| PAST MEETINGS:
Fall 1999 National Wetlands Research Center
Lafayette, Louisiana
November 3-6
The Annual South Central Chapter Meeting and the workshops
at the USGS-National Wetland Research Center in Lafayette
covered 3-1/2 days of wetland science, Cajun cuisine and fun,
and were well received by the attending members. The meeting
included not only two workshops, both students and professional
poster presentations, and 12 students presenting talks on
their research, but also a field trip, two socials and several
Cajun dancing events.
WORKSHOPS
The two workshops conducted were;
- "Coastal Wetland Loss: Causes, Consequences and Efforts
to Reverse Trends", with instructors Shea Penland-University
of New Orleans; Don Cahoon-USGS-National Wetlands Research
Center; and Greg Steyer and Ken Bahlinger-LA DNR Coastal
Restoration Division; Restoration at Boston CanalLouisiana
DNR Officials discuss terracing techniques.
- "Introductory Plant identification of bottomland
hardwood swamps and coastal marshes", with Garrie Landry
as the instructor. Workshops were offered on November 3
and 4. Both workshops had classroom and field components.
A total of 39 members were registered for the two workshops.
The workshops were planned by the workshop committee composed
of President-Elect Mark Ford and Russell Walters(co-Chairs),
Rebecca Howard, Ron Boustany, Jennifer Ware, and Susan Horton.
We would like to thank the committee, the instructors, and
all involved for the great job of putting these excellent
workshops together. We also would like to thank the USGS-National
wetlands Research Center for their hospitality and the permission
to use their facilities.
FIELD TRIP
Friday morning, representatives from The Nature Conservancy
led a field trip to nearby Lake Martin to discuss restoration
and protection efforts in the bottom land and swamp habitats
at the lake. This area is not only an important rookery for
a wide variety of waterfowl, but also an area rich with many
species of wetland and aquatic wildlife.
Friday afternoon began by welcoming remarks by Dr. Bob Stewart,
Director of USGS-National Wetlands Research Center followed
by three invited speakers. Mr. Martin Mayer of US Army Corps
of Engineers spoke on the topic of "Wetland mitigation
banking for the New Orleans district Corps of engineers Regulatory
Program", Dr. Michael Porreier of the University of New
Orleans presented the topic "Effects of restoration efforts,
Mississippi River discharges and hurricanes on submersed aquatic
vegetation in Lake Ponchartrain, Louisiana", and Sandra
Thompson of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
presented "Master Plan for the Atchafalaya Basin".
Theses professional presentations were followed by student
presentations which continued through Saturday morning.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Twelve students presented talks, eleven of which competed
for the chapter's Best Student Presentation Award.
Rachael Hunter of Louisiana State University received the
award for Best Student Presentation with her talk entitled
‘Comparison of Soil Organic Matter Concentrations and
Microbial Activity of Restored and Natural Bottomland Hardwood
Wetlands.' Rachael will receive partial funding support from
the Chapter to present at the Quebec City national meeting
in August 2000.
Two other graduate students;
Joy Hunter from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and
Karen Weins from the Tennessee Technological University,
will receive certificates in recognition of their achievement
as the 2nd and 3rd place papers, respectively. We would like
to thank all student presenters for their participation and
excellent, enthusiastic presentations. Several posters were
also presented, both by students and professionals, on a range
of wetland topics from mitigation banking to wetland restoration.
BUSINESS MEETING
The Business meeting followed Friday's talks and included
remarks by Reza Pezeshki, Chapter President, Mark Ford, Chapter
President-Elect, and Rebecca Howard, Secretary-Treasurer.
Issues raised were the need for member participation, the
2003 national meeting in New Orleans. Lisa Gandy informed
the members that the South Central Chapter will be hosting
the SWS National annual meeting in New Orleans in 2003. She
pointed out that the success of this meeting is important
to the Chapter financially and to the continued vitality of
the Chapter. Lisa stressed the need for volunteers and how
much work will be involved. An important pressing task is
the need to select the meeting site within the next 3 months.
Members in attendance agreed to vote on the location for
the next chapter meeting site to take place in October or
November 2000. The candidate locations mentioned were Delta
State University campus in Cleveland, Mississippi or Little
Rock, Arkansas. The volunteer groups from each area have presented
their proposals to the Program Committee. An E-mail vote was
planned to select the meeting location based on these proposals,
however discussions after the business meeting resulted in
the Little Rock group planning on hosting the year 2000 meeting
and the Delta State University group planning on hosting the
year 2001 meeting in Cleveland, MS.
Marge Holland provided an overview of the conference to be
held May 23-25 in Oxford, Mississippi: ‘Sustainability
of Wetlands and Water Resources: How Well Can Riverine Wetlands
Continue to Support Society into the 21st Century?.' She described
the goals of the conference, plenary speakers, tentative schedule
and field trips; early registration fees expire February 15,
2000.
The Business Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm., followed by a
social full of fried catfish, jambalaya, cold beer and wine.
Cajun dancing followed shortly after the close of the social
at a nearby Cajun dance hall.
We are constantly seeking to improve on the quality of our
meetings, from both the scientific content and the social
activities. These events are a great way for students to get
experience presenting research and a wonderful opportunity
for chapter members to get together, have some fun and do
some networking in addition to the talks and the workshops
which aid us professionally. If you have missed out on recent
meetings, we hope to see you soon. If you would like to get
more involved, please contact one of the Officers or Board
Members.
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