Water Institute Sponsored Seminars


Industrial and Urbanization Impacts on Groundwater Quality Near Perth in Western Australia
Dr. Mike Trefry, Principal Research Scientist
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Urban and Industrial Water, Perth Australia
June 6, 2007 10:30 - 12:00 Frazier Rogers Hall 122


Wetland InSAR: Observations and Implications
Dr. Shimon Wdowinski, Research Associate Professor,
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami
April 23, 2007
10:30 to 12:00 - Reitz Union Room 284 - Seminar
12:15 to 1:15 - Lunch in Arredondo Room (Reitz Union) with interested faculty
1:30 to 3:00 - Reitz Union Room 284 - Discussion with interested faculty

Space-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a very reliable technique for monitoring changes of both the solid and aquatic surfaces of the Earth. SAR measures two independent observables, backscatter amplitude and phase, over a wide swath (50-400 km) with pixel resolution of 10-100 m depending on the satellite acquisition parameters. Wetland InSAR is a relatively new application of the InSAR technique that detects water level changes in aquatic environments with emergent vegetation. Although conventional wisdom suggests that interferometry does not work in vegetated areas, several studies have shown that both L- and C-band interferograms with short acquisition intervals (1-105 days) can maintain excellent coherence over wetlands. In this study we explore the usage of InSAR for detecting water level changes in various wetland environments around the world, including the Everglades (south Florida), Louisiana Coast (southern US), Pantanal (Brazil), and Okavango Delta (Botswana). Our main study area is the Everglades wetland (south Florida), which is covered by probably the densest stage network in the world (more than 200 stations), located 5-10 km from one another allowing for the evaluation of uncertainty, the ability to tie the relative InSAR observations (water level changes) to absolute reference frame and to produce high spatial-resolution (10-100 m resolution) maps of absolute water levels. See http://www.geodesy.miami.edu/.


FIU Global Water for Sustainability Program
Dr. Michael McClain, Director
March 8, 2007
10:00 to 11:30 - Reitz Union Room 286 - Seminar
2:00 to 4:00 - Frazier-Rogers Hall 122 - Meeting with faculty to explore possible collaborations

GLOWS is the USAID's flagship program extending the practice of integrated water resources management in the developing world. They have active projects in South America, East Africa, and India, and are in the process of developing new projects and training courses in other parts of the world. GLOWS has a unique relationship with USAID that enables them to receive non-competitive grants to implement a broad range of water resource projects anywhere in the world where USAID operates. GLOWS has a view of identifying a broader network of potential partners and expertise to implement project activities.


Beyond Panaceas in Water Management
Dr. Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 9:00 AM 122 Frazier Rogers Hall

The past fifty years of water management policy have seen alternating policies emphasize the state, user groups, or markets as essential for solving water management problems. A closer look reveals that each of these has worked in some places but failed in others, especially when policies attempted to spread them over too many diverse situations. This paper examines factors to be considered when developing institutional arrangements for water management that are appropriate to local conditions. Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). She is Coordinator of the CGIAR System-wide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi). Dr. Meinzen-Dick is a development sociologist who received her MSc and PhD degrees from Cornell University. Much of her work has been interdisciplinary research on water policy, local organizations, property rights, gender analysis, and the impact of agricultural research on poverty. She has conduced field work in Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and India, where she was born and raised. She has published over 70 journal articles or book chapters, and 10 book or monographs, including Innovation in Natural Resource Management: The Role of Property Rights and Collective Action in Developing Countries, and Negotiating Water Rights.

CAPRi is a research program and network involving 15 international centers and partners at over 400 other organizations http://www.capri.cgiar.org

IFPRI - International Food Policy Research Institute http://www.ifpri.org IFPRI's mission is to provide policy solutions that cut hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI is one of 15 food and environmental research organizations supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) http://www.cgiar.org


Everglades Restoration: In Progress or in Peril?
Professor Wayne C. Huber, Chair, National Research Council Review Committee on the Everglades, Oregon State University
Thursday, November 9, 20061001 New Physics Building
3:00 to 4:00 pm


Water and People in Catchments Research Theme CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food
Dr. Nancy Johnson, Economist, CIAT
July 25, 2006, 1:30 - 2:30pm, 122 Rogers Hall
Florida Single Family Residential Water Rates Evaluation
Dr. Jay Yinglin, Economist, Southwest Florida Water Management District
December 2, 2005


Improving the Local Environment and Combating Climate Change in Communities in Developing Countries
Dr. John Morton, Environmental Specialist, World Bank
Co-sponsored by Environmental Engineering Sciences & Transnational and Global Studies Center.
October 8, 2005