CLIMATE ATTRIBUTION IN GEOMORPHOLOGY

Just published, in Geomorphology (Vol. 403, article no. 108666): Landscape Change and Climate Attribution, With an Example From Estuarine Marshes.

Climate change and related effects such as rising sea-levels and increased frequency and severity of severe storms and fires is resulting in geomorphological, hydrological, ecological, and pedological change. But landscape change is influenced not only by climate and severe meteorological events, but also by a host of other environmental factors, not least human impacts. How can we sort out the effects of recent and ongoing anthropically-driven climate change amidst all the other signals (and noise)?

The World Making and World Breaking Capacities of Religion in the Russo-Ukrainian War

Prof. Catherine Wanner (Penn State University) has conducted 30 years of ethnographic research in Ukraine. She is the author or editor of seven books, including her most recent monograph, Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine (Cornell University Press, 2022), and the forthcoming edited volume, Dispossession: Imperial Legacies and the Russo-Ukrainian War (Routledge, 2023). Her research has focused primarily on the politics of religion in Ukraine and increasingly on human rights and conflict mediation within the context of war. She is the convenor of the Working Group on Lived Religion in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. In 2020 she was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Prize from the Association for the Study of Eastern Christianity.

Sponsored by World Religions, History, Anthropology, Sociology, MCL, and the Lewis Honors College, and with special thanks for the support of the Gaines Center for the Humanities.

image of speaker and event information and image of religious objects

Date:
Location:
Steward Room at the Bingham Davis House (Gaines Center for the Humanities)

Visual Practices & Experimental Geographies

This event will be a conversation with collaborators including Andrea Ngan, Stephen Ramos, and others.

James A. Enos is an Associate Professor of Art at The University of Georgia whose research and teaching engages issues of Dr. Enosspace and social practice in an effort to understand how public cultures respond to change. Spurred by issues of climate, trade, migration and immigration; his current work looks at ports and the global-to-planetary politics of memory and urbanization. 

  

Enos has served as artist, director, and founder for several public projects; including, The Periscope Project, Drone Readymade, Exploring Engagement, Port Journeys, HyperCultural Passengers, WeTrees, and Port Futures / Social Logistics. He holds a BS from Purdue University’s School of Technology, M. Arch from The NewSchool of Architecture, and MFA from the University of California San Diego. 

  

Hosted by The University of Kentucky’s Visual Practices and Experimental Geographies, Enos will present Those Gentle Waves of Pay Dirt, Good Mourning of Age and Memory, in addition to a brief synopsis of public and institutional collaborations. His interest lies in expanding dialog surrounding the complex mediation of composite identities—and backdrops for— the theater of daily life working across generations, spacio-political geographies, and zones of conflict. 

*with support from UK’s Cooperative for the Humanities and Social Sciences 

Date:
Location:
Bolivar Gallery in SA/VS

ACTIVE & PASSIVE HYDROLOGICAL RESTORATION

A recent article in Coastal Review (a service of the North Carolina Coastal Federation) about the possibility of “farming carbon” in peatlands of northeastern North Carolina via carbon sequestration and trading and carbon trading markets caused me to revisit some work from my younger days—a frequent diversion for old codgers like me. Many of the pocosin wetlands were artificially drained by ditches and canals sometime between the 18thcentury and the 1980s, and the key to maximizing carbon sequestration there is restoring the wetland hydrology. Back in the 1980s I did some work on artificially drained peatlands in the region, and in the 1990s on other artificially drained farmland in eastern N.C. One of the bottom lines was that this is a case where passive restoration works. In other words, if you simply don’t maintain the ditches and canals, they rapidly lose conveyance capacity and essentially become linear ponds. In some contract work I did for the Croatan National Forest in N.C. in 1997, in fact, I recommended passive restoration—there was no need to fill in canals or remove water control structures, etc.

FOR PEAT'S SAKE . . . .

In the lower reaches of some coastal plain rivers there is a transition from mineral to organic alluvial soils, which appears to mark the leading edge of effects of sea-level rise. This post is part of project to address the question of how a river, swamp, or floodplain undergoes a transition--apparently relatively suddenly in some cases, judging from stratigraphy--from a muddy or sandy, mineral-dominated state to one that is overwhelmingly composed of organic matter? For background, see this previous post. 

 

MUCKING AROUND IN THE SWAMPS

As rivers flowing across the coastal plains of the Carolinas approach the coast and their estuaries they widen, split into multiple channels, and flows can slow or reverse as astronomical tides, wind tides, and storm surges downstream have their effects. And on their floodplain swamps, the sandy and muddy soils and sediments give way to organic mucks or peats.

Thorofare Island

Area of organic muck soils, Thorofare Island, Waccamaw River, S.C.

NEW YEAR, NEW STRATH TERRACES

Fluvial (river or stream) terraces are former active floodplain or channel surfaces that become isolated from regular flow or inundation by downcutting (incision) of the channel. Alluvial terraces start as predominantly depositional floodplains, but as the river incises, they eventually become isolated from flooding and deposition in all but the largest, rarest floods. Strath terraces are erosional surfaces associated with former channel positions; again, separated from river flows by downcutting of the channel.

Polly's Bend

Polly’s Bend, Kentucky. The T1, T2, T3 areas are strath terraces in oldest-youngest order. Base map is shaded relief based on 1.5 m resolution digital elevation model. Area shown is about 2.7 km (north-south) by 2.5 km (east-west). Coordinates at center are 37.8022° N, 84.6472° W (Fig. 2 from Phillips, 2018).

GEO/ENS Career Night

 More Information Here

Flyer

2023 Panelists

Katie Brown received her degree in Geography with a minor in Biology from the University of Kentucky in May of 2020. During her time in Lexington, she had developed an interest in the interplay of health and space, which continues to guide her work today. Currently, Katie is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State University. Since joining the program in the Fall of 2021, Katie has contributed to multiple research projects, attended major conferences, and had the chance to work in the field collecting various forms of data. While still in the formative stages, Katie’s intended dissertation involves assessing how urban transformations impact residents’ mental health. She plans to look at the case of Detroit, MI, where many legacy residents may be affected by the rapid physical and social neighborhood-change occurring. Upon completing her degree, Katie hopes to stay in a university setting and contribute to research surrounding health equity.

Sean Conway is an Orthoimagery Technical Expert with NV5 Geospatial, graduating from UK Geography in 2014. Using the tools and techniques he learned during his time at UK, he advanced to his current position overseeing large scale imagery projects. On Twitter and Instagram: @geo_spatialist. 

Amanda Curry works as a Compliance & Operations Staff member in the ​Director's Office of the Energy and Environment Cabinet of Kentucky. She grew up in Kentucky in Woodford County on a family farm where her curiosity and love for the environment began. Curry originally attended UK from 2000-2002, but left to begin a family and worked in a variety of administrative capacities. In 2018, she had the opportunity to return to UK to finish her degree. She was the 2020 ENS Outstanding Senior and graduated with honors (magna cum laude) with bachelor’s degrees in both ENS and Geography, with minors in Appalachian Studies and GIS/Mapping. She currently works as an Environmental Scientist II in the Division of Enforcement with the Department for Environmental Protection at the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and she is excited about the work I am currently doing, mostly in relation to wastewater compliance monitoring, and the projects that I will be working on soon including dam safety, environmental justice, and a variety of GIS projects.

Sam Harmon graduated UK in December 2019 with a Bachelor’s in Environmental and Sustainability Studies as well as a Bachelor’s in Political Science. In the Fall of 2020, he began law school at the J. David Rosenberg College of Law here at UK. He has also accepted a post-grad associate attorney position at Porter, Banks, Baldwin & Shaw, PLLC, right here in Lexington where he plans to continue his legal career in civil litigation with a focus on insurance defense.

Rachelanne Knoll serves as Eastern Kentucky University’s Sustainability Manager where she works to enforce their Climate Action and Resiliency Plan. She strives to engage the EKU community in a variety of her own passions including sustainable food systems, equity and environmental justice.

Ryan Lark is a sustainability professional and advocate currently serving as the University of Kentucky’s senior level Recycling/Waste Reduction Specialist. He has previously worked for the Kentucky Division of Waste Management, U.S. Geological Survey, and UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research. Ryan holds a BS in Environmental & Sustainability Studies, Biology, and Animal Sciences as well as a Graduate Certificate in Digital Mapping from UK.

Sandra Martinez (she/her) is part of the Accounts Management team at Grid Principles. She is dedicated to bringing a creative approach to problem solving. For the last 5 years, she has worked to implement systems and processes at nonprofits and startup initiatives to aid in scaling efforts. Her curiosity for learning has kept her research mind ablaze. It’s this passion that drives her to dive deep into clients’ needs and holistically understand the 'Why' behind a project’s goal helping to deliver exceptional web products. Outside the office, she stays busy exploring the trails in Kentucky. As a DACAmented individual, she strives to always advocate for her community and stays involved in community-oriented work.

Cassie Odum received her Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Environmental & Sustainability Studies from the University of Kentucky in 2018. After working in Lexington for a few years as an environmental educator with EELCorps (an Americorps State program) and as a laboratory technician at a water quality lab, she returned to her hometown of Indianapolis in 2021 in pursuit of a career in community development. She currently works with the City of Indianapolis as a Project Development Analyst, where she enforces residential building code and local zoning ordinances for commercial and residential development projects, and hopes to begin a graduate program for sustainable development/environmental planning this coming fall. 

Date:
Location:
Stuckert Career Center
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