November 9, 2016
Presented By Dr. Gary Robbins, Dept of Natural Resources & the Environment, University of Connecticut
Connecticut has an abundance of good quality groundwater owing to its geologic past. In this webinar, Dr. Gary Robbins, Hydrogeologist at UCONN, will discuss our groundwater resources—where they are, how much we might have and use, their importance to the health of our environment, and what we need to do to sustain and protect them. He will also discuss issues concerning the use of our groundwater resources to help our faulting economy.
Have questions regarding your own well?—The doctor will be in.
October 11, 2016
Presented By David Dickson & Chet Arnold, UConn CLEAR
The State of Connecticut has committed to an expanded stormwater regulatory program for municipalities, and CLEAR’s NEMO Program will be providing outreach and assistance to towns and institutions to support them in complying with this program.
This introductory webinar will provide an overview of the new requirements in this permit and how the NEMO program is planning to support communities in meeting those requirements.
May 31, 2016
Presented By Tom Worthley, Project Manager UConn CLEAR, UConn and Jeff Ward, Department of Forestry and Horticulture, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Aligned with the theme of Connecticut’s Changing Landscape, but looking much farther back in time, we will discuss the natural forces and human land-use activities that have shaped the composition and structure of the forest resource in CT as we see it today. Historical narratives and images, along with some data and discussion of current trends can be anticipated.
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 developed landscapes. In order to evaluate the factors that govern bear activity, resource use, and movement across the landscape, UConn grad student Mike Evans has conducted research on three facets of bear ecology – population density, dispersal patterns, and resource selection. Mike and his colleagues at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Wildlife Division have produced the first robust estimate of the size and distribution of Connecticut’s black bear population. This webinar will present these findings and provide perspective on how such information can be used to inform proactive bear management and predict future interaction between bear and human populations. It will conclude with a tour of the new interactive online Story Map that enables the user to explore some of the bear data on their own.
April 5, 2016
Presented By David Dickson & Chet Arnold, UConn CLEAR
The concept of low impact development (LID) has been around for quite some time now. So….is Connecticut buying it? If so, how much? If not, why not? New research by CLEAR’s NEMO Program provides some answers to these questions. This webinar will review the results of our extensive internet research covering 85 towns, and accompanying phone interviews with 78 people in those towns involved in the land use process. What are the top 5 drivers that help bring LID to a community? The top 5 barriers that keep it out? What do town planners think needs to be done? You can get the report or visit the Story Map, but why not drop by the webinar too?
March 10, 2016
Presented in partnership with CIRCA, the CT Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation
An increasing awareness of the need to reduce the potential adverse impacts of hardened coastal structures has prompted interest in the development of living shorelines as an alternative. This webinar will review of the benefits of living shorelines in comparison with traditional hardened shoreline protection structures, including non-structural and hybrid approaches, and describe the effectiveness of these approaches in response to waves, storms and sea-level rise. The webinar will also explore where living shorelines may be suitable on the Connecticut Coast based on an automated geospatial model which determines the suitability of living shoreline treatment options for the Long Island Sound shoreline. Factors such as fetch, bathymetry, erosion rates, marsh, and beach are taken into consideration in producing site suitability. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the site suitability model, as well as a tutorial of an online map-viewer which has been developed to display results from the analysis. A brief overview of the conference proceedings from the first-ever national living shorelines summit in Hartford, which drew nearly 300 researchers, government employees, engineers, students and others, will be provided.