CERM 2022
The 2022 Catskill Environmental Research & Monitoring (CERM) conference was held Wednesday, October 26, 2022 through Friday, October 28, 2022. CERM 2022 featured an exciting new venue — the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York. The three-day format included two days of platform and poster presentations, and a choice of two field trips. The conference was attended by over 180 people!
The conference theme was ‘What could the Catskills look like in 50 years?’ We explored alternative future scenarios for the ecology and human life in the Catskills and how to employ the techniques of futurists to identifying emerging issues. The conference intended to facilitate strategic conversation about environmental research and management in the Catskills.
Agenda
CERM 2022 Agenda
CERM 2022 Old Growth Field Trip Itinerary
CERM 2022 River Field Trip Itinerary
CERM 2022 Student Research Breakfast Agenda
Presentation Abstracts
Speaker Handouts
Catskill Science Collaborative
Guide to Old Growth Field Trip
Forest History Biscuit Brook Area Map
Stream Management Implementation Program
DEP Wetlands 2023 Internship
Watershed Conservation Corps
Platform Presentations
Opening Remarks
Peter Frank, NYSDEC, Bureau of Forest Preserve and Conservation Easements
Keynote Address
Andy Hines, University of Houston Foresight Program, A system for scanning and monitoring the future of forests
Session 1: Old-Growth Catskill Northern Hardwood Forest
Joan Maloof, Old-Growth Forest Network, Salisbury University, Adding the Catskills to the old-growth forest network
Neil Pederson, Harvard Forest, Envisioning the natural resiliency of forests from the memories of old-growth trees
Nicole Davi, William Paterson University and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Tree-ring reconstructions, climate vulnerabilities of water resources, and connections to people in the Catskills watershed region
Session 2: The Past and Future of Catskills Forests
Andrew Reinman, City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center,
20 years of hemlock decline across the Catskills: Findings from a new, practitioner-friendly remote sensing model
Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station,
Witness trees, fire, and the Northeast tension zone
Charles Canham, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Peering into the future: Currents that will shape Catskill forests over the next 50 years
Gary Lovett, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, How will the functioning of Catskill forest be affected by multiple interacting stressors?
Session 3: Climate Change Impact on Water Supply
Jordan Gass, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Identifying trends in climate change indicators for the NYC Water Supply Watershed
Rakesh Gelda, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Historical climate change and impacts on Catskill region streamflow
Douglas Burns, U.S. Geological Survey, Hydroclimatology of the Catskills: 2070s and beyond
Rajith Mukundan, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Carbon, nutrient, and sediment export from NYC watersheds under a changing climate
Session 4. Contributed Presentations
Daniel Doctor, U.S. Geological Survey, Surficial geologic mapping in the upper Neversink River subbasin to support estimates of groundwater contributions to streams
William D’Andrea, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Reconstructing long term climate changes in the Catskill Mountains with lake
sediment from Andes, NY
Theodore (Ted) Endreny, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, i-Tree HydroPlus enables forest cover scenario analysis to plan for cleaner waters & fewer heatwaves
Session 5: Environmental Management Success Stories
Laurie Machung, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Connecting wetland science, policy, and protection: Past patterns and future trends in the Catskills
John Thompson, Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Invasive species on the horizon: What’s threatening the Catskills?
Lee Alexander, Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Evaluating suspended sediment and turbidity reduction from stream restoration projects
Kezhen (Jenny) Wang, Hunter College of the City University of New York, Upstream/Downstream: Protection of stream networks in the Catskills
Session 6: Catskill Recreation: Trends/Projections
Laura DiBetta, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Outdoor recreation trends in New York State
McCrea Burnham, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, The Catskill Advisory Group Report
Kevin Smith and Andy Mossey, Woodstock Land Conservancy, Cycling to the Future
Tom Davidock, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Trends in outdoor recreation on New York City Watershed lands
Session 7: Social Trends, Ecosystem Response, and the Evolution of Environmental Management
Brian Zweig, Business Opportunities Management Consulting, Economic impact from outdoor recreational activities in the Catskills
Jan Vink, Cornell University Program on Applied Demographics, Demographic trends in the Catskills
Alex Wolf, Scenic Hudson, Scenic Hudson’s solar mapping tool: A land-use planning approach to unite economics and environment
Julia Goren, Adirondack Mountain Club, and Jackie Bowen, Adirondack Council, VISION 2050: Fulfilling the promise of the Adirondack Park
Session 8. Contributed Presentations
Mark Vian, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, What could stream management in the Catskills look like in 50 years?
Sarah Walker, University of Colorado Boulder, Seeing climate adaptation through an equity lens: Lessons learned from community adaptation to flood risk in Ulster County, NY
Ava Goodale, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, How team science bridges the research-implementation gap in the Catskills region
Karen Rauter, Resident, Town of HalcottWater memories: A Catskills heteroglossia
CERM 2018
The 2018 Catskill Environmental Research & Monitoring (CERM) conference was held Wednesday, October 24, 2018 through Friday, October 26, 2018. CERM 2018 featured an expanded three-day format to include field trips and a workshop, 57 platform and poster presentations, and was attended by over 160 people!
Agenda
Presentation Abstracts
Speaker Handouts
i-Tree Fact Sheet
Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative
2017 Cannonsville Tornado Salvage
Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) in the Catskills
Soil/Plant Relationships for ‘Mountain High’ Field Trip
Black Bear Research in NY
iSeeMammals
Platform Presentations
Opening Remarks
Gary Lovett, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Catskill Science Collaborative
Keynote Address
Chad Dawson, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Monitoring Impacts and Managing Recreational Use on Preserve Lands
Session 1 – Recreation Impacts
Jeff Rider, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Trends in Use of Public Lands in the Catskills: Management Implications
Bill Rudge, NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation & Andy Mossey, Catskill Center, Managing Public Use at the Blue Hole: Protecting Natural Resources at a Popular Swimming Hole
John Franklin, Analysis of Human Interactions on the Lichen Diversity of Slide Mountain
Aaron Krinsky, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Accepting Change: An Application of the Limits of Acceptable Use in Kaaterskill Falls
Session 2 – Development Impacts
Kathleen Weathers, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Salting our Freshwater Lakes
Michale Glennon, Paul Smith’s College, Make Room for Wildlife: Effects of Exurban Development on Wildlife and Lessons from the Adirondacks
Arthur Lerner-Lam, Columbia University, Fit-Bit of the Forest
Session 3 – Soil/Plant Relationships
Sam Adams, Olive Natural Heritage Society, Floristics meets Soil Science: Consilience and Collaboration in Studying Responses to Environmental Change in the Catskill High Peaks Sub-Ecoregion
Olga Vargas, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Catskill Soil Taxonomy: Do the Soils of the Catskills High Peak Region Qualify as Spodosols?
Alison Keimowitz, Vassar College & Steve Parisio, NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Chemistry of Special Soils in the Catskills
Chris Johnson, Syracuse University, Long-term Base Cation Weathering Rates in the Catskill Soils
Session 4 – Biodiversity
Colin Beier, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, The Fate of Forest Soil Fauna after a Century of Acid Rain: Species, Community, and Ecosystem-Level Effects
Barry Baldigo, U.S. Geological Survey, Response of Fish Communities to Changing Environmental Conditions in the Upper Neversink River: A Clean Air Act Success Story
John Wiley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Current Status of the Federally Threatened Northern Wild Monkshood in the Catskill Region: Recent Survey Efforts Show Notable Declines in this Climate-Sensitive Species
Session 5 – Sediment Studies
Jason Siemion, U.S. Geological Survey, Evaluating Suspended-Sediment Dynamics and Turbidity in the Upper Esopus Creek Watershed: A Comprehensive Study
Scott Steinschneider, Cornell University, Time-Varying Suspended Sediment-Discharge Rating Curves to Estimate Climate Impacts on Fluvial Sediment Transport in the Esopus Watershed
Scott Hamshaw, University of Vermont, Unraveling Sediment Dynamics in the Mad River Watershed through Event Concentration-Discharge Relationships and Multi-Temporal UAS Surveys
Beverly Wemple, University of Vermont, Interactions between Human and Natural Systems along Rural Road Networks: The Case of the Lake Champlain Basin
Session 6 – Hydrology
Natalie Teale, Rutgers University, Association of Synoptic-Scale Atmospheric Patterns with Flash Flooding in Watersheds of the New York City Water Supply System
Dorothy Hall, University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Use of Satellite Data to Study Lake-Effect Storms that Reach the Catskill Mountains
Donald Bonville, U.S. Geological Survey, Variations in Baseflow of a Mesoscale Mountain Catchment: Birch Creek
Ted Endreny, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Forest Hydrology Simulation Tools for Exploring how Trees Cool Urban Runoff from Catskill Rivers
Session 7 – Long-Term Monitoring
Ali Kosiba, Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative, Introducing the Catskills Environmental Research and Monitoring Data Access Portal
Gary Lovett, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Air Pollution Success Stories in the U.S. and the Catskills: The Value of Long-Term Observations
Session 8 – Wildlife
Catherine Sun, Cornell University, Black Bears in New York State
Carl Herzog, NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Bat Surveys in the Catskill Region: 10 Years and Counting
Margaret DiBenedetto, Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society, Identifying Golden Eagle Habitat Use in New York State
Jessica Best, Hudson River Estuary Program with Cornell University, American Eels and Weir Fishing in the Catskills
Session 9 – Forest Studies
Becky Shirer & Chris Zimmerman, The Nature Conservancy, Are Forests in the Catskills Region Resilient to an Uncertain Future?
Jonathan Rosenthal & Radka Wildova, Ecological Research Institute, Citizen Scientist/Land Manager Detection of Resilient Trees: A Potentially Powerful Response to Invasive Forest Pests
Deborah Layton, NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection, Growth of a Naturally Regenerating Catskill Forest 20 Years after a Catastrophic Storm Event
CERM 2012, 2014, 2016
To view presentations from past CERM conferences held in 2012, 2014, and 2016 visit this webpage.