UNH Research 2012 - Sustainability & the Environment
        A digest of the year’s research news from the University of New Hampshire | ||||||
| Sustainability & the Environment | |||||
Aircraft Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Captures When combined with environmental data collected via Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences An Arctic Summer While conducting climate change research in Sweden |
Bill McDowell – | |
Benchmark Report on NH Climate Plan Notes Progressand Challenges
http://www.eos.unh.edu/news/indiv_news.shtml?NEWS_ID=1315
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2012/jun/ds28climate.cfm
http://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/2012/07/benchmark-report-nh-climate-plan-notes-progress-and-challenges
A new report from the NH Energy and Climate Collaborative finds that New Hampshire reduced its energy use and emissions of heat-trapping gasses between 2005 and 2009. Yet despite what the report calls "real progress," the state is challenged by rising energy expenditures and continued dependence on out-of-state energy sources. New Hampshire's Energy, Environmental, and Economic Development Benchmark Report was prepared under the leadership of Cameron Wake, research associate professor in UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS).
| Bicycle-Powered Washer Aims to Bring Sustainable Convenience to Developing Nations Three UNH mechanical engineering students have created a bicycle-powered washing machine that cleans clothes with Related Research Areas: Engineering & Physical Sciences | ||
Bright Light for Ecologists One Step Closer to Switching On When groundbreaking ceremonies took place on June 8, 2012 at Harvard Forest in Petersham, |
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Composing an Aquatic Symphony
http://www.eos.unh.edu/Spheres_1012/aquatic.shtml
Wil Wollheim, assistant professor in UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) Earth Systems Research Center (ESRC) and UNH department of natural resources and the environment, and his colleagues have deployed state-of-the-art underwater sensors strategically throughout the Lamprey River watershed that drains into coastal New Hampshire's Great Bay. The sensorss will gather data he describes as notes to allow composition of what he calls an aquatic symphony that will provide unprecedented insight into the chemical and physical processes of stream and river networks.
Daily Measurements by Volunteer Scientists Support Climate Study
http://www.epscor.unh.edu/sites/nhepscor.org/files/images/Fall%202012%20Newsletter.pdf, p.4
Led by Elizabeth Burakowski, a Ph.D. candidate in the Earth sciences department at UNH, seventeen volunteer citizen scientists are measuring albedo, the reflectivity of the earth’s surface as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded NH Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Ecosystems and Society project. More information about the contribution of snow cover and deforestation to surface albedo is critical to scientists’ understanding of climate change.
Ecosystems and Society
http://www.epscor.unh.edu/sites/nhepscor.org/files/images/Fall%202012%20Newsletter.pdf, p.2
NH Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)’s five-year project, Ecosystems and Society, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is based on the concept of “big team science.” More than 93 faculty, staff and students from eight New Hampshire colleges and universities and more than 44 volunteer scientists actively involved in their communities are participating in the project. This NH EPSCoR project coordinates multiple disciplines of science, sociology, and engineering to increase human, social, and infrastructure capital for research and to learn more about New Hampshire’s ecosystems, and their contribution to quality of life.
Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
| Energy Conservation, Transportation at Core of Student-designed Android App UNH computer science students worked with the UNH Sustainability Academy to design | ||
| Food Solutions New England Receives Funding for State,Regional Food Network The Kendall Foundation awarded $185,000 to Food Solutions New England (FSNE), an initiative of the Sustainability Institute at UNH, to support its work to strengthen collaboration and the collective impact of the FSNE network across New England. The goal of the network is to build the region’s capacity to produce a significant percentage of sustainable food for all New Englanders by 2060. Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences; Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences | |
Frey Receives Department of Defense Grant to Study Soil Fungi and Garlic Mustard
http://www.unh.edu/research/sites/unh.edu.research/files/docs/RES_AREAS/Digest_12_SE
/CJ%202012%20123%20Frey%20Receives%20Department%20of%20Defense%20
Grant%20to%20Study%20Soil%20Fungi%20and%20Garlic%20Mus.pdf
Serita Frey, UNH professor of natural resources and the environment, and Kristina Stinson of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for a five-year study of how soil microbial communities respond to major ecosystem change. The researchers will investigate the impact of the invasive species garlic mustard on soil biota and nutrient cycling processes and evaluate different strategies for eradication of garlic mustard on DoD lands,
Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences; Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
Fuel for the Future As gas and diesel prices rise and world supplies of fossil fuels dwindle, more and Related Research Areas: Engineering & Physical Sciences |
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GIS Maps Available Online for Lamprey River Watershed
http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2012/jan/rz06maps.cfm
Residents of the Lamprey River watershed who want information on land use in their communities have a new, online tool at their disposal. Available on the N.H. Sea Grant web site (http://seagrant.unh.edu/news/gismaps), GIS maps provide details on cultural resources, conserved public land, and subwatersheds for each of the 14 towns within the watershed.
Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
Governor, UNH President Announce National Science Foundation Funding to Support Statewide Economic Development Thanks to a five-year $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the University of New Hampshire will lead Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences |
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Green Infrastructure Grant to Help N.H. Communities Manage Stormwater
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2012/nov/bp14stormwater.cfm
A pair of grants to the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center will help communities in the Great Bay watershed better manage stormwater – runoff from rainfall that is not absorbed into the ground – with innovative “green” infrastructure.
Related Research Areas: Engineering & Physical Sciences; Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
| Heidi Asbjornsen – Natural Resources – Costa Rica Heidi Asbjornsen, associate professor, traveled to Costa Rica during January 2012 to visit potential field sites with varying |
Joel Hartter – Geography – Uganda Joel Hartter [pictured on far right, with his lead field assistant, Erimosi Agaba] Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences; Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences |
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Kate Early – Hamanasi Eco-Resort: Examining the Profit, Planet, and People Bottom Lines of Sustainability
http://www.unh.edu/research/sites/unh.edu.research/files/docs/RES_AREAS/Digest_12_SE/INQ_2012_01_Early.pdf
Kate Early, a senior majoring in hospitality management, traveled to Hamanasi, a resort in a Belize rural fishing village. Follow Early on her journey as she learns about the three P’s: profit, planet, and people.
Related Research Areas: Business and Technology
Linking Water with the Landscape
http://www.eos.unh.edu/Spheres_1012/water.shtml
Heidi Asbjornsen, adds a vital new dimension to UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) Earth Systems Research Center (ESRC) work and brings her experience in ecophysiology and ecohydrology to UNH's emerging agro-ecosystems research. As an associate professor with a joint appointment in the ESRC and the UNH department of natural resources and the environment, Asbjornsen’s ground-level, leaf-to-whole-plant research will complement the larger-scale remote sensing and flux tower work done by colleagues Scott Ollinger and Jingfeng Xiao.
Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences
| Maples Get a Closer Look, Thanks to a Generous Donor The UNH chemistry department has a new liquid chromatography mass spectrometry system that breaks down complex liquids into their components. The instrument will be used for a variety of research projects, including analysis of maple sap. Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences |
Meghan Howey – Profile in Sustainability
http://www.unh.edu/research/sites/unh.edu.research/files/docs/RES_AREAS/Digest_12_SE/CJ%202012%20063%20Meghan%20Howey%20-%20Profile%20in%20Sustainability.pdf
Meghan Howey discusses how her archaeological and anthropological expertise allows her to study long-term cycles of
human-environment interactions and to identify the cultural solutions people developed and used to solve ecological
and demographic crises in the past. This knowledge can be used to inform sustainability decisions in the present.
Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
Microbial Communities Shifted Dramatically After Deepwater Horizon Spill The UNH Hubbard Center for Genome Studies (HCGS) and collaborators from Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences |
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Peter Pekins, Professor of Wildlife Ecology – Poland Peter Pekins traveled to the Bialowieza National Park and Forest in western Poland to join 150 biologists gathered at an international conference to discuss research and management issues concerning moose that range west from Eastern Europe through North America. The Bialowieza National Park and Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest remaining primeval forests in Europe. Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences |
Researcher Finds that Politics May Trump Facts on View of Climate Change
http://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/2012/10/researcher-finds-politics-may-trump-facts-view-climate-change
According to sociology professor Larry Hamilton’s latest findings, scientific facts help determine beliefs about an issue for some people. But for others, political views trump scientific facts and determine what information they will accept as true, a circumstance particularly prevalent when it comes to the issue of climate change.
Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
Researchers Find African Farmers Need Better Climate Change Data to Improve Farming Practices
http://unh.edu/news/campusjournal/2012/Mar/21farmers.cfm
Researchers from UNH have found that many African farmers inaccurately perceive changes in climate and rainfall when compared with scientific data, highlighting the need for better climate information to assist them in improving farming practices.
Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
| Science by Smartphone A national effort aimed at getting citizens to use their smartphone cameras and other mobile, handheld devices for real science is underway. Annette Schloss of UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) Earth Systems Research Center (ESRC) | |
Rock of Ages – Professor Barrett N. Rock retires, sort of Even after 40 years of teaching and research, including 25 at UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) |
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| Seeing the Forest for the Trees Postdoctoral researcher Crystal McMichael of UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) Earth Systems Research Center (ESRC) and colleagues at the Florida Institute of Technology have shown that, contrary to what has been thought previously, the pre-Columbian western Amazon rainforest was largely undisturbed. This means that the massive land use changes now occurring in the Amazon do not have historical precedent and, thus, the assumption that the forest can bounce back following widespread deforestation is incorrect. Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences | ||
Sensors Monitor Aquatic Ecosystem Services in the Lamprey River
http://www.epscor.unh.edu/sites/nhepscor.org/files/images/Fall%202012%20Newsletter.pdf, p.5
The first deployment of sensors in the Lamprey River watershed to assess the flux of nitrogen into into Great Bay in New Hampshire’s coastal region, particularly during storm events, is under way. The new sensor technology will enable sampling to occur around the clock, allowing researchers to identify patterns that occur and reoccur within a particular watershed, which will lead to a better understanding of aquatic ecosystem services and improved management and water quality.
Synergistic Science
http://www.eos.unh.edu/Spheres_1012/synergy.shtml
UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) Earth Systems Research Center (ESRC) scientists Scott Ollinger, Jingfeng Xiao, and Heidi Asbjornsen are combining their varied expertise to explore the tightly coupled relationship between nitrogen, carbon, and water in terrestrial ecosystems. Ollinger and Asbjorsen also hold appointments in the natural resources and the environment department.
| Testing the Waters Using high tech probes, UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA) biologist Jim Haney and his team of student researchers have been studying the effect of cyanobacteria on water and the food web for the past decade. Haney is interested in how these bacteria contribute to the ecosystem, and in whether and how cyanobacteria toxins migrate from the water bodies into people. Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences | |
Undergraduate Research: It's a Gas
http://www.eos.unh.edu/Spheres_0312/gas.shtml
Jacqueline Amante's research during her junior and senior years helped lay the groundwork for a novel approach to measuring bubbles of methane in remote regions. Her work contributes to the effort to determine how much of the powerful greenhouse gas methane is emitted to the atmosphere through the process of ebullition – bubbling up to the atmosphere through peat (organic soil) and water.
NH Announces Lamprey Fellowship in Climate and Sustainability The University of New Hampshire Foundation has announced the establishment of The Josephine A. Lamprey Fellowship in Climate and Sustainability, a five-year fellowship designed to promote more focus on the |
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UNH Climate Researcher Wins Medal for Best Student Paper
http://www.eos.unh.edu/news/indiv_news.shtml?NEWS_ID=1314
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2012/jun/ds26medal.cfm
http://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/2012/06/unh-climate-researcher-wins-medal-best-student-paper
UNH Ph.D. candidate Elizabeth Burakowski was awarded the 2012 Wiesnet Medal for Best Student Paper at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Snow Conference (ESC). She is the first UNH student to receive the award, which recognizes the best in current snow-related research being conducted by an up-and-coming student.
Related Research Areas: Engineering & Physical Sciences
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UNH Forest Watch Students Note Negative Effects of Warming Temps | ||
| As part of the second annual Forest Watch Student Convention held recently at the University of New Hampshire, sixth and seventh-grade scientists from Gilmanton and Bartlett presented research results suggesting that increasing levels of ozone, or smog, across New England earlier in 2012 may be harming forest trees. Student researchers also noted that warmer spring weather is affecting the region's sugar maple populations negatively. | ||
| UNH Garners the 2012 Outstanding Community Tree Farm Award Each year, the New Hampshire Tree Farm Committee recognizes an outstanding tree farm owned by towns, schools, or other organizations for its role as a working forest that serves to educate the public on sustainable forestry. This year, the UNH Woodlands Program was honored with the Outstanding Community Tree Farm award for exemplifying a well-managed resource for education, research, habitat, recreation, and forest product. Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences | |
UNH Report: N.H. Energy Efficiency Program Will Save State $84.5M
http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2012/may/ds04energy.cfm
http://unh.edu/news/campusjournal/2012/May/09energy.cfm
A report issued by UNH's Carbon Solutions New England (CSNE) shows grants awarded by the New Hampshire Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Reduction Fund (GHGERF) generated an annual energy use reduction of 182,800 million BTUs and a savings of more
than $5 million to state businesses, communities, and residents in the second year of the program.
Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences
| UNH Research Adds to Mounting Evidence Against Popular Pavement Sealcoat Alison Watts, research assistant professor of civilengineering at UNH, has found that one type of pavement sealcoat, commonly used on driveways and parking lots throughout the nation, has significant health and ecosystem implications. Related Research Areas: Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences | |
UNH Research Brings New Understanding to Past Global Warming Events
http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2012/apr/bp02warming.cfm
http://unh.edu/news/campusjournal/2012/Apr/04warming.cfm
A series of global warming events called hyperthermals that occurred more than 50 million years ago had a similar origin to a much larger hyperthermal of the period, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). These new findings represent a breakthrough in understanding the major “burp” of carbon, equivalent to burning the entire reservoir of fossil fuels on Earth, that occurred during the PETM.
Related Research Areas: Engineering & Physical Sciences
UNH Researcher Awarded NSF Grant for Interdisciplinary Soil Fertility Work in Uganda Postdoctoral researcher Lisa Tiemann will collaborate with UNH’s soil biogeochemist Stuart Grandy and geographer Joel Hartter as she embarks on a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded, multidisciplinary project that examines environmental and Related Research Areas: Agriculture and Biosciences; Health, Behavioral & Social Sciences |
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Unprecedented View of N.H. Landscape Is Available from UNH
http://www.eos.unh.edu/news/indiv_news.shtml?NEWS_ID=1310
http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2012/may/ds16landscape.cfm
http://unh.edu/news/campusjournal/2012/May/16landscape.cfm
New high-resolution topographic data covering approximately 900 square miles of New Hampshire’s coastal communities show the elevation and shape of the landscape as if stripped of all trees and buildings. The data were collected using airborne laser technology known as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) by a diverse consortium of state and regional stakeholders. Projected uses of the data include producing updated floodplain maps for coastal communities and modeling future flood areas.
Related Research Areas: Engineering & Physical Sciences
 | What Crops Up | |
Why Snow Is Cool Elizabeth Burakowski’s doctoral study will be the first to measure the |  | ||
