Pacific Northwest CESU - Announcements

Pacific Northwest CESU Holds Partners Meeting. The Pacific Northwest CESU (PNW CESU) held its annual partners meeting at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle on October 28, 2009. The meeting was well attended with agency representatives from NPS, BLM, MMS, NOAA, USFS, USGS, and USACE, and representatives from the University of Idaho, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Southern Oregon University, University of British Columbia, Heritage University, and UW. Also joining us was Tom Fish, National Coordinator, CESU Network. Discussion items included: 1) the process and materials for the 5 year renewal of the PNW CESU, occurring in 2010, 2) revision of the PNW CESU Strategic Plan, 3) agency needs and university strengths, 4) presentations from 5 speakers on interdisciplinary projects and the values of the CESU program, 5) authority for task agreements between NPS/DOI and non-US partners, and 6) addition of new partners (NOAA and Central Washington University). Check back for more information on the meeting, to be posted soon.

George Wright Society Conference 2009 was held in Portland, Oregon, March 2-6, 2009. GWS is dedicated to the protection, preservation and management of cultural and natural parks and reserves through research and education. The 2009 conference title, “Rethinking Protected Areas in a Changing World,” draws attention to the large-scale changes taking place in the world today—changes that are transforming the meaning and objectives of parks, protected areas, and cultural sites. To learn more about the George Wright Society, click here.

PNW CESU Project Completion Update. Western Airborne Contanimants Project (WACAP) Numerous airborne contaminants, including heavy metals and both current-use and historic-use pesticides, have been detected in 20 western U.S. and Alaska national parks from the Arctic to the Mexican border. While concentrations of most of these contaminants were below levels of concern, others appear to be accumulating in sensitive resources such as fish. These and other results were recently finalized from the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project (WACAP), a six-year, multi-agency study funded primarily by the National Park Service to evaluate the potential threats to park ecosystems and likely sources of these contaminants. Click here to visit the NPS Air Quality website for more information.

PNW CESU Task Agreement FY 2009 template is now available. NPS Task Agreement Template (MS word)

PNW CESU Steps in writing a Task Agreement is now available. Click Here for document (MS word)

The Summer 2007 PNW CESU Newsletter "Cooperative Ventures" is available Summer 2007 Newsletter (pdf file)

CESU Partners List can be viewed at the National CESU web site. Click here.
CESU Map of the CESU network has been revised based on the updated CESU partners matrix-click here to view a pdf of the new map.

PNW CESU Announcements

Staff changes at the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit hosted at the University of Washington--In late January 2009, Chris Lauver replaced Darryll Johnson as NPS Research Coordinator for the PNW CESU. Chris comes to the Pacific West Region from the NPS Southern Colorado Plateau I&M Network where he served as quantitative ecologist for five years. Debbie Confer started as the Program Coordinator on February 2nd. She returns to the Pacific Northwest after working at the University of Colorado, Boulder and University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln. A belated congratulations to Darryll Johnson on his retirement in June 2008.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was admitted to the PNW CESU in 2008. The amendment can be viewed online- Current Agreement Amendment Four (pdf file)

Eastern Washington University (EWU) was admitted to the PNW CESU in 2007. The amendment can be viewed at Current Agreement Amendment Three (pdf file)

St. Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) was admitted to the PNW CESU in 2006. The amendment can be viewed online- Current Agreement Amendment Two (pdf file). SMUMN has completed its first NPS task agreement. Congratulations to SMUMN!

Employment and Funding Opportunities [See our Funding & Resources page for additional resources]

The Rocky Mountain Nature Association is offering a research fellowship for students to work at Rocky Mountain NP.
Information on how to apply for the $8000 fellowship (plus park housing) can be found online http://www.rmna.org/fellowship.html
Applications are due annually by February 1.

2008 Acadia National Park Research Grants Awarded! L.L. Bean Acadia Research Fellowships and Schoodic Research Fellowships. Click Here to view recipients for 2008. Congratulations!

Online Resources

Online Herbarium. The newly redesigned web pages summarizing the National Park Service's botanical efforts in the Pacific Northwest are now available online. This website is the result of a cooperature project between the UW Burke Museum, North Cascades National Park, and Mount Rainier National Park.

Park Science Newsletter now available online. "Park Science" is distributed by the Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center at Point Reyes National Seashore. The publication showcases creative and collaborative science, science education, research, and natural resource management supporting science-informed decision making within the National Park system and associated academic institutions and partners. See current and back issues at Park Science.

Web site for Research in Northwest National Parks is online, including descriptions of scientific disciplines and summaries of relevant case studies conducted within the parks.

Heritage News - a monthly e-newsletter published by the National Park Service to deliver timely information on topics including grant opportunities, new laws or policies, events, and activities of interest to the national heritage community.

National Park Service Natural Resource Year in Review 2006. (most current issue)

Last modified November 4, 2009