18th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks

May 18th and 19th, 2011, High Peaks Resort, Lake Placid, NY

Featuring:

Author, Educator, Environmentalist - Bill McKibben

Presentations on the Adirondack Partnerships Project, Alternative Waste Water Treatment Technologies with Tom Ballestero of UNH, Bioenergy, HydoPower, North Creek Case Study, Hudson River Collaborations, Birds of North America, and more

Presenting Graduate and Undergraduate Juried Student Paper Program sponsored by the Pearsall Foundation

More up-to-date conference information at adkresearch.org or contact:

Dan Fitts, Executive Director
201 Paolozzi Center, Paul Smith’s College Campus
P.O. Box 96, Paul Smiths, NY 12970
info@ADKresearch.org, 518-327-6276

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - STUDENT AWARD PROGRAM

18th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks, May 18th and 19th, 2011, Lake Placid, NY

The Adirondack Research Consortium in collaboration with Paul Smith’s College is pleased to announce a new program highlighting the top research being conducted by students in the Adirondack Park for presentation and award at the 18th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks.
Submissions for the student awards are due by March 1, 2011 and should be in the form of an extended abstract. We encourage faculty with undergraduate or graduate students conducting research relevant to the Adirondack Park to solicit applications for this program that will draw attention to the high-quality contributions students are making towards our understanding of the region. Guidelines for submission can be found on the Consortium’s webpage or by contacting Dan Fitts in our Paul Smith's College campus office at 518-327-6276 or by e-mail at info@adkresearch.org.

2011 CALL FOR PAPERS

18th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks
May 18th and 19th, 2011, Lake Placid, NY

The Adirondack Research Consortium is pleased to invite abstracts for panel or poster presentation at the 18th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks. Research presentations can involve any topic of relevance to the Adirondack region including the natural sciences, economic and community issues, social sciences, arts and the humanities.

For more information and a 2011 Abstract Submission Form go to the Consortium’s webpage or give Dan Fitts a call at our office on the Paul Smith’s College campus office, 518-327-6276 or by e-mail at info@adkresearch.org. The Consortium will review all submissions to determine acceptance for presentation at the conference and scheduling of the presentations. The Consortium expects that presenters will register for the conference.

17th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks

“Leveraging Resources to Sustain Communities”
May 19-20, 2010, High Peaks Resort, Lake Placid, NY

What minerals are actively mined in the Adirondacks today? What is "exurbia," and is it catching?! Are biofuels the answer? Find out the answers to these questions and much, much more at the 17th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks.

Program Highlights:

Richard Kessel, President of New York Power Authority
Bob Catell, Chairman of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center
Tony Collins, President of Clarkson University
Carol Brown, President of North Country Community College
Panel: Reconnecting Children and Nature, Perspectives on Health and Education for Adirondack Children
Variety of Concurrent Sessions, including Adirondack Mining, Adirondack Region Medical Home Pilot Project, "Forever Wired," Smart Grid Initiative, Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, Economic Climate Change, Forestry, Research Papers, and more!

Visit adkresearch.org for a complete program listing.

Research Notes: Studying Ski Slopes

An article in the New York Times reports on research by Dr. Jennifer Burt of UC Davis on the difference between creating downhill ski slopes by tree-cutting versus bulldozing and grading. Dr. Burt's research suggests tree-cutting is a more sustainable option.

In a related topic, author and blogger Phil Brown opens a discussion in the Adirondack Almanac on the environmental impacts of ski glade creation. Forester Michael Snyder suggests there are good and bad ways to cut backcountry glades in a 2004 article in Northern Woodlands Magazine.

With warming trend, ice forms later in Adirondacks

Science calls Mirror Lake an indicator
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN Associated Press Writer

ALBANY — Ice is forming this week on picturesque Mirror Lake, weeks later than it once did as scientists continue to document a century-long warming trend.

"The weather is so variable, and the data sets are so few or incomplete, the ice cover is the one thing that stands out above everything else," said Curt Stager, professor of natural sciences at Paul Smith's College. "It's the most obvious, irrefutable sign of climate change in the North Country."

Stager and three other scientists co-authored a recent paper in the Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies plotting regional climate changes since data collection began in the early 1900s. The data showed ice on Mirror Lake forming 14 or 15 days later and melting three or four days earlier than it did then, consistent with records from several other high-elevation Adirondack lakes.

Colin Beier, a researcher at the Adirondack Ecological Center of the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry, said climate is affected by geography in the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park, a place with mountains, lake effects, weather from Canada and other local factors.

A separate preliminary trend analysis from 1950 to 2008 found high mean temperatures in the High Peaks area increasing a few degrees while those in the southwestern Adirondacks around West Canada Lakes were decreasing by a similar amount.

"There's a lot of hysteria about climate change right now," Beier said. "It's important for us as scientists to present as sober and clean a picture as possible."

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 found it "very likely" that most observed warming globally is due to the buildup of heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels. A 193-nation conference ended last weekend in Copenhagen with a limited agreement to address global warming amid acrimony over failure to reach a legally binding deal. Scientific debate continues over causes and forecasts.

With data from seven sites around the Adirondack region, the four scientists reported mean annual temperatures from 1926 to 2005 rose overall only "slightly," or about 1.5 degrees. However, measured over the most recent 30 years, the trend was more pronounced and statistically significant for the months of September, up an average of 4.7 degrees, and December, up 3.4 degrees. May was 1.7 degrees cooler.

Some of the best ice records came from Mirror Lake, which can be seen from Main Street in Lake Placid.

One of the longer-term goals of the research is to develop useful projections, with knowledge of underlying mechanisms and avoid the "oversimplification" of projecting historical trends forward, they wrote.

Stager noted that there was a warm spell in the 1950s in this part of the world and said that depending on the time frame used, it was possible to draw different conclusions. "If you start in the 1950s, it makes it seem like there's not much change. If you start in the '60s, it's a ramp upwards everywhere," Stager said.

The corrected United States Historical Climatology Network data they used came from Dannemora, Indian Lake, Lake Placid, Stillwater, Tupper Lake and Wanakena in the Adirondacks, as well as Lowville just west toward the Tug Hill Plateau.

They also found an increase in stream discharge over a century, indicating "an overall wetting trend," and more rain, particularly in August. Some migratory birds also are now arriving earlier.

[Photo: A dog sled navigates Mirror Lake during an earlier winter. 2004 Plattsburgh Press Republican File Photo]

New book on the "Great Experiment in Conservation"

The current and two former presidents of the Adirondack Research Consortium recently finished editing "The Great Experiment in Conservation: Voices from the Adirondacks". The new book, which resulted in part from collaborations through annual ARC conferences, was published by Syracuse University Press in July of 2009. Editors William Porter, Jon Erickson, and Ross Whaley pull together a who's who of Adirondack scientists, writers, advocates, and politically active citizens who write about the natural, cultural, and economic cornerstones of the Adirondack Park across 34 chapters.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Adam Hothschild writes:

I’d love to see this important book be required reading for every New York State legislator and opinion-maker. Alive with personal voices, it is also packed with vital
information and at times justifiably angry at what we human beings have done to the Adirondacks. It reminds us of what we've lost, of what we can still save, and of
what a rare treasure this extraordinary region is.

A recent review by Midwest Book Reviews describes the book as a:

... seminal work of impressive scholarship ... [and] a core addition to academic library Environmental Studies reference collections, and especially recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in American conversation history and land preservation in general, and the Adirondack Park in particular.

For more information, visit the 2009 spring catalog page of Syracuse University Press. You can also listen to Ross Whaley, co-editor and former Adirondack Park Agency chairman, talk about the "Great Experiment" in a September 17th, 2009 interview with Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio.