So..I just counted eleven pages of notes from today alone, but I promise I will not bore you with typing them all up. Besides, I bet at least two of those are filled with weird side notes to myself and mind-mapping diagrams. Today was awesome. All of the presentations and speakers really built off of one another and created a giant picture for me. It wasn't until later in the afternoon, and especially at the banquet, that I realized how young the International Phytotechnologies Society is! 1999 is when things really started to kick off, and since then, the group has seen exponential growth. I don't think they have been able to keep up with it, in fact, as you can see from their outdated website. :) That was "re-vamped" just this year, and I can think of a number of ways in which they might reach greater audiences by just a few tweaks in design. Also, incorporating more social media into the information they are publishing would boost online traffic and get more people excited about the topic. I feel as thought IPS is like this secret society that only a handful of people across the globe are familiar with, and that I've kind of come in on it before it takes center stage of urban planning, landscape architecture, and circular economics. It's very exciting to be a part of something so new, but also frustrating knowing how much work it will take to gather excitement around these ideas.
So what ideas am I talking about? I'm talking about using plants as a toolbox for green infrastructure in urban areas. One of the speakers this morning, Dr. Stanislaw Gawronski, explained how our many sources of air pollution (transport, building heating, power and heating plants, and industry) can be sequestered by plants. Some of these pollutants include particulate matters, gases, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and noble metals. The majority of contaminants to the air come from transportation, and not just burning fuel. Yes, the combustion of gasoline is of major concern, but did you know that 50% of harmful emissions actually come from braking and substances on the asphalt? Copper and Barium are the two main culprits associated with braking, and I only know this from asking later about the design of vehicles. It seems as though we could save a lot of time and effort if there were a way to re-design the braking systems so that these substances were not produced. However, I have limited knowledge when it comes to vehicle engineering, so I didn't press the subject. Dad, if you're reading...how much exposure do you think you've had being a member of SCCA? It makes me worried to think that all those racers are exposing themselves to high quantities of these substances sometimes on a weekly basis in the summers.
Before I finish describing Gawronski's work, I must mention that his specialization is in "air phytoremediation", which could have been apparent up to this point, but I want to make sure that you understand there are different sub-categories of phytoremediation. You could be dealing with the air, the above-ground foliage of a plant, or the microbial activity in the soil. In a lot of the summaries of scientific experiments that I listed today, people focused on one part of the plant, and didn't really "add up" the various pieces into a whole vision. I think that was the part that made today especially challenging. Not only did I have to translate the thick foreign accents (Yes, this is an international conference, but if I can't understand someone's English, what exactly can I take away?) but I had to see all of these experiments in a larger context.
But back to Gawronski. He tested plants in Warsaw, Poland, through various mechanisms to determine if they would absorb high levels of sulfur, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone. In some of his observations, he found that the leaves of whole trees would be damaged in the city's center by the air pollution. He also found that greater air contamination would increase the intensity of photosynthesis, and that the chlorophyll content of leaves was not affected by the particulate matter. My favorite diagram was of an overlay of a two city streets with rows of between them and a graph of the levels of lead content in the soil under the tree canopy. I've drawn a very rough diagram below. You see that where the trees are located, the levels are much lower!
For those of you botanists out there, in the case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the pollutant is stored in the epidermal cells of the leaves.
On a not-so-related note, if you are interested in some neat eco-tourism ideas, be sure to check out the High Line in New York and downtown Singapore. :)
By far, the best and most inspiring speaker of the day was Kate Kennen, co-author of Phyto, a book that has made it's way onto my Christmas List. I almost bought a copy to have it signed, but $60 is a lot to pay for a book, especially for someone who uses her Lawrence Public Library card religiously.
So what did Kate have to say? Well, she started off by first telling us that she is not a scientist. And boy, could you tell. Her energy and excitement just filled the room, and I could tell that the strangers sitting next to me were energized by her fast words and enthusiasm for the subject: bridging the gap between landscape architecture and phytotechnology. She saw the issue of landscape artists not understanding the science--or having a good resource for learning about it--so she decided to create it. Coming from a design background, she explained how many of the aspects of the book utilized simple graphics to guide the reader along and make some of the concepts easier to understand. A visual person myself, I immediately felt like I got Kate. Not only could I understand the words coming out of her mouth without squinting or leaning forward, but the visuals she used in her presentation assisted immensely in getting me excited about the applications of phytotechnology. So for those of you interested in learning about its uses in urban environments, I would highly recommend getting your hands on a copy. I have a feeling this is going to be the first of many books she publishes related to this field.
Which brings me to my last point. As part of the Conference, attendees have the option of actually getting six hours of credit from K-State that count as "continuing education" credits. Sessions about an hour an a half long occur while the other mini-sessions are going on. However, anyone could attend who did not pay to receive credit. Throughout the morning, Larry Erickson kept mentioning things that would be discussed at a round table discussion, and I was intrigued. It turned out to be the best decision I made all day.
The session was titled Urban Applications of Phytotechnologies Round Table, including a couple of familiar faces from the Dialogue on Sustainability that I had attended earlier this year. The format was a little more loose and open for people to chime in when they felt they had a pertinent note to add. I even found myself contributing, drawing links between the ideas presented at this conference and those of circular economies which have been gaining momentum recently. A few key ideas stood out:
I'm not sure a did a great job of abbreviating my notes, but hopefully I have given you some food for thought. As I navigate the possibilities of where my degree could go, I definitely see design and urban environments in my future. I wonder if KU offers a degree in Urban Ecology....
So what ideas am I talking about? I'm talking about using plants as a toolbox for green infrastructure in urban areas. One of the speakers this morning, Dr. Stanislaw Gawronski, explained how our many sources of air pollution (transport, building heating, power and heating plants, and industry) can be sequestered by plants. Some of these pollutants include particulate matters, gases, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and noble metals. The majority of contaminants to the air come from transportation, and not just burning fuel. Yes, the combustion of gasoline is of major concern, but did you know that 50% of harmful emissions actually come from braking and substances on the asphalt? Copper and Barium are the two main culprits associated with braking, and I only know this from asking later about the design of vehicles. It seems as though we could save a lot of time and effort if there were a way to re-design the braking systems so that these substances were not produced. However, I have limited knowledge when it comes to vehicle engineering, so I didn't press the subject. Dad, if you're reading...how much exposure do you think you've had being a member of SCCA? It makes me worried to think that all those racers are exposing themselves to high quantities of these substances sometimes on a weekly basis in the summers.
Before I finish describing Gawronski's work, I must mention that his specialization is in "air phytoremediation", which could have been apparent up to this point, but I want to make sure that you understand there are different sub-categories of phytoremediation. You could be dealing with the air, the above-ground foliage of a plant, or the microbial activity in the soil. In a lot of the summaries of scientific experiments that I listed today, people focused on one part of the plant, and didn't really "add up" the various pieces into a whole vision. I think that was the part that made today especially challenging. Not only did I have to translate the thick foreign accents (Yes, this is an international conference, but if I can't understand someone's English, what exactly can I take away?) but I had to see all of these experiments in a larger context.
But back to Gawronski. He tested plants in Warsaw, Poland, through various mechanisms to determine if they would absorb high levels of sulfur, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone. In some of his observations, he found that the leaves of whole trees would be damaged in the city's center by the air pollution. He also found that greater air contamination would increase the intensity of photosynthesis, and that the chlorophyll content of leaves was not affected by the particulate matter. My favorite diagram was of an overlay of a two city streets with rows of between them and a graph of the levels of lead content in the soil under the tree canopy. I've drawn a very rough diagram below. You see that where the trees are located, the levels are much lower!
For those of you botanists out there, in the case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the pollutant is stored in the epidermal cells of the leaves.
On a not-so-related note, if you are interested in some neat eco-tourism ideas, be sure to check out the High Line in New York and downtown Singapore. :)
By far, the best and most inspiring speaker of the day was Kate Kennen, co-author of Phyto, a book that has made it's way onto my Christmas List. I almost bought a copy to have it signed, but $60 is a lot to pay for a book, especially for someone who uses her Lawrence Public Library card religiously.
So what did Kate have to say? Well, she started off by first telling us that she is not a scientist. And boy, could you tell. Her energy and excitement just filled the room, and I could tell that the strangers sitting next to me were energized by her fast words and enthusiasm for the subject: bridging the gap between landscape architecture and phytotechnology. She saw the issue of landscape artists not understanding the science--or having a good resource for learning about it--so she decided to create it. Coming from a design background, she explained how many of the aspects of the book utilized simple graphics to guide the reader along and make some of the concepts easier to understand. A visual person myself, I immediately felt like I got Kate. Not only could I understand the words coming out of her mouth without squinting or leaning forward, but the visuals she used in her presentation assisted immensely in getting me excited about the applications of phytotechnology. So for those of you interested in learning about its uses in urban environments, I would highly recommend getting your hands on a copy. I have a feeling this is going to be the first of many books she publishes related to this field.
Which brings me to my last point. As part of the Conference, attendees have the option of actually getting six hours of credit from K-State that count as "continuing education" credits. Sessions about an hour an a half long occur while the other mini-sessions are going on. However, anyone could attend who did not pay to receive credit. Throughout the morning, Larry Erickson kept mentioning things that would be discussed at a round table discussion, and I was intrigued. It turned out to be the best decision I made all day.
The session was titled Urban Applications of Phytotechnologies Round Table, including a couple of familiar faces from the Dialogue on Sustainability that I had attended earlier this year. The format was a little more loose and open for people to chime in when they felt they had a pertinent note to add. I even found myself contributing, drawing links between the ideas presented at this conference and those of circular economies which have been gaining momentum recently. A few key ideas stood out:
- In any decision-making (whether it be building a stormwater management system or re-designing a city street), all stakeholders need to be at the table.
- Ecologists are often left out of the equation, even though they could offer a lot of cool ideas, like soundscape ecology
- We're going to be dealing with issues of deciding between plants that are good for their phytoremediative qualities but invasive versus plants of native species. How will be able to find a balance between the two?
- Putting all of this research in the context of life and death linked to pollution will probably be more effective when advocating for phytotechnology. Economic terms are our friends, always.
- Rather than worrying about native versus invasive, perhaps we should focus more on just getting people to pay attention to plants in the first place. What wonders will they offer to people who had traditionally dismissed them?
- Education is a process. Indeed.
- Fayetville's success with sustainability over the past 16 years has come from the city's mayors.
- From the industry's perspective, accomplishing multiple goals at once is key and a real selling point.
- MAINTENANCE! We must restructure our funding sources to always allow for maintenance, because all of these ideas are fabulous until they fall to pieces because no one knows how to keep it looking fresh.
- Lots of good things are happening in Detroit, a "revival" of sorts.
- Consumers will always drive demand.
I'm not sure a did a great job of abbreviating my notes, but hopefully I have given you some food for thought. As I navigate the possibilities of where my degree could go, I definitely see design and urban environments in my future. I wonder if KU offers a degree in Urban Ecology....
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