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2001 UZIG Meeting in Idaho Falls, ID

July 30 through August 2001

 

edited by John R. Nimmo (jrnimmo@usgs.gov)

COMMENTS FROM ATTENDEES:

"...an excellent meeting. I enjoyed the talks, atmosphere, and field trip."

"I enjoyed the UZIG meeting and the relaxed format--giving folks plenty of opportunities to communicate."

"The interaction with DOE [Department of Energy] and University people was highly beneficial to all."

"The meeting in Idaho Falls was very interesting and very well organized. I enjoyed it very much!

STATISTICS FOR THIS MEETING:

Events:
42 Technical Oral Presentations
35 Posters
 6 Business-meeting presentations
Field trip
Banquet

Registered attendance:
 51 	USGS
 38	DOE and DOE-Associated Labs
	24	INEEL (includes associated contractors)
	 7	Los Alamos National Laboratory
	 3	PNNL
	 2	ORNL
	 1	Sandia
	 1	Other
 27	Universities
	 8	University of Idaho
	 3	Boise State
	 3 	Washington State 
	 3	New Mexico Tech
	 2	Idaho State University
	 8	Other
  8	State of Idaho
  2	USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
  8	Unknown, most likely INEEL or UI-Idaho Falls

134 	Total Registered Participants: 

This meeting was larger and more diverse than previous meetings. Most attendees this time were from outside the USGS.

IDEAS FOR THE NEXT UZIG MEETING

WHAT

"I like the suggestion that we include a special session on evapotranspiration at the next meeting."

"...interest in a NAWQA (National Water Quality Assessment) activities section."

Several people recommended a strong involvement with NAWQA, in terms of a dedicated session on NAWQA work, holding the meeting at or near a NAWQA site, having a NAWQA-related field trip, or a follow-on NAWQA meeting.

"Strong University participation was quite beneficial for the present meeting. We should perhaps arrange for University cosponsorship at future meetings, along with ARS and/or DOE support as appropriate."

"...good to keep abreast of DOE activities, but it would also be desirable to maintain close ties with ARS and universities."

"I do like the idea of greater involvement with NAWQA and ARS."

"...because of elevated interest in the vadose zone within DOE and other agencies, there is an increased need to have meetings like UZIG. This was reflected by the attendance at Idaho Falls."

"It would be nice to get back to a smaller UZIG meeting, which allows for more informal discussions, rather than the bigger AGU style we had this time. We undoubtedly will find that future meetings will be somewhat larger from now on, however, since our mailing list has increased as a result of this meeting."

WHEN

"I think an approximately two-year recurrence interval for our meeting is appropriate."

"I would suggest that it be moved to a date earlier than two years to capture the peaked interest in the topic."

"I think the next UZIG meeting should be in May 2003. I just don't see the rush to have another meeting next year."

"If there is interest, maybe other sorts of meetings, different in style or primary sponsorship, could be held in between the biannual UZIG meetings."

WHERE

Various locations mentioned so far:

Albuquerque, NM
Baltimore, MD
Boise, ID
Denver, CO
Los Alamos, NM
Lubbock, TX
Honolulu, HI
Oxford, MS
Richland, WA
Sacramento, CA
San Diego, CA
Tucson, AZ
West Trenton, NJ
Victorville, CA

PLANNING STRATEGY

"It is premature to talk about the place for the next meeting, except perhaps to request suggestions."

"Major features of previous successful meetings have been active sponsorship of a local USGS unit, good facilities, practical travel, and an interesting field trip."

With that quote in mind, individuals in local USGS units who have interest in hosting the next UZIG meeting at a site in or near their offices should offer their suggestions. Volunteers should not be constrained by the above list of suggested locations. We will be able to choose from the volunteered sites at a later date.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS AND RESPONSES REGARDING NEXT MEETING:

Please send to Dave Stonestrom (dastones@usgs.gov) who will collect and distribute them as appropriate.

NEED FOR VOLUNTEERS - UZIG MEETINGS, NEWSLETTER, COORDINATION

If you would like a more active role in UZIG -- such as planning meetings, proofreading of newsletter drafts, intercepting feedback -- contact John Nimmo (jrnimmo@usgs.gov) or Ed Weeks (epweeks@usgs.gov). It is especially good to have new ideas and fresh input. If you have been with the USGS only a few years or are relatively new to the unsaturated-zone field, please volunteer.

OTHER NEWS AND UPDATES

The AGU 2001 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, December 10-14, will have at least seven sessions related to Unsaturated-Zone Hydrology. Session topics include:
Gas and Vapor Transport Processes in Porous and Fractured Media 
Evaluation of Unsaturated Flow Models, Recent Advances and Applications 
Characterizing Hydraulic Properties of Vadose Zone Materials: 
      Advances in Measurement and Conceptual Models  
Fundamental Advances in Understanding of Pore Scale Transport Phenomena 
      in Porous Medium Systems 
Chemical Heterogeneities and Contaminant Transport in the Vadose Zone 
Recharge and Vadose Zone Processes in Semiarid and Arid Regions 
Environmental Vadose Zone Hydrology 

The deadlines are August 30, 2001 (for receipt by Postal/Express Mail) and September 6, 2001 1400 UCT (for receipt electronically). Abstracts may be submitted through AGU's website: www.agu.org
For more information contact: UZIG Webmaster
Last modified: Mon Mar 1, 2013