Click the linked titles below to register to participate. Completed webinar links go to recordings. Registration is free. Series overview information available HERE
Dec 13, 10am Sources and Impacts of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition (click for recording)
Sarah Anderson: Changes in nitrogen deposition over time Sarah will introduce the environmental challenges associated with excess nitrogen in the environment due to fossil fuel combustion and industrialized agriculture. Sarah will discuss what lichen sampling can tell us about nitrogen deposition from industrial and agricultural sources over time.
Justin Poinsatte: Impacts of nitrogen deposition in subalpine ecosystems Justin will describe his field research in subalpine vegetation communities and snow fields of the Northwest, looking at vegetation community responses to increased rates of N deposition. Justin will explain how the RHESSys Ecosystem Model adds to our understanding of how climate change will alter N dynamics in subalpine environments.
Jan 10, 10am (Tuesday) Projected Climate Change Impacts for Croplands and Rangelands of the Northwest US (click for recording)
Julian Reyes: Rangeland management considerations under future climate change Julian will describe the current state of process-based modeling in rangeland ecosystems including a discussion on what models are, why they’re useful, and how they can be improved for decision-makers. Specifically, Julian will detail the Regional Hydro-ecological Simulation System (RHESSYs) model and what improvements he has made to simulate grasses. As part of Julian’s dissertation, he will also explain how this can be used to inform rangeland management.
Keyvan Malek: Climate change, irrigation efficiency and water availability for agriculture As climate changes, droughts are projected to become more severe and more frequent. Farmers are expected to adjust their management practices (e.g. investment on more-efficient irrigation systems) to reduce the negative consequences of droughts. In this webinar, Keyvan will introduce a modeling platform to simulate farmers’ responses to climate change and investigate how different scenarios of climate change, crop type and initial irrigation system affect investment decisions.
Jan 31, 10am (Tuesday) What Models Can Tell Us about how Climate Change Will Affect Regional Agriculture (click for recording)
Kirti Rajagopalan: Agricultural production in the Columbia River basin under global change Kirti will provide an overview of her research into projected near-term climate change impacts on crop yields and irrigation demands in the Columbia River basin. She will explore how researchers and producers prepare for future climate conditions by learning from growing condition analogues, or time periods or locations with current growing conditions that are very similar to those projected for the future in our location of interest.
Mike Brady: What is the potential for regional producers to mitigate the negative economic impacts of climate change through farm level management? Increasingly common and severe droughts associated with climate change present a challenge to irrigated agricultural producers. However, there are a large number of potential adaptation strategies that could be used to mitigate the economic impacts. Dr. Brady will describe modeling tools used to estimate the potential value of alternative strategies.
Feb 7, 10am (Tuesday): Tracking Nitrogen Sources and Transport in the Environment (click for recording)
Will Forney: Water quality impacts of nitrogen in the Columbia River basin In this webinar, Will will introduce the importance of water quality and nitrogen in regional aquatic ecosystems. He will provide information about some problematic areas in the watersheds and rivers of the Columbia River basin. He will also share information on drivers and controls influencing dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentration in waterways seasonally.
Tsengel Nergui: The effects of climate and meteorology on atmospheric nitrogen deposition Tsengel will introduce how climate variability and weather conditions affect N sources and N deposition in the U.S. She will present key findings from her research on how climate variability affects N dynamics in the atmosphere using observations and the WRF-CMAQ modeling.
Feb 16, (Thursday): The BioEarth research team will host a final culminating stakeholder workshop at the WSU Tri-Cities campus on to delve deeper into questions about interactions between global environmental change and regional agricultural management decisions. To register for the in-person workshop, visit http://bioearth.brownpapertickets.com