David Newman, the new Chair of  Forest and Natural Resources Management at SUNY-ESF, kicked off the brown-bag series by talking about his research on the ways that land valuation affects forest resource management. In particular, property taxes, land trusts, and conservation easements are instruments that can alter the mix of land uses in a forested area and have an impact on profitability for the wood products industry.

Melissa Fierke of the ESF Dept. of Environmental and Forest Biology talked about her research on two invasive insects that are expected to have a dramatic effect on Northeastern forests. Both the emerald ash borer and the European woodwasp appear to have come here in wood packing materials from China. As the emerald ash borer spreads its range through the Northeast, it wreaks 100% mortality on ash trees. These include the white ash, which is a major upland tree species, green ash, a prominent species in riparian environments, and the black ash that is important for succession in swamplands. Black ash is also highly prized in traditional Native American culture for its use in basketry. The European woodwasp is expected to cause significant mortality among pine trees.

Wendong Tao, who jointed the ESF Dept. of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering last year, spoke about the ways ecosystem processes can be accelerated and concentrated for purposes of wastewater treatment. He offered examples of constructed wetlands for treating woodwaste leachate and a small-scale test "wetland" in his lab that is employing anammox, or anaerobic ammonium oxidation, for treating dairy wastewater.

Stewart Diemont, another new faculty member in Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering at ESF, spoke about his work with two Mayan groups in Mesoamerica. Using a combination of research tools from ecological engineering and anthropology, Stewart's research team is documenting traditional, long-term forest management practices that are both highly productive and sustainable. Stewart's work is highly collaborative, and he has already begun exploring joint research projects in green infrastructure and traditional ecological knowledge. Some of the topics he hopes to explore include whether traditionally managed forest systems can become part of the Mesoamerican wildlife corridor plan, how ecosystem design changes with migration, and how traditional management systems adapt to environmental, cultural, and governmental intervention and change.

Clare Olsen was the final speaker in  our fall brown bag series. Clare joined the SU School of Architecture this fall. Her research concerns biomimicry in design, or the way architects and other designers borrow from and imitate natural forms and processes in their work. She offered an illustrated tour of the ways architecture has been influenced by biology and the life sciences over the past two centuries. What began mainly as a decorative fascination with natural forms (such as spirals and supple plant shapes) has now progressed to the point that architects are working to understand and incorporate the deep structures and systems of nature in their work. The double helix, skeletal structures of animals, and cell growth patterns, for example, are finding their way into blueprints, while heating, cooling, and lighting designers and structural engineers are looking to natural processes for guidance as well. As architecture moves away from its traditional emphasis on control of nature to a concept of buildings as participants in natural systems, new buildings are being designed to "eat" smog, collect and purify rain water, offset the urban "heat island" effect, and produce more energy than they use.

John Holdren, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, spoke to a standing-room-only crowd on October 23. His topic was the interweaving economic, social, and environmental concerns relating to climate change (or "global climate disruption," as he prefers to call it).

Majora Carter, director of Sustainable South Bronx, addressed an enthusiastic audience at the OnCenter as part of "Creating Resilience in Sustainable Communities," the Syracuse Center of Excellence 2008 Symposium on Environmental and Energy Systems. Building on her experience turning a blighted urban dump into a beautiful park, she has gone on to create a center for sustainable urban redevelopment, providing green jobs and training in installing green roofs, urban forestry, and other important skills.

Dr. Ragan Callaway of the University of Montana, an expert on interactions between invasive plants and native species, was the featured speaker in the Jack and Pat Bryan Life Science Lecture Series.

Onondaga County Legislator Tom Buckel talked about his efforts to enact legislation requiring the county to consider sustainability in its decisions about land use, zoning, transportation, and purchasing.