ENST International Collaborations

Dr. Paul Leisnham Brings His Latest New Zealand Mosquito Research to Maryland

fly Humanhealth and ecosystem function are intrinsically linked. Whenenvironments change, human health can suffer. Two environmental changes- land use modification and species invasions - have been linked to therecent re-emergence of some major diseases carried by mosquitoes. Dr.Leisnham has recently collaborated with New Zealand researchers toexplore some of the physical and biological links between land use andinvasive mosquitoes down under and around the world. One result fromDr. Leisnham’s research is that disturbed wetlands in New Zealandappear to be a source for invasive mosquitoes to neighboring urbanareas. In 2009, Dr. Leisnham is excited to extend his work on therelationships between environmental change and mosquitoes withcolleagues at the University of Maryland, focusing on the complexrelationships between climate change, plant communities, and key vectorspecies.

Learn more about Dr. Paul Leisnham>>

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Dr. Ray Weil Meets with President of Bangladesh

Rice ENST professor Ray Weil visited Bangladesh to participate inthe International Symposium on Climate Change and Food Security inSouth Asia, which was held at the University of Dhaka from 25 to 30 August,2008.

The symposiumwas attended by around 250 participants from 17 countries. Dr. Weilchaired a session that reported on conditions and policies for meetingclimate change challenges in seven south Asia countries: Bangladesh,India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Maldives. He alsopresented a key note paper on “Cover Crops to Feed the Soil and Coolthe Planet” in which he explored the potential contributions of belowground processes to meeting food security and climate change mitigationchallenges. While in Bangladesh Dr. Weil also meet with faculty atDhaka University Department of Soil, Water and Environment aboutresearch collaboration, gave a lecture on soil biology to about 50advanced students. He also met with the President of this country of160 million people, the Honorable Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed who formerly wasalso a Professor of Soil Science.

This symposium was jointly sponsored by the WorldMeteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO) of the United Nations, the UN Economic and SocialCommission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP), University of Dhaka, theOhio State University, and the Government of Bangladesh.

Weil Learn more about Dr. Ray Weil >>

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Dr. Lowell Adams Leads Exchange Program with Brazil

Brazil Hosted by ENST and the Office of International Programs, the “Student
Exchange in Ecology and Natural Resources Management” program is a successful effort between Brazil’s Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Fluminense Federal University in Niteroi, and Partners of the Americas, the Maryland-Rio de Janeiro Chapter.
The latest group of 10 Brazilian students arrived in Maryland in July, eager to learn about the UM Gemstone Project, “Saving Testudo,” an undergraduate research project focused on the survival of diamondback terrapins.
“Brazilian students interacted with “Gemstoners” and learned about efforts to reduce predation on terrapin
nests from foxes and raccoons on beaches of the lower Patuxent River,” says Dr. Lowell Adams, Associate Professor in ENST and the program’s coordinator.

Learn more about the Student Exchange Program in Ecology and Natural Resources Management >>

Adams Learn more about Dr. Lowell Adams>>
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Dr. Andrew Baldwin Creates Cutting-Edge Wetland Science Summer Program for German and Maryland Students

Brazil Hosted by ENST and the Office of International Programs, the “Student
Exchangein Ecology and Natural Resources Management” program is a successfuleffort between Brazil’s Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro,Fluminense Federal University in Niteroi, and Partners of the Americas,the Maryland-Rio de Janeiro Chapter.
The latest group of 10Brazilian students arrived in Maryland in July, eager to learn aboutthe UM Gemstone Project, “Saving Testudo,” an undergraduate researchproject focused on the survival of diamondback terrapins.
“Brazilian students interacted with “Gemstoners” and learned about efforts to reduce predation on terrapin
nestsfrom foxes and raccoons on beaches of the lower Patuxent River,” saysDr. Lowell Adams, Associate Professor in ENST and the program’scoordinator.

Learn more about the Summer School of Wetlands>>

Baldwin Learn more about Dr. Andrew Baldwin>>

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Dr. Patrick Kangas in Belize: Tropical River Ecology and Sustainable Development

Research on tropical ecology and resource management has been conducted on a river in central Belize for nearly 20 years. An important focus for the work has been a travel-study course in which University of Maryland students visit Belize either over spring break or during the summer months.
This is a research course so, in addition to lectures and field trips, students contribute to the overall research goals and they conduct their own independent projects. The original goals of the study were to develop a baseline description of the river ecosystem and to make conservation recommendations based on the ecological field work. Overtime, however, the focus of the research has changed from emphasizing descriptive ecology towards greater involvement in the human side of conservation. As a consequence, a number of trials of sustainable development options have been attempted over the years, including the creation of a “rainforest” business to help market local products, a restoration program for mahogany trees and, most recently, the development of conservation-based games for the local schools. Belize is a good place for conservation because so much Nature exists compared with many other locations in the Neotropics. The presence of relatively intact forests and watersheds provides a head start and gives hope that sustainable systems of man and Nature can be achieved here, and this research is a contribution towards that objective.

Learn more about ENST 479 Tropical Ecology >>

Kangas Read more about Dr. Patrick Kangas >>

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Dr. Robert Hill Helps Develop Distance Learning Center in Southern Russia

UM has partnered with Stavropol State Agrarian University (SSAU), Stavropol, Russia, to create a Regional Distance Learning Center (RDLC) in southern Russia where access to technology and the Internet is highly varied. The RDLC will host Internet-based and video-conference classes on veterinary sciences, and small agricultural business management. The RDLC also will host email, listserv, and file transfer protocol (FTP) server support.

Hill Read more about Dr. Robert Hill >>

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Dr. David Tilley is off to Naples, Italy for Six Months of Research

Dr. David Tilley will spend his sabbatical collaborating with his colleagues, Drs. Sergio Ulgiati and Pier Paolo Franzese, who are located in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the ‘Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope” (University of Naples).

The purpose of his research abroad is to explore how the energetics of natural systems can be harnessed in new ways in the near future as society strives to move away from its heavy reliance on non-renewable, carbon-intensive fuels. His goal is to develop the content needed for a book on the subject and to write the draft manuscript. Dr. Tilley will be developing and assessing ecologically-based novel energetic systems using systems ecology simulation modeling and an environmental accounting technique called emergy (with an ‘m’) analysis. Emergy is a form of energy analysis that evaluates the sustainability of systems based on the total amount of energy used directly and indirectly to operate them. Look for more information on Dr. Tilley’s research sabbatical in the fall newsletter, after he returns during the summer.

Tilley Learn more about Dr. David Tilley>>

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Dr. Ray Weil Heads to Africa to Study Public Health Issues

Dr. Weil will spend his sabbatical leave working on the African Millennium Village Project (MVP) as a Senior Research Fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York.

The MVP was initiated in 2004 to put into practice the United nations Millennium Development Goals on the village scale with the goal of charting a reproducible path to ending the poverty trap in sub Saharan Africa Scientific advances in the development of a uniquely African “green revolution” in agriculture, in cost-effective methods to control of Malaria, HIV-AIDS and in neglected tropical diseases, and advances in information technology underpin the projects main interventions in the areas of agriculture, public health and community development . The first three millennium villages were set up by 2005, and by the end of 2006 there were a total of 12 villages in the project with a range ecosystems, soils, social settings and climates representative of about 90% of the farming communities on a continent in which the vast majority of people are still subsistence farmers Earth Institute, 2008.

Weil Learn more about Dr. Ray Weil >>

For more information, contact Kintija Eigmina, Web and Communications Coordinator

Last updated: 03/9/2009