2023 Keynote Speakers
Threshold Responses of stream Ecosystems to Low-Level Nutrient Enrichment in Texas and Beyond
Ryan S. King, PhD, Baylor University Dept. of Biology & Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research
King is a Research Professor and director of the Aquatic Ecology lab at Baylor University. His research focuses on the effects of land use at multiple scales on aquatic ecosystems and methods for developing defensible, numeric environmental criteria. Much of his recent research has focused on the effects of nutrient concentrations, particularly phosphorus, on river ecosystems. He is particularly interested in identifying pollution thresholds resulting in undesirable or nuisance conditions in ecosystems with the goal of informing policy decisions and conserving natural resources for future generations. He has served as an expert witness in 10 federal and other legal cases against industries and municipalities that are sources of pollution to public waters.
He received an undergraduate degree in Biology (Bachelor of Science, B.S.) from Harding University in 1994. King obtained a Master of Environmental Management (M.E.M.) in Water Resources Management (1994 – 1996) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Ecology (1997-2001), both from Duke University. King was a Research Ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (2001-2004), prior to joining the faculty at Baylor University in (2004).
Happy Creeks, Happy People
Amy Belaire, Texas Science & Strategy Program Advisor for The Nature Conservancy
Amy Belaire is a landscape ecologist and conservation biologist who currently serves as the Texas Science & Strategy Program Advisor for The Nature Conservancy. Prior to joining TNC, she worked at St. Edward’s University as Director of Research at Wild Basin. She also previously served as a research fellow focused on urban ecosystem services for the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on the Sustainable Sites Initiative. She grew up in Rockport, Texas, and has a BA from Rice, MEM from Duke, and PhD from University of Illinois at Chicago where she was trained as a National Science Foundation interdisciplinary graduate fellow.
Collaboration, Leadership and Vision for Natural Resource Conservation
Katherine Romans, Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance
Katherine Romans is the Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance, a regional nonprofit focused on bringing a diverse constituency together to protect the water, land, communities, and night skies of the Texas Hill Country. Katherine also serves as the inaugural chair of the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network, a coalition of more than 75 nonprofits and academic institutions utilizing a collective impact approach to scale conservation in the region. Together the Network has leveraged more than $115 million in new or increased investment in conservation across the 17 county region. Katherine brings more than a decade of nonprofit management, community engagement, communications, and legislative experience to bear on the natural resource challenges facing Central Texas. She holds a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.