Core Group Meetings

 

The Core Group meets for dinner programs 6 evenings a year.  The meetings are held in the months of September, October, November, February, March and April to coincide with the academic year of the University.

In the first year the programs were centered around general scientific and ethical issues as they pertain to the local environment.

In the second year the programs concentrate on “Environmentally Sustainable Practices ”.

In the third and final year the programs are focused on water quality.

September 14, 2006. Laurie Fowler,an alumna of the College and an environmental attorney, discussed the development of a habitat conservation plan to protect imperilled fish species while allowing development to continue in a fast-growing, politically-conservative region of Georgia. She will describe how students at several universities were involved in this work. Laurie has a joint appointment to the Institute of Ecology and the School of Law at the University of Georgia. She is the Director for Policy of the River Basin Science Center and heads the Public Service and Outreach faculty at the Institute of Ecology.

October 12, 2006. Karen Kuers, Associate Professorof Forestry at The University of the South, describes the Sewanee Watershed. She indicates its relationship to the local river systems and then describe the research she and her students are carrying out to monitor and analyze streamflow, precipitation, soils, vegetation, and a wide range of other ecological parameters.

February 8, 2007. Deborah McGrath discusses the recent work she has been doing on metallic ions in local water supplies and changing land patterns in the Sequatchie Valley and on the Cumberland Plateau. She will discuss research carried out with students of local reservoirs and streams and its implication for local water quality and water supplies, especially in light of current projections for development in the surrounding counties.