School of Natural Resources and Environment

Conservation Ecology

SPH's Joseph Eisenberg (left), and SNRE's Rebecca Hardin and Johannes Foufopoulos.

SNRE, Public Health researchers share expertise to study health systems in Africa

It's the kind of scientific question tailor-made for interdisciplinary research. How does Q-fever, a highly contagious and still largely untracked disease, move among people, livestock, and wild animals, and what are the long-term effects of its presence on human health and economic systems? Answers may be closer to emerging because of M-Cubed, a new University of Michigan program that is awarding nearly 200 grants to jump start interdisciplinary work. The two-year, $15 million effort encourages faculty to explore major issues facing the planet, from climate change and poverty to health and energy.

A satellite image of Lake Erie on Sept. 3, 2011, overlaid on a map of the lake and its tributaries. This image shows the bloom about six weeks after its initiation in the lake's western basin. On this date, it covers the entire western basin and is beginning to expand into the central basin. Map by Michigan Sea Grant.

Record-breaking 2011 Lake Erie algae bloom may be sign of things to come

The largest harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie's recorded history was likely caused by the confluence of changing farming practices and weather conditions that are expected to become more common in the future due to climate change. Rather than an isolated, one-time occurrence, it was more likely a harbinger of things to come, according to U-M researchers and other.

Allan named to EPA Great Lakes Advisory Board

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced on behalf of 16 federal agencies the membership of the first advisory board to support implementation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. “Protecting the Great Lakes -- the largest surface freshwater system on Earth -- is important for the health and well being of millions of people," said EPA Acting Administrator and Acting Interagency Task Force Chair Bob Perciasepe. "Today I’m pleased to announce the membership of the first-ever Great Lakes Advisory Board.”

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest

Protected areas successfully prevent deforestation in Amazon rainforest

Strictly protected areas such as national parks and biological reserves have been more effective at reducing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest than so-called sustainable-use areas that allow for controlled resource extraction, two University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues have found. In addition, protected areas established primarily to safeguard the rights and livelihoods of indigenous people performed especially well in places where deforestation pressures are high. The U-M-led study, which found that all forms of protection successfully limit deforestation, is scheduled for online publication March 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cardinale talks biodiversity with Michigan Radio

In an interview with Michigan Radio, SNRE Associate Professor Brad Cardinale talks about biodiversity in the context of a bill in the Michigan Legislature.

The story by Rebecca William discusses a bill introduced by state Sen. Tom Casperson-R (Escanaba) that would prohibit the the state Department of Natural Resources from setting aside an area of land specifically for the purpose of maintaining biological diversity (basically, to protect the variety of plants and animals that live in an area), according to the Michigan Radio story.

Three University of Michigan researchers were lead convening authors of chapters in the 1,100-plus-page National Climate Assessment, which was written by a team of more than 240 scientists.

SNRE professors contribute to new National Climate Assessment

In the coming decades, climate change will lead to more frequent and more intense Midwest heat waves while degrading air and water quality and threatening public health. Intense rainstorms and floods will become more common, and existing risks to the Great Lakes will be exacerbated. Those are some of the conclusions contained in the Midwest chapter of a draft report released last week by the federal government that assesses the key impacts of climate change on every region in the country and analyzes its likely effects on human health, water, energy, transportation, agriculture, forests, ecosystems and biodiversity. Three University of Michigan researchers were lead convening authors of chapters in the 1,100-plus-page National Climate Assessment, which was written by a team of more than 240 scientists.

Research being led by SNRE Professor Don Zak has received an additional five years of federal support. PHOTO BY DAVE BRENNER

Grant Funding Allows for Further Study of the Effects of Climate Change

Research being led by SNRE Professor Don Zak has received an additional five years of federal support, enabling researchers to continue an unprecedented study of how changes in climate are affecting the DNA of forests. The new round of National Science Foundation funding allows work to continue through 2018. The experiments are taking place in northern Michigan, and examine how climate change is influencing the activity of soil microbes, which decay dead leaves and roots in a process that controls the amount of carbon stored in soils.

New Urban Stormwater Course Combines Ecology, Landscape Architecture

By Angela Fichera

West Eisenhower Parkway, Stone School Road and West Ellsworth Road – three heavily traveled thoroughfares in the city of Ann Arbor – each got a makeover thanks to graduate students in an SNRE experimental course titled “Urban Stormwater: Science, Design and Management course.”

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