EnviroNews
"Signs of Life in Integrated Environmental Science"

News from the Department of Integrated Environmental Science at 
Bethune-Cookman University

Summer, '09

Mississampling

BCU sent a contingent out to Biloxi MS and the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in early June for the ECSC remote sensing flyover of the GBNERR site. IES graduate student Kim Nowells and Soon-To-Be-IES graduate student Rashan Moss joined the field teams for groundtruthing, data acquisition, and sample collection in the bays, bayous, and marshes, while IES Chair Dr. Michael Reiter worked back on land to complete the conceptual models for the GBNERR (he is the Thematic Area Lead PI for Integrated Assessment in the ECSC). The necessary work was completed (plus some), and by all accounts everything went smoothly (not to mention that it was a lot of fun as well!).

 

 

(It is rumored that Dr. Reiter wanted to get out into the field as well. The official reason he didn't was that he couldn't complete the required model work until the last day of the flyover. The unofficial reason is that he only brought sandals on the trip....)

 

Spring '09

It's Official!

The Department of Integrated Environmental Science is born! Under its first Chair, Dr. Michael Reiter, the IES department will begin operation this coming Fall semester 2009 within the School of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics. Once the final signatures are collected, IES will offer both a BS and a thesis-based MS degree, while a non-thesis MS degree is being offered as a track in the Transformative Leadership program. Dr. Reiter says he can't wait for the innumerable hours of meetings, paperwork, and assorted administrative tasks waiting for him in the years ahead.

Yeah; we don't understand it either. It takes all kinds....

 

A Good Week

It was a good week for Dr. Reiter, the IES program director. While helping to run a successful conceptual modeling workshop for the new Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve near Corpus Christi, Texas, he learned that a manuscript for which he was lead author was selected to become a book chapter in arguably the preeminent international book series on sustainability education, and that a second manuscript for which he was lead author was accepted to be published in a top peer-reviewed journal in the field of environmental management!

While he recovers from all the news, look for the following to come out in print in the near future:

Reiter, M. A., P. C. Coggins, and M. E. Howse. In press. Designing an integrated interdisciplinary Environmental Science curriculum using an IRMA chart: An example from Bethune-Cookman University. In: Leal, W. ed., Environmental Education, Communication and Sustainability Vol. 31: Sustainability at Universities: Opportunities, Challenges and Trends. Peter Lang Scientific Publishers.

 

Reiter, M. A., M. Saintil, Z. Yang, and D. Pokrajac. In press. Derivation of a GIS-based watershed-scale conceptual model for the St. Jones River Delaware from habitat-scale conceptual models. J. Environ. Manag.

 

Fun at the Florida Academy of Science

BCU's Integrated Environmental Science program sent a contingent to this year's FAS meeting, and introduced the state to the new research being completed at BCU. Four presentations were given my participants in the program, three by students (all undergrads). The presentations were well received, and we look forward to greater participation in the future. The presentations:

St. Leo, FL 2009. 2009 Annual Meeting of the Florida Academy of Sciences: 1) “An Integrated Assessment and Ecosystem Management Protocol for Decision Making in Coastal Habitats.” M. Reiter, J. Gentile, and M. Harwell; 2) “Potential drivers impacting the endemic snail populations of Blue Spring, Volusia County FL.”  C. Bleasdale, M. Reiter, and A. Brooks-Walter; 3) “A survey of the endemic snail populations of Blue Spring in response to habitat degradation.” C. JnBaptiste, M. Reiter, and A. Brooks-Walter; 4) “Recolonization of Blue Spring Run by the Blue Spring Hydrobe (Aphaostracon asthenes) after Hurricane Fay.” R. Moss, M. Reiter, and A. Brooks-Walter.

 

Tiki Time

If you happen to be at the Best Western Aku Tiki Hotel on Daytona Beach during evenings the week of February 16th, don't be surprised if you hear Dr. Reiter's voice. He was invited to offer a short four-day course in Global Climate Change for Elderhostel, and while four days is barely enough to scratch the surface of this complex topic he bravely took on the assignment. Now all he has to do is figure out how to make a global issue understandable in roughly seven hours....

 

March Meeting Madness

BCU is to play host to a major meeting regarding the development of integrated environmental science as a discipline. While most students will be away for Spring Break, members of The Interdisciplinary Environmental Association, the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, the North American Association of Environmental Educators, and others will be meeting on campus to discuss issues of curriculum, identity, overarching paradigms, and core competencies for the field of integrated environmental science. The ultimate goal of the meeting is to move toward a process for the evaluation and certification of such programs nationally. BCU's own Dr. Reiter will be a co-chair for this meeting!

Well, who really needs a break anyway...

 

Fall '08

A Visit to Sierra

Dr. Reiter and two of his field research students, Courtney JnBaptiste and Rashan Moss (see picture under All Wet, Summer '08) visited the December meeting of the Volusia-Flagler County Sierra Club to talk about the new Environmental Science program developing at BCU and some of the ongoing fieldwork at nearby Blue Spring State Park. There was a lot of interest expressed n the program, a number of questions and inquiries to address, and enough goodies to feed a small invasion force! (Ask Courtney or Rashan...) Both groups enjoyed the visit, and hopefully there will be the opportunity to work together in the future.

Now, one of these days, Dr. Reiter will be able to shift his focus from the presentations long enough to remember to bring his camera so that we can show you pictures. Until that day arrives, I guess we'll just have to imagine real hard....

 

Money Money Money Money...

Dr. Reiter has just received word that a USDA grant he submitted in conjunction with Dr. Michael Abazinge of FAMU has been funded! The grant will bring approximately $70,000 to BCU for the support of undergraduate students in Integrated Environmental Science, along with some supply funds for field work. This brings the total outside funding for the new program to nearly half a million dollars (!): a good start for the IES staff's efforts.

 

Dr. Espejel Coming to BCU

Dr. Ileana Espejel of the Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico, will be visiting Bethune-Cookman University November 11th – 14th to give seminars and discuss cooperative efforts with IES program faculty. Dr. Espejel’s main area of research is coastal zone management, particularly the ecology of sand dunes, the valuation and management of beaches, and regional planning in coastal areas. She coordinates the UABC program in Arid and Coastal Ecosystems Management and teaches in other interdisciplinary environmental programs at UABC. Dr. Espejel will offer a pair of seminars focusing on different aspects of her work in coastal resource management. Both seminars are open to the public.

Tuesday November 11th, 2PM
Graduate Seminar Room, Center for Civic Engagement
Regional Planning in the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of Mexico

Over the last twenty years, the University of Baja California has been creating and experimenting with new interdisciplinary programs focusing on the involvement of students and teachers in solving local and regional environmental problems. Central to these efforts are methods that can be used when there is insufficient data available but plenty of willing local people and traditional knowledge, as is common in most developing countries. Several examples of these projects at different scales will be described in detail: the regionalization of Mexican marine ecosystems, regional planning for a nautical project in the Gulf of California, a management plan for a desert and coastal nature reserve, and restoration planning for a sand dune and beach ecosystem in the city where the University of Baja is located. At present, there are more than 100 professionals occupying government positions and leading consultancies that have been part of this program, and most of our projects have been utilized in part to provide stakeholder input for the development our coastal cities, nature reserves, and regional seas.

 

Wednesday November 12th, 4PM
Science Building Lecture Hall Room 117
BIKIMI: An Index for Integrated Evaluation of Beaches

BIKIMI, an integrated model for ecological and socioeconomic evaluation of recreational beaches, qualifies recreational beaches based on three quality ranks; one describing the natural features and infrastructure of beaches, another incorporating beach users’ perception, and the third measuring the economic value given to a room with an ocean view or a beachfront house. BIKIMI was applied to several Mexican, Brazilian and Californian urban beaches that were similar in their ecological features but economically and socio-culturally different in their uses and local perception. The BIKIMI model is simple, logical, and adaptable to other world beaches and useful for comparison purposes. Using BIKIMI to certify beaches has been recently proposed to the Mexican government as an alternative, more integrative, basis to identify the main issues to be incorporated into beach management plans. Three important beaches in Mexico (Acapulco, Los Cabos, and Ensenada) have initiated their management plans using BIKIMI.

 

The Wednesday seminar will be followed by a potluck dinner and mixer to be held in DeLand FL; directions will be available at the seminars. For further information on these seminars or related events, contact Dr. Michael Reiter, IES, at 386.481.2695 or reiterm@cookman.edu.

 

BSSP Project Proceeding Apace

Undergrad students Courtney JnBaptiste, Rashan Moss, and James Kurii, along with soon-to-be graduate student Kim Nowells and Stetson University intern Cary Bleasdale have been tracking down those elusive snails with Drs. Reiter and Walter. Thus far, the results have been somewhat hopeful: though numbers and habitat have apparently declined from the early 1990's, recovery into unutilized areas of newly-developing habitat after a recent storm have been encouraging, suggesting that habitat availability might be more of a factor than water quality. We'll keep looking!

 

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Last modified 6/9/09

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