Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Will Consult on Aquatic Invasive Species and Learn from Portland's Sustainable Businesses

PORTLAND (September 16, 2010) – During a precedent-setting trip, the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) will be visiting Portland from September 30–October 2, 2010. The 15-member board chaired by Tom Lindley will convene at the Portland offices of Perkins Coie LLP and spend three days focusing on SERC collaborations with Portland area organizations addressing environmental sustainability and ecosystem services:

• Day 1 – The Aquatic Bioinvasions Research and Policy Institute.  Established in 2004, the Institute is a joint initiative between Portland State University (PSU) and the SERC studying invasive species in marine and freshwater ecosystems.
  
  
• Day 2 – City of Portland, Willamette Partnership and sustainability businesses and organizations. Presentations will focus on regional policies, incentives, restoration and mitigation for sustainable landscape management and development. 
  
  
• Day 3 – Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood National Forest. The Board will conduct a field trip highlighting integrated landscape management for renewable resources such as hydro-electric power, anadromous fisheries, recreation and forestry.

SERC is an internationally recognized research institute of the Smithsonian Institution based at a 2,650-acre facility in Maryland on the shoreline of Chesapeake Bay. SERC is dedicated to research and education on the linkages between land and water ecosystems in the coastal zone, and to providing society with knowledge concerning human impacts in order to meet critical environmental challenges in the 21st century.

SERC is holding its semiannual advisory meeting in Portland to consult with sustainability leaders from the area and enhance the group's geographic connections; to increase the appreciation of SERC's scope and international reach; to highlight SERC's programs on the West Coast; and to link SERC's environmental science on ecosystem services to policy, management and economics by highlighting the Willamette Partnership as a model.

While in Portland, SERC members will meet with individuals from Portland State University, the City of Portland, the Willamette Partnership, U.S Forest Service and other organizations. Board members will also visit the Sokol Blosser Winery, which is known for its focus on sustainable agriculture as a key component of its land use. On this trip, SERC intends to learn more about alternative types of crops and methods of farming to reduce runoff, soil erosion, and aquatic nutrient loading, as well as to diversify the economic and biological bases of agriculture and silviculture in the landscape.

The PSU-SERC Aquatic Bioinvasions Research and Policy Institute seeks to (a) understand key biological, social, and cultural factors that affect invasion outcomes and (b) inform management and policy decisions in the surrounding arena. Based in Portland, the Institute combines the strengths of the two founding organizations by (a) spanning the partners’ exceptional freshwater and marine expertise (in aquatic invasions) and (b) using PSU/SERC facilities on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts for comparative, continental-scale perspective. The Institute has a core of 35 staff members and students working at the PSU and SERC facilities in Oregon, California, and Maryland, and as well as nationally and internationally. Active projects are ongoing in California, Oregon, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and Panama and involve over 20 other organizations (universities, industry, and state/federal agencies) as partners and collaborators. The majority of SERC's meetings will be held in Perkins Coie's Portland office at 1120 NW Couch Street. Perkins Coie is an international law firm with more than 700 lawyers. More than 70 of its attorneys are part of the firm's national Environment, Energy and Resources practice.

"It is significant that SERC's board is coming to Portland," said Perkins Coie's Tom Lindley.  "The board is mostly made up of members from the East Coast. We are proud that Portland is being recognized for its environmental practices, and that SERC has chosen to learn from our region."

Representatives from SERC, including SERC Director Tuck Hines, Aquatic Bioinvasions  Research and Policy Institute Director Greg Ruiz, and Forest Ecologist Jess Parker will be available for media interviews throughout their stay in Portland.

For more information about SERC and its agenda while in Portland, please contact Director Tuck Hines (443.482.2208) or visit SERC’s website: http://www.serc.si.edu/.