Solutions Seminars: Ecosystem Services
All events are FREE and open to the public.
When: Wednesdays 5-6:30 p.m.
Where: Portland State University, Shattuck Hall Annex (1914 S.W. Park Ave., Portland, OR)
Live streaming online is also available here.
Presented by the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, PSU School of the Environment, and the Solutions Journal.
Students may register for seminar as ARCH 407/507 or ESM 407/507
How do we put a value on nature? This winter, we explore economic solutions to sustain the vital services nature provides us.
Winter 2012 Speakers
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Just enough of a good thing: Nitrogen and ecosystem services Jana Compton From factory emissions to fertilizer, people have dramatically altered the global nitrogen cycle. The effects are often harmful, such as groundwater pollution with nitrate here in Oregon. Jana Compton will present EPA research that connects the impacts of nitrogen to ecosystem services and human well-being. This research is helping improve awareness and management of reactive nitrogen in our air, soil, and water. |
JANUARY 11, 2012|
Revealing hidden benefits: David Batker Nature provides everything humans need to live. These ecosystem services include many things we take for granted, like trees purifying air, wetlands filtering water, and bees pollinating crops. Putting a price tag on nature is difficult, but doing so can inform better decisions about how to manage precious natural resources. An ecological economist for more than 20 years, David Batker will present the history, current state, and future direction of valuing natural capital and revealing hidden benefits. |
JANUARY 18, 2012|
Ecosystem tradeoffs: Sahan Dissanayake One method for valuing nature’s benefits is surveying the public to gauge preferences for one ecosystem service over another. Sahan Dissanayake will discuss how this relatively new tool in the valuation toolkit – choice experiment survey methods – can also be used to guide complex decisions about how best to carry out and manage ecosystem restoration projects. |
JANUARY 25, 2012|
Getting what you pay for: Tracking ecosystem services in the Northwest Bobby Cochran If you stopped and asked Mother Nature how she would spend billions of dollars, she may come up with a different answer than our current pattern of spending for conservation and environmental compliance. Bobby Cochran will discuss efforts of the Willamette Partnership to change the way we invest in ecosystem services around the Northwest—from improving water quality in the Willamette and Klamath Rivers to protecting habitat in sagebrush country. |
FEBRUARY 1, 2012
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FEBRUARY 8, 2012 Monetizing forest ecosystem services Bettina von Hagen Translating the value of nature's services into dollars requires a complex set of ingredients— including an enabling mechanism, definition of the rights and responsibilities of buyers and sellers, agreement on how to measure and audit the unit of ecosystem service being traded, enforcement mechanisms, and availability of capital. Bettina von Hagen will discuss the joys and challenges of monetizing forest ecosystem services—and producing high quality timber—within Ecotrust Forests LLC. |
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Pay it forward: Financing the Intertwine Regional Conservation Strategy Dan Vizzini (and panel) The Intertwine is an ever-growing network of integrated parks, trails, and natural areas around the Portland-Vancouver metro area that is designed to help preserve open space and allow people to connect with nature and live active, healthy lives. Jim Desmond of Metro, Brent Davies of Ecotrust and Mike Houck of the Urban Greenspaces Institute join in this panel that will explore the vision, systems, and realities of financing the Intertwine Regional Conservation Strategy, which will be completed this year. |
FEBRUARY 15, 2012|
Payment for ecosystem services in the Ecuadorian Andes Kathleen Farley High elevation páramo grasslands are home to rich natural resources and rare plants, as well as a variety of land uses such as agriculture and grazing. Kathleen Farley will present results of a multi-year study in Ecuadorian páramos where innovative “payment for ecosystem services” models may allow economic development to coexist with preserving ecosystem services that the grasslands provide, such as offsetting climate change by removing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. |
FEBRUARY 22, 2012|
Spatial systems modeling of ecosystem services Scott Heckbert Ecosystem services are complex, integrated systems that can be challenging to track or measure. Scott Heckbert demonstrates how spatial modeling and data layering can be used to measure and simulate ecosystem services over time, incorporating data from forests, hydrology, and other biophysical processes. |
FEBRUARY 29, 2012|
Urbanizing delta regions: Balancing water, health, and economy Alan Yeakley (and panel) |
MARCH 7, 2012|
Valuing nature: Incorporating ecosystem services into decision making Steve Polasky Professor of Ecological Economics, University of Minnesota Steve Polasky uses recent analysis of land use choices in Oregon and Minnesota to illustrate how human actions affect the provision and value of nature’s services, and how such information can inform better decision making for human and ecological well-being. |
MARCH 14, 2012