Society of Wetland Scientists
Professional Certification Program
WE ARE THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT HAS BEEN
CERTIFYING PROFESSIONAL WETLAND SCIENTISTS SINCE 1994

Home

Professional Short Courses

COURSE INFO PROVIDER: SWSPCP Webinar
COURSE TITLE: Women Leaders in Wetland Science

INSTRUCTORS Dr. Katherine Ewel
Dr. Joy Zedler
Dr. Carol Johnston
Dr. Line Rochefort

COURSE DESCRIPTION Conservation of a Tropical Wetland Landscape
Dr. Katherine Ewel
Abstract:
We all hope that our professional accomplishments will make a difference to someone somewhere some day, and these are stories of women who have done just that, and how they did it. At the 2019 Society of Wetland Scientists Meeting, the Women in Wetland Section organized a symposium to highlight the contributions of remarkable female scientists and science policy experts in wetland science, management, restoration, and protection. This webinar features 4 of our speakers, Joy Zedler, Kathy Ewel, Carol Johnston, and Line Rochefort, who will be sharing their experience and contributions. They are pioneers in the field both in their efforts to better understand and protect wetlands and as leaders within their disciplines and organizations. These leaders are important role models for younger scientists.

Ewel Bio:
Katherine Ewel was born and raised in Glens Falls, New York, USA. She earned an AB in Zoology in 1966 from Cornell University and a PhD in Zoology in 1970 from the University of Florida. She is now Professor Emerita at the University of Florida, USA, where she had been a faculty member in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation from 1973 to 1994. She was named Alpha Zeta Professor of the Year in the University of Florida's College of Agriculture for 1979-1980. The research reported here was conducted while she was a Senior Scientist with the USDA Forest Service in Hawaii, USA, where she worked from 1994 to 2005. In 2002, she was awarded the USDA Forest Service Chiefâ��s Award for Multicultural Organization. Katherine Ewel served as President of the Society of Wetland Scientists in 2004-2005 and was named a Fellow of SWS in 2013.

Zedler Bio:
Joy Zedler was among the first to develop wetland restoration into a science. Her alma mater, University of Wisconsin-Madison, enticed her back from San Diego to become the Aldo Leopold Chair of Restoration Ecology. Now Emerita, She continues wetland advocacy for children and other curious readers.

Johnston Bio:
Carol Johnston is Professor Emerita at South Dakota State University. She is a Fellow of SWS and was its first female President. She served on U.S. National Academy of Sciences committees studying wetland delineation and wetland mitigation. In 2009, she received the National Wetlands Award for Science Research.

Rochefort Bio:
Line Rochefort has been a professor at UniversitÃ© Laval since 1991 and is one of the world's pioneers in ecological restoration of peatlands.With 145 peer-reviewed scientific papers, her research addresses a very important social problem, namely protecting natural resources and ensuring integrated management of peatlands for future generations.

Credit Points: 0.06

SYLLABUS/TOPICAL OUTLINE 1. (12 min) Kosrae island, Federated States of Micronesia (FMS): geography and flora, Kosraean wetland ecosystem services, threats to these wetlands; designation of a Kosraean wetland as an Area of Biological Significance by FSM, benchmark conservation easement establishment in FSM; ongoing conservation efforts on Kosrae. 2. (12 min) Dr. Joy Zedler presents her career in â��Transitioning from Wastelands to Wetlands to Wonderlandsâ��. Joyâ��s career has gone full circle, beginning at the University of Madison, WI, when wetlands were wastelands, and sandhill cranes had been nearly hunted to extinction. One of her earliest study sites was the Buena Vista Marsh, a prairie chicken wonderland. She served as a biology and phycology instructor at the University of Missouri prior to going to San Diego State University where her work at the Tijuana Estuary involved studies in comparative productivity of marsh grasses and algal mats. The estuary, which had been previously considered a â��swill pitâ��, became a National Estuarine Research Reserve and RAMSAR site. Dr. Zedler also worked towards the recovery of Saltmarsh Birdâ��s Beak (SMBB) along San Diego Bay, inspired by another female wetland scientist working to preserve healthy SMBB stands in Mexico. SMBB restoration efforts in San Diego Bay were facilitated by a successful legal challenge to Californiaâ��s Highway Department and long term tidal (stage) data used to identify fluctuations necessary for SMBB success. She returned to U Madison in 1998 where her work focused upon restoring wetland ecosystem services, and the U Madison Arboretum provided a platform for research into adaptive restoration of sedge meadows. Her efforts aided in the nomination of the Waubesa Wetlands (near Madison) to RAMSAR and their recognition as a wetland of distinction by SWS. Her work in the Waubesa basin resulted in several actions improving ecosystem services, favoring native vegetation, and discouraging invasive vegetation through refined hydrology and water quality. These efforts encouraged The Nature Conservancy and WI DNR to expand their Wetlands by Design program using watershed solutions for restoring wetlands. Dr. Zedler had the honor in assisting the National Research Council (NRC) to address (wetlands) issues of concern to Congress, and she wrote restoration guidebooks helping citizens appreciate wonderlands. She recognized key women and individuals who facilitated her career, including her High School English teacher, a supportive family; and Graduate students, especially M.S. students who became successful and published practitioners. 3. (12 min); Dr. Johnston; TBD 4. (12 min) Dr. Rochefort is a bryophyte ecologist of northern disturbed ecosystems with a specialty of rebuilding peatlands after resource extraction. She became a specialist through research in peatland ecology and management throughout her career. Restoration of peatlands from disturbed landscapes presents a formidable challenge; and in order to meet this challenge, Dr. Rochefortâ��s main scientific achievement involved learning to manipulate tiny mosses with machinery for large scale peatland restoration. Her career saw many failures and successes in the process of learning to rebuild peatlands; but her efforts have been fruitful and recognized by the research community and industries who may benefit from her knowledge and expertise. 5. (12 min) Questions.

COURSE CONTACT

Louis Mantini
9225 CR49, Live Oak, FL 32060
lfm@srwmd.org
P: 386.647.3144
F:

Certification Information

ProfessionalWetland Scientist

Resources

Professional Short Courses

Professional
Wetland Scientist