The Connecticut River Science Workshop

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Monday, October 27, 2008
Background:
The Connecticut River Basin is one of the largest and most diverse river basins in New England and along the U.S. East Coast. The significant environmental changes that are being forecast for the next decades offer a unique opportunity to gain fundamental insights into the processes that control transport of land-derived matter to the coastal ocean, and investigate the effects on the coastal ocean, specifically Long Island Sound. The impending changes also require improved predictive capabilities that cannot be achieved without better observations and models. Changes in average runoff and runoff intensity, nutrient and sediment loading, aquatic species diversity and abundance, land-use characteristics and related organic and inorganic pollutants, as well as sea level rise have important implications for the population in the Connecticut River basin and the coastal communities of Long Island Sound.

Format:
This workshop is intended to bring together researchers interested in the Connecticut River basin. We also invite the participation of state and federal agencies that are active in the basin, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations who are stakeholders in matters important to the health of the river basin.

The one-day workshop will feature several invited keynote speakers. Presentation and discussion of scientific results and ideas for future research via a poster session and a follow-up plenary discussion will dominate the workshop.

Purpose:
To provide a forum for scientists active in the Connecticut River basin to share their work and ideas, and to foster collaborations for future research on the Connecticut River and its drainage basin.

Registration:

Participants should register online for the workshop at no later than September 30, 2008.
Participants interested in presenting their research in the poster session should send the poster title, names and affiliations of authors and a brief abstract to Dr. Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink (behrenbrink@whoi.edu).
No registration or abstract fee is required as the workshop is jointly sponsored by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Cooperative Institute of Climate and Ocean Research and the Connecticut River Museum.

Location:
The workshop will be held on Monday, October 27, 2008 at that Connecticut River Museum, 67 Main Street, Essex, CT 06426.

Click here to register online.

Click here to see a list of current registrants.

Agenda:

9:00 – 9:45	Registration, Refreshments
9:45 – 10:00	Welcome
10:00 – 10:30	James O’Donnell: “Observations of shear and stratification in the Connecticut River salt wedge during ebb tide”
10:45 - 11:15	John Mullaney: “Nutrient studies in the Connecticut River basin, and perspectives on future needs”
11:30 – 12:00	Christian Marks/Keith Nislow: “Connecting forests to aquatic ecosystems in the Connecticut River basin”
12:15 – 1:30	Lunch
1:30 – 1:45	Poster Announcements (one minute each)
1:45– 3:30	Poster Session, Refreshments
3:30 – 4:30	Podium Discussion “Future research in the Connecticut River basin”
4:30 – 5:00	Ralph Lewis: “The Connecticut River: Geologically speaking – it is younger and more complex than you may have thought”
5:15 pm	End of workshop

Last updated: May 19, 2009