Agriculture & Eutrophication: A Report from the Front Lines
Starts: December 4, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Location: McHugh Auditorium, Watermen's Hall
Contact: Rochelle Seitz, 804-684-7698, [[seitz]]
Summary
Science lecture by John Downing of Iowa State University.
Full Description
Title
Agriculture and Eutrophication: A Report from the Front LinesBackground
Dr. Downing received his Master's degree in Zoology from North Dakota State University and his PhD in Biology from McGill University in Montréal, Canada. His research interests span the range from aquatic to terrestrial ecology; from microbial ecology to biogeochemistry; and from population conservation to whole-ecosystem restoration and management. Scales of study range from the organismal to comparative analyses of ecosystems across the globe. His research in aquatic ecology and limnology is centered on the highly impacted, eutrophic to hypereutrophic lakes and streams of the US Midwest.
Abstract
Agricultural water pollution at the heart of continents is fundamentally altering marine environments. Increased world demand for food, energy, and fiber is driving freshwater eutrophication to new levels worldwide and hydrological connections mean that effects are moving rapidly to the sea. In this talk, Dr. Downing will give a tour of nutrient biogeochemistry and limnology of lakes in some of the most profoundly disturbed watersheds in the world, linking anthropogenic activities and economics to freshwater and coastal eutrophication. He will also explore the role of freshwater ecosystems and eutrophication in the global carbon cycle.
