RM-CESU Current Newsletter: May 2013
Past Newsletters: April 2013; March 2013; February 2013; December 2012/Janaury 2013; November 2012; October 2012; September 2012; August 2012; July 2012; June 2012; May 2012; April 2012
Announcements:
RM-CESU Announces the Annual Competition for Student and Project Team Awards: The Rocky Mountains CESU annually recognizes outstanding students and projects through an awards program.
The RM-CESU Student Award recognizes "above and beyond” accomplishments by students involved in Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (RM-CESU) projects. Nominations may be submitted by any representative of the federal agency that sponsored the RM-CESU project, or by the student’s RM-CESU university.
The RM-CESU Project Team Award was established as a way for a Project Team (the academic institution and the federal agency) involved in Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (RM-CESU) projects to be recognized for their outstanding accomplishments.
Nominations for both Student Award and Project Team Award are due August 1, 2013. The Award winners will receive a citation and give a presentation on their project results at annual RM-CESU Fall Meeting in October. For nomination instructions, click on the links above.
Two RM-CESU Students Awarded Jerry O’Neal Fellowship for Research in Glacier National Park
The Jerry O’Neal Fellowships, funded through the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center at Glacier National Park, were announced for student work in summer 2013. This student award is named for the former deputy superintendent at Glacier NP, in honor of his dedication to science and research in the NPS. The competition is facilitated through the Rocky Mountains CESU and was open to students at all of the RM-CESU universities. This year’s Fellowship recipients are:
Cristina McKernan, M.Sc. Candidate – Ecology, Colorado State University: The Effects of Glacier Loss on Alpine and Subalpine Riparian Vegetation in Glacier National Park, Montana. Cristina will assess the current vegetative composition and the status of high elevation riparian wetlands in GNP and evaluate how this vegetation may respond to changes in stream flow and geomorphic processes caused by glacial melting. Understanding the potential influences of climate induced changes in the hydrologic drivers of riparian wetlands is a critical topic with implications for channel stability, flood control, water chemistry, and biodiversity, all high priority concerns for GNP.
Elizabeth Pansing, M.Sc. Candidate – Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver: Role of microsite type, cache pilferage, and elevation in whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) regeneration in the Northern Rocky Mountains: Implications for restoration and climate change. Elizabeth’s research investigates the regeneration ecology of whitebark pine. Her research goals are to determine microsite types in which whitebark pine germinates most frequently, how germination rates change with elevation, and if rodent seed predation is a significant source of seed loss. Results are expected to provide information that could increase the success of a developing restoration technique called direct seeding, and use treeline dynamics to determine the impact of climate change on regeneration and restoration.
Upcoming RM-CESU and Partner Events
June 4-8, 2013: International Symposium on Society & Resource Management, Estes Park, CO. ISSRM is the premier scientific meeting for academic and government researchers, students, agency scientists, land managers, NGO representatives, and other individuals who are broadly interested in the human dimensions of natural resource management issues. Meeting sponsored by Colorado State University.
July 7-9, 2013: Council on Forest Engineering Annual Meeting, Missoula MT. Sponsors include University of Montana’s College of Forest and Conservation and Montana State University Extension Forestry.
August 15-16, 2013: Clyde Martz Summer Conference - Arizona v. California at 50: The Legacy and Future of Governance, Reserved Rights, and Water Transfers, University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, CO. The 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's historic decision in Arizona v. California arrives next summer. While the case was an important landmark in the still-evolving relationship between these two Lower Basin states, it remains most salient today by the way it codified federal rights and responsibilities, especially in the areas of federal (including tribal) reserved rights, the role of the Interior Secretary in Lower Basin water management, and the ability of Congress to allocate/reallocate water. It also modified the Upper Basin/Lower Basin relationship in important ways, especially regarding the treatment of Lower Basin tributaries. Moving forward, several types of potential management innovations in areas such as governance and water transfers will hinge on the framework outlined, in part, by this decision.
