News Archive

Understanding the Cost of Conservation in the Minnesota River Basin

Water quality impairments are a pressing concern in the Minnesota River Basin. Relatively simple, relatively low-cost solutions may be available in the form of alternative agricultural practices, but unknown risks (e.g. lower crop yields) associated with such practices may prevent farmers from adopting them. NCED graduate student Lorine Giangola is investigating whether auctions can be used as efficient economic instruments to assess farmers’ opportunity costs for implementing the alternative practices in the Minnesota River Basin.

Using Remote Sensing to Predict How Landscape Factors Influence Ecosystem Processes

Each year in the United States, approximately $1 billion is spent to restore degraded streams. Unfortunately, the scientific understanding necessary for linking restoration actions to identified objectives is often lacking, a problem that can result in missed goals at best and environmental destruction at worst. In light of this critical knowledge gap, researchers with the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED) are working to understand the factors that drive stream ecosystem processes in order to generate a sound base of knowledge to enable better prediction of stream response to perturbations such as restoration management, as well as changes in biota, land-use and climate.

NCED Teams With MPCA to Release Report on Minnesota River Basin Turbidity TMDL

Summer Institute Students Receive Hands-on Training in NCED Approach

How will a river respond to changes in sediment supply? It is a question often faced by river scientists as they confront challenges such as predicting river response to dam removal or land-use change. Participants in NCED’s Summer Institute for Earth-surface Dynamics (SIESD) investigated that question with a physical modeling experiment that explored the concept of river grade and how the slope of a graded river changes in response to decreased sediment supply. Through collaborative work in eight custom flumes, students also explored the concept of equilibrium within a river; the temporal and spatial scales over which adjustment to a changing sediment load occurs; and the challenge of scaling physical modeling experiments for application to real rivers.
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REU "Team Delta" Learns the Value of Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Collaborating across disciplines can be a tricky endeavor. Disparities in viewpoints and terminology across fields can make comprehension and communication difficult. Participants in the NCED Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) on River and Coastal Restoration learned this lesson first-hand during their recent trip to the Wax Lake Delta. The trip afforded the students the opportunity to be involved in Mississippi River Delta (MRD) restoration research, an experience they all recounted with great excitement. The students were surprised however to observe that current MRD stakeholders are often at loggerheads due to cross-disciplinary communication difficulties. In light of their observation, the students expressed increased appreciation for the multidisciplinary nature of their REU experience.
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