News
January 2012 - A critical workshop: Landmark international workshop for critical zone scientists held at UD
International collaboration in critical zone science took a giant step forward in November when about 80 researchers from the U.S., Europe, China and Australia gathered at the University of Delaware for a three-day workshop focused on planning future joint experiments.
The main goal of the workshop was to enhance cooperation and form a working network among the outdoor laboratories known as critical zone observatories (CZOs) that have been established around the world in the past decade. CZOs are natural areas, often defined by the boundaries of a watershed, in which scientists from a wide variety of disciplines measure and monitor environmental processes.
"Nature doesn't actually work by discipline," said Enriqueta Barrera, coordinator of Critical Zone Observatory Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF). "Nature is much more complex, so that there is a connectivity or a coupling of biological, chemical, geological or physical processes." more >>
January 2012 - Investigating the earth's critical zone
To the ordinary eye, south-central Pennsylvania's Shale Hills catchment is a pleasant little tract of deciduous forest much like any oth- er in the northeastern United States. Second-growth oaks and maples splash dappled shade across the 20-acre site, birds flit and call, and water babbles in a narrow, unnamed stream—the first leg on a long jour- ney to the Susquehanna River.
But Pennsylvania State Univer- sity geologist and SSSA member Susan Brantley is no ordinary observer; for her, the pretty scene evokes a host of questions about why the landscape looks the way it does. She’s now delving into the an- swers more deeply than ever before. As a co-principal investigator of the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), Brantley is among a growing cadre of scientists who investigate the earth’s “critical zone”: the living, evolv- ing, outer skin of our planet where rock, soil, water, air, and organisms interact to regulate the environment that is critical to life. (From CSA News, January 2012, pp. 4-9.)
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December 19 2011 - Humboldt fellowship: Levia awarded fellowship to conduct research on insect-forest interactions
On the underside of a beech leaf, there may be small, white clumps that look like cotton candy. Upon closer look, these sticky fibers encase wriggling insects harming the tree's health – and potentially the surrounding ecosystem.
The University of Delaware's Delphis F. Levia, associate professor in the Department of Geography with a secondary appointment in plant and soil sciences, recently received a Humboldt Research Fellowship to examine the effects of these tree-damaging insects on forests and the water that flows through them.
"Whether insects, droughts, hurricanes or climate change, all of these things cause stress on our forests," Levia said. "Our aim is to better understand how pest infestations affect the rainfall that passes through foliage, down tree trunks and into the watershed."more >>
December 2011 - Critical research: Professor Donald L Sparks and Drs Anthony Aufdenkampe and Lou Kaplan reveal the progress their cutting-edge project is making on understanding the complex interactions within the Earth's critical zone
Firstly, could you offer an insight into the background of this project and its overall goals?
The Christina River Basin – Critical Zone Observatory (CRB-CZO) is one of six environmental observatories supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation focusing on how water, atmosphere, ecosystems and soils interact and shape the Earth’s surface. The critical zone is the Earth’s porous near-surface layer, and incorporates everything from the tops of the trees to the deepest groundwater.
The CRB-CZO has the overarching goal of ‘integrating the feedbacks between the water cycle, the mineral cycle and the carbon cycle as materials are transported across geophysical boundaries from soils to sea’.
(from International Innovation, December 2011, p. 67-69.) more >>
Fall 2011 - Stroud™ Scientists at Work: Scientists Tour the Critical Zone Observatories at Fair Hill and Stroud™ Water Research Center
Local bow hunters and about 80 water research scientists from Europe, North America, China, and Australia were among the few humans braving the woods of the 565-square-mile Christina River watershed on a damp and chilly morning November 10.
The scientists were there to learn about the operations of one of the world's handful of Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs). The hunters, meanwhile, must have wondered what all the fuss was about. They'd most likely seen all the odd looking devices along and in some of the White Clay Creek's myriad of tiny streams, which rise in Pennsylvania and flow into Delaware and the Christina River.
Chris McLaughlin, a Ph.D. candidate in the Center's biogeochemistry group, explains how the Center's long-term datasets are being used in the CZO project.
But if the hunters had joined the tour they would have discovered from the scientists and young graduate students who were manning the various stations that the instruments are monitoring the "critical zone." The complex natural processes that happen in this zone — from the bottom of the aquifers to the tree tops — are responsible for sustaining life on Earth. And the scientists are seeking to understand them through the CZOs. more >>
November 30, 2011 - Soil solutions: UD doctoral student in soil science receives Dixon Award
Chunmei Chen, a University of Delaware doctoral student in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, was chosen to receive the Dixon Award for best graduate student presentation in soil mineralogy at the recent 2011 Soil Science Society of America meeting in San Antonio.
Chen received a $500 award for being recognized as having the best Division S-9 student presentation, with the selection based on quality of presentation and contribution of the research to advancing the state of knowledge of soil mineralogy.
"I feel very happy and honored to receive the award," Chen said. "It is encouraging and helpful for me because I would like to continue my career in research."
Chen presented her research on the Christina River Basin Critical Zone Observatory (CRB-CZO), which specifically reports on the interaction of soil organic matter with soil minerals at the molecular scale along landscape redox gradients.
"The research will lead to better soil management strategies that maintain and enhance levels of soil organic matter, which has important implications in addressing soil carbon sequestration and climate change," Chen said. more >>
September 19, 2011 - CRB-CZO Featured at National STEM Education Event
On September 19, the National Science Foundation hosted an event, STEM Smart: Lessons Learned From Successful Schools, at Drexel University. This event introduced a publication by the National Research Council (NRC) on successful Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education and highlighted examples of successful STEM education initiatives.
Two of the 30 exemplary resources were projects developed by Stroud Water Research Center scientists and educators. Among the luminaries present to discuss STEM learning were Rep. Chakka Fattah (D-Pa.), Dr. Subra Suresh, director of the National Science Foundation, and Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia. The message could not have been clearer: We need to think differently about STEM learning if we are to resume our position as global leaders. What worked for our parents no longer works for 21st century learners.
The Model My Watershed and Critical Zone Observatory Education projects, prominently featured in the exhibit area, received considerable attention from both speakers and educators, thanks to the hands-on, interactive nature of the activities. As Anthony Aufdenkampe said, "We know that we are doing well when we have more people at our table than looking at the robot in the next booth."
To learn more about the STEM event, visit http://successfulstemeducation.org/resources
September 9, 2011 - A SMART move: Doctoral student receives prestigious SMART Scholarship
Josh LeMonte, a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware, has been awarded a prestigious Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship.
The SMART Scholarship for Service Program, part of the National Defense Education Program of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and administered by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Naval Postgraduate School, provides opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and be gainfully employed upon graduation.
As a SMART scholar, LeMonte will receive approximately $350,000 in support over five years as he completes his Ph.D., which includes tuition, books, health insurance, paid summer internships at a DOD research facility and a stipend. In return, he has committed to a minimum of five years of employment with the DOD following the completion of his degree.
"It's a great opportunity for me and a great program," LeMonte said. "The DOD will be losing over half of its scientists to retirement in the next 10 years or so, and this program is aimed at replacing them by recruiting young scientists and helping them get established while benefitting the nation." more >>
August 29, 2011 - Hurricane Irene: Scientists Collect Water Quality and Climate Change Data from Huge Storm
While Hurricane Irene had officials along the East Coast preparing for mass evacuations, scientists at the Stroud Water Research Center and the University of Delaware were grabbing their best data collection tools and heading straight for the storm's path.
It was a rare opportunity for the scientists to learn more about climate change and water quality, as Irene threatened to be the biggest hurricane to hit the Northeastern United States since 1985.
Center scientist Anthony Aufdenkampe explains, "It rains on average once per week, or 15 percent of the year, but streams and rivers move most of their annual loads on those days.
"The bigger the storm, the greater the disproportionate load, so you might have a single 100-year storm event move 25 percent of the material for an entire decade," says Aufdenkampe.
"This is important because fresh waters and the carbon they transport play a major role in the global cycling of greenhouse gases."
Irene could reveal much about how soil erosion into rivers might eventually bury carbon and sequester it from acting as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
That's a primary goal of the Christina River Basin Critical Zone Observatory (CRB-CZO), funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Stroud Water Research Center and University of Delaware scientists are affiliated with the CRB-CZO. more >>
July 25, 2011 - For the love of trees: Levia edits major book on forest hydrology and biogeochemistry
Delphis (Del) Levia, associate professor of geography at the University of Delaware, has always loved trees. Growing up on his parents' 93-acre farm in central Massachusetts, he and his brothers and sisters played in the woods all the time, under the towering American beech, sugar maple and oak trees.
As a freshman in college, he originally thought he would pursue a career involving another type of "green" as a financial adviser. But then he took his first course in forest hydrology and became instantly rooted in learning more about this science, which requires extensive knowledge of both trees and the planet's water system to address such issues as the protection of watersheds for drinking water supplies.
Recently, the energetic Levia put his passion to the page, as editor of the new book Forest Hydrology and Biogeochemistry: Synthesis of Past Research and Future Directions. Published in June by Springer in its distinguished Ecological Studies Series, the 740-page hardcover book has 75 contributors from 14 countries and is designed to serve as a comprehensive one-stop reference tool for researchers and practitioners internationally.
Co-edited by geographer Darryl Carlyle-Moses from Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia and forest hydrologist Tadashi Tanaka from the University of Tsukuba in Japan, the book has 36 chapters that cover everything from novel sampling techniques, to hydrological analyses by ecoregion and forest type, to the impacts of insects, ice storms, global change and more. In identifying research needs, the book also charts the future research agenda for the field. more >>
March 16, 2011 - CRB-CZO Sensor Network Development Showcased on Capitol Hill
A group of University of Delaware faculty, administrators and students packed their prototypes, their posters, their interactive displays and their UDairy ice cream and brought them all on a quick trip down Interstate 95.
The people and their displays became a showcase of UD's federally funded research projects on Capitol Hill at UD Day in Washington, D.C., on March 8. Invited guests included alumni, staffers representing several congressional offices and federal program officials representing the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, as well as Delaware's congressional delegation. Delaware's U.S. senators, Tom Carper and Chris Coons, and congressman, John Carney, all commented on UD's research prowess.
"Our University does terrific work these days," Carper said.
Scattered around the Kennedy Caucus room in the Russell Senate Office Building were 25 displays. They represented the broad range of research conducted at UD with emphasis on four core areas: defense, health, energy and the environment. In addition, partnerships, outreach and commercialization efforts were featured to show the broad impact of UD research.
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March 15, 2011 - CZO Presented to DNREC for Inaugural EcoCafe workshop
The University of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) have created a new avenue to connect science with resource management by launching a series of workshops where environmental academicians and regulators can share current research and discuss research needs.
Through the sponsorship of the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN), the informal workshops bring personnel from both groups together for presentations, conversation and exploration of possible collaboration. Known as the EcoCafé, the workshops offer a time and place for faculty in environmental sciences, engineering and policy to sit down with like-minded colleagues at DNREC and share experiences, needs and issues over coffee.
“We know there is a lot of common ground between us,” said Don Sparks, S. Hallock du Pont Chair of Soil and Environmental Chemistry at UD and director of DENIN. “We just needed a place to gather and find out what the other is doing and what each other's needs are. Environmental expertise is spread very widely across the University, but DENIN has the mission and the capability to bring people together and provide an entry point for people outside the University who share environmental concerns.”
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June 22, 2010 - Christina River Basin Critical Zone Observatory Featured in NSF Video
The National Science Foundation’s Science360 daily news service website has posted a video that includes a segment on the Christina River Basin CZO. The video is one in a series called “The ARRA Report” that illustrates how NSF funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are being used.
The footage was shot at the Stroud Water Research Center by University of Delaware Media Services personnel and features co-PIs Anthony Aufdenkampe and Louis Kaplan in the field. The segment on the CZO begins about two-thirds of the way through the video. Watch the video >>
October 19, 2009 - Team to study human effect on watershed
The narrow creek that runs behind the Stroud Water Research Center has witnessed plenty of changes over the centuries.
Hundreds of years ago, early settlers cleared trees and vegetation to build their homes. Later, the area became a cow pasture. Today, as Stroud scientists restore the forest, the creek bank is dotted with skinny, pale green tubes that protect young trees from strong wind and harsh weather.
The changes can be seen in the soil that makes up the creek bed. Scraping aside leaves and other debris with a small shovel, Stroud scientist Anthony Aufdenkampe reveals a swath that looks like a layer cake -- two lighter stripes separated by a chocolate-colored center strip.
Sept. 28, 2009 - New Critical Zone Observatory seeks to answer climate change questions
The University of Delaware, in collaboration with Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, Pa., has received a $4.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the Christina River Basin as a new “Critical Zone Observatory” for researching questions relating to climate change.
Scientists define the “critical zone” as the portion of the planet from the treetops to the groundwater that sustains terrestrial life.
The observatory is one of only six in the United States. It is funded through a competitive, five-year grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Donald Sparks, S. Hallock du Pont Chair in Soil and Environmental Chemistry and director of the new Delaware Environmental Institute at UD, will lead the effort, which involves a multidisciplinary team of scientists.
