December 8, 2015
Presented by Tom Worthley, UConn CLEAR, and Jeffrey Ward, CT Agricultural Experiment Station
This webinar will highlight the forest stand conditions along roadsides that contribute to the tree issues we encounter during high-intensity wind-storm events. It will also explore how traditional arboriculture and silviculture by themselves have not adequately addressed the management issue. A new approach will be introduced that blends the two scopes of practice and can be applied to protect the roadside forests we all love while growing and maintaining them in a healthier way. The webinar will end with a discussion of all the stakeholder groups that must be involved to operationalize the approach across the landscape.
November 2, 2015
Presented by Dan Civco, Professor, Department of NRE, UConn Director, Center for Land Use Education And Research (CLEAR) and James Hurd, Research Associate, Department of NRE, UConn Director, Laboratory for Earth Resources Information Systems (LERIS)
Landsat represents the world’s longest continuously acquired collection of space-based moderate-resolution land remote sensing data. First launched in 1972, for over four decades Landsat has provided a unique resource for those who work in water resources, agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global change research. Landsat images are also invaluable for emergency response and disaster relief. This webinar will provide a basic overview of the Landsat satellite and imaging sensors, where and how to acquire the freely available data, how to prepare Landsat data for use in ArcGIS, and how to calculate some derivative information.
September 21, 2015
Presented by Alyssa Norwood, Connecticut’s Legislative Commission on Aging
This webinar was recorded on September 21, 2015. Alyssa Norwood from Connecticut’s Legislative Commission on Aging provides statistics on the state’s ageing populations and how to address it from a land use planning perspective. Moderated by UConn CLEAR’s Bruce Hyde.
July 28, 2015
Presented by Dan Civco, Professor, Department of NRE, UConn Director, Center for Land Use Education And Research (CLEAR) and James Hurd, Research Associate, Department of NRE, UConn Director, Laboratory for Earth Resources Information Systems (LERIS)
We have all seen remotely sensed imagery, and many of us use imagery as a background layer to our GIS maps and to derive spatial information. But, how many of us really understand the process of how that image was collected and what it is showing us, or could show us? Furthermore, how many of us are aware of the wide variety of imagery that is available and how to access and use these images? This webinar will provide a basic overview of the remote sensing process and describe what we are really seeing in an image and how it is collected, describe various types of imagery that are available and where they can be obtained, and present some basic interpretation techniques to derive spatial information from the imagery.
June 16, 2015
Presented by Mark Boyer, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, Political Science, UConn and Melanie Meinzer, Graduate Student, UConn
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 the “big picture” of what’s going on across Connecticut on climate adaptation. We’ll first look at what is driving public policy based on past research, thus briefly discussing competing and complementary explanations for why some communities aggressively pursue climate adaptation policies, while others do less. We then dig into our data collected across the 169 towns in Connecticut regarding climate adaptation, linking policy actions to their fundamental global cause. The quantitative data is augmented with interview data from policy-makers and activists from around the New England region.
April 21, 2015
Presented by Cary Chadwick, UConn CLEAR and Tessa Getchis, UConn Aquaculture, Shellfish Management
Shellfish aquaculture is a large and growing part of Connecticut’s agriculture sector but site selection is a major challenge. Farmers cultivate oysters, clams and scallops in designated areas of Long Island Sound. Those sites are considered public property and are leased from the state. Because these underwater farms are not located on private property, new or expanding activities are faced with a significant amount of scrutiny. Farmers need to identify growing areas that are biologically productive for their crop while also considering the potential use conflicts or environmental interactions with their activity on those sites. To help improve site selection for aquaculture, the Aquaculture Mapping Atlas was developed in partnership between the UConn CLEAR, Connecticut Sea Grant and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. This tool provides users with access to relevant aquaculture, navigation and natural resource data layers and information. This webinar will introduce the new function and capabilities of Version 4.
March 17, 2015
Presented by John Volin & Laura Cisneros, UConn Department of Natural Resources and Environment, College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources
UConn’s Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA) is a new transformative program that engages high school students in land use and natural resource conservation in an exciting and meaningful way for the student that is beneficial to our communities and environment. Each year ~24 students participate in a week-long field experience at UConn, where they learn from UConn faculty and students as well as other environmental professionals about the natural world in a land use context. Afterwards, the students apply their skills during a seven-month conservation-focused project addressing local environmental issues in their own community under the mentorship of a community partner (e.g. local planners, decision-makers, scientists, environmental professionals on land trusts and conservation/wetland commissions). To date, 53 community projects have been completed or are currently being conducted throughout Connecticut by our NRCA students. These projects have proven to be not only beneficial to the students but to their community partners and communities. During this webinar, we will provide a brief background on the NRCA and discuss examples of NRCA projects conducted throughout the state, successful community partnerships, and the potential benefits of partnering with the NRCA.
February 10, 2015
Presented by Nancy Marek, UConn Extension Forestry and Chris Donnelly, CT DEEP Urban Forestry Coordinator
The emerald ash borer is a small, shimmering green, non-native insect that kills ash trees. Learn about the biology of the pest, how to identify an ash tree, what efforts are currently being used to control and manage the insect, and what steps private landowners and natural resources professionals can take to limit the impact of the infestation.