Recent Events

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' new wing, the Nature Research Center, will open its doors to the public for the first time with a 24-hour celebration rich in activities and entertainment for everyone. The Grand Opening will take place in Raleigh, NC, beginning at 4:00 p.m. on April 20, and will attract an estimated 75,000 visitors and capture global imagination and local attention, while maintaining a commitment to fiscal responsibility and environmental sustainability. Visit the event webpage for program details.

North Carolina State University's 2012 Earth Day Celebration will take place Friday, April 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme is “Green Careers.” Visit the event website for all the details.

The 2012 Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Work Group meeting, themed “Human Influences on Forest Health,” will be held in Tucson, AZ, April 16-19. The workshop will include theme-relevant panel presentations and several concurrent focus groups designed to address emerging issues related to integrating pest reporting, monitoring climate change effects, and pest risk mapping. There will also be time and opportunities to share information about State, regional, and national program status, needs and accomplishments. A poster session will include posters from FHM funded Evaluation Monitoring projects and other topics of interest. Visit the FHM website for registration and agenda information.

The US Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (US-IALE) will hold its annual symposium in Newport, RI, April 8-12. Themed "Informing Decisions in a Changing World," the symposium's unique setting provides the opportunity to showcase the role that landscape ecology has in informing environmental decisions across a diversity of ecosystems (land and sea) and across scales of governance (i.e. local to federal). The conference program will emphasize how the science and practice of landscape ecology benefit environmental protection and management. Visit the symposium website for program details.

The 14th Annual Water Resources Research Institute Conference will be held March 27-28 in Raleigh, NC. This is the premier research conference focusing on North Carolina's water resource issues, solutions, and opportunities. Visit the conference website for details.

The Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) National Workshop will be held in Denver, CO, March 27-28. Workshop participants will:

• Hear from leaders in landscape-scale conservation, and develop a shared understanding of the future of landscape-scale conservation.
• Learn about ongoing and upcoming landscape initiatives and how LCC collaboration is or will be beneficial.
• Focus on landscape-scale stressors, tools for supporting partnerships, and integration of science and management.
• Identify and develop opportunities to build on cross-initiative and cross-LCC communication, information and experience sharing, and collaborative problem-solving.
• Build on existing partnerships and create new partnerships to support and champion landscape-scale conservation efforts.
• Return to their regions with new knowledge and tools for successful landscape-scale conservation.

Visit the workshop website for more information.

North Carolina State University's Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources will celebrate North Carolina's Arbor Day with giveaways, exhibitors, demonstrations, and posters. The event will take place on March 16 from 2:00-6:00 pm at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh, NC. Visit the event website for more information.

The 23rd USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species was held in Annapolis, MD, January 10-13. Visit the Forum website for more information.

EFETAC ecologist Steve McNulty presented "Acid Rain: The Silver Lining of Global Warming" on January 9 as part of the NCSU MEAS seminar series. View the presentation abstract or visit the NCSU MEAS seminar series webpage for more information.

The AGU Fall Meeting was held December 5-9, 2011 in San Francisco, CA. This meeting showcased current scientific theory focused on discoveries that will benefit humanity and ensure a sustainable future for our planet. Visit the meeting website for details.

SAMAB’s 21st Annual Conference, themed "Social and Economic Uses of Southern Appalachian Forests: Today’s Trends to Meet Tomorrow’s Demands," was held in Asheville, North Carolina, November 15-17. Visit the SAMAB website for the conference agenda and registration information.

In order to identify regional goals, objectives, actions and activities, as well as enhance partnerships and collaborations between stakeholders throughout the southeast, two focus group meetings allowed regional stakeholders to provide input and contribute to the evolution and implementation of the national Cohesive Strategy. The focus group meetings were held July 12, 2011 in Columbia, South Carolina, and July 18, 2011 in Pearl, Mississippi. Click here to get the details.

The 4th Fire in Eastern Oak Forests Conference was held May 17-19 at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Missouri. The theme of this conference was “Managing Oak Woodlands & Savannas in the Forest-Prairie Region." Invited presentations and additional offered posters by scientists and managers on a wide range of topics were featured. Visit the conference Web site for additional details and registration information.
 

The National Workshop on Climate and Forests: Planning Tools and Perspectives on Adaptation and Mitigation Options took place in Flagstaff, AZ, May 16-18. The workshop was intended:

• to extend greater understanding of the current adaptation and mitigation options (the 5-R's) for forest management;
• to make state-of-the-art climatic and ecological planning tools accessible and useful for decision makers, forest resource managers and extension educators at all levels;
• to explore how to make these options and tools better utilized by the various forest resource managers and extension educators across the country; and
• to foster understanding of where scientific research and practitioners' expectations intersect to generate the best management decisions.

EFETAC's Template for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Management Options (TACCIMO), Comparative Risk Assessment Framework and Tools (CRAFT), and Water Supply Stress Index-Carbon and Biodiversity model were featured. Visit the workshop Web site for details.

Several EFETAC scientists and collaborators participated in a special symposium, "Climate Change--Impacts and Effects on Vegetation," on April 4 as part of the US-IALE Annual Symposium held in Portland, OR, April 3-7. The objective of the special symposium was to showcase the latest results regarding the projected effects of climatic changes on future vegetation, and the implications of those changes. Emphasis was placed on practical assessment and management. Visit the US-IALE Symposium Web site for details.

Minority Landowner convened a farmers’ conference February 24-26, 2011 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Through a facilitative process of four concurrent breakout sessions and small group interactive discussion, farmers, ranchers and forest landowners helped design an intervention program to help save family farms. View the conference flyer for more information.




 

On February 1 and 2, 2011 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Council for Regulatory Environmental Modeling held a workshop on Integrated Modeling to Characterize Climate Change Impacts and Support Decision Making in Atlanta, GA. The workshop facilitated the use of integrated modeling to inform and improve local, regional and national policy decisions relevant to climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. EFETAC's Template for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Management Options (TACCIMO) and Comparative Risk Assessment Framework and Tools (CRAFT) were highlighted. Visit the workshop Web site for more information.

The USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species was held January 11-14, 2011 at the Loews Annapolis Hotel in Annapolis, MD. Visit the Forum Web site for additional information.

Above: Emerald ash borer - Photo by David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org

"Climate Change: Science to Action" was the theme of the 20th annual Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB) conference held November 16-18, 2010 in Gatlinburg, TN. The aims of this SAMAB conference were to:

• Become aware of on-the-ground actions addressing climate change in the Southern Appalachians.
• Generate and expand collaboration between NGOs, government agencies, and colleges and universities in response to climate change-induced changes.
• Look at ways to engage Southern Appalachian communities in efforts to understand and address climate change.
• Provide an update on the latest in climate change research affecting the Southern Appalachians.

Visit http://www.samab.org for more information.