Friday, January 29, 2016

Episode 301 (2-1-16): A New Student Internship Program Helps Launch the Second 50 Years of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:33)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-29-16.




TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 1, 2016.

This week, we eavesdrop on a water-fountain conversation between two Virginia Tech students.  And what do you know—they’re talking about the people who bring you this radio show!  Sound unbelievable?  Well, just have a listen for about 90 seconds.

SOUND - ~3 sec

Friend: Oh hey Taylor, I heard you got a new internship?

Taylor: Yeah I did!  At the Virginia Water Resources Research Center!

Friend: What a mouthful!  What is that, some sort of center that controls water in our faucets?

Taylor: No.  The Water Center is a federal- and state-funded program with a three-part mission: teaching, research, and engagement.  They offer resources and support to students, researchers, educators, citizens, and decision-makers throughout the state.

Friend: Oh, really?  So what sort of things do they do?

Taylor: Well, they helped to develop and coordinate a new water major that started last year at Virginia Tech.  They’ve got grant programs that support graduate faculty and students doing water research at universities and colleges.  And they regularly provide information to help Virginians stay up-to-date on important water issues—even on the radio!

Friend: Well that sounds really interesting.  I've never heard of the Water Center before.  Is it new?

Taylor:  Not at all.  In fact, 2015 was the Center’s 50th anniversary.  But the internship is brand new – and I’m the first!

Friend: Dang!  50 years, and you’re the first intern.  You must feel special.  What do you do for your internship?

Taylor: Well, it’s all semester and I get to do a bunch of new things, like visiting Congress and the Virginia General Assembly, helping with their public outreach, assisting in some field research, and meeting lots of water professionals.

Friend: Wow!  Sounds like a great opportunity.  I wish I could do it!

Taylor: Well, why don’t you apply next year?  Part of my job is helping the Water Center develop the internship program, so next year it’ll be even better.

Water Center colleague: Hey, Taylor, wanna give me a hand with this D.C. trip?

Taylor: Oh, oh.  Gotta go!

Friend: See ya.

Since 1965, the Virginia Water Resources Research Center has worked to provide teaching, research, and information to help Virginians make decisions about water.  As the typewritten newsletters and research bulletins of the 1960s have become the blogs and podcasts of the 21st Century, the Commonwealth’s lakes, streams, rivers, coastal waters, and groundwater continue to present great challenges and opportunities for the Water Center to serve professionals, elected officials, citizens, and students.

Thanks to Kriddie Whitmore, Liz Sharp, and the Water Center’s Spring 2016 intern Taylor Richmond for lending their voices to this episode.

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES

The audio states that Taylor Richmond is the first Water Center intern.  To be more precise, Ms. Richmond is the first intern under a new internship program that the Water Center began in Spring 2016.  In the past the Water Center has had many students performing various kinds of more limited internships, but—to our knowledge—the Center has never before had an internship program designed for the student to experience and participate in most or all facets of the Water Center’s mission and activities.

IMAGE

At the start of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center's first 50 years: the cover of the Center’s first Research Bulletin, “Water Resources of Virginia: Inventory of Printed Information and Data,” by Frederick McJunkin and William Walker, March 1966.

EXTRA FACTS ABOUT THE VIRGINIA WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTER

(Source: Virginia Water Resources Research Center, online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/about/.)

In 1964, a congressional act established a network of 54 water resource programs to be placed at land-grant universities across the nation.  Virginia Tech was selected to house the Commonwealth’s water center in 1965 under the name “Virginia Water Resources Research Center” (“The Water Center”).   The Water Center began operations with federal and state funding administered through the Virginia Tech’s Research Division, and was authorized by the Virginia General Assembly as a state agency in 1982.

The center annually receives a federal base grant for program administration and development from the U.S. Geological Survey, under the Department of the Interior.  This funding is combined with a state budget appropriation, faculty and staff funding through Virginia Tech, and funding secured from project-specific contracts and grants.

The Water Center is affiliated with the Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment and is a member of the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) and the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR).  A Statewide Advisory Board provides feedback and guidance on Water Center activities.

The Water Center has a long-standing tradition of offering resources and support to researchers, educators, and decision makers throughout the state.  The Code of Virginia (Sec. 23-135.7:8) states that the Water Center exists
“for the purposes of developing, implementing and coordinating water and related land research programs in the Commonwealth and transferring the results of research and new technology to potential users.”

The Water Center’s functions, powers, and duties as established by the Code of Virginia including the following:
*Consulting with the General Assembly, federal, state and local agencies, nonprofit organizations, private industry and other potential users of research;
*Establishing and administering agreements with other universities of the Commonwealth to carry out research projects;
*Disseminating new information and research results;
*Facilitating the application and transfer of new technologies
*Being a liaison between Virginia and the federal research funding agencies as an advocate for Virginia’s water research needs; and
*Encouraging the development of academic programs in water resources management in conjunction with the State Council on Higher Education.

SOURCES USED AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION

National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR, a coordinating group for the 54 state and territory water centers and institutes), online at http://niwr.info/.

Universities Council on Water Resources, online at http://www.ucowr.siu.edu/.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “Welcome to the WRRI Program” (describing the federal-state partnership that supports state and territory water centers and institutes), online at http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/index.php.

Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment, online at http://www.cnr.vt.edu/.

Virginia Water Resources Research Center, online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

For a previous episode on the water resources undergraduate major at Virginia Tech, please see Episode 243 (12/8/14), “Water’s Complexity, Connections, and Challenges Await Students as Virginia Tech’s Undergraduate Water Resources Degree Debuts in 2015,” online at http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/2014/12/episode-243-12-8-14-waters-complexity.html.

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.10 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.16 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Episode 298 (1-11-16): Lichens Form Layers on Rocks, Trees, and Many Other Surfaces


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:26)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, an image, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-8-16.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 11, 2016.

This week, we feature a lively crowd of guest voices, calling out their favorite example of a plant-like organism that’s not technically a plant, nor is it a single organism. Have a listen for about 30 seconds, and see if you can guess this combination of two, and sometimes more, organisms. And here’s a hint: If you’re thinking about a rocky, dry mountaintop, you’re LIKE-ly on the right track.

SOUNDS - ~31 sec

If you guessed lichens, you’re right! Those were the common names of 13 kinds of lichens found in Virginia, out of several hundred kinds known to occur in the Commonwealth and an estimated 14,000 species in the world. Despite some common names like Reindeer Moss, lichens aren’t a moss or any other kind of true plant. Lichens consist of fungus combined with another organism that can produce food through photosynthesis—either a species of algae or of organisms known as cyanobacteria. Lichens, therefore, are an example of symbiosis, meaning “living together,” where two or more different species exist in a close relationship that benefits one or both. In lichens, the fungal partner gets energy from the photosynthetic partner; in turn, the photosynthetic partner gets a vegetative habitat that allows it to survive in challenging environments, particularly very dry ones, such as exposed rock faces.

Lichens live from the poles to the tropics, on mountaintops and in streambeds, attached to rocks, bark, leaves, soil, insects, and even the shells of [some] Galapagos Islands tortoises. Water relations are a key part of lichens’ ability to live in such varied places; they’re noted for their ability to withstand drought for long periods, and for being able to absorb water directly from dew, fog, or highly humid air.

Wherever they’re found, lichens play key ecological roles, including as food for animals, in soil development, in nutrient cycles, and as nesting material. Humans use lichens, too, as food, clothing, dyes, medicines, and monitors of air pollution.

Thanks to several Blacksburg friends for lending their voices to this episode, and we close a few seconds of “The Rock,” by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, appropriate music for one of the water-challenged habitats where lichens live.

MUSIC – ~19 sec

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to friends in Blacksburg for recording the common names on several kinds of lichens, on Januar 6, 2016. The lichens mentioned are as follows (in the order called out):

Reindeer Moss – Cladina spp. (14 North American species)

Mealy Firedot [Lichen] – Caloplaca citrina.
Mealy Pixie-cup – Cladonia chlorophaea.
Mixed-up Pixie cup – Cladonia mateocyatha.
Candleflame [Lichen] – Candelaria concolor.
Common Powderhorn – Cladonia coniocraea.
Powdery Goldspeck [Lichen] – Candelaria efflorescens.
Common Stippleback – Dermatocarpon miniatum.
Streamside Stippleback – Dermatocarpon luridum (found on rocks that are submerged at least periodically).
Speckled Greenshield – Flavopunctelia flaventior.
Bark Barnacle – Thelotrema spp. (several North American species).
Old Man’s Beard – Usnea spp. (79 North American species).
Waterfan – Hydrothyria venosa (found on rocks in mountain streams, including in the Appalachians).

“The Rock,” based on a traditional tune and included on the 1997 album, “Here on This Ridge,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission. The recording also featured Paulette Murphy, Phillip Skeens, and Henry Smith. More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at http://timothyseaman.com/.

PHOTOS


Examples of lichens on rocks, wood, and bark along the Appalachian Trail/Kelly’s Knob section in Giles County, Va., Dec. 31, 2015.
 











EXTRA FACTS ABOUT LICHENS IN VIRGINIA

From Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation/Natural Heritage Division, “The Natural Communities of Virginia - Classification of Ecological Community Groups,” online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/nctivp.

Lichen/Bryophyte Nonvascular Boulderfields and Outcrops

“Vegetation [in these areas is] almost entirely dominated by lichens and bryophytes [living on] exposed, minimally weathered boulderfields and associated massive outcrops on mountain ridges of western Virginia. ...These habitats, where few vascular plants survive, are typically densely populated by overlooked or cryptic species of lichens and moss. Massive, sheltered rock faces that are shaded and periodic wet often support large colonies of the umbilicate ‘rock tripe’ (Umbilicaria mammulata) one of the largest lichens in Virginia. Other umbilicate lichens, shade-tolerant foliose lichens such as Flavoparmelia baltimorensis, and many crustose lichens may also occur.

“...Rock tripes also dominate dry quartzite and sandstone boulderfields, with Lasallia papulosa and Lasallia pensylvanica characteristically abundant. Also common are golden moonglow lichen (Dimelaena oreina), Hypogymnia physodes, Physcia subtilis, Xanthoparmelia conspersa, Xanthoparmelia plittii, and Melanelia culbersonii, along with numberous crustose species. Flat surfaces and interstices that have thin deposits of organic matter often support broom-mosses (Dicranum spp.), Hedwig's rockmoss (Hedwigia ciliata) and other bryophytes. These, in turn, provide substrates for a variety of fruticose lichens, including Cladonia rangiferina, Cladonia uncialis, Cladonia crispata, Cladonia furcata, Cladonia macilenta, Cladonia ochrochlora, and Cladonia squamosa .

“...Rare sandstone and quartzite bounderfields above 1,200 meters(4,000 feet) elevation in the Ridge and Valley and Allegheny Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia support a different association of lichens characterized by the dominance of Umbilicaria muehlenbergii and the presence of boreal-alpine species such as Melanelia stygia and Arctoparmelia centrifuga.

“Boulderfields of basic metamorphic rocks are confined to higher elevations of the northern Virginia Blue Ridge, where the most resistant beds of metabasalt (greenstone) are present. Characteristic species here include Stereocaulon glaucescens, Lasallia papulosa, Chrysothrix chlorina, Usnea halei, Aspicilia cinerea, Diploschistes scruposus, Porpidia spp., Rhizoplaca subdiscrepens, and numerous other crusts. Several boreal-alpine or geographically isolated species are present in this community, including including Cladonia coccifera, Melanelia stygia, Microcalicium arenarium, Parmelia omphaloides, Porpidia tuberculosa, Rhizocarpon geographicum, and Umbilicaria caroliniana.”

SOURCES

Irwin M. Brodo et al., Lichens of North America, Yale University Press, New London, Conn., 2001.

Thomas H. Nash, ed., Lichen Biology (Second Edition), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 2008.

University of California Museum of Paleontology, “Lichen Life History and Ecology,” online at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/lichens/lichenlh.html.

Brendan P. Hodkinson et al., “A Checklist of Virginia Lichens,” Evansia (published by American Bryological and Lichenological Society), Vol. 26, No. 2 (2009), pp. 64-88.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). Please see the “Plants” section for other episodes on plants, and the “Science” section for other episodes on algae.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
3.10 – impacts on survival of species.z

4.9 – Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme
4.4 – basic plant anatomy and processes.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
2.5 – living things as part of a system, including habitats.
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Life Science Course
LS. 4 – organisms’ classification based on features.
LS.8 – community and population interactions, including food webs, niches, symbiotic relationships.
LS.9 – adaptations for particular ecosystems’ biotic and abiotic factors.

Biology Course
BIO.4 – life functions in different organism groups.
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.