Photos from the 2004 Summer ROCA Workshop
have been posted on the ROCA webserver.
Thanks to Bob Pohlad for many of the pictures taken
at this years annual workshop.
ROCA Collaborators at ESA
Bob Pohlad and Carolyn Thomas
(pictured right) from Ferrum
College co-authored a poster entitled "The Use
of a Web-Based Laboratory Manual to Enhance Teaching and
Research Collaboration in Small Watersheds Across Appalachian
Colleges" presented at the Ecological Society of America
meeting held in August 2004.
Grants
and Proposals
Congratulations to CAWS
(Collaboration through Appalachian Watershed Studies), who
was recently awarded a grant from NSF for $180,000. A full
list of all the CAWS collaborators can be viewed at this
website. Here is a portion of the news
release from the Ferrum College website:
Ferrum College announced today that it has received
a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for research
and teaching in southern Appalachian watersheds. The grant
is to support a proposal by Ferrum Professors Dr. Carolyn
Thomas and Dr. Bob Pohlad entitled "CAWS: Collaboration
through Appalachian Watershed Studies” and will award
$180,000 for the college to work in collaboration with
Appalachian College Association (ACA) colleges. The ACA
will supply matching grant dollars to support student
work for a grand total of more than $200,000 in funding.
The Collaboration through Appalachian Watershed Studies
(CAWS) aims to strengthen their science curricula using
teaching and learning experiences in locally delineated
small watersheds. The CAWS proposal details, “The participating
faculty and colleges are creating a research–rich learning
environment, infusing the small watershed approach methods
into our curricula, improving laboratory instrumentation,
implementing collaborative, cross-site student research
projects, participating in faculty development workshops,
and developing an online Lab Manual for Small Watershed
Studies.” CAWS has involved more than eight colleges from
five states.
The CAWS project was developed from discussions at
ACA Technology Summits and Research Opportunities and
Collaboration in the Appalachians (ROCA) workshops.
Please visit the above link to read more about this grant.
Watershed
Updates
The Dan's Mountain research project was very
busy this summer. The Appalachian Laboratory hosted two
interns for the ROCA project. Brian Owen and Thomas
Miles worked for ten weeks performing field and lab
duties. Thomas, an undergraduate from Frostburg
State University, predominantly worked with Mark
Castro and Joe Thompson where he helped collect
and analyze stream and rainfall samples for mercury. Brian,
a recent graduate from Ferrum College, worked mostly with
Keith Eshleman and Geoffrey Frech and he helped
analyze and collect lysimeter and stream samples.
In August, Dave Evans and JD Fiore
visited Appalachian Laboratory. Dave and JD are both undergraduates
and interns at Ferrum College, where they are involved with
work at the Ferrum Mountain Creek watershed project. Both
interns worked with Brian Owen and Thomas Miles here at
AL where they learned lysimeter sampling and lab prep techniques.
Collaborators
Visit Appalachian Laboratory
The Appalachian
Laboratory was fortunate to have several ROCA collaborators
visit this summer. In July, Karen Kuers, Scott
Torreano and two interns (all from Sewanee)
came to AL to perform sample analysis for a week. During
that week, they were able to grind several hundred plant
samples, analyze samples for carbon and nitrogen, and perform
several water chemistry analyses. Geoffrey Frech
assisted the group with the CN analyzer, plant grinding,
DOC analysis, and nitrogen analysis. Joe Thompson
helped the group run samples for anions. Keith Eshleman
helped run samples for cations. Overall it was a very productive
week of analysis and Karen and her group were able to see
the lab in full operation.
In August, Susan Monteleone (Lindsey
Wilson College) came to the laboratory to perform both
field and lab work for a week. Susan spent her lab time
grinding plant samples and running them for carbon and nitrogen.
Her plant samples were understory vegetation, collected
at the Dan's Mountain field site in the summer of 2003.
Susan also spent a day or two in the field at the reclaimed
mine site where she conducted a habitat analysis. Geoffrey
Frech assisted with the laboratory work and Brian
Owen helped with the field work.
Maryland
Hunting Seasons
The fall 2004 hunting season has begun here in western
Maryland. Please visit the Maryland
DNR website for information about the hunting seasons
in Maryland. It is a good idea to wear fluorescent orange
if you will be doing field work in Maryland this time of
the year. For a full listing of hunting season dates, visit
this
website. Please note that bow season has already begun,
and some form of deer hunting will continue on until late
January 2005. The landowner of the reclaimed mine site on
Dan's Mountain has requested that we limit our research
visits between 11:00am and 2:00pm during deer hunting season.
