We welcome any news or announcements from NCED PIs and affiliates (including new research projects, students graduating, awards received, new publications, etc.). We can only report what we know, so please do help by sending along your news so we can share it with the NCED community!

Email news and announcements to Emily Maple at:

[email protected].

International Year of Deltas takes on Belmont Forum Challenge

The 2013 International Year of Deltas (IYD) effort continues to gain momentum as group members from the 1st strategic meeting at the Planet Under Pressure conference in late March 2012 are preparing a pre-proposal for the Belmont Forum, due later this summer. As stated on the Belmont Forum website, 'the Belmont Forum is a high level group of the world's major and emerging funders of global environmental change research and international science councils. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international environmental research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilising international resources.'  The scientific themes for this year's proposal applicants include freshwater security and coastal sustainability. Several NCED and non-NCED Principal Investigators are involved in this effort. Partner international institutions come from countries including, but not limited to, Japan, UK, the Netherlands, and Germany.   

The IYD effort is now formally endorsed by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), International Association of Physical Science of the Oceans (IAPSO), International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), American Rivers, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), the International Geographic Union (IGU), and the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).

To join the IYDs list-serv and learn more about the initiative, visit the website at www.iyds-2013.org.

Regional River Restoration Groups Meet at University of Minnesota

NCED and the Partnership for River Restoration and Science in the Upper Midwest (PRRSUM) recently organized a 2-day meeting that brought representatives from regional stream and river restoration groups from around the nation to meet and discuss collaboration opportunities. The meeting, held on June 18th and 19th, 2012 at the University of Minnesota, included representatives from PRRSUM (including UMSRS coordinators Barbara Burkholder and Jessica Kozarek, as well as NCED PI Peter Wilcock) and representatives from River Restoration Northwest (RRNW), the Southeast Regional Stream Restoration Conference, and the Mid-Atlantic Stream Restoration Conference. The goals of the meeting were to facilitate coordination and collaboration between each group; learn about each organization - their history, structure, and mission; and learn about the most relevant restoration topics in each region. Participants shared stories about what has worked and not worked within their organizations and discussed general trends in river restoration that practitioners are facing as the industry continues into the future.

Regional river restoration group representatives networking with each other.

Collaboration efforts between regional groups aim to inform stream restoration practitioners about other river restoration efforts around the country and more effectively share information and resources regarding river restoration. Specific actions to promote regional collaboration include coordinated session topics at each conference, presenting a shared poster at each meeting describing the other regional meetings, and promoting each group on websites and social media. 

PRRSUM Sets Date and Venue for 2013 UMSRS

The Partnership for River Restoration and Science in the Upper Midwest (PRRSUM), a joint initiative between SAFL and NCED, has set a date and venue for the 4th annual Upper Midwest Stream Restoration Symposium (UMSRS). The meeting will be held February 24-27, 2013 at the Radisson Hotel on the riverfront in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The meeting will host invited speakers, pre-symposium short courses, single-track presentations on relevant restoration topics, and forum discussions.

A call for abstracts will go out July 2, 2012.  PRRSUM welcomes suggestions for invited speakers, session topics, and short course options. See www.prrsum.org for more details.

Cynthia Welsh: Minnesota STEM Teacher, Leader in American Indian Science Fairs Receives 2012 Educator of Excellence Award

The NCED-sponsored gidakiimaaniwigamig program encourages American Indian high school students to participate in local and regional science fairs to enhance their education in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Gidaa students come from various areas in Minnesota, including Brookston, Carlton, Cass Lake, Cloquet, Duluth, Fond du Lac reservation, Greenway, Leech Lake reservation, Minneapolis, Saginaw, Tower, Walker, and Wrenshall, and gidakiimaaniwigamig trains school teachers to integrate STEM education into their curricula. Dr. Cynthia Welsh, a teacher and mentor to gidaa students at Cloquet High School, was recently recognized for her achievements in mentoring American Indian Students in STEM related research with the 2012 National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair Educator of Excellence award.

Dr. Welsh has been coaching gidaa students in science fairs for 17 years, and her students have advanced to national and international fairs, achieving many awards. After excelling at the Northeast Minnesota Regional Science Fair in February, 2012, and winning numerous special awards at the 2012 Minnesota Academy of Science State Science Fair in March, some of  Dr. Welsh's students continued on to participate in the National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, NM, the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project Olympiad (ISWEEEP) in Houston, TX, and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in Pittsburgh, PA.

Cynthia Welsh with Kendra Pallin and Madison Pallin and their awards at AISES-NAISEF.

Five of Dr. Welsh's students at Cloquet were selected from the Northeast Minnesota Regional Science Fair to attend ISWEEEP with scientists from 70 countries and 43 U.S. states. Alec Lamirande and Preston Jackson received a Bronze third place Grand Award for their project. Cassandra Roy, William Bauer, and Christian Wood received honorable mentions. Preston Jackson and Alec Lamirande, as well as Madison Pallin and Kendra Pallin, went on to present their research projects at the Intel ISEF fair in May with 1500 students from 60 countries. Madison and Kendra Pallin both received Grand Awards at the National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair.  Three of Dr. Welsh's students, Cassandra Roy, Preston Jackson, and Kendra Pallin, all Cloquet juniors, also received the American Indian "Good Job" Awards at the Science Museum of Minnesota's Science Fusion Series in January, 2012. These students' participation in science fairs is partially sponsored by the Gidaa manoomin (Wild Rice) project, a collaboration between NCED and the University of Minnesota's National Lacustrine Core Repository, with the support of Holly Pellerin of the manoomin project, Dr. Diana Dalbotten, Diversity Director at NCED, and Emi Ito and Amy Myrbo at the University of Minnesota.

Cynthia Welsh has been a mentor to students in science fairs for 17 years. "Doing research is a process that enhances life skills that serve students well in the adult world," she said.  "They learn how to talk to adults, how to share and explain in simple terms what they are studying. They learn that failure often is the best road to success, to keep their eye on the next task at hand without getting overwhelmed by all that life asks of them. Essentially, they learn how to be successful at whatever they decide to do." Cynthia wrote her doctoral dissertation on "Making Science Education Meaningful for American Indian Students: The Effect of Science Fair Participation," in October 2008 for the University of Minnesota. When asked about the importance of science fairs for her American Indian students, Cynthia remarked, "I noticed that my Native American students were engaged and appeared to enjoy doing their science research projects. Since our school has a high percentage of American Indian students, as a teacher, I want to find the best way to educate all of my students, and doing individualized research projects is one tool that has been very successful."

Student Feature: Mohammad Ebtehaj

The 12th Annual  River Restoration Northwest (RRNW) Stream Restoration Symposium will be held in Skamania, Washington, February 5th-7th, 2013, with Short Courses offered on February 4th, and a field trip on February 8th.

RRNW is pleased to announce a Call for Abstracts for Sessions, Oral Presentations, and Posters.

Important dates:

• August 15 - Session proposal submission closes
• September 15 - Abstracts for oral and poster presentation submission closes
• October 1 - Symposium registration opens

Please visit the website to submit your abstract or to register, or contact RRNW at [email protected].

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