Stroud Scientists & Educators Present Disseminating Our Findings to our Peers & the Public at Large Our ability to disseminate our findings to a broad audience allows us to increase awareness and create a public dialogue centered on the protection, preservation and restoration of watersheds everywhere. It’s for that reason that our scientists and educators engage in both scientific and public forums to share their findings. The following highlights recent presentations.

Watersheds & Foodsheds
The Freshwater Crisis
Stroud Scientists Play a Major Role at NABS
Trees for Our Cities, Parks, Streams and Planet
The Rain Barrel Project
Fish and Water Quality

WATERSHEDS & FOODSHEDS

The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) hosted its 18th annual Farming for the Future Conference this February in State College, PA. Its theme, The Worldwide Search for Food Sovereignty: Finding Your Foodshed, focused on the ability of communities anywhere to acquire their nutritional needs from local and regional production and processing networks, and how farmers could successfully tap into this trend. PASA’s annual conference has grown into one of the largest and most respected venues for farmers to learn about alternative agricultural strategies in the United States. It continues to draw thousands of attendees from across the U.S. and abroad. The keynote address, Watersheds as Foodsheds: When They are the Same, presented by Bern Sweeney, director of the Stroud Water Research Center, fit well with the thought-provoking reputation of the conference and underscored the links between our actions, the health of our watersheds — and the sustainability of our foodsheds.

For more information about Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, go to:
http://www.pasafarming.org/

For more information about PASA’s annual conference, go to:
http://www.pasafarming.org/resource/image/PASAConferencePressRelease.pdf

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“It’s tough to convince people that there’s a freshwater crisis, when it’s raining outside,” said Bern Sweeney, director of the Stroud Water Research Center, but that was just what he attempted to do throughout the month of April, when spring showers were prevalent. Most people are unaware of how limited our worldwide supply of fresh water is — or their ability to directly impact both the quality and availability of that water. At the West Chester University (PA) Research Day, for an audience of faculty, students and their parents, and at the Rotary Club Mid-Atlantic District Conference held in Williamsburg, VA addressing the region’s business professionals, Sweeney outlined the severity of the crisis and what each of us can do about it.

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STROUD SCIENTISTS PLAY A MAJOR ROLE AT NABS
Stroud scientists had a large presence at the 57th Annual Meeting of the North American Benthological Society (NABS) in Grand Rapids, Michigan in May. NABS, an international scientific organization whose purpose is to promote better understanding of lakes, streams and rivers hosts its annual meeting for the scientific community to disseminate new research results, interpretations and other information. At this meeting, Stroud scientists made the following presentations:

• Invertebrate and periphyton response to flow variability and managed flushing-flows in the Opuha and Opihi Rivers, New Zealand – Dave Arscott
• Algal contributions to suspended organic matter: A novel approach applied to the US great rivers and the Amazon – Anthony K. Aufdenkampe
• Hybridization and gene flow between two cryptic species in the Macaffertium modestum complex (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) - David H. Funk
• The spiral does not end with uptake: The turnover length may be more important than we thought - J. Denis Newbold
• Macroinvertebrate assessment of water quality in White Clay Creek based on specimens identified by amateurs, professionals, and barcoding – Bernard W. Sweeney

For more information about NABS, go to:
http://www.benthos.org/Meeting/index.htm

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TREES FOR OUR CITIES, PARKS, STREAMS AND PLANET
As part of the 7th annual Pennsylvania Land Conservation Conference in State College, PA, Bern Sweeney, director of the Stroud Water Research Center, addressed a seminar audience for those involved with private and public land conservation. The seminar entitled, Trees for Our Cities, Parks, Streams and Planet: Strategies for a Healthier Penn’s Woods, demonstrated the value of streamside forests to both our watersheds and the communities they serve, because of their ability to reduce the amount of pollutants that enter a stream.

In addition, Sweeney addressed an audience of Lancaster County, PA politicians and conservation workers as part of a Chesapeake Bay Foundation-sponsored workshop on streamside forests on April 3rd. Sweeney’s talk entitled, Forest Buffers, the Stream Ecosystem, and Water Quality: What is the Science Telling Us?, was a primer on both the value of streamside forests and how to successfully fund them through state-run programs. Sweeney also discussed the Center’s ambitious proposal to restore the streamside forest buffer along all of White Clay Creek which would impact the 120,000 individuals who rely on the creek for drinking water; the proposal, which was submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is now under review.

To read Trees on Every Streambank, an article by Lancaster Farming about Sweeney’s workshop, go to:
http://www.lancasterfarming.com/node/1861

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THE RAIN BARREL PROJECT
“Even small measures taken by individuals can help to reduce the impacts of urban runoff,” said Stroud education programs manager, Vivian Williams, as she began to convey the methods homeowners and businesses could use to reduce stormwater runoff, at one of several public presentations in Pennsylvania which were part of a multipart program called The Rain Barrel Project. The project, which was supported in part by funds from the Consortium for Scientific Assistance to Watersheds (C-SAW), and developed by Stroud Water Research Center in partnership with Media Borough and the Media Environmental Advisory Council of Pennsylvania, targeted both children and adults.
 
Students from Nativity BVM, Media Elementary, and Media Providence Friends School learned about the problems of stormwater runoff and how that water affects their schools, neighborhoods and local streams. Based on what they learned, they then created and applied their designs to 133 gallon rain barrels that were ultimately installed at school sites and in public spaces throughout Media Borough, including the local library.

For more information and photos about The Rain Barrel Project, go to:
http://www.stroudcenter.org/education/rain_barrel_photos.htm

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FISH AND WATER QUALITY
Bern Sweeney, director of the Stroud Water Research Center, delivered the keynote to 125 fishery resource specialists, ecologists and managers from government agencies and academic institutions of the Northeast at the The Fish & Wildlife Conference in Lancaster, PA on April 26th. Sweeney discussed the lessons learned about water quality classifications in Pennsylvania based on macroinvertebrates, and the states designations based on fish communities.  Said Sweeney, “The bottom line is that the two systems of stream classifications were not always consistent; some streams assigned as Cold Water Fisheries (the highest fish category) were categorized as having poor water quality based on macroinvertebrates."

Willy Eldridge attended the Annual Meeting of the NY & PA Sections of the American Fisheries Society in Owego, NY during the month of February where he presented, Effect of rate of change during diel (24-hour) temperature fluctuations on growth, stress and pathology of seven warm water fish species.

For more information on Willy Eldridge and his research, go to:
http://www.stroudcenter.org/about/eldridge.htm

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