AMES, Iowa — A series of virtual seminars bringing findings from watershed research across the country begins Wednesday, Jan. 27, hosted by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center at Iowa State University. The online events will take place each month on the fourth Wednesday, from 3-4 p.m., through May 26. Sessions are free and open to the public.
“In this new seminar series, we are bringing leading watershed researchers from other states to share findings from their work,” said Matt Helmers, extension agricultural engineering specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, and director of the nutrient research center. “Our past seminars have focused on Iowa research. We think it is also worth hearing first-hand about exciting, relevant work in other states, which may offer the water quality research community here some fresh perspectives and ideas for networking.”
Sessions are:
Jan. 27 – Reducing Nutrient Losses for Arkansas Agriculture: Results from the Arkansas Discovery Farm Program
Presenter: Mike Daniels, extension professor for soil and water conservation with the Department of Crops, Soils and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas. His research focuses on practices that reduce nutrient losses from agriculture, define and build soil health, and improve irrigation efficiency.
Feb. 24 – Evaluation of Best Management Practices to Reduce Nitrate Loads Based on Watershed Characteristics, Baseflow Index and Groundwater Age
Presenter: Aaron Mittelstet, assistant professor of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His areas of research include evaluation of land use, climate change and management practices on water quantity and quality, using both surface and groundwater models.
March 24 – Title TBD
Presenter: Margaret Kalcic, assistant professor, Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Ohio State University. Kalcic researches watershed hydrology with a focus on water quality in agricultural regions. Since 2013 she has worked on decision-support tools and watershed modeling in the western Lake Erie watersheds to encourage decisionmakers to incentivize and adopt effective conservation measures to tackle Lake Erie’s nutrient goals.
April 28 – Advancing Hydrologic and Water Quality Mitigation in Contemporary Watersheds: Lessons Learned through Application of the Experimental Watershed Approach
Presenter: Jason Hubbart, professor of physical hydrology and water quality, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, is director of the West Virginia University Institute of Water Security and Science. Hubbart conducts research in the fields of physical hydrology, watershed management and water quality. His roles include serving as the West Virginia gubernatorial appointee to the Science and Technical Advisory Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Program.
May 26 – Linking Soil Health to Improved Water Quality Via the Planting of Cover Crops in Two Indiana Watersheds
Presenter: Jennifer Tank, Galla Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, is director of the Environmental Change Initiative at Notre Dame. Her research focuses on the cycling of nutrients in streams and rivers with a focus on the restoration of ecosystem function in impacted systems.
Register at: https://bit.ly/35AVFMt.
More on speakers and their research at each event, at www.cals.iastate.edu/inrc/
Download the INRC Spring Water Research Seminar Series flyer to post or share.
–Iowa State University