October 5, 2005 Source: University of New Brunswick - Saint John:
http://www.unb.ca/news/view.cgi?id=852 HYNES LECTURE FEATURES RENOWNED AQUATIC ECOLOGIST October 5, 2005
UNB Fredericton News Release: D372
Brad Janes, Public Relations Officer (506) 458-7969 A seminar series gaining popularity at the University of New Brunswick will bring in another heavyweight for the third annual H.B.N. Hynes Lecture in Fredericton and Saint John. Sponsored by UNB’s Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI), LeRoy Poff, an internationally-renowned aquatic ecologist, will be the guest speaker at both UNB centres. Dr. Poff, an associate professor in the biology department at Colorado State University, will make his two New Brunswick appearances on Thursday, Oct. 13. He will speak at UNB Saint John at 11:30 a.m. in Room 104 of Oland Hall with the topic Using Species Traits to Explain Lotic Community Response to Multi-Scaled Environmental Gradients. He moves to UNBF for a 7 p.m. lecture in Room 146 of Loring Bailey Hall. His topic will be Homegenization of Hydrologic Landscapes – Implications for Riverine Biodiversity and Resilience. Those with an interest in the health of our rivers are encouraged to attend. Dr. Poff studies how aquatic plants, invertebrates and fish interact and how they respond to environmental influences. His research has considered how we could manage flow conditions to maintain better ecological conditions in rivers. He is focusing on how observing natural patterns in the occurrence of animals and plants can help us understand how our rivers respond to human influences including land use and climate change. "We are excited to bring Dr. Poff and his powerful message to New Brunswick," said Allen Curry, the CRI director. "His studies surrounding the impacts that humans have on the health of our river eco-systems are critically important to a province such as ours where rivers and development are so closely connected." The lecture series is named after Noel Hynes, a distinguished professor emeritus who retired from the University of Waterloo in 1993. Dr. Hynes is widely recognized as the founder of river ecology. His 1971 book Ecology of Running Waters has been a prominent text in its field. In establishing its lecture series on river ecology, the CRI selected Dr. Hynes as its inaugural speaker in 2002. He received a honourary doctorate from UNBF in 2003. The CRI was established in 2001 as a multi-university, multi-sector institute focused on protecting the ecological health of Canadian rivers and estuaries. From four personnel in December of 2000, the CRI has grown to include four Canada Research Chairs, four externally funded professorships, five associated faculty positions, four technical appointments and a variety of support staff at UNB. Researchers have relocated to New Brunswick to join the CRI from Ontario and Saskatchewan. Construction began in September at UNB Saint John on a new CRI building. The $4.9-million expansion to K.C. Irving Hall, jointly funded by ACOA, the Province of New Brunswick and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, will provide dedicated research facilities to better understand the health of river ecosystems. The two-storey structure is expected to be completed by late summer of 2006. For further information on Dr. Poff, view his Web site at www.lamar.colostate.edu/~poff/home.html. For further information on the H.B.N. Hynes Lecture series, contact Dr. Curry at UNBF’s department of biology at 506-452-6208 or Karen Kidd at UNB Saint John’s department of biology at 506-648-5809 or 506-648-5944. - 30 -
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