Workshop to discuss
Southeastern climate change
A dialogue will begin this week at Vanderbilt on how improved understanding
of regional weather and climate changes could save lives, money and property.
Representatives from federal, state and local governments, universities
and industry in the Southeast will gather June 25-27 for the Southeastern
Climate Change Workshop. Attendees will discuss ways to promote cooperation
between these groups to help protect and improve the environment and public
health, better manage urban development and mitigate the impact of natural
disasters.
Two Vanderbilt faculty members will lead breakout sessions during the workshop.
Richard Duschl, professor of science education at Peabody, will be one of
the leaders of sessions on updating and aligning science education programs
with the climate change research.
The discussions will center on how universities are preparing future teachers
and those already in the classroom to present earth science in a way that
is relevant and interesting, how teachers and students can gather data that
they and scientists will use, what new science curriculums are likely to
look like in light of the new science standards and technological opportunities,
and what role the teacher educators, educational researchers and teachers
in the Southeast can play in each of these areas.
Dr. Philip Edelman, associate professor of medicine and chief of Occupational
and Environmental Medicine, will lead a session on the direct and indirect
health impact of weather on humans. For example, long periods of rainfall
can result in a heavy mosquito population, which can lead to the increased
use of pesticides. Health professionals then must consider the health risks
from mosquitoes versus those posed by pesticide use.
The invitation for Vanderbilt to host the conference was extended by Professor
David Ernst, then associate dean of the College of Arts and Science and
chair of the college environmental science committee.
"This is a unique opportunity for faculty and students who are interested
in environmental sciences and engineering to interact with leaders from
academia, industry and government in the context of a focused problem -
how climate variability affects our region," Ernst said.
"By bringing together climate researchers with those who are most affected
by our changing climate, we hope to share our current knowledge and predictive
capabilities and define additional areas of research that will allow us
to better understand how the changing climate is impacting the Southeast,"
said Dr. Ron Greenwood, manager of the Global Hydrology and Climate Center
at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
"We hope to evaluate the impact that our varying climate has on the
quality of drinking water, ground and surface water contamination, changes
in crop patterns, waste management, transportation, land use, population,
urban air quality and high-energy demands," Greenwood said.
The Southeastern region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The workshop is sponsored by NASA's Mission to Planet Earth enterprise,
the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It is one of seven in a series of regional climate change workshops sponsored
by the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy. Vice President Al Gore has been invited to
address the workshop on the evening of June 25.
The regional workshops, scheduled to take place between June and September
1997, will provide a basis for the first National Climate Change Assessment
Workshop, to be held in November 1997 at the National Academy of Sciences
in Washington, D.C.
Information about the Southeastern Climate Change Workshop can be accessed
at www.hq.nasa.gov/office/mtpe/southeast/
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Document Created June 26, 1997
by Billy Kingsley