Science Events Calendar

Geography Department Social Justice Forum 

Dr. Corman is an Assistant Professor in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A limnologist, ecosystem ecologist, and biogeochemist.

In this talk, Dr Corman will present research on the biological and biogeochemical activity of the Niobrara River, a tributary of the Missouri River, and how these findings influence our understanding of global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. Read more about Dr Corman and this research: go/bio_seminars

Can we ski that? Answering this deceivingly simple question is an exploration in the science of snow and the psychology of high-stakes decision making, the ethics of informed consent, and a structured approach to risk management that tries to put it all together. With snow and avalanches there always seems to be more questions — so please bring yours! Ilya Storm is an ACMG Ski Guide and forecaster with Avalanche Canada.

A Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk titled "As below, so above: Economics and the orbital commons" by Akhil Rao, Assistant Professor of Economics, Middlebury College.

Satellites are increasingly integrated into our lives and responses to the climate crisis, yet the environment in which satellites operate is poorly understood and poorly governed. In this talk, we will take an economic perspective on the challenge of governing the orbital commons. What can we learn from our terrestrial experiences of commons management, and how can we ensure future generations continue to benefit from satellites?

Akhil Rao joined the Economics faculty at Middlebury College as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2019. His primary research interests are in environmental and computational economics, with a focus on outer space and simulation modeling. Akhil received his PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder, and BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside. His dissertation research focused on the economic dynamics of orbit use and applying that understanding to policy design and integrated assessment modeling. He teaches courses in statistics and environmental economics.

Geography Department Social Justice Forum 

A Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk titled "How to Narrate the Watershed" by Rachel Havrelock, Professor of English, University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Freshwater Lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago endeavors to tell multivocal, community-based stories that highlight the urgency of attending to the collapse of watersheds and disintegration of infrastructure. To date, the Lab has created Freshwaterstories.com, thebackwardriver.org, and a tool to help orient people in terms of their water’s source, path to them, and interconnected people. This interactive talk will discuss process and content while exploring questions about agency, power, and influence when it comes to representing water.

Rachel Havrelock is Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she also directs The Freshwater Lab, an environmental humanities initiative focused on the North American Great Lakes and environmental justice.

This talk will be VIRTUAL please click here to join via zoom or visit go/woodincolloquiumseries for more information.

Come meet fellow ES majors, minors, and faculty; learn more about the major and opportunities in the program and get any questions answered prior to spring registration. Prospective majors and minors are also encourage to attend. Cider and cider doughnuts will be available. 

Geography Department Social Justice Forum 

A Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk titled "Adaptation, Resilience, and Transformation in Maine’s Coastal Communities" by Heather M. Leslie, Director, University of Maine’s marine laboratory, Darling Marine Center, and Professor of Marine Sciences, UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences.

Coastal communities’ ability to adapt to socioeconomic and environmental change is a subject of increasing attention. The research group I co-lead with Joshua Stoll uses a social-ecological systems framework to investigate, map, and analyze the capacity for sustaining fishing-dependent, place-based communities, including the state of Maine, USA. I will describe how we conduct this research together with our students and community partners, by integrating diverse biophysical and social science approaches at multiple spatial scales. I will share three vignettes to illustrate how diverse disciplines, institutions and worldviews can be leveraged to advance ecosystem science and stewardship, and to train the next generation of marine science and policy professionals. Our research aims to contribute to better understanding of the adaptive capacity, resilience, and risk and opportunities posed by transformation in coastal communities and underscores the need for ecosystem-based approaches to studying and supporting adaptation in fisheries-dependent communities in Maine and beyond.

Heather is Director of the University of Maine’s marine laboratory, Darling Marine Center, and Professor of Marine Sciences in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences. She studies the drivers of ecological and social processes in marine systems, and how to more effectively connect science to policy and management. Together with co-editor Karen McLeod and more than 40 contributing authors, she published Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans in 2009. This collaborative project catalyzed Heather’s engagement in the science and practice of EBM in the US and Mexico, in particular. While this seminar will focus on her most recent work in Maine, information about her EBM-related research in Mexico and elsewhere is available at https://umaine.edu/leslie-lab/