This webinar is part of the Virginia Master Naturalist Continuing Education series.
Description: Human well-being depends upon the health of the land. From clean drinking water and food production, to the soil, timber, and fuel resources needed to sustain growing populations - all of these depend upon interactions between soil, water, and living organisms (including humans). Yet, despite the deep connections between human communities and the lands on which they depend, knowledge about the functioning of the Earth's surface is still surprisingly limited. In response to this urgent need for integrated, systemic information about the functioning of the Earth's surface, in 2007, the National Science Foundation launched the Critical Zone Observatory program with the goal of focusing interdisciplinary research towards improved understanding of the "critical zone" (defined here as the thin upper layer of the Earth from the top of the vegetation canopy to the base of the freely flowing groundwater that is critical for human well-being and ecosystem function).
This seminar will present an overview of critical zone science with an emphasis on new and emerging findings relevant to Virginia Master Naturalists and provide participants with insights into the connections between human management and the ecosystem services that a sustainable Virginia depends upon.
Presenter: Kathy O'Neill is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Roanoke College where she has taught since 2008. Her research and teaching focus on the interactions between land management and ecosystem function in the Earth's critical zone. She also serves as a lead for Education and Outreach at the Calhoun Critical Zone Observatory and as a member of the education and outreach team for the national CZO program. She holds a Ph.D. from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and a B.S. in Environmental Science and Geology from the College of William and Mary.
This webinar was presented on 9 May 2018.