The presentations cover a variety of topics and are an excellent opportunity to learn about current research projects.

“Limulus locomotion: One clock, two clock, red clock, or blue clock?” Chris Chabot, Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology, & Behavior, Department of Biological Sciences, PSU

“Chloride in the New England Environment.” Steve Kahl, Director, Center for the Environment, PSU

"Spatial analysis of Hubbard Brook precipitation." Amey Bailey, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, USDA Forest Service & Kevin McGuire, Research Assistant Professor, PSU and Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service

“Sick fun in the sun: a science nerd at Club Med.” Lisa Donor, Research Assistant Professor, PSU

April 25, 2007

Water quality changes in shallow dammed lakes of Turkey: a looming crisis

Lisa Doner, Research Scientist, Center for the Environment, Plymouth State University

Istanbul, Turkey has an estimated population of 15 million people. Two coastal lagoons, Büyükçekmece and Terkos lakes, located on different inland seas, the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, are long-standing resources for Istanbul residents. The Sultan Süleyman the 2nd had his architect Sinan build a bridge over the Büyükçekmece lagoon, a place he used as a fish nursery, so that the Sultan’s armies could begin their march on Vienna in AD 1530. At Terkos Lake, a Roman-style aqueduct was recently discovered that extends towards Istanbul 25 km away. These two lakes currently provide over 50% of Istanbul’s water. Despite their importance in history and current use today, the natural processes acting on these two water reservoirs are largely unknown. In this presentation, we see results from initial investigations on sediments from these lakes with the aim of determining their potential lifespan as drinking water resources.

Lisa Doner, a new research faculty member in the Center for the Environment, spent the last four years in Turkey, teaching and training Turkish researchers about limnology and climate change. The last two and half years included an NSF International Research Fellowship to study Istanbul’s primary water resource lakes.

May 9, 2007

Road Salt in New Hampshire: Finding the balance between clean water & clear roads

Dari Sassan, Plymouth State University, Center for the Environment

In recent decades, chloride contamination of surface and ground water resources has become an increasingly prevalent environmental issue. Elevated chloride levels not only threaten aquatic organisms and ecosystems, but also human drinking water supply. Previous research points to deicing applications of road salt on roads and parking lots as the leading cause of sharp upward trends in aquatic chloride concentrations detected in many northern US locations.

New Hampshire’s roads are generally renowned for their post-storm drivability. Granite Staters have developed high expectations of the condition of roads immediately following snowfall and as a result, maintainers have been forced to respond with increased salt use. Currently, in southern New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NH DES) is conducting a chloride study in advance of the proposed widening of I-93 from Manchester to the Massachusetts border. Salt use in four watersheds currently showing chloride violations will be analyzed to determine the actual breakdown of existing chloride sources. Following research, an implementation plan will prescribe actions and practices all salt users shall employ to attain water quality compliance. Plymouth State University researchers Steve Kahl and Dari Sassan have received a grant from NH DES to conduct research for the study. Join us for a talk about their involvement in the first chloride Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) conducted in the Northeastern US, discuss the unique challenges in gathering data from private contractors, and look ahead to the realm of options that communities will have in addressing the issue.

After receiving his bachelors degree from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Dari spent over ten years in the horticulture business working in a variety of areas including landscape design and installation, nursery production and sales, athletic fields management and, of course he has done what all landscapers do in the winter: snow and ice removal. Dari is currently a research assistant at Plymouth State University working on a master’s degree in environmental science and policy, and conducting research with Steve Kahl on a chloride TMDL in southern NH. In his spare time, Dari also works for North Country Council as a community planner. He hopes to continue working to preserve NH’s unique character and landscape in a way that provides economic and ecological sustainability. Starting with his own town of Center Harbor, Dari recently led the push for the formation of a town energy committee which he will serve upon.