H2OSU is also available at: http://water.oregonstate.edu/newsletter/.
July 8, 2008
The View from 210
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The disciplinary breadth of Oregon State University’s former students never ceases to amaze me. I recently learned that the original Bozo the Clown and one-time voice of Walt Disney’s Goofy character, Vance “Pinto” Colvig, graduated from the forerunner of OSU, Oregon Agricultural College, in 1911. I could find no indication of his major. He was born in Jacksonville, OR, in 1892 and died in 1967.
Colvig was quite talented, working as an actor, comedian, cartoonist, and circus performer. His multi-faceted abilities provide a perfect segue to my next topic, interdisciplinary programs.
Many of my academic colleagues are involved with interdisciplinary (ID) programs. When we congregate, you can imagine the topic of conversation: “What’s your school doing to support ID programs?” The responses are generally not positive. After being involved with ID programs for about 30 years, including time as a graduate student, my observation is that universities often like to create ID programs but they really don’t know how (or perhaps, want) to support them adequately once they create them. For some schools, it’s a rush to get on the bandwagon.
The University of Washington’s Graduate School is attempting to rectify the situation by hosting an ID task force, the Network for Interdisciplinary Initiatives. The NII has issued a series of reports and recommendations for fostering and sustaining interdisciplinary programs at UW. Here are the task force’s two most significant ideas for institutionalizing interdisciplinarity: 1) establish a position of provost for interdisciplinary affairs; and 2) assign a development officer to interdisciplinary programs to compensate for the current structure of department- and college-based fundraising. I wholeheartedly support these recommendations, especially (2). Interdisciplinary programs are often orphans when it comes to institutionally-based fundraising.
It’s also true that some university administrators and faculty are opposed to ID programs, because they believe that such programs: 1) will steal resources and students from traditional programs; and 2) produce students without solid backgrounds in a particular discipline, but instead, jacks-of-all-trades and masters of none who are not very marketable. My experience supports some aspects (resource allocation, perhaps) of (1); (2) is largely unfounded but depends upon the particular ID program. The resource allocation issue is often a contentious one, as most university budgets are viewed as a zero-sum (or worse) situation.
I do find it somewhat incongruous that universities, one of society’s greatest engines for change and discovery, are themselves quite resistant to internal change. Perhaps to some it’s a matter of believing “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Last month Jeff McDonnell of the College of Forestry hosted noted Chinese hydrologist Professor Wei-zu Gu, former head of the Hydrohill Project at the Chuzhou Experimental Laboratory when he was with the Ministry of Water Resources in Nanjing. The Hydrohill Project is the world’s largest public works project in watershed hydrology and features a 1000-square-meter outdoor artificial watershed. Jeff noted that this project was 25 years ahead of its time; USA hydrologists are now trying to construct something similar at Biosphere 2 in Arizona. Our conversation made quite an impression on me, especially when he described the difficulties of conducting research when your country periodically undergoes social upheaval (Cultural Revolution, Great Leap Forward) and the Red Guard and other groups “visit” to trash your field site or laboratory. Then your family gets shipped off somewhere to become “resocialized”. It’s just enough to survive all that, but then you have to come back and start your work all over again. And we think we have problems – I can’t imagine living and working under those conditions. Professor Gu gave a lot of credit to Jeff for reinvigorating the research at Hydrohill. Professor Gu is now affiliated with Hohai University on Nanjing, China’s largest “water university”, and we hope to establish some exchanges and joint projects.
Maintaining two blogs has led me to a new appreciation of some things, although I can’t quite fathom which ones. Human nature, possibly. The most interesting comments I receive are often ones sent directly to me. The most recent one suggested that Turkey’s lakes are desiccating because the Corps of Engineers is taking the water to drill for oil in the Mideast. The commenter also insisted that the USA oil companies deposit their drilling waste in Nevada and that only in Saudi Arabia are subsurface water pressures greater than atmospheric; everywhere else, they are at atmospheric pressure. She promised to send me citations. I can hardly wait. I learned long ago it makes no sense to argue with such folks.
We received notice from the State Department that our proposal, Environmental Institute for Central America and the Caribbean, was recommended for funding. Marion McNamara, Ken Williamson, and I assembled and submitted this last April. The Environmental Institute will host 23 undergraduates from Central America and the Caribbean during Summer 2009 and expose them to a curriculum designed to help them cope with environmental problems in their own countries. The final portion of the Institute will consist of a debriefing and sightseeing trip to Washington, DC.
Some foreign work may be in the offing. We participated in a USAID-solicited proposal for a program entitled, Regional Water Governance Benchmarking in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region. The consulting firm International Resources Group (IRG) is the lead, with OSU, IWMI (International Water Management Institute) and others playing secondary roles. The program is part of USAID’s Blue Revolution Initiative (BRI), which seeks to: 1) identify and mitigate water conflicts; 2) build partnerships to expand access to potable water and sanitation; and 3) improve water productivity. Aaron Wolf is the OSU lead, with assistance from Brent Steel, Patrick MacQuarrie, myself, and Gabriel Eckstein of the Texas Tech University School of Law.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s Rebuilding and Renewing America Summit took place at Portland State University on the afternoon of July 7. It featured panel discussions on water, energy, and transportation. Yours truly was on the water panel. Information will be available on the Congressman’s WWW site.
I recently returned from the AWRA conference Riparian Ecosystems and Buffers: Working at the Water’s Edge. As I deplaned in Norfolk, VA, the smell of smoke permeated the air: parts of the Great Dismal Swamp, on the VA-NC border, were ablaze. The fire had been burning for a month, and there was no good estimate of when it would be extinguished. Just a pungent reminder of the drought engulfing the Southeast. One of the highlights of the meeting was a keynote address, Riparian Reflections, by Dr. James R. Karr, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington. Karr is best known for his development of the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI).
Some advice to scientists and other professionals:
- Keep up with the advances in science, policy, and their interconnections
- Work with and learn from others, especially those outside your own discipline
- Challenge dogma of all disciplines, including your own
- Avoid hubris
Some perspectives on ecology:
- Mechanisms regulating ecological systems result from many weak forces acting probabilistically
- Cumulative effects are large but individual effects are minor, interactive, and uncertain
- Beware of simplistic fixes (he is not fond of TMDLs)
All in all, a very good talk and an excellent meeting.
Till next month,
Michael
"Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand." -- Chinese proverb
OSU Water in the News
Oregon Class Aims To Take The Fight Out Of Water Disputes (OPB Radio, 6/22/2008) - There’s a saying in the West: whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting. But what if you could take the fight out of water conflicts? Oregon State University is offering a series of courses that aims to do just that. The goal is to teach water users to make peace, not war. But will it work? Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.
One big drug test: Analyzing a city's sewage can put a number on its vices (Los Angeles Times, 6/22/2008) - Which city uses more cocaine: Los Angeles or London? Is heroin a big problem in San Diego? And has Ecstasy emerged in rural America? Environmental scientists are beginning to use an unsavory new tool -- raw sewage -- to paint an accurate portrait of drug abuse in communities. Like one big, citywide urinalysis, tests at municipal sewage plants in many areas of the United States and Europe, including Los Angeles County, have detected illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. "Every sample has one illicit drug or another, regardless of location," said Jennifer Field, an environmental chemist at Oregon State University who has tested sewage in many U.S. cities. "You may see differences from place to place, but there's always something."
Corvallis scientist receives U.S. EPA’s Gold Medal award (US EPA – press release, 6/11/2008) - Corvallis resident Robert Lackey was awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s highest award for his work identifying practical policy options for sustaining wild salmon populations in the western United States. Lackey, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Corvallis, Ore., received EPA’s Gold Medal for Exceptional Service on May 20 at the national awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Gold Medal is given on a highly selective basis for distinguished service of major significance to environmental improvement and to public service. “On behalf of my two Oregon State University co-project leaders and 33 other project scientists, policy analysts, and policy advocates from both Canada and the United States, I’m thrilled to see the important work we’ve done to restore wild salmon runs in North America being recognized with such a prestigious award,” said Dr. Lackey. Dr. Lackey is also a courtesy professor in the OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and an adjunct professor in the OSU Department of Political Science.
Call to Order - Science on the agenda (OSU Terra Magazine, Summer 2008) - Problem solver and data provider. Advocate, explorer and teacher. Scientists play these and other roles in the often contentious environmental policy process, but not everyone agrees on which role is most important or even proper. And many scientists shy away from policy arenas where they can see their efforts to understand complex systems reduced to sound bites or buried when results conflict with politics. This article features research by Brent Steel, OSU Department of Political Science, and Denise Lach, OSU Department of Sociology.
OSU Scientist Uses Fiber Optics to Measure Water and Air - Scientists at Oregon State University are using fiber optics to study the temperature of water, the flow of air, and the dynamics of snow melt (Physorg.com, 6/9/2008) - This technology – called distributed temperature sensing (DTS) – uses the same sort of fiber optic communication cables that make your telephone work, to measure temperatures at one-meter intervals over distances exceeding 10 kilometers. An intense laser pulse is sent down the fiber and the fiber's temperature is computed from the light that bounces back – the warmer the fiber, the more blue-shifted light returns. "We are able to monitor changes in temperature with greater than 10,000 times the resolution possible a few years ago," said John Selker, a professor of biological and ecological engineering at OSU who has pioneered the new use of this technology. See also the related OSU News Service press release.
OSU Begins Oak Creek Restoration at Livestock Facilities (OSU News Service, 6/4/2008) – Workers have begun clearing understory along Oak Creek as part of a yearlong project to restore and protect areas of the creek that wind through Oregon State University’s livestock facilities. Over the years, nonnative plants made the areas their home, unruly blackberries ran amok and fences deteriorated. So the university applied for and received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to create wildlife habitat and riparian buffers along more than five miles of streams that include Oak Creek and its tributaries.
Featured Research Project: Copper in Highway Stormwater Runoff
Jeff Nason, an assistant professor in Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, is leading a study of the chemistry of copper in stormwater runoff from highways around Oregon. Copper is of concern because recent research, including some by OSU Environmental and Molecular Toxicology researchers (Sandahl et al., 2007), indicates that extremely low levels of copper can interfere with salmonids' chemosensory ability.
Don Bloomquist and Matthew Sprick, both M.S. students in the environmental engineering program, are working with Jeff on the Oregon Department of Transportation funded project. They are collecting and characterizing highway stormwater runoff from urban and rural highways in diverse geographic locations around the state. The characterization effort involves measurement of several common water quality characteristics along with the concentration and speciation of copper using voltammetric techniques. The group hopes to provide the first experimental measurements of copper speciation in stormwater, results that will inform both policy and engineering decisions.
For more information, contact Jeff Nason.
Recent IWW and OSU Water Activities
IWW visits EARTH2O Bottling Plant - IWW Associate Director Todd Jarvis, in concert with College of Business Management Professor Zhaohui Wu, visited the Culver, Oregon plant of EARTH2O in mid June at the invitation of Steve Emery, President of EARTH2O (standing to the left of Dr. Wu in photo). EARTH2O derives the water for their product from the famous Opal Springs which also serve as the water supply for Culver. According to Steve, EARTH2O currently has about 6% of the market share in Oregon. In the spirit of sustainable business practices, Steve is also happy to state that EARTH20 will be increasing the Post Consuming Recycling material (PCR) in their bottles from 5-7% to 20% when they introduce their new bottles with a new logo and design that will be produced in Portland and released late summer despite significant cost increases for the recycled materials. In related visits, Todd Jarvis also provided a lecture and taste test on bottled water and the environment to nearly 50 residents of Terwilliger Plaza in Portland.
IWW participates in SeaFest 2008 (June 28) - Associate Director Todd Jarvis continues to spread the "good" word about Oregon's groundwater resources and was one of the many booths at SeaFest 2008 held in Newport. Over 100 people stopped by to watch him work his magic with the famous groundwater flow model. Last year an elementary school student from Texas visited his booth, has built her own model, and now reports that she wants to attend OSU to study natural resources. Todd is awaiting his out-of-state student recruitment bonus!
OSU hosts Water Governance and Conflict Management 2008 (June 16-20) - In mid-June, eighteen students and professionals converged at OSU for a week-long course on water governance and conflict resolution offered by Denise Lach, Aaron Wolf and Julia Doermann. The course is part of the OSU Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation. The students were a diverse group and hailed from Thailand, Mexico, Spain, Indonesia as well as the United States. Undergraduates and graduate student majors ranged from Water Resources Policy and Management, Geography, Political Science, Natural Resources Management and English. The course was also visited by Oregon Public Broadcasting and featured on the news show. Todd Jarvis, IWW Associate Director, is currently developing an eCampus version of the course that will cater to working professionals.
IWW sponsors Dynamic Facilitation Seminar (June 17-19) - Marine Resources Management graduate student Gwenn Kubeck reports that the Dynamic Facilitation workshop she organized as part of her IWW graduate research grant was a great success. There were a total of nine participants including six OSU graduate students from the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences and the College of Forestry. During the seminar, participants learned important facilitation skills to be a part of solving difficult or contentious issues. They practiced these skills on real problems that face the world, such as widespread pollution and lack of sustainable resource use, as well as personal issues that individuals brought from their home or workplace. Participants experienced the power of reflective listening and applied that to their facilitation tools. Jim Rough, the trainer, shared his unique and powerful perspective of empowering citizens, through dynamically facilitated groups, to create the changes they want to see in the world. The seminar allowed each person ample time to practice facilitation skills and gain confidence to take these skills into work and personal arenas. During the seminar, participants were also inspired about the possibilities for change that can result when people get together and are encouraged to think creatively and from the heart.
Hydrophiles celebrates summer with its annual BBQ (June 4) - IWW Director Michael Campana once again lead the team of BBQ chefs to feed the nearly 50 attendees at the annual Hydrophiles event held at Avery Park. The big news was that Aaron Wolf announced he will be leading a joint field trip with the OSU GEO club and Hydrophiles to the Jordan River Basin in Israel. More details will follow later in the year.
OSU faculty participate in Benton County water planning - OSU faculty continue to participate in the water planning efforts in Benton County. IWW Adjunct Professor Richard Heggen, along with John Bolte and Marshall English with the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering are serving on the Technical Team which met for the first time on June 26. IWW Director Michael Campana is serving on the Steering and Executive Committees.
Get Involved: Head to Portland on July 24 for a day of water events
First, attend the Portland Water Bureau Field Day where you can join employees of the Portland Water Bureau for a tour of the Portland water delivery system "from forest to faucet." The event is one of the Water Bureau's most popular events of the year and is an opportunity for visitors to learn of the different aspects of delivering water from the Bull Run Watershed to over one million customers in greater Portland. Registration must be completed by July 14th.
Later that night, attend a showing of FLOW: For Love of Water, an award winning documentary about the global water crisis. Engineers without Borders – Portland Professional Chapter is hosting this event to raise funds for clean water and other infrastructure projects in developing communities around the world. Location: Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, NE Portland. Cost: $10. Contact Jay Frentress (frentrej@science.oregonstate.edu) for information about meeting up with other Hydrophiles at the event.
Upcoming Events
July 10. Deadline to submit topics and speaker ideas for the OWEB Biennial Conference. The conference will be held November 5-7, 2008 in Eugene, Oregon. Send suggestions by July 10 to the conference coordinator, Monte Turner.
Monday, July 14 - Wednesday, July 16, Boulder, CO. CUAHSI Biennial Colloquium on Hydrologic Science and Engineering (Resilience & Vulnerability of Natural and Managed Hydrologic Systems). This first CUAHSI colloquium features an exciting line-up of sessions exploring cutting-edge issues in hydrologic science, biogeochemistry, and environmental engineering that can benefit from the community planning that CUAHSI has been leading. Session topics are drawn from the hydrologic synthesis projects currently underway and from observatory planning efforts, including the WATERS Test Beds, Critical Zone Observatories, and various state efforts.
Tuesday, July 22 - Thursday, July 24, Durham, NC. International Water Resources: Challenges for the 21st Century (Universities Council on Water Resources Annual Conference).
Monday, July 28 - Friday, August 1, Milwaukie, OR. Riparian and Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring Workshop. This five-day workshop is designed to provide participants the programmatic and technical methodologies to teach and conduct stream and watershed monitoring. It is designed for educators (junior high, high school, or college) agency resource professionals (working with volunteers or using volunteer data), volunteer monitoring coordinators, watershed council representatives, and representatives from environmental organizations.
Monday, August 10 - Friday, August 14, Vancouver, British Columbia. Water Engineering for a Sustainable Environment (33rd International Association of Hydraulic Engineers & Research Congress). Co-located with the 19th Canadian Hydrotechnical Conference.
Read about more upcoming events on the IWW's calendar.
Opportunities for Students
The National Academies Research Associateships - These awards are open to doctoral level scientists and engineers (U.S and Foreign Nationals) who can apply their special knowledge and talents to research areas that are of interest to them and to the participating host laboratories and centers. Awards are available for Postdoctoral Associates (within 5 years of the doctorate) and Senior Associates (normally 5 years or more beyond the doctorate). Associates conduct research in residence at the participating host laboratory they have chosen. Next deadline: August 1, 2008.
Humboldt Research Fellowship - This fellowship for postdoctoral researchers allows you to carry out a long-term research project (6-24 months) you have selected yourself in cooperation with an academic host you have selected yourself at a research institution in Germany. Applications accepted at any time.
Funding Opportunities for Faculty
NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program - This program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the NSF's most prestigious awards in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. Such activities should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of integrated contributions to research and education. Proposals due July 22-24, 2008.
EPA NCER Innovative and Integrative Approaches for Advancing Public Health Protection Through Water Infrastructure Sustainability - This program is seeking applications to develop advanced concepts for linking public health protection with water infrastructure sustainability. Innovative and integrative approaches are sought for monitoring, modeling, operation, and management of drinking water distribution and storage systems and wastewater collection systems that can lead to improved water quality and reduced health risks. Potential funding per award of up to a $600,000 for 3 years. Proposals due July 29, 2008.
NSF Decision, Risk and Management Sciences - This program supports scientific research directed at increasing the understanding and effectiveness of decision making by individuals, groups, organizations, and society. Disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, doctoral dissertation research, and workshops are funded in the areas of judgment and decision making; decision analysis and decision aids; risk analysis, perception, and communication; societal and public policy decision making; management science and organizational design. The program also supports small grants for exploratory research of a time-critical or high-risk, potentially transformative nature (see Small Grants for Exploratory Research). Proposals due August 18, 2008.
BLM Oregon Challenge Cost Share (CCS) Program - In 2008, the Oregon program will be managed to implement a variety of important projects that include resource inventory, monitoring and research, conservation planning and implementation, environmental education, habitat and plant community restoration, cultural site protection, recreation and OHV management. In recent years Oregon BLM has received $1,300,000 annually to fund 75-85 projects. Partnership contributions are required with a 1:1 overall cost share with non-federal dollars. Oregon BLM cost share will not exceed $100,000 per project annually. Proposals due August 31, 2008.
NSF Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) -
- Environmental Engineering - 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.
- Environmental Sustainability - This program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society’s need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions. Research is encouraged to advance the next generation of water and wastewater treatment that will decrease material and energy use, consider new paradigms for delivery of services, and promote longer life for engineered systems.
- Fluid Dynamics - This program supports fundamental research and education on mechanisms and phenomena that govern fluid flow. Topics include: hydrodynamic stability; transitional flows and turbulence; Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid mechanics; sediment transport, waves and coastal engineering; multi-scale, multi-phenomena models and computations; bio-fluid mechanics, micro and nanoscale flow phenomena, and microfluidics.
- Particulate and Multiphase Processes - This program supports fundamental and applied research on mechanisms and phenomena governing particulate and multiphase processes, including granular and granular-fluid flows, particle/bubble/droplet interactions, aerosol science and technology, suspensions, micro- and nano-structured fluids, self- and directed-assembly of nanostructures, and related instrumentation and diagnostics.
Proposals due September 15, 2008.
A list of additional water-related external funding opportunities is available on the IWW Web site.
H2OSU is a periodic e-mail news briefing provided by the Institute for Water and Watersheds. It is distributed through the OSU Hydro Email lists and the Oregon Water List (http://water.oregonstate.edu/news/email_lists.htm) and the Web. 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.