FLBS is an ideal option for focused
workshops, owing to its setting on the shoreline of Flathead Lake
and the FLBS facilities for small groups working over several-day
periods. Each year a variety of workshops and short courses are
held at FLBS, sponsored by agencies and NGOs. These are designed
to inform citizens, teachers and professionals about tools and approaches
for solving contemporary ecological problems.
The core of this activity is a set of specific
workshops offered each year by Station faculty. For example, FLBS
for the last 5 years has offered a course in Ground and Surface
Water Interactions that has been partially underwritten by grants
from the Environmental Protection Agency. The course is designed
to demonstrate linkages between ground water and landscape processes,
such as riparian and wetland form and function, floodplain ecology
and biodiversity of aquatic-terrestrial transition zones. This
course is very popular because it teaches that surface- and groundwater
resources must be managed as a continuum, whereas current statutes
tend to separate them. Our recent NSF grant includes funds to
offer a short course to explain what is meant by biocomplexity
in the environment and the approaches used to conceptualize and
identify nonlinear processes and interactions in ecological systems.
The FLBS workshops focus on demonstrations and tactical approaches
to the solution of strategic environmental problems.
All FLBS workshops are self-supporting, requiring
no direct State support. For more information on the following
workshops, contact
us. Workshops dates will be posted below as they are scheduled.
Annual Workshops
Surface and Groundwater
Interactions
Details
This seminar demonstrates approaches and tools
for the study of groundwater ecology and the influence of
ground and surface water exchange on landscape processes,
such as wetland form and function. Lead Instructor: Professor
Stanford
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Biocomplexity in the Environment
This seminar reviews the theory and approaches
to determination of non-linear interactions and emergent properties
of ecosystems, using the Nyack Flood Plain Reesearch Natual
Area as a focal ecosystem. Lead Instructors: Professors Stanford
and Swaney
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Assessment of Ecological Function
This seminar studies the use reference-based
assessments, such as hydrogeomorphic functional assessment
(HGM) and index of biological integrity (IBI) in natural resource
management. Lead Instructor: Professor Hauer
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River Restoration
This course examines approaches and tools
for restoring normative ecological conditions in rivers damaged
by flow regulation and diversion or other watershed-scale
problems. Lead Instructors: Professor Hauer and Dr. Lorang
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Ecological Risk Assessment
This seminar reviews the approaches and computational
tools for forecasting ecosystem change caused by human activities
in the environment. Lead Instructor: Professor Hauer
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Seminars are offered periodically throughout the year. Seminars are announced on our home page as well as through local media. For more information on seminars, please contact us.
