HAR – CeRSER 2015 Joint Conference
Tentative Program

Click here for the complete program including titles, abstracts, and speakers for presentations in technical sessions.

Questions? Please contact harcerser at gmail.com
You can also follow us on Twitter: @HAR_CeRSER_2015, #HARCeRSER2015

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 
7:30 am Registration opens, Lory Student Center 
8:00 am Preconference workshop (special registration event)
Poster and Vendor set-up
1:00 pm Conference opening remarks
Randy Mandel, CeRSER, and Mark Paschke, HAR
1:05 pm Welcome
John Hayes, Dean of the Colorado State University Warner College of Natural Resources
1:15 pm Keynote address: “Novel ecosystems – targets or turn-offs?” Jim Harris, Cranfield University Professor Jim Harris’ research is wide ranging across microbial ecology and how the diversity of the microbiota and their spatio-temporal distribution affect ecosystem processes, ecological restoration, systems ecology, ecosystem theory, policy implications and resilience. This has been applied in disturbed landscapes, urban areas, semi-natural and agricultural systems, in the assessment and treatment of wastes such as landfill leachate and other wastewaters; restoration ecology and in the quantitative assessment of ecosystem goods and services. Other research he is involved in focuses on how ecosystem principles can be used in managing modern society – from land restoration, through water treatment to the design of urban systems.  His work has been used to develop policy for the EU, the Canadian Government, the IUCN and World Council for Protected Areas.  He is a Member of the NERC Peer Review College and Moderating Panel; a Member of the NERC Food Security Evaluation Working Group; a Member of the NCUB food Security Working Group; a Member of the UKWRIP Agriculture Action Group, a Coordinating Editor Restoration Ecology; Past Chair of the Society for Ecological Restoration; Past Council Member British Society of Soil Science. Jim was appointed Chair in Environmental Technology at Cranfield in January 2002
1:50 pm Technical Session 1: Novel Ecosystems
(Moderated by Mark Paschke)
3:10 Break 
3:30 Technical Session 2: Complex Projects
(Moderated by Randy Mandel)
4:50 pm – 7:00 pm Poster Session / Mixer 
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Student – Professional Mixer (ticketed event)
The Mayor of Old Town, 632 S Mason Street, Fort Collins
 
  WEDNESDAY MARCH 11, 2015 
8:00 am Announcements 
8:15 am Keynote address: “Developing strategies for forest restoration in changing environments” Peter Fulé, Northern Arizona University Peter Fulé studies the interactions between forests, fires, and climate. He uses historical ecology techniques, including dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis), to study these interactions during past centuries. Experimental studies in forest restoration are used to test methods of restoring resilient forest ecosystems. Simulation models of vegetation change under alternative climate change scenarios and management activities are applied to forecast future forest development and test strategies for forest conservation. Dr. Fulé does research in the US, Latin America, and the Mediterranean region.
8:50 am Technical Session 3: Forest Ecosystems I
(Moderated by Brett Wolk)
10:10 am Break 
10:30 am Technical Session 4: Mining and Energy Development
(Moderated by Rebecca Kao)
11:50 am Lunch 
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm CeRSER Business Meeting – Lunch provided for conference participants
(CeRSER members and those interested in joining CeRSER encouraged to attend)
Ballroom AB
 
1:20 pm Keynote Address: “Are exotic annual grass monocultures restoration opportunities?”  Susan Meyer, U.S. Forest Service Dr. Meyer is a Research Ecologist with the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. She works at the RMRS Shrub Sciences Laboratory in Provo, Utah, where she has spent almost thirty years researching many aspects of the ecological restoration of shrublands, including numerous studies on the seed and seedling establishment ecology of native shrubs, grasses, and forbs. More recently she has focused her attention on one of the main obstacles to restoration success in semi-arid shrubland ecosystems, namely the invasive annual cheatgrass.  This has included extensive work on the genecology of cheatgrass as it interacts with a series of fungal pathogens that make their living taking advantage of the abundant resources that it provides. The ultimate goal of this research is to find a way to reduce cheatgrass in the context of restoration seeding by manipulating its fungal natural enemies to destroy the host that feeds them.
1:55 pm Technical Session 5: Grassland and Shrubland Ecosystems
(Moderated by Mindy Wheeler)
3:15 pm Break 
3:35 pm Technical Session 6: Multi-trophic Interactions
(Moderated by Kristina Hufford) 
6:30 pm Evening book-signing event, New Belgium Brewery (ticketed event). Kevin Fedarko, Author of “The Emerald Mile” The epic story of the fastest ride in history through the heart of the Grand Canyon Kevin Fedarko lives in northern New Mexico and works as a part-time river guide in Grand Canyon National Park. In addition to his travel narratives in Outside, where he worked as a senior editor, Fedarko’s work has appeared in Esquire, National Geographic Adventure, and other publications, and has been anthologized in The Best American Travel Writing in 2004 and 2006. Fedarko was a staff writer at Time magazine from 1991 to 1997, where his work helped garner an Overseas Press Club Award for a story on the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Fedarko earned a Masters of Philosophy in Russian history at Oxford in 1990.
 

THURSDAY MARCH 12, 2015

8:00 am Announcements 
8:15 am Keynote address: “Wetland restoration in the western U.S., issues and opportunities” David Cooper, Colorado State University David J. Cooper is a Senior Research Scientist and Scholar in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship and with the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University. He works on wetland and riparian ecology and hydrology projects throughout western North America, Europe and the Andes.  His specialization is the hydrologic processes that support wetlands, vegetation dynamics and composition, effects of river regulation on riparian communities, and the restoration of disturbed wetlands particularly in mountain regions. 
8:50 am Technical Session 7: Wetland/Riparian Ecosystems
(Moderated by Andrea Borkenhagen)
10:10 am Break 
10:30 am Technical Session 8: High Elevation/Latitude Ecosystems
(Moderated by Akasha Faist)
11:50 am Lunch 
1:20 pm Technical Session 9: Case Studies
(Moderated by Timothy Hoelzle)
3:00 pm Break 
3:20 pm Technical Session 10: Forest Ecosystems II
(Moderated by Casey Cisneros)
4:40 pm Closing comments
Randy Mandel, CeRSER, and Mark Paschke, HAR