CGRERTHE CENTER FOR GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

2002 ANNUAL REPORT

Graphics in this Annual Reportare taken primarily from theCalvin Photographic Collection,Paleontology Repository, UI Dept.of Geoscience (see the collectionat ).These photographs, all takenin Iowa around 1900 by SamuelCalvin (Professor of NaturalSciences at the UI and StateGeologist) and others, impressus with the way things havechanged – and remained stable –in the past 100 years.

front cover: Palisades, Cedar River, Linn Co.

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CGRERThe Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research

– CGRER – was established in 1990 with the intent of promot-ing interdisciplinary efforts that focus on global environmentalchange. Housed on the University of Iowa (UI) campus in theIowa Advanced Technology Laboratories, CGRER is supportedby revenues generated from public utilities, as mandated by theState of Iowa’s Energy Efficiency Act. Funds are used to supportresearch and provide services to faculty members and studentsacross the state who are interested in environmental change.CGRER membership is composed of faculty and professionalstaff from Iowa’s colleges and universities. CGRER currently iscomposed of 65 members from 22 departments.

While environmental change is constant and natural, CGRERfocuses on the human-induced acceleration of such change causedby modern technologies. Concerns about global change encom-pass multiple issues including its effects on natural ecosystems,environments, and resources, and on human health, culture, andsocial systems. Because global change promises to touch virtuallyevery aspect of life and require the interpretation of many fieldsof science and engineering, the humanities, medicine, and law, anunderstanding of global change requires collaborative effortsamong the many disciplines involved. CGRER’s mission is tofoster such collaborative interdisciplinary actions in three ways:

• by promoting dialogue among specialists and agencies,• by educating students and the general public, and• by fostering and supporting relevant research projects.

This annual report summarizes CGRER’s activities in each ofthese three areas. Because CGRER’s output is commensuratewith that of its many members, a summary of which wouldrequire a small book, this annual report includes only a samplingof significant projects and efforts. Yet this sampling provides avision of CGRER’s multiple efforts to achieve its ultimate goal:assisting Iowa’s agencies, industries, and citizens to assess andprepare for global change and its effects.

THE CENTER FOR GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

UI BUILDINGS, IOWA CITY

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CGRER was established over adecade ago to promote interdisciplinarystudies related to how we humans, throughour lifestyles, impact the environment at alllevels, on a local to global scale. We haveworked to achieve this mandate in severalways. CGRER has brought together faculty,students, and staff from diverse disciplines.CGRER members collectively have accumu-lated vast experience in analyzing complexenvironmental issues from diverse scientific,social science, and economic perspectives.Much of our work has focused on the humandimensions of environmental, technological,and economic change. CGRER members arenow utilizing their accumulated skills toimprove the scientific basis upon which tobuild effective environmental policies. In

Executive Summary

THE SENTINEL, BUCHANAN CO.

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addition, many CGRER efforts are focusedon the sustainable, fair provision of water,food, and energy to divergent cultures.Ongoing examples of such studies and effortsare presented in this annual report.

The need for cross-disciplinary dialogue isbecoming increasingly clear and critical. Firstof all, such dialogue is necessary because theenvironment does not segregate complexprocesses or phenomena by scientificdiscipline. For example, it is now widelyrecognized that the pressing environmentalissues of air pollution and climate change areclosely linked and share common causes andsolutions. The fact that air pollutants andgreenhouse gases arise largely from combus-tion of organic compounds (be they fossilfuels or biomass), and that aerosols play keyroles in both air quality and climate change,are illustrative examples. In addition todegrading local air quality, sulfur dioxideemissions from fossil fuel combustion induceregional acid rain and contribute to hemi-spheric sulfate aerosol haze, which in turnexerts a cooling influence on the climatesystem. In contrast black carbon particles,emitted from a variety of combustionprocesses (including diesel engines), act towarm the climate system.

Integrating the complex scientific linksbetween climate and air quality is difficult,but it’s not the end of our efforts. We alsoneed to extend our studies to include humanand ecosystem health issues. Climate change,air quality, and human and environmentalhealth share many commonalities that canguide new research. There is a clear need topursue and coordinate research that cansupport environmental policies that achievethese multiple benefits (e.g., improve air

quality, safeguard human and ecosystemhealth, and minimize global warming). Suchenvironmental solutions are challenging butachievable. However, the necessary researchcommunities have different cultures, usedifferent terminologies, and have variedapproaches to problem solving. At CGRERwe provide an environment where thesebarriers are removed, and such groups caninteract and learn from each other.

In the end, it is the human dimensions thatmust be put at the core of environmentalissues. The basic challenge is how we, asindividuals and societies, meet our presentneeds without sacrificing the livelihoods offuture generations of all living creatures.Whether we are addressing our vulnerabilityto environmental change, or the options forpreventing further environmental degrada-tion, careful consideration of present andfuture stakeholders and their social, eco-nomic, and environmental condition isessential.

To cope effectively with environmentalchange we must have real choices, and thesearise only through knowledge and education.The diverse expertise and viewpointsnurtured at CGRER are being applied topressing problems in Iowa and around theworld. CGRER members are helpingcompanies and countries to reduce emissionsand environmental impacts. We are pleased toshare with you our ongoing activities in thisreport, and we welcome a chance to interactwith you.

GREGORY R. CARMICHAEL, CO-DIRECTOR

JERALD L. SCHNOOR, CO-DIRECTOR

4THE MILL AT LITTLETON, BUCHANAN CO.

ONEOTA RIVER, HOWARD CO.

▲ KINDERHOOK OOLITE, HUMBOLDT CO.

LITTLE SIOUX RIVER VALLEY

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CGRER ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

JAMES CHRISTENSENManager,Research and TechnologyAlliant Energy

SENATOR ROBERT DVORSKYAppropriations andEducation CommitteesIowa Senate

SENATOR WILLIAM FINKRanking Member,Natural Resources andEnvironment CommitteeIowa Senate

MARK LAMBERTIowa Utilities Board

DAVID OSTERBERGClinical Associate ProfessorUI Department ofOccupational andEnvironmental Health

DOROTHY PAULAssociate DirectorUI Center for Human Rights

MESSAGE FROM THE Advisory BoardSustainable development and the human

right to a clean environment remain elusivegoals. Even though environmental degrad-ation now affects every ecosystem on earth,with severe environmental impacts to healthand human security, the plundering of the‘global commons’ continues at an unprece-dented pace.

We are – in many respects – in worseshape today than we were when the 1992Rio Earth Summit provided Agenda 21,a road map for sustainable development.The main stumbling block to sustainabilitycontinues to be poverty. Lacking the basicmeans for survival, half the world’s peoplestruggle to live on less than $2 a day. And, inthe United States alone, many environmentalinitiatives and regulations that have guided30 years of environmental progress are underattack or have already been rolled back.The recent 2002 U.N. World Summit forSustainable Development in Johannesburg,South Africa, called both the developedand developing nations to move beyonddebate and inaction.

Issues like global warming will be acceptedas reality and understanding grows about theclose web of interrelationships amongpopulation, development, the environment,human needs, and social responsibility.Facing a future of climbing temperatures,floods, and droughts ravaging regions aroundthe world, mass migrations across politicalboundaries, and water wars predicted tobe fought in the next 50 years, our majorchallenge is still to seek a common groundfor a future that is both economically andenvironmentally sustainable.

Iowans need to be part of the solutionbecause Iowans contribute to environmentalproblems and will be greatly affected by theirconsequences. By bringing our collectivepowers to bear and by putting aside anysense of apathy, complacency, or cynicism, wecan swim upstream to influence U.S. action.Political forms of citizenship in the IowaHouse and Senate can encourage individualand community environmental action. It hasbeen my experience that whenever there arechanges for the better, it is because peoplehave taken charge of their own lives andtransformed society as well as themselves.

As a member of the Advisory Board,CGRER stands as a visionary global modelfor science-based research, teaching, andpublic outreach to foster dialogue amongmany groups. CGRER’s activities can resultin innovative and successful improvements tosustain our living environment. From studiesof how dust storms in Asia affect air qualityin the Midwest, to studies of the effects ofanimal feeding operations on human health,CGRER’s mission is pro-people, pro-nature,and pro-economic efficiency and growth.Even though we face formidable challengesand uncertainty about the future, CGRERleads us one step closer to stewardship ofPlanet Earth.

—Dorothy Paul

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DialogueCGRER Promotes Interdisciplinary Dialogue to Address Iowa’s NeedsIn 2002, CGRER continued to encourage

dialogue among the many disciplines con-

cerned with global change issues. The usual

Seminar Series and hosting of Visiting

Scientists were enhanced by CGRER’s

participation in the United Nations World

Summit for Sustainable Development.

CGRER continued to publish the newsletter

IoWatch, which in 2002 focused on the

topic of sustainability. CGRER’s web page

(www.cgrer.uiowa.edu/) received nearly

5 million hits in 2002, 70% of which came

from outside the University of Iowa.

PROFESSOR SAMUEL CALVIN AND CLASS, STATE QUARRY, JOHNSON CO.

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■ SHARAD ADHIKARY (Himalayan ClimateCenter, Nepal) visited CGRER fromFebruary 14 to March 18 to participate instrategic planning activities with GregCarmichael, Paul Greenough, and JerrySchnoor. The proposed activities willaddress sustainable development efforts inSoutheast Asia.

■ DAVID STREETS (Argonne National Lab)and QINGYAN (JACKIE) FU (ShanghaiAcademy of Environmental Sciences),who perform emissions estimates inChina as part of larger collaborative effortsto characterize Asia’s air pollution andits impact and movement, visited CGRERon March 28-29 and June 11 to workwith Greg Carmichael on joint researchprojects.

■ TAO WANG (Hong Kong PolytechnicalUniversity), who takes surface measure-ments in support of CGRER’s Asian airpollution projects, visited CGRER on July7 to collaborate with Greg Carmichaelon joint research efforts.

■ YOUNG SUNWOO (Konkuk University,Korea) visited CGRER for a few weeksin August to design a collaborative researchproject involving air quality studies inKorea, to be carried out while on sabbati-cal at CGRER in 2003.

■ CGRER brought World Food PrizeLaureate PEDRO SANCHEZ and CHERYLPALM (both Columbia University, NewYork) to Iowa City on October 21-22.Sanchez spoke at the University LectureSeries and the Iowa City Foreign RelationsCouncil, and Palm spoke to the campus’sWomen in Science and Engineering group.The two also met with students, CGRERmembers, and campus dignitaries.

■ TOM CAHILL (University of California,Davis), who takes surface measurementsof aerosols in Asia and the western U.S.,visited CGRER on October 28-29 towork with Greg Carmichael on interpreta-tion of data in support of CGRER’smultiple studies of air pollutants generatedin Asia.

■ HIRAM (CHIP) LEVY II (Geophysical FluidDynamics Laboratory, Princeton) visitedCGRER from November 4-22 to workwith Greg Carmichael on their new,jointly-held “Modeling and EmissionsAnalyses in Support of the Spring 2002ITCT Field Experiment in the EasternPacific and Western U.S.” research grant.

U.N. World Summit for Sustainable DevelopmentCGRER’s involvement in global change issues enabled co-director Jerry Schnoor and

CGRER undergraduate research assistant Ori Sivan to attend the World Summit and bringIowa’s concerns and outlook to the South African meeting. Attending as delegates of the Iowadivision of the U.N. Association also meant that they brought their observations and conclu-sions back to Iowa. They have done this through giving numerous post-Summit presentationsto a variety of audiences: the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, the CGRER and Collegeof Engineering Advisory Boards, the UI’s Environmental Coalition, church groups, the IowaCity Rotary Club, and others.

Visiting ScientistsCGRER hosted the following nine international and U.S. visiting scientists in 2002:

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Seminar and Lecture SeriesAs in past years, CGRER hosted a Seminar Series that included nine global change

researchers from around the world (see table below):

SPEAKER AFFILIATION TITLE

Brian Currie Miami University of Ohio Stable Isotope-BasedPaleoaltimetry of the HighHimalaya and Tibetan Plateau

Howard Fairbrother Dept. of Chemistry, Role of EnvironmentalThe Johns Hopkins Interfaces in OrganohalideUniversity Remediation

Darren Grocke & Dept. of Geology, Ocean-Atmosphere InteractionsRoyal Holloway and Understanding the GlobalUniversity Carbon Cycle: The Importance

of Terrestrial Carbon-IsotopeStuart Robinson Dept. of Earth Sciences, Stratigraphy

University of Oxford

Chris Holmden University of Saskatchewan Epeiric Sea Environment:Clues and Views from theIsotopic Perspective

Laura Jackson Dept. of Biology, Restoring Prairie Processes toUniversity of Northern FarmlandsIowa

Alan T. Stone Dept. of Geography & Iron as a Reactive ConstituentEnvironmental Engineering, in SoilsThe Johns Hopkins University

Stephen Walsh Dept. of Geography, Characterizing and ModelingUniversity of North Carolina; Land-Use/Land-CoverIda Beam Distinguished Dynamics: Case StudiesVisiting Professor of Ecuador and Thailand

Page West Dept. of Anthropology, Conservation as Development:Barnard College The Social Effects of

Conservation Interventionsin Papua New Guinea

CGRER also co-hosted two speakers (Pedro Sanchez and Stephen Walsh) whose lecturesreached university-wide audiences. Dr. Pedro Sanchez, Chair of the United Nations Millen-nium Project Task Force on World Hunger, came to Iowa City on October 21 as a speakerin the University Lecture Series. Sanchez had just received the $250,000 World Food Prizefor research that enables small farms in Africa and Southeast Asia to inexpensively replenishcrucial nutrients in exhausted soils. Through agroforestry, farmers are now transformingdepleted tropical soils into productive agricultural lands and once again feeding their villages.

Dr. Stephen J. Walsh, an Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor, came to the UI fromNovember 4 to 8. Walsh, from the University of North Carolina’s Department of Geographyand the Carolina Population Center, Chapel Hill, has focused his investigations on theinterpretation and application of satellite imagery to a range of geographic problems.He presented two lectures while here, discussed research efforts with students and professors,and worked on a joint proposal that he and George Malanson later submitted to theNational Science Foundation.

HISTORICAL LIBRARY,SCHAEFFER HALL, IOWA CITY

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■ ALLEN BRADLEY (UI, IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering) hasbeen appointed to the NationalResearch Council’s Committee ofUSGS Water Resources Research.He also is Deputy Chair of theResearch Applications Committeeof the Consortium of Universitiesfor the Advancement of HydrologicSciences, Inc.

■ GARRY BUETTNER (UI, Electron SpinResonance Facility) is now PresidentElect of the Oxygen Society, aprofessional organization for scientificresearchers and clinicians interestedin free radical biology, chemistry,and medicine.

■ GREG CARMICHAEL (UI, Chemical andBiochemical Engineering) receivedthe College of Engineering’s FacultyExcellence Award for Service.

■ ROBERT ETTEMA (UI, IIHR-Hydro-science & Engineering) receivedASCE’s Hunter Rouse Lecture Awardfor 2002. His talk, “Jack Frost: BankRobber, Cattle Rustler, Conservation-ist,” was presented at the ASCEConference on Hydraulics Measure-ment Methods and Instrumentationin Estes Park, CO.

■ WITOLD F. KRAJEWSKI (UI, IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering), newlyappointed Joseph & Rose SummersProfessor of Water Resources Engi-neering, was elected Fellow of theAmerican Meteorological Society.He also has been appointed co-editorof Advances in Water Resources, ajournal that emphasizes fundamentalresearch findings.

■ BEN MIRIOVSKY, graduate student co-advised by Allen Bradley and WitoldKrajewski (UI, IIHR-Hydroscience &Engineering), was awarded a NationalDefense Science and EngineeringGraduate Fellowship, administeredby the American Society forEngineering Education (ASEE).

In Addition . . .CGRER members continued their harvest of professional appointments and awards, honors that portrayed their success in

maintaining meaningful dialogues with colleagues and the larger professional world. The following is a selection of such honorsand awards garnered in 2002:

■ GENE PARKIN (UI, Civil andEnvironmental Engineering) has beenappointed The Donald E. BentleyProfessor of Engineering.

■ A paper by JIM RAICH (ISU, Botany),“The Global Carbon Dioxide Flux inSoil Respiration and its Relationshipto Vegetation and Climate” (Tellus 44B:81-99, 1992), was designated a ScienceCitation Classic in 2002 because ofthe large number of times it has beencited in other research papers.

■ MICHELLE SCHERER (UI, Civil andEnvironmental Engineering) has beenappointed Associate Editor of thepeer-reviewed quarterly AquaticSciences, and also is a new EditorialReview Board member for theNational Ground Water Association’sjournal, Ground Water Monitoring &Remediation.

CLINTON STREET, IOWA CITY

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LAW CLASS, UI, IOWA CITY

In 2002, CGRER continued to foster well-

founded thought processes regarding global

change issues through once again hosting the

Research Education for Undergraduates

summer program. A CGRER-sponsored

Sustainable Futures project challenged

students to devise sustainability schemes

specific to Iowa. And CGRER members

devised novel methods for presenting global

change subjects in their course curricula.

CGRER Provides Education to Address Iowa’s Needs Education

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DEAN KAY’S CAR AFTER WINDSTORM (1924)

Research Educationfor UndergraduatesProgram

This was the third andfinal year of the NSF-fundedREU grant. Hosted byCGRER, 12 students cameto the UI for eight weeksduring the summer to parti-cipate in ongoing researchprojects (see table to the left).The REU program wasdirected by Vicki Grassian.The experience was designedto heighten student involve-ment in research and to helpstudents make informeddecisions about future sciencestudies and careers. Thesuccess of the effort wasdemonstrated by GregLudvigson’s student AndrewSorensen who, in additionto performing laboratoryresearch, participated in aweek of field studies withLudvigson in Utah, and alsotraveled to Denver in Octoberto present his paper at theGeological Society ofAmerica’s annual meeting.

STUDENT HOME INSTITUTION FACULTY PROJECT

Adam Christensen University of Iowa Vicki Grassian HeterogeneousIowa City, IA Atmospheric Chemistry of

Trace Gases on OxideParticles and Mineral Dust

David Drab State University Len MacGillivray Green Chemistry andof New York Solid-State SynthesisBuffalo, NY

Shannon Kobs Michigan William Eichinger Remote Sensing FieldTechnological ExperimentsUniversityHoughton, MI

Nathan Lien Wartburg College Jason Telford A Novel Approach toWaverly, IA Environmental Remed-

iation: Development ofOuter-Sphere Ligandsfor Uranyl Carbonate

Jim Loussaert University of Iowa Sarah Larsen Spectroscopic Investi-Iowa City, IA gations of Environmental

Catalysts

Andrew Ohrt Gustavus Adolphus Keri Hornbuckle The Fate and Transport ofCollege Semi-Volatile Organics inSt. Peter, MN Environmental Systems

Jon Salsman University of Iowa Michelle Scherer The Role of Green RustIowa City, IA Minerals in the Fate and

Remediation of Ground-water Contaminants

Megan Shurn University of Mark Young Environmental ChemicalIndianapolis Processes in the AirIndianapolis, IN and Water

Andrew Sorensen Cornell College Greg Ludvigson CretaceousMt. Vernon, IA Paleoclimatology

Kent Strodtman Benedictine College Michelle Scherer The Role of Green RustAtchison, KS Minerals in the Fate and

Remediation of Ground-water Contaminants

Jennifer Wade University of Iowa Vicki Grassian HeterogeneousIowa City, IA Atmospheric Chemistry of

Trace Gases on OxideParticles and Mineral Dust

Andrea White University of Greg Carmichael Tropospheric Trace GasCalifornia at Davis Cycles in East AsiaDavis, CA

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Sustainable Futuresfor Iowa Program

CGRER’s involvementin the World Summit forSustainable Development(see page 7) included effortsto educate tomorrow’s leadersabout the issues at hand.Prior to the late-summer U.N.summit, CGRER sponsoreda program titled “SustainableFutures for Iowa,” heldthrough the Iowa UnitedNations Association (UNA).Iowa’s college-aged studentswere invited to create a planfor a sustainable Iowa andto present it in written andverbal form. The students,working in small groups,addressed topics such as foodproduction, transportation,land use planning, and energy.Portions of their papers, alongwith other essays and reports,are being printed by theIowa UNA for distributionto Iowa’s legislators and otherinterested parties. Six of the45 participants also attendedthe World Summit.

New Opportunities for Engineering StudentsCGRER members continue to broaden the content of their courses to include

materials on environmental concerns and sustainability. Samples of innovations madein 2002 are listed below:

■ Jerry Schnoor taught a course on Water Quality Monitoring at the Mississippi RiverEnvironmental Research Station (MRERS), a unit of IIHR-Hydroscience &Engineering. This was the first class held at this newly-opened riverside field station,a facility that is sure to expand teaching and research opportunities for manyCGRER members.

■ Greg Carmichael taught his new course Green Chemical Engineering to engineeringundergraduates and first-year graduate students for the second time, and plans tocontinue doing so annually. Students are taught (through the use of case examples)how to incorporate the environmental implications of energy use, materials, regulations,and byproducts into the design of chemical engineering industrial processes.

■ Engineering Problem Solving 1, a course taught by Keri Hornbuckle and RichardValentine and taken by all incoming engineering undergraduates, included a three-lecture unit on sustainable development for the first time.

■ CGRER members Jerry Schnoor, Pedro Alvarez, and Gene Parkin helped with theplanning of a Mexican service project, to occur in 2003, whereby UI and ISU engineeringstudents will help bring water and sanitation resources to the village of Xicotepec.The project, initiated by Rotary International, will also involve the NGO “Water forPeople,” local Rotary groups, and others.

■ And for engineering students around the world, Greg Carmichael assisted the WorldBank in its creation of a multi-authored, online, distance learning course, Urban AirQuality Management. While focusing on Asian pollutants and controls, the courseprovides an interactive educational resource for students and professionals in any locale.

BISON, ELK, AND DEER BONES

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■ A book by MICHAEL CHIBNIK (UI, Anthro-pology), Crafting Tradition: The Making andMarketing of Oaxacan Wood Carvings, will bepublished by the University of Texas Pressin Spring, 2003. The book considers theimmersion of wood carvers from Oaxaca,Mexico, into the international folk artmarket. Chibnik continues to work withecologists from CIFOR (Center forInternational Forest Research) on a projectconcerning the production and marketingof non-timber forest products around theworld, including development of a sustain-able wood source for the Oaxacan woodcarvings.

■ GREG CARMICHAEL (UI, Chemical andBiochemical Engineering) served on asteering committee for Air Pollution as aClimate Forcing – A Workshop, a week-longinternational meeting held in Hawaiiin the spring. The workshop includedrepresentatives of funding agencies, aswell as scientists investigating air pollution,climate change, and human health con-cerns. The meeting strove to encourageinterdisciplinary interactions, with thehope of identifying and instigating jointresearch agendas that address the inter-actions between our changing atmosphericregimen and human health.

■ LUIS GONZALEZ and GREG LUDVIGSON(UI, Geoscience), with colleagues, havereceived a three-year, $258,000 NSF grant,Quantifying Changes in Hydrologic CycleFluxes over the Americas during the Mid-Cretaceous (Albian) Greenhouse World. Thisproject evolved from successful preliminaryresearch that was supported by a CGRERSeed Grant, Graduate Student Travel Award,and other funding.

■ CGRER research assistant HAO HUANGwas one of 33 graduate students selectedto attend a two-week Advanced StudyProgram Colloquium, Interactions AmongAerosols, Climate, and the Hydrological Cycle,held at the National Center for Atmo-spheric Research (NCAR) in Boulderin July. While there, he participated inresearch and heard lectures from globalexperts who came to NCAR as visitinglecturers. One lecturer was GREGCARMICHAEL (UI, Chemical and Bio-chemical Engineering), who spoke onchemical weather forecasting and onatmospheric aerosols in East Asia.

■ GREG LUDVIGSON (UI, Geoscience) wasinvited to speak on Continental IsotopicRecords of Global Change in the CretaceousGreenhouse World at Indiana University,Iowa State University, and NorthernIllinois University. He and colleaguesaddressed related topics in July at theInternational Workshop on CretaceousClimate and Ocean Dynamics,Florissant, CO.

■ In March, JERRY SCHNOOR (UI, Civiland Environmental Engineering) testifiedbefore the Water and Power Subcommitteeof the U.S. House of RepresentativesResources Committee on the need for theUpper Mississippi River Basin ConservationAct, a bill focusing on monitoring andmodeling of nutrients and sediments inthe Upper Mississippi.

■ CGRER assisted with test studies exam-ining the co-firing of coal and biofuels(oat hulls and cereal byproducts fromQuaker Oats) at the UI’s Power Plant.

In Addition . . .CGRER members continued to educate the world at large about changing environments

in a variety of ways: through writing, speaking, listening, and instigating research efforts.Following is a selection of such activities performed in 2002:

DEAN KAY’S CAR AFTERWINDSTORM (1924)

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CGRER Fosters Global Change Research to Address Iowa’s Needs

CGRER continues to procure and award

research grants that further our understanding

of global change problems and their resolu-

tion. In 2002, CGRER received four new

grants from external sources and continued

work on nine previously funded grants.

CGRER also funded four Seed Grant pro-

jects and hired a post-doctoral fellow to com-

mence efforts in a Health and Environment

Initiative. CGRER maintains state-of-the-art

research facilities and computer equipment

for the use of members and their students.

Research

UI GEOLOGICAL PICNIC

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CGRER continues to shape new research

initiatives in Iowa and around the globe. For

example in 2002 Greg Carmichael joined the

directors of the United Nations Environmen-

tal Program, International Panel on Climate

Change, and others to form a steering

committee for a new program called Asian

Brown Cloud. This research and education

program, now being established, will attempt

to create a holistic view of Asian air pollu-

tion, one that merges efforts to address air

pollution, human health, and climate change.

Lastly, CGRER became a member of the

Upper and Middle Mississippi Valley Coop-

erative Ecosystem Study Unit (CESU), one

of several federally-designated regional units

that bring together research, educational, and

land management institutions to improve

diverse environmental efforts in a specified

region. This new CESU will take form and

assume action in future years.

Health and Environment InitiativePost-doctoral fellow Meredith Gooding (an environmental toxicologist)

arrived at CGRER in September 2002, simultaneously with anthropologistRoger Sullivan (a post-doctoral fellow for the UI’s Global Health StudiesProgram, GHSP). Together they are charged with initiating a joint CGRER-GHSP Health and Environment Initiative, intended to pull researchers from bothcenters into interdisciplinary research efforts. Gooding and Sullivan both havetwo-year appointments. During that time, they will identify funding sourcesand submit proposals to bring in grant monies for diverse international studiesthat span the interface between environmental and human health concerns.

UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OPERATING ROOM, IOWA CITY

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Grants and Contracts Awarded to CGRERCGRER received the following four new grants in 2002:

ITR/AP & IM Development of a General Computational Framework for the Optimal Integrationof Atmospheric Chemical Transport Models and Measurements Using Adjoints (Greg Carmichael,$2,300,000, 5 years, from National Science Foundation):

Carmichael’s research has dramatically improved our understanding of the transportationof atmospheric pollutants. Breakthroughs have relied in part on the improved ability to detectand measure atmospheric chemicals, and in part on complex numerical models (ChemicalTransport Models) that are increasingly able to predict their atmospheric movement.

This grant focuses on the latter: the development and utilization of new InformationTechnology Research tools with the goal of producing an optimal “State of the Atmosphere”(one that closely integrates modeled and measured quantities of pollutants, to provide the bestpossible estimate of the atmosphere’s chemical state). Improving atmospheric computationaltools and associated software is critical to designing cost-effective emissions control strategies,interpreting observational data, and executing air quality forecasting (Chemical WeatherForecasting). Improved Chemical Transport Models will enable full utilization of the vastamounts of tropospheric chemical data that are now becoming available.

The grant is a partnership between the UI, Michigan Tech, the California Institute of Tech-nology, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the University of Washington.

Modeling and Emissions Analyses in Support of the Spring 2002 ITCT Field Experiment in theEastern Pacific and Western U.S. (Greg Carmichael and colleagues, $310,902, 3 years, fromNational Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association):

Carmichael has made major strides in defining Asian air pollution, its movement, and theeffects of interacting pollutants. Recently he has demonstrated that Asian pollutants moveacross the Pacific Ocean to California and beyond. This new grant will deepen our under-standing of intercontinental pollutant transport, which is increasingly affecting air quality inthe Western U.S.

The grant funded the 2002 California flights of a NOAA research plane loaded withinstrumentation that provided real-time measurements of several dozen atmospheric gasesand aerosols. These data should further characterize California’s air pollutants that are derivedfrom Asia, and identify how they may contribute to climatic changes. Timing and route ofthe NOAA flights was guided by Carmichael’s current numerical models of pollutant trans-port. The remainder of the grant period will be dedicated to interpreting the data collectedand using them to improve existing numerical models. These Chemical Weather Forecastingmodels will predict how the pollutants will vary with time. Such information is criticalto designing American air pollution control strategies during this period of increasing Asianemissions.

The grant is a collaboration between the UI, Argonne National Laboratory, and theGeophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University.

Workshop on Mathematical Models for Water Quality(Jerry Schnoor, $41,225, 2 years, from National Science Foundation):

Mathematical models have greatly expanded our ability to understand and resolve environ-mental problems. To maximize their usefulness, researchers regularly need to examine whethertheir models are appropriate for the task at hand, and also to compare their applications withthose of colleagues.

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This grant enabled Jerry Schnoor to lead a 10-member U.S. delegation to a two-dayEuropean water-quality workshop that sought to provide this perspective. The joint Italian-U.S. workshop was held in Venice in November. Participants reviewed software, hardware,and documentation for principal models currently available to environmental professionals.They worked to calibrate and verify models with applications in Italy and the U.S. Theythen discussed how to best apply these models to protect and manage water resources. Thisworkshop identified fruitful areas for assessment of water quality problems, including futureresearch needs, and will aid the management of water quality problems in the U.S. and Europe.

Retrospective Analysis of Nearshore Marine Communities (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Project #02656)(Scott Carpenter, $44,562, 2 years, from U.S. Geological Survey – Anchorage):

Scott Carpenter uses stable isotope analysis of biotic carbonates (shells) to extract informa-tion about ancient climate change. Through this new contract, he will perform carbon andoxygen isotope analyses of selected mussel and clam shells and other remains found at anarchaeological site on Alaska’s Katmai coast. His data will provide information about seasonalvariation in temperature, salinity, and coastal productivity of the Gulf of Alaska during the last6000 years.

This effort is part of a larger project to investigate long-term patterns of productivity andrelative species abundance in nearshore, intertidal natural communities. The research dovetailswith Carpenter’s ongoing research on weathervane scallops collected in nearby deep waterswhere detailed records of temperature change have been observed – including markedincreases in bottom water temperatures during El Niño events.

YELLOW RIVER AT ION GORGE,ALLAMAKEE CO.

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■ The Role of Heterogeneous Chemistry in thePhotochemical Oxidant Cycle: A Modeling andLaboratory Study, 3/15/98 - 3/14/05, DOE,$1,113,864; PI: Greg Carmichael andVicki Grassian

■ Conduct Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analyseson Alaskan Weathervane Scallop Shells,8/31/01 - 6/30/03, Alaska Dept. of Fishand Game, $95,600; PI: Scott Carpenter

■ Chariton Valley Biomass Project: Benefit-CostAnalysis - Switchgrass versus Coal for IowaElectric Generation, 11/27/01 - 10/31/02,Chariton Valley Resource Conservation &Development, Inc., $69,093; PI: JerrySchnoor

■ Impact of Mineral and Other Aerosols andAsian Emissions on the Chemistry of theTroposphere, 4/1/97 - 3/31/03, NASA,$838,976; PI: Greg Carmichael

■ Regional Scale Forecasting and Experiment-Specific Emission Estimates of Gas and AerosolDistributions in Support of the TRACE-PExperiment, 7/1/00 - 6/30/03, NASA,$263,099; PI: Greg Carmichael

■ Three-Dimensional, Regional-Scale Modeling ofthe Processes Affecting Aerosol and ChemicalDistribution in East Asia and Support of ACE-Asia, 8/15/00 - 7/31/03, NSF, $228,310;PI: Greg Carmichael

■ REU Site in Environmental Systems at theUniversity of Iowa’s Center for Global andRegional Environmental Research, 7/1/00 -6/30/03, NSF, $181,732; PI: Vicki Grassianand Greg Carmichael

■ A Study of Organic Contaminants in Air andWater in Conjunction with Episodic Events,2/4/99 - 2/29/02, EPA, $134,514; PI:Keri Hornbuckle

■ Dynamics of Gas-Phase Persistent OrganicChemicals, 8/4/98 - 8/31/02, NSF,$189,463; PI: Keri Hornbuckle

TERRILL MILL, IOWA CITY

CGRER members alsocontinued to work on thefollowing nine externallyfunded Center projects thatwere initiated in previousyears:

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19

CGRER Aids toResearchers

In 2002, CGRER consoli-dated its office, meeting, andlaboratory facilities on thefourth floor of the UI’s IowaAdvanced TechnologyLaboratories (IATL), alongsidethe Iowa River. The acquisi-tion of this dedicated space isexpected to increase interac-tions among CGRERmembers and students.

CGRER continues to offeruse of state-of-the-art com-puting, visualization, andglobal positioning system(GPS) equipment to membersand their students. CGRERalso functions as one of fourdepartments on the UIcampus to support anddistribute geographicalinformation system (GIS)software through its licensewith ESRI. Upgrades in 2002increased the CGRERImmersaDesk’s computing andstorage capabilities and itsoverall productivity. Much ofthe year’s remaining energywas devoted to stabilizingequipment and organizing thelaboratory following the moveto IATL’s fourth floor. Theseefforts laid the groundworkfor a number of plannedupgrades and equipmentpurchases to be made in 2003.

Seed GrantsCGRER awarded $75,815 of grant funds to four research projects for FY 2002-2003 (see

table below). These seed grant projects will lay the groundwork for future proposals to otherfunding sources.

PROJECT DIRECTOR AMOUNT AWARDED TITLE OF PROJECT

Rhawn F. Denniston $16,140 Development of a High-Dept. of Geology, Resolution PaleoclimateCornell College Data Set from New Zealand

Using Speleothem GrowthBanding and StableIsotopic Ratios

Stephen Hendrix $19,975 Sustaining Pollinator DiversityDept. of Biological Sciences, UI in a Fragmented Landscape:Diane Debinski What Landscape Features andDept. of Animal Ecology, ISU Scales Affect Pollinator

Diversity?

Tad Mutersbaugh and $19,700 Factors Affecting theGeorge Malanson Adoption and ConservationDept. of Geography, UI Value of Certified Organic

Coffee Production inOaxaca, Mexico

Mary Skopec $20,000 Microbial Source Tracking inDept. of Geography, UI the Upper Iowa WatershedLora Friest using E. coli RibotypingNRCS, Upper Iowa RiverWatershed CoordinatorNancy HallHygienic Laboratory, UI

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In Addition . . .CGRER members continue to carry out research that is meaningful in understanding and

dealing with Earth’s environmental changes. The following is a selection of such researchprojects that won acclaim in 2002:

■ CGRER members PEDRO ALVAREZ, MICHELLE SCHERER, GENE PARKIN, and RICHARDVALENTINE (UI, Civil and Environmental Engineering) have been successfully executingtheir grant, Iron-Based Bioremediation of RDX-Contaminated Groundwater, to discover methodsto improve the cleanup of groundwater pollutants using biogeochemical processes. Theirefforts with biologically-enhanced permeable reactive barriers—buried iron filings posi-tioned to intercept the flow of chemically-polluted groundwater––competed with over 100projects to win the Cleanup Project of the Year award from the U.S. Strategic EnvironmentalResearch and Development Program, their funding agency.

■ Asian SO2 emissions from coal pose significant threats to ecosystems, humans, and climatic

stability. However CGRER research performed by GREG CARMICHAEL (UI, Chemical andBiochemical Engineering) and colleagues from other institutions has demonstrated thatAsia’s economic expansion is driving SO

2 emissions upward less than originally predicted.

Thanks to China’s reduced use of high-sulfur coal, the closure of small and inefficient plants,and similar factors, Asia’s SO

2 emissions actually decreased between 1995 and 2000. This

hopeful trend was reported in Environmental Science and Technology 36(22): 4707-4713.

■ ROBERT ETTEMA and JACOB ODGAARD (UI, IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering), alongwith colleagues, received an $800,000 grant from Pacific Gas and Electric to determine howto modify an intake to withdraw more cold water from a thermally stratified reservoir inCalifornia. The cold water is needed to improve the summer habitat of trout in the FeatherRiver downstream of the reservoir. The project has created the first successful laboratorymodel of a large, thermally stratified reservoir or lake. It also has involved the developmentof a unique numerical model.

■ LUIS GONZALEZ and SCOTT CARPENTER (UI, Geoscience), with colleagues, succeeded indocumenting for the first time the correlation between El Niño and stable isotopes instalagmites. Their findings indicate that variations in a stalagmite found in a CentralAmerican (Belize) cave reflect changes in the carbon cycle of the overlying rain forestthat are related to El Niño. This research, carried out in the CGRER-supported Paul H.Nelson Stable Isotope Laboratory, demonstrates that El Niño impacts extend well beyondareas of observed weather fluctuations. The study was published in the October 18, 2002issue of Science.

■ CGRER has developed a two-step process for quantifying the amount of carbon seques-tered in a forested area, a measurement crucial to determining the reduction of atmosphericgreenhouse gases through reforestation. The simplified method for documenting changesin carbon storage is necessary for the commercial trading of credits for greenhouse gasemissions, which may be called for by future legislation and international agreements.The technique is described in an article by NEY, SCHNOOR, and MANCUSO published inEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment 78: 291-307.

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BOULDER FIELD

IOWA PIPE AND TILE WORKS, DES MOINES

▼ WEST SIDE OF IOWA RIVER, HIGH WATER, IOWA CITY

GLACIAL SCOURINGS, BURLINGTON21

22

IOWA RIVER FROM OBSERVATORY HILL, IOWA CITY

WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE PRAIRIE,BUENA VISTA CO.

BEALER QUARRY, CEDAR CO.

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23

BudgetIn fiscal year 2002 (July 1, 2001 – June 30,

2002), seven-tenths of CGRER’s $485,725 offunding was spent on research, education, andoutreach directed toward global change issues(Figure 1). The remaining three-tenths of thebudget was dedicated to administration.

This funding, received in total from anassessment on Iowa’s gas and electric utilitiesthrough the State Department of Commerce,was magnified many times in the millions ofdollars of external grants and contractsawarded to CGRER members (Figure 2). Incalendar year 2002, CGRER members wereperforming research that brought in a total of$23.7 million in external funds. This includedboth those grants awarded to CGRER directlyand other grants awarded to CGRER mem-bers through their respective departments. Ofthis amount, $10 million was new funding thatwas initiated in 2001, while the remaining$13.7 million came from ongoing projects.

GENERAL InformationFIGURE 1CGRER’S EXPENSES

RESEARCH &EDUCATION-33%

ADMINISTRATION-29%

GIS LAB-28%

PUBLICATIONS-7%

SPEAKERS & VISITORS-3%

24

22

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

FIGURE 22002 LEVERAGING OF CGRER’S INCOME*

$23.7

$10.0

$13.7

$0.4

CGRER INCOMETOTAL FUNDINGNEW IN 2001ON-GOING FUNDING

* Applies to Calendar Year 2002

In m

illio

ns o

f $

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CGRER Members

* Executive Committee Member

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

ANTHROPOLOGYMichael S. ChibnikRussell L. Ciochon

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES* Stephen D. Hendrix* Diana G. Horton

CHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING* Gregory R. Carmichael

CHEMISTRY* Vicki H. Grassian* Sarah C. Larsen

CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERINGPedro J. AlvarezA. Allen BradleyWilliam E. EichingerRobert Ettema

* Keri C. HornbuckleWitold F. Krajewski

* Lou LichtWilfrid A. NixonA. Jacob OdgaardGene F. ParkinMichelle Scherer

* Jerald L. SchnoorRichard L.Valentine

ECONOMICSThomas F. PogueJohn L. Solow

ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE FACILITYGarry R. Buettner

GEOGRAPHYMarc P. Armstrong

* David BennettGeorge P. MalansonMichael L. McNultyTad MutersbaughClaire E. PavlikR. RajagopalRebecca S. RobertsGerard Rushton

GEOSCIENCERichard G. BakerE. Arthur BettisRobert S. CarmichaelScott CarpenterLon D. Drake

* Luis Gonzalez* Gregory A. Ludvigson

Mark K. ReaganHolmes A. Semken, Jr.Frank H. WeirichYou-Kuan Zhang

Administration andMembership

CGRER is directed byUniversity of Iowa professorsGregory Carmichael (Dept. ofChemical and BiochemicalEngineering) and JeraldSchnoor (Dept. of Civil andEnvironmental Engineering).Center activities are guidedby an elected ExecutiveCommittee that consists of10 members plus the twoco-directors. The ExecutiveCommittee meets monthly toplan initiatives and chartCGRER’s course. An Advi-sory Board of six membersfrom outside the academiccommunity meets annually tolend oversight to CGRER’sactivities (see page 5 forAdvisory Board members).

Since 1992, CGRER hasemployed two fulltime staffmembers. Administrativeassistant Jane Frank overseesoffice operations. JeremieMoen manages CGRER’scomputer facilities with theaid of services contractedfrom the Iowa ComputerAided Engineering Network.CGRER reports directlyto the UI’s Vice Presidentfor Research.

HISTORY* Paul R. Greenough

LAWJonathan CarlsonBurns H. Weston

MECHANICAL ENGINEERINGV.C. PatelTheodore F. Smith

MICROBIOLOGYLacy Daniels

PHYSICS & ASTRONOMYLouis A. FrankDonald A. GurnettJohn S. NeffSteven R. Spangler

PHYSIOLOGY & BIOPHYSICSG. Edgar Folk

OCCUPATIONAL & ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTHPeter S. Thorne

PUBLIC POLICY CENTERDavid J. Forkenbrock

STATISTICS & ACTUARIAL SCIENCEDale L. Zimmerman

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

AGRONOMYRaymond W. Arritt

ANIMAL ECOLOGYDiane M. Debinski

BOTANYJohn NasonJames W. Raich

GEOLOGICAL & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCESWilliam J. GutowskiEugene S. Takle

CORNELL COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGYRhawn Denniston

HYDROLOGIC RESEARCHCENTER, San Diego, CA

Konstantine P. Georgakakos

Writer: Connie MutelDesigner: Leigh Bradford,

The University of Iowa Printing DepartmentPhotography: The Calvin Photographic Collection

The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination in employmentand in its educational programs and activities on the basis ofrace, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability,veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associationalpreference. The University also affirms its commitment toproviding equal opportunities and equal access to Universityfacilities. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies,contact the Coordinator of Title IX, Section 504, and the ADAin the Office of Affirmative Action, (319) 335-0705 (voice) or(319) 335-0697 (text), The University of Iowa, 202 Jessup Hall,Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1316. 37041/3-03

The Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research

The University of Iowa204 IATL

Iowa City, IA 52242319-335-3333

FAX 319-335-3337http://www.cgrer.uiowa.edu/