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Riparia

Highlights

  • RECENT AWARDS:

    Trish Miller, Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology, received the William C. Andersen Memorial Award for the best student oral presentation at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Raptor Research Foundation in Duluth, MN. The title of her paper, presented on October 8, was "Striking a balance: Modeling Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) migration through wind energy developments in the central Appalachian Mountains, USA." Trish is co-advised by Robert P. Brooks (Penn State) and Todd Katzner (West Virginia University).

    Abbey Tyrna, Ph.D. Candidate in Geography, received a Society of Woman Geographers' National Fellowship for spring semester 2012, providing stipend, tuition, and travel funds. This will help to support her research on understanding networks of hydrologically-based ecosystem services in the Shavers Creek Watershed. Abbey is advised by Robert P. Brooks.

  • National Wetland Condition Assessment Update
    During the summer of 2011, a Riparia team led by Sarah Chamberlain and Hannah Ingram sampled about 40 wetlands in Pennsylvania and Maryland as part of the National Wetland Condition Assessment. This first ever project to sample and assess the condition of the nation's wetlands was organized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and their partners. Teams from across the nation used a standardized protocol to sample nearly 1,000 wetlands.
  • Riparia at SWS Meeting in Prague
    Riparia was well-represented at the Society of Wetland Scientists Annual Meeting during July 2011. This international conference was held in Prague, Czech Republic, and featured presentations and discussions by wetland scientists from around the world. Director, Rob Brooks, Associate Director, Denice Wardrop, and Botanist, Sarah Chamberlain presented papers on Riparia's current research. Topics included: comparing reference wetland to mitigation projects in Pennsylvania (Brooks), forecasting changes in wetland ecosystem services from climate change in the Susquehanna River Basin (Wardrop) and using the Floristic Quality Assessment index in the Mid-Atlantic Region (Chamberlain).
  • Reference wetlands prove to be valuable.
    In 1993, Riparia began establishing a set of reference wetlands across Pennsylvania. Numbering over 200 sites, representing multiple hydrogeomorphic types and spanning from high to low ecological integrity, these wetlands are demonstrating their utility and value. Riparia, through a PA Department of Environmental Protection contract, is using these sites in developing design and performance guidelines to enhance the quality of mitigation projects. In addition, these sites have been essential for developing assessment tools to determine where wetlands occur, their condition, and their restoration potential. The reference wetlands have formed the basis for numerous undergraduate, graduate, staff, and faculty research projects during the past 15 years. Read more »