Page 6 - DENIN-2015

4 DENIN
Rodrigo Vargas, who specializes in soil-plant-atmosphere interactions, is collaborating with the U.S. Forest Service and multiple institutions
in Mexico to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation.
Land Use
The mid-Atlantic region, drained
by the massive Chesapeake and Delaware Bay watersheds, has been subject to rapid urbanization and suburbanization of previously forested or agricultural landscapes. Urbanization has been shown to increase the intensity and magnitude
of surface runoff and shorten the time it takes
for water and nutrients to reach water bodies. Further fragmentation of landscape parcels will likely continue to have repercussions for hydrology, water quality, and ecology of natural ecosystems, from marshes to forests. These land use challenges are also expected to intensify as future climate change spawns more extreme weather conditions, including droughts, heat waves, and severe storms.
The interests of DENIN affiliates focus on how the coupled influences of land use and climate change will impact the evolving health and integrity of complex terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and how we can develop useful predictive models, with emphasis on understanding how these changes will alter the fluxes and cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
DENIN researchers investigate the effects of land use on water quality, such as how the nutrients in various types of fertilizers applied to croplands appear in runoff to surface waters.
Climate
From remote sensing satellites in space, to pocket-sized instruments that detect minute quantities of trace elements, to microscopes and genetic sequencers that register changes in the microbial ecosystem, researchers affiliated with DENIN are employing every tool at their disposal to investigate the changes taking place on our planet due to climate change.
From changes in the carbon cycle to changes in the frequency and severity of storms and droughts, we are looking at the science of climate change on multiple spatial and temporal scales. Researchers are busy in the tropics, in the polar regions, and
at home in Delaware to understand changes that are taking place now and potential changes yet to come, as well as ways to ameliorate these effects through engineering or policy solutions. Research into alternative energy sources including wind, biofuels, and fuel cells as well as technologies for more efficient use of traditional energy sources such as electric vehicles is also being conducted by those affiliated with DENIN.
Wind energy researcher Cristina Archer uses computer simulations to determine the most efficient placement of turbines in wind farms and has found that offshore wind farms could weaken hurricanes before they make landfall.