Water Resilience Shines at Biennial Georgia Water Resources Conference
ATHENS, GA – Interdisciplinary knowledge is a critical aspect of solving big environmental problems. That’s why, for the 2025 Georgia Water Resources Conference, we brought everyone together. We do mean everyone: ecologists, hydrologists, engineers, geoscientists, lawyers, anthropologists, consultants and certified fish enthusiasts.
World Water Day 2025: Delivering safe water resources to all
Few resources are as vital as water. But as human activity continues to shape urban rivers, that refreshing dip in the stream, summer kayaking trip, or glass of ice water can be harder to achieve. This is why every year, on March 22, we observe World Water Day: a tradition started by the United Nations in 1993 to highlight the importance of clean, accessible water. Sustainable water management is important not just for the environment, but for the 8.2 billion people that rely on water.
The End of Chevron Deference: Adam Orford discusses a new era of administrative and environmental law with River Basin Center
In 1984, the Supreme Court made a critical decision on the powers of federal agencies: where statutes set by legislation are clear, agencies must follow the direct statute, and where statutes are not fully clear, agencies are allowed the freedom of “reasonable interpretations.” This deference to agency expertise is the legal foundation of many important regulations, from managing endangered species to setting limits on pollution to protecting food safety, as it allows agency experts to set specific rules around a law’s general direction. Forty years later, that deference has been revoked, severely curtailing the powers of federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
So… what now?
What it takes to create a successful oyster reef breakwater
Affiliates Brock Woodson and Jeb Byers recently coauthored a publication on successful oyster reef breakwaters.
RBC affiliates team up to explore federal freshwater policy
All scientific research is collaborative, but this group of River Basin Center affiliates exemplified why interdisciplinary work is so important- with compelling results for freshwater policy. The Odum School of Ecology’s Rosemond Lab teamed up with policy experts to evaluate the efficacy of policies to reduce nutrient pollution.
What it means to be a researcher: Water science and community connections in rural Brazil
Plenty of scientists leave their comfort zone for research, but few relocate to another continent— anthropology graduate student Cydney Seigerman has done it twice. In 2014, they worked as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Madrid, Spain. Today, they live in the small city of Quixeramobim in Ceará, Brazil, and have been working there since August […]
Burning questions: The mysteries of pyrogenic carbon and the effects of prescribed fire on soil
When you think of a forest on fire, you aren’t usually thinking about what’s happening in the soil- but graduate student Ali Moss is. The Spencer Research Grant winner and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources student’s research investigates the relationship between prescribed fire and carbon cycling, specifically studying an organic material known as […]
A Day in the Life of a Pond: Measuring Small-Reservoir Emissions to Inform Infrastructure Decisions
By 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21, Laura Naslund had already spent over an hour in a canoe on a little pond on the east side of Athens, Georgia. Naslund, a graduate student in the Odum School of Ecology and a 2022 Spencer Grant recipient, was finishing up the first field sampling event of her […]
RBC Student Affiliate Anuja Mittal Featured in Sanctuary Asia
RBC student affiliate and ICON PhD student Anuja Mital was featured in the April 2022 issue of Sanctuary Asia‘s Cover Story on Diversity & Inclusion in Field Biology. Check out the article here.
Climate and Water Research Slam
Save the date: Climate and Water Research Slam – Thursday, May 12 1:00-5:00 The River Basin Center, the Georgia Initiative for Climate and Society, and the Office of Sustainability have joined forces for a climate and water “research slam” — a series of five-minute lightning talks by faculty and students on climate OR water (or both) […]