Events Archive

Events for Winter 2010

Friday, January 8: AWRA Lunch Meeting

Interested in water resources? Want to learn about water-oriented research at UW? Want to meet like-minded students and employers in water-related fields? Please join us for the first American Water Resources Association meeting of the quarter! New faces are encouraged to attend and returning members are also invited! We plan to spend a few minutes discussing our forthcoming newsletter and the benefits of becoming an AWRA member. The remaining time will be spent discussing our upcoming events for the quarter.

  • Free pizza will be served!
  • Time: 12:00-1:00 pm; Place: Forest Club Room, Anderson Hall

    Wednesday, January 20: Riverine thermal regimes: Human alterations and biological consequences Annual UW Student/State Mixer

    Meet water resources professionals from around the state! Beer and light refreshments will be served. As always, this is an outstanding opportunity to network with potential employers!

  • Featured Speaker: Dr. Ashley Steel
  • Speaker Bio: Ashley Steel is currently the Station Statistician for the USDA Forest Service PNW Research Station. Ashley is both a consulting statistician and quantitative ecology research scientist. Her research interests include the development of methods for linking landscape-scale patterns with in-stream responses, quantification of complex ecological time series, and identifying the best uses of modeled data. Her mission is to leverage statistical tools to improve ecological understanding and to explore how the quantification of uncertainty can be used to improve the management of natural resources. Before joining the PNW Research Station in October 2009, Ashley was the Team Lead for the Landscape Ecology and Recovery Science Team at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. She has a PhD in Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management (QERM) and MS degrees in Ecology and in Statistics from the University of Washington.
  • Talk Abstract: Land-use, hydro-power and climate change are clearly altering riverine thermal regimes. However, because of the complexity of these thermal regimes, it is often difficult to quantify anthropogenic changes or to understand and predict the biological consequences of that change. Part of the difficulty in capturing the complexity of natural thermal regimes is that they vary at multiple scales across both space and time. Wavelet analysis is a neat statistical tool that can decompose the complex signal of water temperature into daily, weekly, or monthly signals. Wavelets have successfully been used to quantify the impact of dams on downstream thermal regimes. And, wavelet analysis can describe linkages between land-use within a watershed and riverine thermal fluctuations. Although we are beginning to quantify these anthropogenic changes, we don't yet have an estimate of the biological impacts of thermal alterations. In particular, we have little understanding of the impacts of altered thermal regimes beyond changes in mean temperature. For example, what are the consequences of altered daily and seasonal variance? To begin to unravel those biological impacts, we are conducting a controlled egg incubation and emergence experiment. Much of our understanding of climate change and land-use change is based on models and data collected over large spatial scales but our understanding of biological impacts is necessarily based on field studies and laboratory experiments. How can we scale up the results of this or similar experiments to estimate the biological consequences of future thermal regimes at landscape scales?
  • Time: 7:30-9:00 pm; Place: UW Waterfront Activities Center

    Wednesday, February 17: UW Water Center Annual Review of Research

    Each year, the UW Water Center draws from the multidisciplinary expertise of the Center’s affiliated faculty and students to present the latest UW research on water and water-related topics—at no cost to the attendees. The day-long Annual Reviews:

  • Provide up-to-date water resource information for managers and decision-makers
  • Bring new research findings into widespread use
  • Provide mechanisms and networking to address regional water issues
  • Time: TBA; Place: HUB West Ballroom

  • For more information, visit the UW Water Center Annual Review Website

  • Events for Fall 2009

    Tuesday, October 13: Fall Kick-off Meeting

    This is a great event to learn about student involvement in AWRA activities, current student research, and interdisciplinary perspectives on water resources! We will also hold a planning session for this year's activities, and discuss officer elections.

  • Free food and beverages will be served!
  • Time: 11:30-1:00 pm; Place: Forest Club Room, Anderson Hall

    2009 AWRA Annual Conference in Seattle!

  • The AWRA Annual Conference provides a forum for participants to explore the many multidisciplinary aspects of water resources research, policy, and management. The conference program is full of presentations that will inform and challenge your mind. Within the 75 sessions and panels you will find the broad array of water-related topics offered at all AWRA conferences including sessions on technical, social and legal issues that are of national and international interest such as: water conflicts and efforts to resolve them; recent advances in water resource monitoring, modeling, and analysis; effects and responses to drought, floods, and other natural calamities; and collaborative efforts to address transboundary and international water issues among many, many others.
  • A special student program includes a student career night with speed networking!
  • The Early Bird Deadline is October 19, 2009!
  • For more information (including program and registration info) go to: the conference website
  • When: November 9 - 12, 2009
  • Where: Red Lion Hotel on 5th Avenue, Seattle, WA
  • Saturday, October 17th: Restoration Event

  • Who: People for Puget Sound and Duwamish Alive!
  • What: Invasive plant removal, planting native vegetation, and spreading mulch.
  • When: Saturday, October 17th 10AM-2PM. (Must RSVP by Thursday Oct 15th)
  • Where: Codiga Farms, 12535 50th Place S, Tukwila. Can Carpool with other UW students from Parrington Hall at 9:15AM.
  • Contact Hilary Papendick for more information: hpapendick@gmail.com
  • Saturday, November 7th: Green Seattle Day

  • Who: AWRA-UW working with the Green Seattle Partnership
  • What: Watershed Restoration Work Party
  • When: November 7th @ 10AM
  • Where: Ravenna Park (west of the intersection of NE 55th Street and 25th Ave NE). We will be meeting at the kiosk near the softball field at the southeast end of the park.
  • Bring: Water, sturdy shoes (there will be mud!), and layered clothes appropriate for the weather.
  • See the Green Seattle website for more information
  • Wednesday, November 11th: Student Career Night and Speed Networking

    Students are invited to the Student Career Night at the AWRA Annual Water Resources Conference. The Student Career Night will begin with a presentation of success stories from a panel of professionals spanning a breadth of water resources careers. This year’s session will focus on a wide variety of career options (non-profit, academic, private, government, law, and policy) and will cater to both students just starting to explore their career options, and to undergraduate and graduate students who are ready for work. Students will learn about what experiences and opportunities are available in various water resources occupations and will learn how water, as a career, is evolving.

    Following the panel presentation, this session will host an inaugural “Speed Networking” session that will allow students to quickly meet and network with a variety of professionals from the water resources discipline. Students will be paired with a professional member and will have 2-3 minutes to meet each other and to talk about their interests, professional aspirations, and career goals. Unlike “Speed Dating,” the objective of Speed Networking is to expand one’s professional network, so as to maximize one’s ability to refer colleagues to each other. Students will receive practical experience in meeting and talking with water resources professionals from a variety of fields, and will have the chance to exchange business cards. Students will be rotated every 2-3 minutes until they have had the opportunity to meet 20 or more professional members! Following the Speed Networking session, a closing social will allow students and professional members to further develop their new connections.

  • Sponsored by the Bioengineering Group, Inc.
  • When: Wednesday, November 11th, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
  • Where: Emerald Ballroom I, The Red Lion Hotel (1415 5th Avenue, Downtown Seattle)
  • Cost: Free! No registration with the AWRA Conference is required for this event!
  • See the Red Lion Hotel website for a map
  • Wednesday, November 11th: Social with AWRA conference student attendees!

    Following the Student Career Night of the AWRA conference, the AWRA-UW is hosting student attendees at a downtown social. Come meet and socialize with AWRA student members from across the nation and help show them a great time in Seattle!

  • When: Wednesday, November 11th, 7:30 PM - ???
  • Where: The Pike Brewing Company, 1415 1st Ave (downtown Seattle)
  • Cost: To each their own.
  • See the Pike Brewing Company website for more information
  • Saturday, November 14th: West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour

  • What: A tour of King County's regional system that treats wastewater for about 1.5 million people!
  • Cost: Free!
  • When: November 14th. Meet at GAS WORKS PARK at 11:45 AM to carpool to the treatment plant, or you can meet us at the plant before 12:30 PM. Tour lasts from 12:30 - 2:30 PM.
  • Where: West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant
  • If you plan on attending, please RSVP to Dan Nowacki and indicate whether you need a ride from Gas Works Park. If you are available to drive your vehicle to/from Gas Works Park, please let him know.

  • See the King County website for more information
  • Wednesday, November 18th: Water Resources Movie Night

  • What: A viewing of the film "Liquid Assets," a great documentary about the importance and vulnerability of U.S. water infrastructure! The movie is being hosted by the Evans School's Graduate Environmental Policy Forum (GEPFA).
  • Cost: Free!
  • When: November 18th, 6-8 PM
  • Where: Anderson Hall, Room 207 (Forest Club Room)
  • We'll start the movie promptly at 6pm, so come a little early to get pizza, soda, and a good seat. The movie is 90 minutes long, and we'll have about 30-45 minutes for discussion afterward.

    Saturday, October 31st, November 21st, December 5th and December 12th: Restoration Event

  • Who: Friends of the Cedar River Watershed
  • What: Knotweed removal and native vegetation planting.
  • When: October 31st, November 21st, December 5th and Dec 12th. All events will take place 9:30AM-12:30PM.
  • Where: Sites within the lower Cedar River basin.
  • For more information or to sign up, please contact Rebecca at rebecca@cedarriver.org or 206.297.8141.