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 […]
Research
CT Trail Census: New Data Viz
The Connecticut Trail Census just launched a new data visualization, analyzing use on many of the state’s most popular multi-use trails. In 2019, the most heavily used trails were the Naugatuck River Greenway in Derby, Riverfront Recapture Trail in Hartford, and the Hop River Trail in Vernon. Hop River Trail data also indicated that a […]
30 Years of Connecticut’s Changing Landscape
December 12th, 2019 Presented By Chet Arnold, CLEAR Director and Emily Wilson, CLEAR Geospatial Extension Educator. The Connecticut’s Changing Landscape project now encompasses 7 dates covering the 30-year period from 1985 to 2015. What’s been happening to our state’s landscape over that period? This webinar will cover the basics of the “CCL” project and discuss […]
The Start of Something Big: UConn Environment Corps
A UConn partnership led by CLEAR has received a $2.25 million grant from the National Science Foundation to expand and study a new public engagement program that combines teaching, service learning, and Extension outreach. The program is called the Environment Corps and focuses on using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills to address important […]
Another win for rain gardens
It’s well known that rain gardens are great for infiltrating stormwater but people may not realize that they also help destroy common stormwater pollutants. Several studies have found that rather than accumulating pollutants in their soils, rain gardens tend to biodegrade them instead. One study (LeFevre et al., 2011) investigated petroleum hydrocarbon levels in 58 […]
How Healthy Are the Coastal Habitats of Long Island Sound?
This blog is a reposting of a blog published by Georgia Basso and Samantha Brooke, USFWS Coastal habitat are critical to both environmental and human well-being. The importance of the Long Island Sound is reflected in its Congressional designation as an “Estuary of National Significance” in 1987. Photo credit: J. Murray When intense storms hammer […]
Another winter approaches…here comes the salt
This is not my first blog about salt- in 2013 I detailed the problems we are facing in the Northeast with rising salt levels in our fresh waters in this blog. I have continued the monitoring in Eagleville Brook that I described in the past blog, and now four years later, I have the ability […]
Nitrogen Pollution in Long Island Sound Embayments – From Where?
June 14, 2017 Presented By Jamie Vaudrey, UConn Marine Sciences This webinar will highlight the folks of UConn Professor Dr. Jamie Vaudrey’s research into the sources of nitrogen pollution in Long Island Sound embayments. The results of her study are very useful in determining the greatest contributors of nitrogen to each of the coastal embayments […]
Light Nights
Is light pollution high on your list of concerns? With so many disturbing developments happening globally, light pollution probably doesn’t hold a candle to your worries about accelerating climate change, failing governments, or spreading superbugs. Nevertheless, we are learning more about the impacts of light pollution and there are people in many fields including ecology, […]
Connecticut is Bear Country
By Mike Evans, PhD, University of Connecticut Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Connecticut is bear country. It may sound strange, but western CT is home to a growing population of American black bears. While bears may at times look out of place in the 4th most densely populated state, black bears living around […]
Research, Results and Ruminations About Connecticut’s Bears
May 5, 2016 Presented By Cary Chadwick, UConn CLEAR & Michael Evans, Graduate Student, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment If you’ve been following the news for the past few years, you know that black bears have returned to Connecticut. Given this fact, it is important to understand how these animals respond to different levels of […]
Mapping Great Gull Island with an Unmanned Aircraft
Assistant Extension Educator Joel Stocker spends a lot of his work and personal time documenting changes to the shoreline. In 2010 he contacted Helen Hays, asking if he could capture photographs over Great Gull Island with his homemade drone. She agreed. While on the island, Helen told him about the problem with invasive plants, and […]
Part 3: Customizing Connecticut’s Changing Landscape Story
Visit Part 1: The Story of Connecticut’s Changing Landscape and Visit Part 2: Creating the Story Map of Connecticut’s Changing Landscape This is part 3 of a 3-part blog about the Connecticut’s Changing Landscape Story Map. This blog is the most technical and is meant for folks that already have created a story map and […]
GIS & Poetry? | Speaking of Connecticut’s Hydrography
If you have not already heard, CT DEEP became Steward of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and CLEAR has agreed to take the helm to update Connecticut’s hydrography. The NHD is simply a spatial dataset that represents the lake and river features across the country. All in all, we are excited that we will soon […]
The Climate Adaptation Academy is looking for Input
The Climate Adaptation Academy (CAA) is developing a list of challenges that municipalities and residents are facing as a result of climate change, and we need your help. CAA is a partnership between Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) and was developed after talking to a variety of […]
Climate Change: Beyond Dispute or an Attempt to Redistribute Wealth?
On Friday Governor Dannel Malloy and UConn President Susan Herbst, along with a host of federal and state officials, announced the creation of the Institute for Community Resiliency and Climate Adaptation. Located at UConn’s Avery Point Campus, the Institute is a collaboration between UConn and CTDEEP and its mission, in broad terms, is to coordinate […]
What are the chances Halloween will be ruined again?
“Dad, is Halloween going to be cancelled again this year because of the weather?” It’s not a pleasant thought for kids dreaming of bags full of candy. Well, we are approaching the end of October, and for those of us who have been in Connecticut for the past few years, it seems appropriate to discuss […]
Historical Shoreline Change Project Featured on Local News
Recent storms have focused interest on the dynamics of the shoreline. Receiving attention is the question, “What has it done in the past?” In 2010 the USGS released their report on historical shoreline change along the New England and Mid-Atlantic coasts from Virginia to Maine. Connecticut, buried in the Sound, was passed by. With funding […]
Drones for the Common Good
When people hear the word drone most look to the sky with fear and trepidation. Are they the next target for a missile strike? Are the police watching them? Is what they do in their back yard going to show up on the web? Rand Paul spoke for half a day about the evils of drones and the […]
Do "We" Believe in Climate Change?
Over the last year and a half here in Connecticut, we have certainly seen our fair share of extreme weather events – Irene, the Halloween nor’easter of 2011, Sandy, Winter Storm NEMO (no relation to our NEMO), etc. These events have certainly had a big physical and financial impact on our state, but may have also […]