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Kentucky Organization of Field Stations KAS Meeting Minutes University of Kentucky

Ecological Research and Education Center November 14, 2014 Attendees:

Steering Committee: President: Stephen Richter Secretary: Dick Durtsche Web/Communications: Andrew Berry Members-At-Large: Chris Osborne, Luke Dodd EREC Tour (8:30 am): A small group of KOFS members met early at the UK Ecological Research and Education Center (EREC) on the outskirts of Lexington. EREC manager, Craig Sargent lead the tour of the grounds with highlights of available semi-field enclosures for research (cattle tanks, replicated ponds, experimental streams, and aviaries), indoor lab facilities, and fields with different ecological successional treatments. KOFS Meeting (10:00 am): After introductions in the EREC Meeting Room, Stephen started off by giving a brief history of KOFS. This history included the initial meeting in the fall of 2012 at Maywoods as part of an EKU NSF Field Station Planning Grant that featured several guest speakers (David White – Hancock Biological Station, Ian Billick – Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory); the spring 2013 field station meeting at Berheim Arboretum and Research Forest; the summer 2013 meeting at Lilly Cornet where KOFS partners were added, the Nov 2013 business meeting at KAS at Morehead State University, and the field station meeting in Feb. 2014 at the UK Robinson Forest Field Station. Currently, there are 74 members of KOFS that represent sites, individuals, and partners. At this meeting, Stephen unveiled the KOFS Poster Display that will be featured at the center of a poster session at KAS where a dozen field stations from around the Commonwealth will display a summary of what their sites have to offer.

Danna Baxley KDFWR Jennifer  Koslow EKU    Biol  Sci Andrew  Berry Bernheim  Forest Justin Kunkle WKU Biol  Sci David  Brown EKU  Biol  Sci Tara  Littlefield KSNPC Julian Campbell BWRC Albert Meier WKU Biol  Sci Charlie  Collins   Ky  State  U     Audrey  Mitaggary   EKU  Biol  Sci  Phil  Crowley   UK  Biology   Chris  Osborne   UK  Robinson  Forest  Luke  Dodd   EKU    Biol  Sci   Kirk  Pomper   Ky  State  U  Daniel Douglas U  of  L  Biol Eddie  Reed Ky  State  U Andrea Drayer UK  Biology Stephen  Richter EKU  Biol  &  Nat  Areas Kari Dupler EKU Biol  Sci Craig  Sargent UK  Biology Dick  Durtsche NKU  Biol  Sci Homer  Strong EKU  Nat  Areas Kristin  Hinkson EKU    Biol  Sci Kelly  Watson EKU  Geosciences Emily  Imhoff Thomas More Biol Zeb Weese KHLCF Beverly  James   Floracliff  Nat.  Pres.   Steve  Yanoviak   U  of  L  Biol  Richie Kessler   CU/KHLCF      

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The KOFS steering committee was introduced as: President – Stephen Richter, Department of Biological Sciences and Division of Natural Areas, EKU; Secretary – Dick Durtsche, Department of Biological Sciences, NKU; Website and Communications Officer – Andrew Berry, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest; Member-At-Large – Chris Osborne, Robinson Forest, UK; and Member-At-Large – Luke Dodd, Department of Biological Sciences, EKU. Elections were made in the summer of 2014, and based on the KOFS bylaws these two year position terms began at this KAS associated KOFS meeting. We next moved on the listserv, and discussed the possible advantages to this form of communication. Comments were made about getting information to the entire membership and using this as a means of posing questions about field station challenges. This discussion was a natural transition into introducing the new KOFS website. KOFS Website: Andrew Berry presented the new KOFS website (https://kentuckyfieldstations.wordpress.com/).

Andrew made the website with WordPress to keep it simple, and so that it would be easy to navigate. There will be links to web pages from various field stations and partner organizations, and information about the KOFS organization. The homepage includes

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the KOFS name and logo, and updated calendar of monthly events information (e.g., KOFS meeting agenda, KY native plant society meeting at Bernheim Forest). One problem raised, was that as events happen, things get buried. The menu button opens links to: Home, About this organization, Bylaws, Map of Field Stations, Meeting Minutes, and Members. The Map of Field Stations page shows the current map of the 20 field stations along with ecoregions and county delineations. The map can be expanded by clicking on it. Maps of individual field stations will be available once shape files of these stations have been acquired (if you have not submitted your shape files, please send them to Stephen). Live links from the state map (or an index) to these individual station maps or station websites was also discussed as future additions to the website. The Meeting Minutes page offers minutes from previous meetings that can be downloaded. The Members page gives a listing of the member stations with links to their webpages.

Bernheim Forest has paid for the current web service, but their was a discussion about how to cover future costs of this service. Suggestions were made to take donations to support the service, or to have each field station cover the payment for one year. Currently, this service offers 13 GB of storage, and can take video files. In discussions of how best to expand the users of the website, it was suggested that the addition of crazy animal videos with help attract viewers and give notoriety to the site. Thanks Andrew for a nice webpage.

BioBlitz at Floracliff and Maywoods: Beverly James spoke on a bioblitz that will take place this summer at the Floracliff and

Maywoods sites. The dates are: June 20 – Floracliff June 21 – Maywoods (overnight possibilities here) These activities will be open to teachers, classes, and the public. Floracliff has some restrictions

about participants not going off trails. However, they will have stations established for each activity. Professionals will be there to assist with identifications of organisms seen or collected. Help is needed with aquatic invertebrates, plants, and other taxa. Permanent sampling plots will be established, and the Carolina protocol will be followed in the bioblitz. Work continues so that there will be streamlining in communication and that each taxon will have a team leader within the group. The process in underway to determine what materials are needed, and who is bringing what items to each blitz. So far, there have been 19 people who have responded to attend. Staff at both field stations will be available and can help with logistics. Communications for these events over the KOFS listserv was discussed. There may be a rotation of field stations. Suggestions were made to have pre-existing taxonomic lists that could be checked off once an organism was found, and collections that could be made for museum and herbarium

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storage. This would also give an opportunity for instruction in museum and herbarium techniques. The iNature project was brought up as a possible location for using smart devices (e.g., iphones, ipads) for taking pictures, geotagging, and having these finds available on a website that could be viewed by the participants. Discover Life was also brought up as a location for pictures and data entry. The first bioblitz in Kentucky was run by the KYFWS at the Three Rivers WMA where 60 people attended.

Membership: Current membership is established in three different groups: Site member, Individual members,

and Partner members. It was recommended that students be added to membership as Individual members.

To encourage student membership, it was suggested that students that have done research at a field station include the KOFS logo on any presentations (e.g., posters at KAS), and participate at future KOFS meetings with poster presentations.

There was also a discussion increasing membership with the addition of other partner organizations that could be approached to join KOFS, especially NGOs. Some of the potential partners suggested included: - Shakertown Field Station - Newpioneers for a Sustainable Future - KAEE – KY Assoc. of Environ. Educ. - KY Wild Rivers System – KY DOW - Woodlands Water Land Trust - The Audubon Society - State Parks - National Guard - Cumberland Gap - KY Natural History Survey - KAS - Ecotech - Redwing Conservation - NKU Center for Environmental Restoration - Copperhead Consultants - Local Government Agencies – County Conservation Districts - Lexington Arboretum - Asbury College - Morehead State Univ. - W. KY contacts? Paper in JKAS – Ag departments?

From membership, there was a question of how we share data. This topic was deferred to a future meeting. However, there was a suggestion that a list of Heritage Fund lands be added to KOFS, and that as a biological inventory is made for each property these data be made available. Outlets to organize such data were proposed such as iNaturalist, KY Natural History Survey, and the KY Heritage database. It was recommended that each field station have a definitive point (geographic location) where inventory data could be seen on the internet (e.g.,

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ebird), which would make it easier to see a record for a site. One of the goals expressed was the establishment of layers of biological data to be added to geological layers for stations. Questions were raised about what type of data should be collected for each station, should survey data, what to do if large data are collected, and where to house these data.

Networks at KOFS: Phil Crowley gave a presentation on how networks could be established through KOFS. His Powerpoint presentation will be available through the KOFS website. He began by bringing up the National Research Council publication report on networking

advantages. The key topics included the financial strategies, the metric for achieving goals and demonstration of the impact of networks, and the use of networking for discovery and innovation.

Phil then discussed the outcome of the September meeting of the OBFS/NAML that was held at Woods Hole. There was a discussion of a report on the benefits of stronger networking to facilitate

science and education. The report developed feasible and compelling metrics. There were also value propositions that would generate external funding, and a discussion of networking opportunities that could take place both within and between stations.

Input from Peter McCartney, the NSF Field Station and Marine Laboratory (FSML) program officer, suggests that funding opportunities on a regional focus are more effective than those on a national scale. He also indicated that NEON (The National Ecological Observatory Network) was not yet ready to connect with field stations. If seeking funding for field stations through NSF, McCartney stressed that applicants emphasize any “unfair advantages” (amazing things that can be done at the station that cannot be done by others). He also emphasized that networking between field stations is powerful, and that infrastructure could be funded through a consortium of field stations.

Phil then covered some research ideas for multi-site experiments. These included: - goldenrod pollinator plots - long-term success of fescue with and without fungal endosymbionts - invasive/native plant gardens to look at responses to fertilizer treatment and/or

disturbance - 2x2 design - a new auto-dissemination technique to control Asian Tiger mosquitos in experimental

containers in the field. - establishment and maintenance of running buffalo clover - other ideas were solicited. - Julian Campbell provided a handout that focused on shared data management and

conservation orientation vs. economic development The floor was then open for discussion about ideas for networking:

- use the webpage for: message board, forums, threads for ideas - form an Ad Hoc Committee to generate ideas for collaborative network and set

protocols to allow for the organization of idea submissions. Networks can often times

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be used to assist in the generation of data for future funding opportunities, especially when there is a station that is resource rich but staff poor.

- Currently, Kentucky has 83 wildlife management areas (WMAs) where research can take place. They have a 2-page proposal for conducting work at a WMA, and the potential exists to share that proposal with other groups so that similar data could be collected at other WMAs

- Educational opportunities can also be networked resulting in multi-station courses. o This could facilitate a variety of educational topics o These topics could be covered over the range of ecoregions across the

Commonwealth if carried out at different stations o Time frames could be spring, summer, summer or fall. There were also

suggestions that studies could be carried out one day per week at these different stations, or spending a full week at each station for a series of weeks.

- The Ad Hoc Committee for Networking include the following people with their area of concentration:

o Emily Imhoff – education o Justin Kunkle – research o Phil Crowley – research o David Brown – research o Julian Campbell –

research/conservation

o Stephen Richter – education

o Steve Yanoviak – research o Dick Durtsche - education

Next KOFS Field Station Meeting – NKU/St. Anne Research and Education Center and Thomas More Biological Field Station:

Presentations were given by Dick Durtsche for the St. Anne Woods and Wetlands Research and Education Center and by Emily Imhoff for the Thomas More Biological Field Station as an introduction to the locations for the next KOFS Field Station meeting in spring 2015.

The two dates proposed were Feb. 13-14 and Feb 27-28.

Housing opportunities include:

St. Anne Retreat Center: $49/night + $25 for 3 meals (only available on Feb. 13-14).

Thomas More Field Station: $20/night (max 11 people), + similar meal charges (catered)

Local hotels (within 8-15 miles): Comfort Suites, Hampton Inn, Country Inn and Suites

Dates will be solicited to the members to determine the time of the meeting.

KOFS Meeting adjourned at 12:30 pm

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Homer  Strong,  Stephen  Richter,  Chris  Osborne,  Phil  Crowley,  and  Justin  Kunkle  at  the  KOFS  poster  display  at  the  100th  meeting  of  the  KAS.