H₂OSU is available at http://water.oregonstate.edu/newsletter/.
January 2007

The View from 210

Well, it’s a new year, so why not rename this column? The new title reflects my office number in Strand Agriculture Hall and the ever-changing view outside my window. Original, huh? But it’s better than some of the others my wife vetted.

Let’s catch up on a few things.

• The OSU Water Conference will be April 17. It is starting to take shape, but there is little else to report at this time. Future meetings are January 11 and 22 at 4 PM in the MU Board Room. Feel free to participate.
• The Hydrophiles have assembled a great Seminar Series Getting Involved in Oregon Water Issues for the Winter term, and Jeff McDonnell is arranging a stellar series for Spring.
• Todd Jarvis, by popular demand, is hosting a Winter Water Film Series every Tuesday, 4:30-5:30, in MU La Raza Room 208. Our home page has the schedule. Todd begins on January 16 with the four-part series based on the late Marc Reisner’s landmark book, Cadillac Desert.
• Faculty – please remember that nominations for our Diversity and Excellence Scholarships are due to Denise Lach by January 31. Please see the announcement on our WWW site for information.
• The Hydrophiles will be conducting a fundraiser on January 19 in conjunction with Baja Fresh Mexican Grill, 845 NW Ninth Street, Corvallis, 452-1010. Eat there between 11 AM – 9 PM, bring in this flyer, and the Grill will donate 15% of the proceeds to the HydroPhiles. Get a great meal and help the HPs. Take-out is included, too. Such a deal!

Many of you know Rick Bastasch quite well – few people know as much about Oregon’s water than Rick. His Waters of Oregon: A Source Book on Oregon’s Water and Water Management (1998) has been recently updated and published by the OSU Press. It’s entitled The Oregon Water Handbook: A Guide to Water and Water Management. It should be at your favorite bookseller soon.

From the “Just What We Need” department: I recently started a blog devoted to water and related issues – WaterWired. I already have a few posts, including one on “Terrorism and Ground Water”. Take a look at http://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired.

The Fall 2006 issue of Oregon’s Agriculture Progress is all about water. Peg Herring has done another remarkable job. The IWW is featured inside the back cover. Get an online version at: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/oap/index.php.

Congratulations to the following graduate students, each of whom will receive up to $10,000 to support their research:  Jay Zarnetske (Geosciences); Holly Barnard (Forest Engineering);
Eva Lieberherr (Water Resources Policy & Management); Nizar Mustafa (CC&EE); and Stephanie Harrington (CC&EE). And Todd Jarvis and Anne Jefferson are OSU’s nominees for the UCOWR PhD Dissertation Awards.

On January 16-17 The Nature Conservancy (Leslie Bach) and the Corps of Engineers (Matt Rea) will sponsor an invitation-only Willamette Flow Management workshop in Salem. The purpose will be to make flow recommendations to the USACE for the Coast and Middle Forks of the Willamette River. The IWW produced an incredible report for TNC and USACE, authored by Stan Gregory and Linda Ashkenas. We’ll post it once it is vetted by all involved in the workshop. I’ll report on the workshop in next month’s newsletter.

I hope the new year is off to an auspicious start for all of you.

Till next month,

Michael

"A little bit of irreverence is good; a lot is better.” -- Ann Campana Judge, 1951-2001.

“We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968.

Winners of the IWW Graduate Student Research Grants

The IWW is please to announce the graduate student recipients of funding through its 2007 Small Grants Program. Funding was provided by the Water and Watersheds Initiative -- each student will receive up to a $10,000 grant. Recipients include:

• Jay Zarnetske, Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Geosciences - Proposal Title: Groundwater-Surface Water Exchange Controls Nitrogen Export from Headwater Streams in Oregon
• Holly Barnard, Ph.D. Student, Forest Science and Engineering - Proposal Title: Ecohydrology of Forested Watersheds: Soil Water Connectivity and Hydrograph Separation at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest
• Eva Lieberherr, MS Student, Water Res. Policy & Mgmt - Proposal Title: Innovation in Conjunctive Water Management: Analysis of the Deschutes Groundwater Mitigation Program
• Nizar Mustafa, Ph.D. Student, CCEE - Proposal Title: Modeling of Reactive Transport and Desorption of the Complete Anaerobic Biotransformation of PCE in Aquifers
• Stephanie Harrington, Ph.D. Student, CCEE - Proposal Title: Contaminant Transport in Highly Heterogeneous Subsurface Media

Featured Research Group:
OSU's Subsurface Biosphere Initiative

The biosphere is usually thought of as plants and animals near Earth's surface, but Earth's habitable zone extends to depths of hundreds or thousands of meters. The organisms that live in this environment may collectively have a mass equivalent to that of all of Earth's surface dwellers and may provide keys to solving major environmental, agricultural, and industrial problems. OSU's Subsurface Biosphere Initiative (SBI) unites faculty and students from five different colleges who share interests in this underground world. Like the Water and Watersheds Initiative, the SBI was launched in 2005 when it was selected as one of the provost's interdisciplinary research initiatives. Since then, the SBI has focused on supporting new faculty hires, holding an annual workshop, building community across departments, and supporting undergraduate and graduate research experiences. The initiative is closely allied with the Earth's Subsurface Biosphere IGERT Program. For more information, visit the SBI website, join their email distribution list, or contact Lew Semprini, Professor of Environmental Engineering and Chair of the SBI Executive Committee.

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

USDA Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Research - The Pacific Southwest Research Station is announcing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to pursue new research in the Lake Tahoe Basin through support from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. Water quality is among the six science theme areas solicited included sub-theme topics of: Sub-theme A. Gain a more detailed understanding of the specific sources, transport, and treatability and/or management of fine sediments from watershed sources. Sub-theme B. Improve our understanding of stream channel erosion dynamics and historical changes in stream channel morphology; customize stream channel models for use by resource managers with the aim of developing restoration approaches that achieve sediment loading reduction, in concert with habitat preservation. Sub-theme C. Nearshore water quality - The goal for research under this sub-theme is to increase our understanding of the factors and processes adversely affecting nearshore water quality and habitat quality. Proposals due January 26th, 2007.

The National Research Council's Resident Research Associateship Program - This program provides postdoctoral and senior scientists and engineers with opportunities to conduct research on projects, largely of their own choice, which are compatible with the research interests of the sponsoring laboratories. An Associate receives a stipend from the National Research Council while carrying out his or her proposed research. See the National Academies website for a complete list of participating agencies and laboratories - many have a water or natural resources connection. Deadline for winter review, February 1.

NSF Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems - This program supports engineering research with the goal of reducing adverse effects of solid, liquid, and gaseous discharges into land, fresh and ocean waters, and air that result from human activity and impair the value of those resources in the context of ecological tenets. This cluster focuses on research on innovative biological, chemical, and physical processes used alone or as components of engineered systems to restore the usefulness of polluted land, water, and air resources. Water related subcategories include: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Technology, and Fluid Dynamics. Unsolicited proposals due March 1, 2007.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, January 16 - Tuesday, March 13, 4:30 p.m., Memorial Union La Raza Room 208. Water Film Series. Sponsored by the IWW, this film series features Cadillac Dessert, the Oregon Water Story, Mountains in the Mist, Running Dry and more.

Wednesday, January 17 - Wednesday, March 7 4:00-5:00 p.m., Held on campus at ALS 4000. Getting Involved in Oregon Water Issues (Hydrophiles Winter Seminar Series).

Thursday, January 25 4:00 p.m., CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Cascade Ballroom 110. To ourselves and our posterity: Climate change and the rights to life, liberty, and property (Starker Lecture Series). Speaker: David Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies, Oberlin College.

Tuesday, February 6 - Thursday, February 8. Sixth annual Northwest Stream Restoration Design Symposium. Pete Klingeman is one of the organizers of this interdisciplinary conference that focuses on stream restoration design questions. This year there will be three concurrent pre-symposium workshops on February 5. Held at Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, WA.

Link to a calendar of other upcoming water-related events...