PRESENTATION: Mary Ingles: Caught in the Vortex of the French & Indian War Dianne Anestis
POSTERS
POSTERS On display all day Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Using Volunteer Groups to Assist in the Preliminary Investigation of Orconectes rusticus, a Recent Invader of Maryland Matt Ashton, MD Department of Natural Resources, Monitoring and Non-Tidal Assessment Division, mashton@dnr.state.md.us
Sampling and Analysis of Periphtyon Community Data at Maryland Biological Stream Survey Sites in Summer 2007 Karl Hellmann, MD Department of Natural Resources, Monitoring and Non-Tidal Assessment Division, khellmann@dnr.state.md.us
Maryland DNR Assembles a Multi-disciplinary Team to Deal with Invasive Species Issues Ronald Klauda, Jay Kilian, Sara Widman, Kerrie Kyde, and Jonathan McKnight, MD Department of Natural Resources, Monitoring and Non-Tidal Assessment Division, rklauda@dnr.state.md.us
The Distribution of Ohio Black Fly Species and Sibling Species: Cytological Results from a Second Field Season M.J. Mendel, P.H. Adler, and R.J. Mendel, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Biology Department, mmendel@mvnu.edu
Developing Bioindicator Products to Support Mid-Atlantic Biologists Wayne S. Davis, US EPA, davis.wayne@epa.gov
A Pilot Study of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Fish Tissue Blaine Snyder, Tetra Tech, Inc., Blaine.Snyder@tetratech.com
Transport, Fate, and Ecological Effects of Poultry Litter-Associated Steroids Lance Yonkos, University of Maryland, Wye Research and Education Center, lyonkos@umd.edu
Incorporating herpetofauna data collection into MontgomeryCounty’s water quality assessment: Where we’ve been and where we’re going Rachel Gauza and Jenny St. John, Montgomery County Government Department of Environmental Protection, rachel.gauza@montgomerycountymd.gov
Mid-Atlantic and National Wetland Assessments Regina Poeske, US EPA Region III, poeske.regina@epa.gov
WORKSHOPS 1. FONDRIEST MULTIMETER 101: FONDTRIEST ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PRODUCTS Facilitators: Fondriest Environmental Monitoring Products Fondriest Environmental Monitoring Products (http://www.Fondriest.com/) will present a hands-on workshop on the use, maintenance and troubleshooting of multimeter water quality monitoring equipment. As field biologists and students, this will be a valuable workshop to learn the 'ins-and-outs' of these multimeter water quality monitoring units and to be introduced to new technology including remote data acquisition and data manipulation approaches. This will not be just a sales pitch rather it will be a hands-on introduction to the use and maintenance of these meters plus lessons learned on deployment techniques, etc. You will come out of this workshop with a good foundation on the use of these multimeters. The workshop will focus on the YSI brand as outlined on their website. 2. INTRODUCTION TO THE TAXONOMY, SYSTEMATICS, AND ECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER OLIGOCHAETES (ANNELIDA, CLITELLATA) OF NORTH AMERICA Facilitator: Mark J. Wetzel; Illinois Natural History Survey, Division of Biodiversity and Ecological Entomology, Champaign, IL; mjwetzel@uiuc.edu This workshop will introduce participants to the freshwater groups in the Phylum Annelida (the true segmented worms), then focus on the taxonomy, systematics, and ecology of freshwater oligochaetes in North America. Although this workshop will primarily be lecture-based, interactive discussion by participants will be encouraged to address difficulties encountered during the collection, processing, and alpha-level identification of specimens. Resources useful in the study of freshwater oligochaetes, including citations for current keys, access to current literature, and a variety of websites, will be provided in printed form for each participant. 3. AQUATIC/RIPARIAN INVASIVE PLANT IDENTIFICATION Facilitator: Dr. Tim Block; Morris Arboretum, University of Pennsylvania; block@pobox.upenn.edu This workshop will focus on the accurate identification of non-native invasive plant species commonly found in aquatic and/or riparian systems. Particular attention will be paid to those detailed features necessary to distinguish the invasive species from the often similar native species in those systems. Both live and preserved material will be available for hands-on examination. A hand lens or magnifying glass will be helpful. 4. STRESSOR IDENTIFICATION USING CADDIS Facilitators: Sue Norton and Kate Schofield; USEPANationalCenter for Environmental Assessment, Washington, DC; Norton.susan@epa.gov Biological assessments are increasingly valuable tools for evaluating the condition of streams and rivers. But when undesirable biological conditions are found, how do folks diagnose the problem and discover the causes, so that the right management action can be taken? Stressor Identification (SI) to the rescue! Stressor Identification and its recently upgraded step-by-step online application (CADDIS) are being used around the country as a formal analysis and diagnosis system for identifying stressors and bridging the critical link between biological assessment and TMDLs. This mini-course will introduce causal concepts and how they are implemented in the CADDIS process, which includes 1) defining the impairment, 2) listing candidate causes, 3) converting data into evidence, 4) identifying the most likely cause, and 5) evaluating confidence in the results. We will draw from regionally relevant examples, test your skills, and demonstrate some of the tools that can be downloaded from the site.
5. FRESHWATER SNAIL IDENTIFICATION 101 Facilitators: Dr. Ralph Taylor, MarshallUniversity emeritus and Dr. Thomas Jones, MarshallUniversity The first hour will be spent on an introduction to freshwater snail biology. Feeding, reproduction, general characteristics, area and national distributions, and basic ecology will be discussed. We will also discuss species of concern for their continued existence, and some current challenges that this group faces. The second hour will be spent discussing available keys (or lack thereof) and other relevant literature. Images of many common aquatic snails will be shown. In the third hour, we will get out the scopes and look at a variety of specimens. In the last hour, we will continue with the specimens and finish up with a group Q&A session, along with closing comments.
6. FRESHWATER MUSSELS: PROBLEMS, RESOURCES, AND TAXONOMY Facilitator: Dr. Arthur Bogan; North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, arthur.bogan@ncmail.net The aquatic molluscan fauna of North America, north of Mexico, was historically the most diverse molluscan fauna in the world. Today, freshwater mussels (Family: Unionidae) are ranked among the most imperiled fauna group worldwide, and have been identified as the most imperiled fauna group in North America. This dramatic decline can be linked to habitat alterations, loss of host fish species, and increased siltation resulting from past dam construction along major rivers. Currently, poor land use practices, urban development, and a spectrum of domestic, industrial, and agricultural pollution have disrupted the physical and chemical properties of freshwater systems, reduced habitat quality and quantity, and accelerated the decline of freshwater mussels throughout North America. The first portion of the workshop will examine the conservation issues facing freshwater mussels, from a worldwide and EPA Region 3 perspective, and will discuss the biology, life history, and distribution of freshwater mussels. The second will focus on taxonomic identification, providing methods as well as some examples of freshwater mussels found throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, DC, West Virginia, and Virginia.Participants are encouraged, but not required, to bring their own freshwater mussel keys or resource materials. Selections from keys and other handouts will be distributed. Participants may also elect to bring their own voucher specimens.