Castello & Macedo: Large-scale degradation of Amazonian freshwater ecosystems

Castello, L., Macedo, N.M. 2015. Large-scale degradation of Amazonian freshwater ecosystems. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13173 pdf

From the Washington Post

When it comes to conservation efforts, few regions of the Earth have garnered as much attention as the Amazon. Considering that it’s home to the world’s largest remaining rain forest and some of the highest levels of biodiversity on the planet, halting deforestation in the Amazon basin has been a major priority of environmentalists around ...

Read More →
0

Global Change, Water

Peter Vikesland explores new methods for detecting pollutants in the environment

From VT News

Rapid pollutant detection can prevent widespread outbreaks. While there are many existing techniques for detecting such contamination, they generally require highly specific instruments for each contaminant.

Peter Vikesland, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and Haoran Wei of Zaozhuang in Shandong, China, a doctoral student in environmental engineering, describe challenges related to deploying surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) used for detection in their paper published by Scientific Reports, “pH-Triggered Molecular ...

Read More →
0

Pollution, Water

Carey receives NSF funding to investigate human-natural feedbacks in water

From VT News

BLACKSBURG, Va., Dec. 8, 2015 – Understanding human interactions with the natural environment can enhance the protection of surface water quality in lakes and streams.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers will examine the linkages between humans and freshwater quality using a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems Program.

Kelly Cobourn, assistant professor of natural resource economics in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and ...

Read More →
2

Accolades, Drinking water, Global Change

NYT’S: Landmark Climate Accord in Paris

From the New York Times:

December 12, 2015: With the sudden bang of a gavel Saturday night, representatives of 195 nations reached a landmark accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change.

Read More →
0

Uncategorized

Jacob Barney’s Biological Invasions class enjoys an Invasive Species Banquet

From VT News: 

BLACKSBURG, Va., Dec. 10, 2015 – Rose Peterson of Norfolk, Virginia, was recently whipping up some pesto, which is generally made with basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese.

But the Virginia Tech senior skipped the basil and instead substituted garlic mustard, a common weed that is one of many invasive plants that are not only ubiquitous, but also delicious.

“Garlic mustard grows commonly in lawns,” said Peterson, who harvested some from her aunt’s house ...

Read More →
0

Invasive Species