Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico: Implications and Strategies for Iowa
Date: Thursday, October 16th, 2008 
Location: Ames, Iowa
This conference was held at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center at Iowa State University. It was meant to support an anticipatory approach to the research and outreach needs that the issue of hypxoia in the Gulf of Mexico creates. The Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed a review of the science relevant to hypoxic conditions in the Gulf in December 2007. That review generated substantial interest and input from the research community at Iowa State and elsewhere, as well as the realization that many important research questions remain unanswered.
The purpose of the conference:
- To inform the research community about pressing research needs related to the issue of Gulf Hypoxia, particularly new and evolving research findings relevant to nutrient loadings, fate and transport, and effective control options in local and regional waters.
- To inform Iowa State's many stakeholder groups of new and emerging research findings.
- To provide an opportunity for stakeholder groups to inform the research community of the issues they see most in need of consideration related to Gulf hypoxia.
- To provide a venue for linkages among stakeholder groups and researchers from a broad background of disciplines to form research teams/communication channels so that future work can most effectively address the problems.
The conference was sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, with support from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University. It was partially supported through "Leopold Hypoxia Project" federal funding for work related to water quality.
Conference archive
Read the news release - October 17, 2008
Download the agenda [PDF]
Summaries of sessions [PDF]
Session presentations:
- Overview of Hypoxia Action Plan and Operating Plans - Darrell Brown, Chief of Coastal Management Branch, EPA
- From the Cornbelt to the Gulf - Joan Nassauer, Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan
- Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico - Implications and Strategies for Iowa - Craig Cox, Environmental Working Group
- Experience from the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers TMDLS - Keith Schilling and Calvin Wolter
- Experience from the Cedar River TMDL - Jim Baker
- Ag Clean Water Alliance - Roger Wolf and Chris Jones
- Nutrient Criteria and its Connection to Local Water Quality - Tom Wilton
- Modeling and Monitoring to Assess Prairie Effectiveness in Water Quality Improvement - Sergey Rabotyagov and Keith Schilling
- Mixed Perennial Landscapes: Diversity on Iowa's Land - Matt Liebman
- Least-Cost Control of Agricultural Nutrient Contributions to the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone - Sergey Rabotyagov, Todd Campbell, Manoj Jha, Hongli Feng, Phi Gassman, Lyubov Kurkalova, Silvia Secchi, and Cathy Kling
- Plenary Session: Panel with Bill Crumpton, Matt Helmers, Tom Isenhart, Dan Jaynes and Tom Kaspar
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture |
Ames, Iowa 50011 |
(515) 294-3711 |
leocenter@iastate.edu