UVa-Wise to host Wetlands Symposium Oct. 26-27

Teachers and researchers will gather at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise to explore the importance of wetlands to the Appalachian ecosystem. The symposium, “Landscape as Our Legacy, Realizing Opportunities in Appalachian Wetlands” will take place Oct. 26-27 in the C. Bascom Slemp Student Center and the Science Center.

The Symposium seeks to provide a forum in which educators may participate in workshops designed to provide innovative approaches to multidisciplinary SOL-based curricula.

Undergraduate researchers will also have an opportunity to communicate research results relating to wetlands or other projects investigating landscapes that have been impacted by human activities. The Symposium is open to any field of study or any combination of fields that seek to understand human impacts on Appalachian landscapes.

In addition, K-12 teachers who attend symposium events will receive continuing education credit.

Linda Froschauer

Speakers for the two-day event will include Thursday’s keynote address “Supporting Inquiry in Science” by Linda Froschauer, president of the National Science Teachers Association. Froschauer has taught in Weston Public Schools, Greenwich, Conn., since 1985. Outside the classroom she has worked as an instructor for Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry; as a writer/consultant for many publications; and as a field editor, reviewer and consultant for numerous organizations. The National Science Teachers Association, based in Arlington, Va., is the largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Friday’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Leigh Fredrickson, Professor Emeritus, The University of Missouri. Fredrickson retired after serving for more than 36 years as Director of the University of Missouri’s Gaylord Memorial Laboratory. America’s National Wildlife Refuge

Dr. Leigh Fredrickson

System honored him for a lifetime of achievement in support of the National Wildlife Refuge System. According to the NWRS Web site, “More than any other single individual, Dr.

Frederickson has influenced the management of wetlands on wildlife refuges.”

Congressman Rick Boucher of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ninth District, will speak during the lunch hour on Friday. He is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, serving on two subcommittees - Telecommunications and the Internet; and Energy and Air Quality, of which he is the ranking member. Boucher also sits on the House Judiciary Committee, serving on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee. Congressman Boucher earned his bachelor's degree from Roanoke College and his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. He has practiced law on Wall Street in New York and in Virginia. Prior to his election to Congress, he served for seven years as a member of the Virginia State Senate. He is a native of Abingdon, Va., where he currently resides with his wife Amy.

Invited speakers for Thursday include:

• T. Allan Comp, Ph.D., program analyst for the Office of Surface Mining. Comp holds a Ph.D in history, worked for several years in cultural resources with the National Park Service, left that to work as a developer of historic properties and consultant to historic preservation projects, and then to work for a regional Heritage Area in western Pennsylvania where he invented AMD&ART. His work attracted the attention of other watershed and community improvement projects in the Appalachian coal country and in the Western hard rock mining country as well. Allan now leads the OSM/VISTA Team and Brownfields Initiatives at the Office of Surface Mining in the U.S. Department of the Interior.

• Suny Monk is the executive director of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, an international working retreat for professional artists, writers and composers, located in Amherst County, Virginia. Since coming to the VCCA, she has served as a panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts and for the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and as a consultant for the Appomattox Governors School for Arts and Sciences. She is a board member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Lynchburg, Va., Virginians for the Arts, and the Alliance of Artists Communities.

• Kathy Poole is a registered landscape architect in numerous states and is also CLARB certified. She is a Principal of Biohabitats, Inc., a unique landscape architectural firm devoted to restoring the earth and inspiring ecological stewardship (www.biohabitats.com). Staffed by environmental scientists, civil engineers and design professionals, the Baltimore-based firm works with clients to knit together the elements of environments to create respectful, healthy and thriving environments for all of its inhabitants. She completed her Master of Landscape Architecture degree at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, garnering the department’s top honor, the Charles Eliot Award, along with one of the University’s top fellowships, the Sinclair Kennedy Traveling Fellowship.

• Linda B. Harris, senior water resource representative for the Tennessee Valley Authority, has been involved in natural resource protection for the past 25 years, working in both the public and private sector.  In her current position at TVA, Linda networks with area community leaders, agencies, and citizens to share science-based land and water resource information, identify opportunities for water quality improvement and protection, and develop the public/private partnerships which can plan, fund and implement improvement efforts. Her responsibilities also include special event coordination, development of public outreach materials and facilitation of outdoor classroom and curriculum development.

• Frank Kilgore, founder of The University of Appalachia, worked with the U.S. Forestry Service from 1972 to 1977. He graduated with honors in 1977 from what was then Clinch Valley College (now The University of Virginia’s College at Wise). In 1976, Kilgore founded the Virginia Citizens for Better Reclamation and served as the organization’s director for four years. In 1978, he was named the Virginia Conservationist of the Year. In 2001, the Bristol Herald Courier recognized Kilgore as one of the region’s 100 most influential people in the 20th century. Kilgore served as the chair of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation from 2001 to 2005 and has served as a trustee of the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy since 1998.

• Valerie Taylor, OSM/VISTA, Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team, advocates mine drainage awareness and organizes community initiatives while serving as an OSM/VISTA for the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team. Working specifically with the nonprofit Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, she is their Watershed Development Coordinator. At Emory & Henry College, Taylor studied Public Policy, Community Service and Environmental Studies.

• Kevin Jansen, Natural Science Department Chair, The University of Virginia's College at Wise, teaches several courses in Biology, Zoology and Ecology. His research interests include the life history, ecology and evolution of vertebrates; population genetics and phylogeography of animals; and the biogeography of southeastern vertebrates. Jansen's recent studies have focused on the effects of surface mine reclamation practices on native frog populations.

Workshop topics on Thursday will be “Creating Multidisciplinary SOL-Based Curricula,” “Initiatives to Create Localized SOL-Based Activities” and “Arts in the Environment”.

For a full schedule of events and to register online, please visit www.uvawise.edu.

Thursday’s session is free with registration. Friday’s registration fee of $10 for faculty and professionals is payable on the day of the event. Students with a valid student ID will be admitted free. Registration includes morning and afternoon refreshments and lunch.

For more information, contact Ray Mullins by phone at (276) 376-4650 or via

e-mail at wetlands@uvawise.edu.

Posted October 13, 2006