[SEMCO] So a Wetland Walks into a Market-March 14

[Tompkins, Laurie (DCR)]

So a Wetland Walks into a Market...Research @ Reserve Coffee House at Waquoit Bay Reserve Continues on Thursday, March 14th
On Thursday, March 14th at 7:00 pm, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve's Community Coffee House series, Research at the Reserve, continues with Dr. Kevin Kroeger with the US Geological Survey. Kevin will speak about the "Bringing Wetlands to Market" project currently taking place at South Cape Beach, a component of Waquoit Bay Research Reserve.
 Salt marshes are a crucial piece of coastal ecosystems, and are essential to maintain the ecosystem functions and services that people value at the coast.  But a less well-known service provided by coastal wetlands is carbon storage.  Dr. Kroeger explains further, "As it turns out, coastal wetlands store carbon faster than any other ecosystem on the planet.  Ultimately, to deal with climate change and the greenhouse gas emissions problem, many different actions will need to be taken to reduce combustion of fuels.  But, an additional concept that may be a part of the solution is to protect places where carbon is currently stored, such as in forests and wetland soils; and to increase the rate of new carbon uptake from the atmosphere and storage in ecosystems, by restoring degraded ecosystems. That concept is quite far along with regard to forests, so that in parts of the world where a carbon market, or cap and trade system, exists, to meet their emission reduction targets, major emitters of greenhouse gases can pay to protect and restore carbon storage in forests anywhere on the globe. This study has the potential to dramatically increase conservation of wetlands for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas concentrations.
However, the climate benefit of coastal wetlands may depend significantly on local conditions.  In this seminar Kevin will describe his contribution to a new project aimed at quantifying carbon storage capacity and greenhouse gas movement in coastal wetlands, using Cape Cod as a model.  Led by Waquoit Bay Reserve with a $1.3 million grant from the NERRS Science Collaborative, a  team of researchers from several institutions are investigating the interactions between climate, carbon storage, greenhouse gas fluxes and widespread nitrogen pollution in our coastal wetlands. Kevin Kroeger is a coastal biogeochemist at the USGS Woods Hole Coastal & Marine Science Center.  Within the Wetlands Carbon Collaborative he is responsible in part for experimental design, participation in project coordination, and measurements of lateral greenhouse gas, carbon and nitrogen movement, in collaboration with colleagues at USGS. Dr. Kroeger has studied coastal ecosystems for 15 years, with a specialization in fluxes and biogeochemistry of nitrogen in groundwater discharge to estuaries and wetlands.
Each Thursday evening at 7:00PM during the first three weeks of March, a different scientist will discuss their research at the Waquoit Bay Reserve. In addition to explaining the research they're doing, they will include personal anecdotes on how they did the science and how they feel their research will make a difference to those sitting in the audience. This series was created to help expose community members to cutting edge science in a relaxed and informal way. The interactive coffee house format helps people feel equally comfortable asking questions and joining in the discussion or just sitting back and listening to the scientists' stories of their work.

Doors open at 6:45 pm with a chance to view the exhibits in the visitor center and sample some homemade sweets and coffee and tea. Participants are encouraged to bring their own mug and flashlight for traveling from the parking lot.  Admission is free. For more information, call 508-457-0495 x 107 or 108. Waquoit Bay Reserve is located at 149 Waquoit Highway (route 28), Waquoit, Massachusetts.

The spring series will wrap up on March 21st with Eye to the Sky program with David Fisichella, Manager Shipboard Scientific Services, WHOI, and James Rassman, Stewardship Coordinator at Waquoit Bay Research Reserve.For more information and a downloadable flyer, go to www.waquoitbayreserve.org<http://www.waquoitbayreserve.org>





Laurie Tompkins
Event Coordinator
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
P.O. Box 3092
Waquoit, MA 02536
Tel. 508-457-0495 x108
Fax 617-727-5537
www.waquoitbayreserve.org<http://www.waquoitbayreserve.org/>

Please sign me up to receive e-news from Waquoit Bay Reserve<http://www.waquoitbayreserve.org/contactmaint.aspx?mode=new>

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