You’re invited to the first Twin Ports Freshwater Folk (TPFF) event of 2025 on January 8, 2025, from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m CT. This month's speaker is Amber J. Ulseth, who is new to the Twin Ports area and is an aquatic ecologist at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI), University of Minnesota Duluth.
In-person attendees are invited to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Conference Room for networking, sandwiches, and plenty of fresh water at 11:30 a.m. The online and in-person presentation will begin at noon. Sadly, the Zoom option is sandwich-free.
This event is free and open to the public.
Location:
Duluth MPCA Conference Room
525 Lake Ave. S., Suite 400
Duluth, MN 55802
Registration:
- In-person registration
- Virtual registration (Begins at noon; no virtual discussion)
Event schedule:
- 11:30 a.m. Lunch and networking (in-person only)
- 12:00 p.m. Attendee announcements
- 12:05 p.m. Seminar(s)
- 12:45 p.m. Moderated question and answer session
- Adjourning by 1 p.m. at latest.
Presenter Bio:
Amber Ulseth is a research associate at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) of the University of Minnesota Duluth. As a biogeochemist and ecosystems ecologist, she uses a combination of fieldwork, experimental, and modeling approaches to explore how abiotic and biotic processes govern carbon and nutrients in freshwater ecosystems. Prior to working at NRRI, Ulseth was an assistant professor at Sam Houston State University, a research scientist at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna. As Ulseth is relatively new to NRRI, she is looking forward to shifting her work to combine her interests in ecosystem ecology and tackling research that aims to understand the natural resources of Minnesota, the Great Lakes, and surrounding regions.
Presentation Abstract:
Streams and rivers are key ecosystems that connect terrestrial and marine carbon fluxes. Our ability to predict how global change may alter stream ecosystem function in the context of carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions is limited. Ecosystem metabolism, which is collectively gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), is a critical component of carbon cycling in streams and rivers, modulating the amount of carbon available to downstream ecosystems. In turn, the capacity of streams and rivers to store, mineralize, and export carbon is also linked to land use and precipitation as hydrology drives the delivery and downstream fluxes of terrestrial and aquatic carbon. Worldwide, however, global change is driving the alteration of the landscape and stream flows with likely consequences to carbon cycling. The seminar will focus on ecosystem metabolism of streams spanning a precipitation gradient across the coastal plains and piney woods ecoregions in Texas, USA and rivers in Mexico with varying anthropogenic impact.
About TPFF:
Twin Ports Freshwater Folk (TPFF) is an informal gathering of people from the Twin Ports who are engaged in freshwater research, policy, or regulation issues. Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of every month and include networking, informal discussion, and a seminar.
Event sponsors:
- Minnesota Sea Grant
- Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
- Large Lakes Observatory at the University of Minnesota Duluth
- Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota Duluth
Subscribe:
Sign up to receive notifications about upcoming TPFF events.
Contact:
Alex Frie, research and fellowship coordinator, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Duluth.
Image credit: Amber Ulseth.