2020 Mini Webinar Series

Fallout from tree mortality recently caused by insect pests

May 27, 2020 Presented By Tom Worthley, Extension Professor and Forester, UConn Dept. of Extension Recently, insect pests affecting trees, particularly emerald ash borer and gypsy moth, have caused the deaths of trees in varying degrees of severity, from individual trees to entire stands. And with so many folks taking physically-distant recreational time outdoors – […]

Water Quality Challenges in Groundwater Influenced Streams

May 20, 2020 Presented By Dr. Ashley Helton, UConn Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Groundwater discharge zones along river networks sustain water flow and provide thermal refugia for aquatic organisms while also acting as conduits of legacy contaminants, including nitrogen. Efforts to protect and manage groundwater-influenced stream ecosystems, however, are limited by our […]

Virtual Town Meetings: Use Online Polling Technology to Engage with Virtual Audiences

May 18, 2020 Presented By Dr. Miriah Russo Kelly, UConn Department of Extension Now that online communication is becoming ubiquitous, land-use officials may be challenged to find new and innovative ways to connect with, and gather feedback from stakeholders. In this webinar, Dr. Kelly will demonstrate how to use sli.do, an online polling platform, to […]

Zoning for Outdoor Living During COVID-19

May 15, 2020 Presented By Sara C. Bronin, Thomas F. Gallivan Chair of Real Property Law, UConn Law School and Chair, Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission Governments around the country are slowly allowing businesses to re-open as new COVID-19 cases taper off. One strategy to make re-opening safer is to move commercial activities outdoors. How […]

The View from Above, Updated: How to Access and Use New Aerial Imagery

May 13, 2020 Presented By Emily Wilson, UConn Department of Extension, CLEAR New high resolution imagery is here! Connecticut’s 2019 aerial imagery is now part of the CT ECO website in the form of viewers, download, and services. The 4 band, 6 inch pixel imagery is the 20th imagery dataset of Connecticut on CT ECO. […]

Connecticut’s Changing Forests: What it Means for Carbon Dynamics and Climate Resilience

May 11, 2020 Presented By Dr. Robert Fahey, UConn Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Forests represent an important potential component of climate mitigation strategies and are increasingly being promoted as an important solution in addressing global climate change at local to global scales. However, the forests of Connecticut are entering a period of […]

Green Snow-Pro Training: Proven to Reduce Road Salt Impacts

May 6, 2020 Presented By Dr. Mike Dietz, UConn Department of Extension, CLEAR, CT Institute of Water Resources Let’s face it, the weather is improving (slightly), and the last thing anyone wants to think about is winter and road salt. However, now is the time to start planning for next year! New Hampshire’s Green Snow Pro […]

The Trail Less Traveled: Apps to Find Social Distancing in the Great Outdoors

May 4, 2020 Presented By Cary Chadwick and Dave Dickson, UConn Department of Extension, CLEAR During the COVID-19 crisis, trail usage has skyrocketed. However, that usage has been concentrated on the best known trails, creating a challenge for social distancing. There are several smartphone apps that can help connect people with lesser known trails that can […]

What’s Driving Climate Adaptation in Connecticut (And Why)?

April 27, 2020 Presented By Mark A. Boyer, Dept. of Geography Department, UConn; Executive Director, International Studies Association (ISA; www.isanet.org) When confronted with the demands of global climate change, why do some towns move the climate adaptation agenda forward in their communities while others seemingly get little accomplished? To answer this question, we look at […]

Path to brownfield redevelopment: CBI’s Municipal Assistance Program

April 22, 2020 Presented By Dr. Nefeli Bompoti, Project Manager, Connecticut Brownfields Initiative The Connecticut Brownfields Initiative (CBI) is an educational and community support program with a mission to promote brownfield redevelopment in the State of Connecticut. CBI operates within the University of Connecticut and provides training and support for CT stakeholders on brownfield remediation […]

Learning from Cottontails: Successes and Challenges of the Young Forest Initiative

April 20, 2020 Presented By Lisa Wahle, Wildlife Management Institute, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Young forest and shrubland, and the wildlife species that depend on these areas have been in decline for many years due to anthropogenic development on natural lands and the normal maturation of forests. The designation of the New England […]

Communicating Trail Data through the Connecticut Trail Census

April 15, 2020 Presented By Laura Brown, Department of Extension, UConn The Connecticut Trail Census is an innovative statewide volunteer-based data collection and education program that encourages data informed decision-making and promotes active citizen participation in multi-use trail monitoring and advocacy. The Trail Census includes trail use counts recorded by infrared pedestrian counters, trail user […]

Connecticut’s Blue Heritage Trail

April 13, 2020 Presented By Syma Ebbin, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Connecticut Sea Grant, UConn and Colleen Franks, Dept. of Marine Sciences, UConn The Blue Heritage Trail (BHT) project, supported by the University of Connecticut Office of Public Engagement, National Park Service and Connecticut Sea Grant seeks to raise public awareness of the […]

Statewide Lidar Elevation Points in Interactive, Color 3D!!

April 8, 2020 Presented By Emily Wilson, CLEAR Geospatial Extension Educator Lidar is a remote sensing technique to map elevation using a laser sensor on an airplane. The result is millions of points (or more) which are often used as input to other datasets such as digital elevation models (DEMs) which show the surface of […]

From Maps to Apps: Accessible Tech for field scientists and citizen scientists alike

April 6, 2020 Presented By Cary Chadwick, CLEAR Geospatial Extension Educator Advancements in data collection technology has made it easy to leverage sensors in smartphones and tablets including cameras, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes and more. This opens doors for casual mappers and citizen scientists to collect useful data with just the tool in their pocket. This […]

Moving with the Marshes

April 1, 2020 Presented By Juliana Barrett, Coastal Resources Extension Educator, CT Sea Grant Avalonia Land Conservancy (ALC) received a land parcel donation to add to their waterfront Dodge Paddock Beal Preserve in Stonington Borough, CT in 2018. The parcel included a large, cultivated garden bordering a marsh. With funding from the Long Island Sound […]

Collaboratives & Utilities: New Options for Municipal Stormwater Management

March 30, 2020 Presented By Amanda Ryan, CLEAR MS4 Extension Options for funding stormwater management efforts in Connecticut are expanding. While our region has been slow to adopt stormwater utilities for raising funds for stormwater management efforts, that may be beginning to change with the state’s first-ever stormwater utility approved in the City of New […]

Emergency Changes to the Land Use Process in the COVID-19 Era

March 26, 2020 Presented By Sara C. Bronin, Thomas F. Gallivan Chair of Real Property Law, UConn Law School and Chair, Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission In the COVID-19 era, the law must balance the need to limit face-to-face interaction, the public interest in efficient municipal function, and the difficulties municipalities face in an era […]

UConn Environment Corps: Harnessing Student Power to Help Towns

March 25, 2020 Presented By Chet Arnold, CLEAR Director A UConn faculty partnership that reaches across departmental and college lines is engaged in an effort that seeks to enhance, expand and institutionalize a new model for community engagement at the University. The “Environment Corps” combines the familiar elements of classroom instruction, service learning and Extension […]