(PHOTO: Lookout over the marsh at the head of Poole Creek, along the Trans Canada Trail just west of Stittsville. Photo by Glen Gower.)
(Editor’s note: This isn’t specific to Stittsville, but the topic is certainly relevant to our area. We’ve written a ton about wetlands over the last two years and this looks like a great lecture on this important subject.)
Carleton University will host Prof. William Mitsch and his presentation Wetlands: The Kidneys of our Planet as the keynote for the 2016 Herzberg Lecture.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Second Level Residence Commons, Carleton University, Ottawa
Info: This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
The world is faced with unprecedented threats to our aquatic ecosystems from excessive nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, caused by agricultural and urban runoff and discharges. In addition, carbon is increasing in our atmosphere, leading to climate shifts and rising sea levels. It has been estimated that we have lost half of our global wetlands, most of that loss in the 20th century.
In this lecture, Mitsch will propose an increase in wetland resources worldwide, not only to protect habitat, but also to minimize excessive phosphorous and nitrogen in rivers, streams and estuaries and sequestering carbon in the atmosphere.
About William Mitsch
Mitsch is an eminent scholar and director, Everglades Wetland Research Park and Juliet C. Sproul chair for Southwest Florida Habitat Restoration at Florida Gulf Coast University in Naples, Florida. His research and teaching have focused on wetland ecology and biogeochemistry, wetland creation and restoration, as well as ecological engineering. He has given over 450 invited lectures around the United States and the world in the past 30 years and has been awarded Fulbright Fellowships to Denmark, Botswana, and Poland.