H2OSU is available at http://water.oregonstate.edu/newsletter/.
January 2006
In the News
Michael
Campana Hired as new director of the IWW (OSU News Service, 10-14-05):
Michael E. Campana, a hydrogeologist and international
expert on a range of complex water management issues, has been named the
director of the Institute for Water and Watersheds at Oregon State University.
Campana is currently the director of the Water Resources Program at the
University of New Mexico, and will begin his position at OSU in June 2006.
Campana, has done extensive research on water resources in developing
countries, transboundary water resource issues, water allocation and availability,
and other areas. He is also founder and president of a charitable foundation
that funds and undertakes water, health and sanitation projects in developing
nations.
IWW and INR to synthesize Umatilla Basin Water Data (Hermiston Herald, 11-18-05): The Umatilla County Critical Groundwater Task Force has entered into an intergovernmental agreement between the Institute of Natural Resources (INR) and the Institute for Water and Watersheds (IWW) at Oregon State University. The INR and IWW will be conducting a synthesis of historical water data for the Umatilla Basin, which has been designated as a Critical Groundwater Area by the State of Oregon.
Water Conflicts in Africa Strain Political, Economic Systems (OSU News Service, 12-5-05): The water conflicts in Africa - lakes that are drying up, river pollution, unsafe drinking water, collapsing fisheries - are sufficiently intense that entire social systems are at risk, a new report concludes. It's essential that problems be anticipated and aggressively addressed, experts say. The study, "Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters in Africa," was supported by the United Nations Environmental Programme. It was produced by the Universities Partnership for Transboundary Waters, an innovative consortium pioneered by Oregon State University. Contact: Aaron Wolf, OSU Associate Professor of Geoscience.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, January 11 - Wednesday, March 22 weekly at 4:30. Hydrophiles Winter Seminar Series (Theme: OSU Water Alumni). Features presentations by alums from a variety of OSU water-related programs from fisheries to civil engineering. The alums will speak about their current projects and job activities for many different types of organizations. For the complete schedule see the web link. Held on campus at Agricultural Life Sciences 4000. FMI: http://oregonstate.edu/groups/hydro/Seminars/winter06.htm.
Thursday, January 12 - Friday, January 13. Oregon Water Resources Commission Meeting. The Commission is a seven-member citizen body which sets state water policy and oversees activities of the Water Resources Department. See the web link for the full agenda and related reports. Held on campus at LaSells Stewart Center. FMI: http://www1.wrd.state.or.us/cgi-bin/notices.pl?comm-agenda.
Getting Involved
Winter Course Offerings: Several faculty have recently advertised their winter courses on the hydrophiles listserv - review these postings at http://water.oregonstate.edu/news/courses_w06.htm . Advertised courses include: Advanced Landscape Ecology, Geomorphology of Forests & Streams, Snow Hydrology, Groundwater Modeling, and Oregon Water Law and Policy.
Thursday, January 26 - Saturday, April 8. OSU Master Watershed Steward Program for Linn/Benton Counties. This program entails a series of eight interrelated topics (usually 18 classroom hours and 28 field hours) that provide comprehensive watershed education at an introductory level to watershed groups, landowners, agricultural producers, conservation districts, nursery growers, foresters, planners, teachers, urban residents, or any and other interested groups and individuals. FMI: watersheds@oregonstate.edu.
Featured Research and Research Opportunities
Looking for a research partner with statistical expertise on water and watershed problems? The USEPA-funded program on Designs and Models for Aquatic Resource Surveys (DAMARS) provides expert survey design, analysis and training to States, Tribes and other partners. Over the past four years, DAMARS has worked closely with State and Federal agencies to implement and analyze aquatic resource surveys. For example, the sampling strategy used by the Oregon Plan for Salmon & Watersheds is based on DAMARS research. Because of close ties to real applications, DAMARS can identify and articulate issues in aquatic monitoring that require statistical research, and put the results of that research back into agency hands. As follow-on to DAMARS, the Statistics Department is establishing an Environmental Statistics Unit to extend recent advances in environmental statistics to personnel in federal, state, and tribal natural resource agencies. FMI: Don Stevens: stevens@stat.oregonstate.edu.
List of water-related external funding opportunities now available on the IWW website...opportunities are arranged by deadline and include short program descriptions and links to RFPs. see: http://water.oregonstate.edu/funding/externalfunding.htm
Featured Student
After
a career spanning 20 years as a hydrogeologist and engineering geologist,
Todd Jarvis found a new career at Oregon State University
studying geography, “My work in water resources taught me that water
“is where it is at”, which leads to intense conflicts over the
allocation of the sparse water resources." Todd decided to return to
school to study water resources policy and conflict resolution. A web search
led him to Aaron
Wolf in the Department of
Geosciences and a dissertation focused on international groundwater
governance. Todd’s graduate studies have taken him to Sri Lanka and
Kenya and soon to Tokyo, “During the course of my travels, I’ve
been impressed with how well OSU is recognized for its expertise in water
resources, both in the technical and policy and management arena.”
For more information about Todd's work, he can be reached at: jarvisto@geo.oregonstate.edu.
H2OSU is a periodic e-mail news briefing provided by the Institute for Water and Watersheds. It is distributed through the OSU hydro e-mail lists -- to subscribe or unsubscribe, go to http://oregonstate.edu/groups/hydro/email.htm. Questions, comments and ideas for news briefs may be sent to the IWW at iww@oregonstate.edu. More news from the IWW is available at http://water.oregonstate.edu/news/index.htm.