Some of my young friends play an online game called “Angry Birds.” The logo features what I would call an irate cardinal. This seems incongruous to me, since my youthful memories include Cardinals being the signature bird of my home state, Kentucky. And on top of that, my maternal grandmother translated the call of this […]
Metacity: Beyond Mere Size Hong Kong. Copyright Brian McGrath. The term “metacity” was introduced by the United Nations as a way to capture the increasing size of the largest urban aggregations on the planet. Previously, the term “megacity” had been the largest category of city, referring to any urban area comprising more than 10 million […]
There are two answers to this question. First, a wise man, Prof. M. Gordon “Reds” Wolman, suggested at our first meeting that we needed some rules to guide how such meetings were conducted. Reds, who died last year, was a famous and creative scientist, an accomplished administrator, and a leader in the Nation’s scientific discourse. […]
BES as Place Why in Baltimore of course? But that’s not a complete answer. Our research, education, and community engagement are of course focused on the five-county conurbation that is centered on the city of Baltimore. There, we focus on built, modified, and native watersheds, which are perhaps better labeled catchments. We also focus on […]
The theme of the BES Quarterly Research Meeting on Tuesday 5 April is Communicating Science. Featured speakers include Tim Wheeler of the Baltimore Sun, Julie Palakovich Carr from American Institute of Biological Sciences, and science writer Rebecca Wolf. Contributors also include BES members Mary Cadenasso, Brian McGrath, and Steward Pickett. Topics include Communicating Effectively with […]
The original guiding questions for the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) are instances of the three most fundamental things that researchers can ask: How is the system I am interested in put together and how does it change through time? How does the system interact with and influence matter and energy flows? What difference does this […]
The journal Nature has featured the need for research in urban areas in its October 20th issue. The editors introduce the issue in an editorial that says, in part: “Scientists are city people. More than one-tenth of the workforce in the Washington DC metropolitan area are scientists and engineers. Beijing has more than 160,000 professionals […]
Adaptive Capacity of the Baltimore Socio-Ecological System: A Discussion Document for the Baltimore Ecosystem Study This essay lays out thoughts on guiding questions and conceptual approaches to guide research and synthesis in the third phase of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES III). It is intended to help inform the planning meeting on Tuesday, October 20, […]
Planning Meeting #4 for BES 3 “New Hydro-Ecological-Social Theory”8:30 AM – 5:00 PM June 23rd, 2009Preliminary AgendaMeeting Goals• Develop an intellectual framework for understanding the interaction between human communities, terrestrial landscapes, and the hydrologic system. • Brainstorm new approaches for characterizing the state and condition of watersheds and streams and how future ecosystem functions and […]
1. What aspects of land use and or land change (LU/LC) change is most important to you? What are the drivers? Impacts? 2. What are the relevant policies (existing, hypothetical)?3. What does sustainability or resilience mean to you? How is it best defined/represented/modeled/operationalized?4. What are the biggest challenges that cities will have to solve in […]
The Baltimore Ecosystem Study has been a National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site since 1998. Visit other LTER sites.
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