May 9, 2012, Wednesday - A Sip of Science at Aster Cafe

Time: 5:30pm

Location: Aster Cafe, 125 SE Main Street

A Sip of Science:  Outdoor StreamLab (OSL): Life-size Outdoor Experiments to Strengthen Stream Restoration Science    
  
If you've ever visited Water Power Park, the balcony of the Guthrie Theater, or taken the elevator tour at the Mill City Museum, you've likely seen the constructed stream channel adjacent to the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. The Outdoor StreamLab (OSL), built on an abandoned floodway and fed by the waters of the Mississippi River, provides a unique opportunity to take high resolution, laboratory-quality environmental measurements in controlled outdoor conditions. This setting allows researchers to conduct experiments on stream and river processes that are dependent on sunlight, including algae growth, investigating the effect of vegetation on flowing water, or studying interactions between flowing water, sediment transport, and aquatic habitat. The OSL stream has been flowing continuously since June, 2008 (even in winter!) to maintain a natural stream ecosystem.

As the OSL moves into its fifth year of research, OSL manager Jessica Kozarek will explore what we have learned from these life-size experiments and how researchers seek to understand the effect restoration practices will have on the complex interactions between physical, chemical, and biological river and stream processes.

About our speaker:

Jessica Kozarek is a Research Associate and OSL research director at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory and the National Center for Earth Surface Dynamics at the University of Minnesota. She received her BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Penn State before her obsession with flowing water (and with kayaking) brought her to a MS and PhD in Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech.

A SIP OF SCIENCE bridges the gap between science and culture in a setting that bridges the gap between brain and belly. Food, beer, and learning are on the menu in a happy hour forum in which researchers pair with musicians, artists and storytellers to put science in context through storytelling.

This talk takes place during happy hour at the Aster Cafe - Food and Drink Available for Purchase.