Fourth Workshop of the Northeastern Soil Monitoring Cooperative
USGS New York Water Science Center, Troy, NY
March 10-11, 2010
Agenda
March 10th
Morning Session. Presentations of soil resampling studies
09:10 – 09:55 Richard Warby, Arkansas State Univ. – "Continuing Acidification of Organic Soils Across the Northeastern U.S. between 1984 and 2001: Fact or Fiction"
09:55 – 10:40 James Bedison, University of Pennsylvania – "The Heimburger Plots: 7+ Decades of Forest Soil Research in the Adirondack Mountains"
11:00 – 11:45 Rock Ouimet, Quebec Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources – “Sampling soil for detecting change after 20 years in a northern hardwood stand in QC “
Afternoon Session. Information on new projects and task group reports
12:30 – 04:30 Report on the NYSERDA Adirondack Sugar Maple Project (Lawrence/Bailey)
Overview of the NERC (Northeastern Research Cooperative ) Project on Soil Resampling in the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada (Hazlett, Bailey and Lawrence)
Report from Paul Hazlett on soil resampling at Turkey Lake
Report from Scott Bailey on the NERC Soil Database Development Project
Report from Doug Burns on analysis of Hg in archived soils
Report from Don Ross on the Vermont Soil Carbon Project
Report from Greg Lawrence on the NPS Appalachian Mega-Transect Project.
Other new projects to introduce
Discussion and Planning Topic: As part of the USGS Climate Change Program, a national database on soil carbon is in the advanced planning stages. They are interested in current stocks, but also very interested in all information on past changes and monitoring data that are available or will soon become available. They see our Cooperative as a good resource for developing this information for the Northeast. Post-Doc funds are likely to be available in this fiscal year. They would like a one or two page proposal delivered soon after the workshop.
Task Group Reports (Soil Monitoring Review Paper Lawence; Lab Methods Survey/Round-robin sample exchange- Ross, Bailey; Effects of sample storage-Lawence; Archiving procedures and establishment of the New York State Museum Soil Archive -Lawrence).
March 11th ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Session Discussions on the future of the Cooperative—Is this endeavor sustainable? Can we work up a 3-year or 4-year plan?
08:30 – 12:00 Discussion of what the Cooperative has accomplished in its 3-year existence. What have we provided/delivered, what are we capable of providing/delivering.
Discussion on the current operation of the Cooperative. How effective is the current structure and leadership? Do we need to make adjustments to improve sustainability?
Are there ideas for new activities that need funding? Discuss how these activities would be defined and implemented, identify leadership, and plans to acquire funds.
Where are we with the charter, and the website. New members on the steering committee? Next Workshop?