Publications
IE Director Dr. Larry Band recently co-authored, with USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station researcher ecologists Chelcy Ford and Jim Vose and T.C. Hales, a lecturer at Cardiff University, an article entitled “Topographic and ecologic controls on root reinforcement” in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface. The research examines, as the Asheville Citizen-Times reported, “how the interaction between topography and the species of tree or shrub present affects the ability of soil to hold together,” which sheds light on the occurrence of land slides.
Center for Sustainable Community Design Director Dr. Philip Berke co-authored an opinion piece for the News and Observer on balancing human development with ecosystem preservation with Dean Urban, a professor at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. The article, “Getting government and nature in line,” can be found online: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/
1657201.html
Philip Berke has published the article “Integrating Bio-conservation and Land Use planning: A Grand Challenge for the Twenty First Century” in the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. The article critically examines concepts and methods that foster integration of ecological-science based information into land use planning.
Center for Environmental Modeling for Policy Development Director Dr. Adel Hanna contributed to an article entitled, "National Urban Database and Access Portal Tool" that was published in August's American Meteorological Society (AMS) Bulletin.
IE Senior Associate Director Tony Reevy’s new chapbook, In Mountain Lion Country, was released in August through Pudding House Press. He will have a reading at the UNC Bulls Head Bookshop at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
Conferences
Center for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economic Development Director Dr. David McNelis attended the Electric Power Research Institute's 2009 Summer Seminar "Creating Our Future" in Westlake Village, Calif. on Aug. 2-4. Presentations on issues such as renewables and energy policy were given by representatives of the U.S. Congress, Ford Motor Company, Dow Chemical and more.
Public Service
Philip Berke has become a member of the North Carolina Sea Level Rise Risk Management Study Advisory Committee.
Leaving the Institute
CEMPD Research Associate Alison Eyth is leaving UNC to pursue a position at the U.S. EPA after six years with the IE. "She has been instrumental in leading and managing the multi-million dollar EPA-sponsored project on Emissions, Air Quality and Meteorological Modeling," said Adel Hanna. "We wish Alison all the success in her endeavor."
Check us out on the web!
The IE has launched new Twitter and Facebook accounts to keep people apprised of the Institute's exciting news, and to let IE faculty and staff broadcast news about their accomplishments. If you have an event or news that you’d like the IE to Tweet about, or post on our Facebook page, send info to Danielle Del Sol at delsol@email.unc.edu. Friend or follow the IE (Twitter name: UNC_IE) today!
The Institute for the Environment has recently been awarded several new grants to support water research and outreach efforts through its research centers and the Environmental Resource Program (ERP).
Center for Watershed Science and Management Director Dr. Martin Doyle has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant for a project that will explore the potential impacts of environmental markets on the nitrogen levels in the Neuse River Basin. Doyle and fellow investigators Kurt E. Schnier (Georgia State University) and Andrew J. Yates (Univ. of Richmond) have identified that, when compensating for polluting by putting money into environmental markets, organizations define the area they’re restoring spatially, by its geography. But, they ask, is that the most effective way to have a restorative impact on the environment? The project, entitled “Collaborative Research: The Proper Scale for Environmental Markets with Application to Nitrogen Trading in the Neuse River Basin,” will examine how the compensation for nitrogen emissions from a wastewater treatment plant actually affects the river basin, and will test different economic possibilities and outcomes from there.
ERP will be funded to participate, with faculty from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, in a project with the Division of Public Health in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) that will examine well water contamination in North Carolina. According to ERP Director and IE Associate Director for Public Service and Outreach Kathleen Gray, who is serving as the project's co-P.I., the project seeks to develop strategies for well contamination data collection and analysis so as to enable the NCDHHS to sustain its efforts in identifying North Carolina communities at greatest potential risk for well water contamination. The project is funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Science with National Institutes of Health ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds.
Additionally, ERP is partnering with the Town of Chapel Hill’s Stormwater Management Division and other stakeholders in a project entitled “Improving Stormwater Management in the Commercial Sector.” Kathleen Gray is leading the project with Wendy Smith, Environmental Education Coordinator for the Town of Chapel Hill’s Stormwater Management Division. The project seeks to develop visually engaging, easy-to-use training materials to educate employees in the restaurant and painting/concrete contractor sectors about the hazards of stormwater runoff and water pollution associated with improper management practices. They will also develop general materials for all/any commercial property owners. This project is supported by a grant from the Wallace Genetic Foundation and runs from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
Finally, IE Director Larry Band will lead the Southeastern States Water Resources Planning and Management Forum on Oct. 22, 2009 at the Research Triangle Institute.
The Institute for the Environment has welcomed two new full-time employees, an intern and several new graduate fellows to its ranks this fall. New Accounting Technician Robert Weaver has come to the IE from the Gillings School of Global Public Health Dean’s Office, where he spent 15 years as an accounting technician. Weaver will assist with CEMP-funded projects such as the EPA EMAQ LOE contract, the CMAS conference and CMAQ, SMOKE and Benmap training classes. His office is located at 609 Bank of America (BOA) Building.
Also new to BOA is Kevin Talgo, who joins the CEMPD group as a research associate. Talgo recently received his master’s degree in Atmospheric Science from North Carolina State University, where he also served as a teaching assistant and research assistant. This past summer, he worked as a forecaster and meteorologist at the North American Plant Disease Research Center in Raleigh.
UNC senior Megs Eichorn is working in public affairs as the Institute for the Environment intern this semester. Megs is a Journalism major with an interest in environmental issues. Her past experience includes an internship with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, where she worked on sustainability issues.
The IE has also welcomed several new graduate fellows this semester. New Carolina Energy Fellows are Brian Callaway, Caleb Kent, Sam Price, Nathan Westcott, and Jordan Womick. Jeff Rissman is the newest Institute for the Environment Graduate Fellow, and Jordan Kern has become a Progress Energy Fellow. Still with the IE are Institute Graduate Fellow Matt Woody and Progress Energy Fellow Sanya Carley, who had their fellowships renewed.