Please join us at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting, December 12-16 in San Francisco. This year The Sierra Fund will convene a poster and an oral session to explore comprehensive assessment strategies for mining-impacted landscapes and the ways that these strategies can inform land and water management decisions. We look forward to addressing these concepts with a multidisciplinary approach focused on identifying best-practices that will inform regional planning actions. We encourage folks interested in innovative research projects on mine impacted lands to attend.
We hope to see you there!
Session Title: Developing Comprehensive Assessment Strategies For Mining-Impacted Landscapes To Inform Land And Water Management Decisions
Session Schedule:
Poster session: Thursday, December 15 from 8 am – 12: 20 pm
Oral session: Thursday, December 15 from 4 – 6 pm
Session Description:
The interdisciplinary nature of ecotoxicology and fluvial geomorphology makes this an active and dynamic area of research at both source areas, mine sites, and in depositional environments, including wetlands and reservoirs. Comprehensive site characterization and assessment techniques in contaminated areas that inform land and water management decisions may reduce exposure to metals and other contaminants from mine impacted landscapes. Characterization of landscapes disturbed by mining using traditional sampling methods developed for undisturbed landscapes with normally distributed populations is likely to have type two error. Lacking adequate characterization techniques, impacted sites may undergo remediation that is not comprehensive and has short term benefits. In addition, the temporal and spatial variability associated with biogeochemical cycling in mine-impacted waters and exposed soils has the potential to have long-term impacts on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems on site and in downstream deposition zones.
If you have any questions, please contact Alex Keeble-Toll alex.keeble-toll@sierrafund.org