CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS
2023 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - FEDERAL AGENCY PERSPECTIVES ON ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The Executive Branch of the Federal Government has recently begun to focus on Environmental Justice as a core element of its mission and numerous Executive Orders have been enacted that provide guiding principles on how federal agencies should allocate time, energy, and funding to support issues of Environmental Justice in the US. Often, these mandates are tied to issues of human and environmental health (EO 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-income Populations, Section 1-1, Implementation), climate change (EO 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, Section 219, Securing Environmental Justice and Spurring Economic Opportunity), and clean energy (EO 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, Section 402, Incorporating Environmental Justice). These emerging priorities in the Executive Branch have led to increased prioritization of Environmental Justice through increased federal grant funding (e.g., Justice 40 Initiative), increased emphasis on Environmental Justice in agency strategic plans (e.g., US EPA 2022-2026 Strategic Plan), and direct orders designed to increase agency-wide budgetary spending for Environmental Justice measures (e.g., DOE Order 436.1A, Departmental Sustainability). Given the direct tie between ecosystem science and the issues that surround Environmental Justice, AERC has invited leaders from the US Department of Energy, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Geological Survey to provide insights into how these agencies are addressing new challenges and mandates focused on Environmental Justice.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2022 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - The role of Horizon Scanning in Ecosystem research
Horizon scanning is a tool for assessing potential threats and opportunities and is used extensively in many sectors including energy, defense, and medicine. Use of horizon scanning in environmental fields is gaining traction to explore both predicted and unexpected futures. Horizon scanning can help prioritize personnel and infrastructure investments to enable an organization to effectively deploy resources to address both known and unknown threats. The process of horizon scanning involves cataloguing potential threats, filtering information and prioritizing based on level of risk, and disseminating information to appropriate authorities. Early warning systems are threat-specific tools for collecting data, assessing trends and evaluating risk, and initiating communication to appropriate authorities. The Association of Ecosystem Research Centers will conduct a briefing on the application of horizon scanning for ecosystem management. The brief will provide an overview of the process followed by two case studies highlighting forest ecosystems and the Laurentian Great Lakes.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2021 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - Integrating Environmental Data Across Spatial Scales
Constant innovations in data science, availability of real-time long-term data, advanced spatial modeling and remote sensing techniques, and cutting-edge technology to retrieve, process, and analyze more data than ever before, are being integrated into high level questions regarding ecosystem services and disservices in the Anthropocene and what that means for an uncertain future across many sectors. This vision will bring focus to handling big data for a myriad of novel and progressive applications to build resilient futures, including for national security, climate change, urban planning, human health, and food security, with environmental justice and equity in mind.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2019 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - Coastal ecosystems and People
A larger proportion of the human population now lives along coastlines that are prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, storm surge, flooding, toxic algal blooms and sea-level rise. Understanding the natural variability associated with coastal hazards is imperative to our continued coastal existence. In addition, understanding and effectively communicating the role of coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves and coastal wetlands as green-infrastructure protection is also needed. Finally, better designed built environments in coastal regions need to be envisioned and implemented. In this briefing, we will explore the complex interfaces between coastal processes and hazard and natural and built environments.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2018 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - The Role of Ecosystem Science in Securing Freshwater Resources
Perhaps the greatest challenge before us will be our ability to achieve freshwater security. As defined by the United Nations, Water Security is “The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.” We have four distinguished experts who will discuss what the ramifications of recent and potential changes to the Clean Water Rules could mean, and how current efforts are underway to use ecosystems science to restore and protect important ecosystems including the California Delta and the Greater Everglades ecosystems.
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2017 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - The Role of Ecosystem Research in Combating Emerging Infectious Diseases
On everyone's minds recently are the consequences that infectious diseases are having on our world. The people, animals and ecosystems that inhabit our planet are impacted by infectious diseases and, this year, we are exploring how ecosystem sciences fit into this puzzle. In this year's briefing, three speakers will discuss the role that emerging infectious diseases are playing in a more fragmented world. They will touch on how global health security can be supported through ecosystem research, as well as how mining ecosystem data can help to inform (and predict) potential infectious disease outbreaks.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2016 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - The role of radioecology in national security
The potential ecological impact of radiation resulting from nuclear accidents or potential malevolent actions has become a global environmental concern. It is becoming increasingly important to maintain worldwide expertise in radioecology to ensure that we have the operational capacity to face legacy and future risks. Radioecology is an essential part of national security. The results of radioecological research support decision-makers concerned with determining the fate and effects of radioactive releases into the environment. The viability of radioecology in the U.S., however, is threatened by declining educational support and the aging of its practitioners, most of whom will soon reach retirement age. Any society that uses nuclear products and aims to protect against terrorist threats must maintain its knowledge of environmental radiation in order to maintain national security. Research in radio ecology inform decision-making regarding environmental cleanup, environmental remediation and ongoing impacts to environmental health associated with nuclear missions critical to national security.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2015 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - Ecosystem Response to Extreme Events
A distinguished panel of scientists present their findings of research the ability of natural systems to respond to extreme events such as sea level rise, oil spills, and climate change.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2014 Congressional Briefing - The ROle of Ecosystem Science in Developing Adaptation Strategies to Climate and Global Change
A distinguished panel of scientists present their findings of research the ability of natural systems to respond to extreme events such as sea level rise, oil spills, and climate change.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2013 congressional briefing - The ROle of Ecosystem Science in Food Security
This year’s one-hour congressional briefing was attended by a total of 51 people from a variety of governmental, non-governmental, academic, and professional organizations. Staff members from 15 congressional offices participated, 10 House and 5 Senate, with two additional interns from the Senate Agriculture Committee, two members of USAID, and a representative of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Also participating were one to three members from professional societies (AAAS; Agronomy, Crop and Soil Society; AIBS; Chinese Academy of Sciences). Graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members from 10 universities and research institutes from across the U.S., and one from Canada, rounded out the briefing audience, with most of these coming from AERC member institutions. After the three briefing presentations, the speakers responded to numerous excellent questions. Many in the audience stayed after the formal Q & A to talk with these experts on ecosystem science and food security.
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AERC would like to thanks AIBS for their support with the annual congressional briefings.
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2012 CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING - The role of Ecosystem Science in national security
The Annual Meeting was held in Washington DC 2012-10-17 (Wednesday) and 2012-10-18 (Thursday). This was the first joint annual meeting between the Association for Ecosystem Research Centers (AERC) and NEON, Inc. The theme of this year's AERC's meeting was "The Role of Ecosystem Science in National Security". The theme of this year's NEON meeting was "Continental-scale ecology: informing our national priorities". The AERC and NEON meeting events provided a rich suite of opportunities to learn about emerging topics and to network with scientists from different communities.
Building on last year's briefing topic of Benefits of Ecosystem to Humans in the 21st Century in which the theme focused on the benefits that ecosystems provide society; sometimes referred to as "ecosystem services", this year's Briefing will address on The Role of Ecosystem Science to National Security. Presentations by nationally recognized experts with focus on the importance of ecosystem science to 1) water security, 2) food security, 3) energy security, and 4) disease transmission. These presentations will by interdisciplinary in scope and will couple the natural sciences that are the core of ecosystem research with their connections to social issues importance to the future of this country and the world.
Building on last year's briefing topic of Benefits of Ecosystem to Humans in the 21st Century in which the theme focused on the benefits that ecosystems provide society; sometimes referred to as "ecosystem services", this year's Briefing will address on The Role of Ecosystem Science to National Security. Presentations by nationally recognized experts with focus on the importance of ecosystem science to 1) water security, 2) food security, 3) energy security, and 4) disease transmission. These presentations will by interdisciplinary in scope and will couple the natural sciences that are the core of ecosystem research with their connections to social issues importance to the future of this country and the world.
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2011 congressional briefing - Benefits of Ecosystems to Humans in the 21st century
The Symposium (as well as the Congressional Briefing) this year focused on the benefits that ecosystems provide society. Sometimes referred to as "ecosystem services", the Symposium (and Briefing) will focus on the importance of healthy forests, the role that ecosystems play in reducing nutrient enrichment in aquatic ecosystems, and the importance of healthy ecosystems to our fisheries resources.
