Environment Research
As the population continues to grow, the impact humans have on the environment has increased. With increasing urbanization, there are greater numbers of human- natural environment interactions that have to be resolved in order for sustainable development to occur. Many of our environmental projects address the impacts of human development and land use change on the environment, especially at the watershed scale. Often, these research projects address real problems, and are therefore utilized by other institutions to aid them in efficiently resolving the issue. Our rapidly changing environment constantly provides us with interesting and challenging research projects!
CURRENT RESEARCH
Watershed Influences on Terrestrial Organic Carbon Export
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Assessing the Historical Impacts of Landscape Transformation on Water Fluxes in the Great Lakes Basin for Environemental Monitoring and AssessmentApproximately 18% of the world’s freshwater supply is contained in the Laurentian Great Lakes providing drinking water to over 40 million people. As a significant part of the larger Great Lakes drainage basin, one of the most intensively exploited freshwater systems worldwide, the Muskegon River watershed can be used to develop a methodology for investigating how human modifications of landscape affect water cycling from ecosystem to regional scales through the linkage of models that characterize land use change and water fluxes. Alison Goss is investigating this issue through linking recreations of historical and future land use scenarios (“backcasts” and “forecasts” covering from 1900 to 2050) to a Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model that predicts water and energy fluxes within an area of interest. Integrating models that address land use change, hydrology fluctuations, as well as climate change scenarios enable the assessment of future consequences of land use change and climate scenarios on water resources, and consequently, to address policy questions related to the sustainability of current resources.
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Construction Site Erosion Control (1991-Present) |