USGS News: September Science Picks - Endocrine Disruptors, oil, gas, and hypoxia …

[Denver Makle <dmakle@xxxxxxxx>]

USGS Office of Communications
   Science Picks — Leads, Feeds and Story Seeds
   September 2007 Edition

   For Release: UPON RECEIPT

   Endocrine Disruptors, oil, gas, and hypoxia … Find out about the planet
   we live on. September Science Picks explore this restless planet. Are
   you burning to know more about fighting wildland fires? Science Picks
   provide a host of timely tips on earth and natural science research and
   investigations at the USGS. Photos and Web links are available. If you
   would like to receive Science Picks via e-mail, would like to change the
   recipient or no longer want to receive it, please e-mail dmakle@xxxxxxxx
   .

   September Highlights:

   ·  Of Mice and Men — Health Effects of Endocrine Disruptor Bisphenol A
   ·  USGS Scientists Release New Oil and Gas Assessment of Northeastern
   Greenland
   ·  Burning to Know More about Fighting Wildland Fires?
   ·  Doing the Dirtiest of Jobs Better
   ·  What Do Crickets Have to Say for Themselves?
   ·  A Whole Lot of Flappin’ Going On — Shorebird Travels from New Zealand
   to Alaska and Back
   ·  USGS Holds Crystal Ball for Prediction of the Hypoxic Zone
   ·  Picturing the Birds and the Bees
   ·  USGS Report on Endangered Pallid Sturgeon Habitat
   ·  Worldwide Water Monitoring

   LEADS (top news, updates and happenings in natural science)

   Of Mice and Men — Health Effects of Endocrine Disruptor Bisphenol A:
   When pregnant mice are exposed to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in
   everyday plastics, such as sunglasses, drink bottles, shatterproof
   baby-bottles, and some dental sealants and fillings, exposure may
   adversely affect the mother, but also, disturb development in the unborn
   fetuses. In a recently released report, USGS scientists say even low
   doses of the chemical may affect the reproductive systems of male and
   female mice, organizational development of the brain, and metabolic
   processes. Evidence suggests that when exposed female fetuses reach
   adulthood, there is a greater potential for abnormal eggs and embryos.
   Learn more at http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/pubs/briefs/bisphenolA.pdf or
   contact Catherine Richter at (573) 876-1841 or crichter@xxxxxxxxx

   USGS Scientists Release New Oil and Gas Assessment of Northeastern
   Greenland: The USGS recently released an assessment of undiscovered oil
   and gas resources in the East Greenland Rift Basins Province. The
   assessment suggests that although there are no proven reserves in
   northeastern Greenland, significant undiscovered resource potential
   exists. In comparison to the world’s 500 other oil and gas provinces, if
   this resource is proved and realized, northeastern Greenland would rank
   19th. The assessment estimates  there are almost 9 billion barrels of
   oil, 86 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 8 billion barrels of
   natural gas liquids that are undiscovered and would be technically
   recoverable in the absence of sea ice. For more information, visit
   http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1750 or contact Jessica
   Robertson at (703) 648-6624 or jrobertson@xxxxxxxxx

   Burning to Know More about Fighting Wildland Fires? Recent drought,
   unhealthy forest conditions and bark-beetle infestation indicate the
   potential for catastrophic wild fires, such as those seen in the past
   few years in the western United States, is increasing. The hazard to
   human life and property is extreme. According to a new USGS, University
   of California, and California State University study, published in the
   August International Journal of Wildland Fire, there are a few things
   that will improve a commonly used index to predict wildland fire for Los
   Angeles County, Calif. Find out how wildfire risk indices, which are
   used for multiple purposes (including insurance, urban planning,  and
   fire department resource management) can be modified to provide the most
   accurate predictions of wildfire danger.  For more information see
   http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/keeleypbaug2007.html or contact Jon
   Keeley at (559) 565-3170 or Jon_Keeley@xxxxxxxxx

   Doing the Dirtiest of Jobs Better: Wondering what happens to all the
   wastes we generate, especially those that are toxic? Gasoline, dry
   cleaning fluids and industrial solvents are potential toxic hazards that
   can contaminate the Nation’s lands and ground water and posing a risk to
   us and wildlife. The USGS, in cooperation with the Strategic
   Environmental Research and Development Program and Virginia Tech
   University, has developed a method for assessing the natural cleanup
   processes — known in the regulatory community as monitored natural
   attenuation — at toxic waste cleanup sites. Monitored natural
   attenuation is a combination of naturally occurring physical, chemical
   and/or biological processes that reduce, or even destroy, contaminants
   at toxic waste sites. Learn more by visiting
   http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/mna_circ.html or contacting Frank
   Chapelle at
   (803) 750-6116 or chapelle@xxxxxxxxx

   What Do Crickets Have to Say for Themselves? The mahogany Jerusalem
   cricket, has told one USGS geneticist a lot about its ancestry by
   letting its genes do the talking. Native to Southern California, this
   large, flightless insect is an ideal indicator species for monitoring
   the genetic effects of urban habitat fragmentation throughout the
   region. Analyzing DNA sequences from genes located in mitochrondria of
   this cricket, Vandergast and colleagues traced the origin of the species
   to the Pleistocene epoch, about 1.6 million years ago. To learn more
   about this and other conservation genetics research at USGS in Southern
   California, see http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sandiego/sdfsgenetics.html or
   contact Amy Vandergast at 619-225-6445 or avandergast@xxxxxxxxx

   A Whole Lot of Flappin’ Going On — Shorebird Travels from New Zealand to
   Alaska and Back: A female Bar-tailed Godwit, a large, streamlined
   shorebird, has touched down in New Zealand following an epic,
   18,000-mile-long (29,000 km) series of flights tracked by satellite,
   including the longest non-stop flight ever recorded for a land bird. The
   flight lasted more than eight days and a distance of 7,200 miles, the
   equivalent of making a roundtrip flight between New York and San
   Francisco, and then flying back again to San Francisco. It’s the longest
   flight ever recorded for a land bird. Find out how the data collected
   during this epic journey may be valuable in discussions of early warning
   monitoring protocols for avian flu virus. Check out
   http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/avian_influenza/index.html for
   Avian Influenza information and on going research. See
   http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/shorebirds/index.html for more
   information, or to track the flight of the Bar-tailed Godwit, contact
   Denver Makle at (703) 648-4732 or dmakle@xxxxxxxxx

   FEEDS (USGS tools and resources)

   USGS Holds Crystal Ball for Prediction of the Hypoxic Zone: Scientists
   from many agencies use nutrient and streamflow delivery data from the
   Mississippi River basin to predict the size of the hypoxic zone in the
   Gulf of Mexico. The hypoxic zone contains waters with low levels of
   dissolved oxygen, which can cause stress or death in bottom-dwelling
   organisms. The USGS collects water-quality samples and provides
   estimates of spring streamflow and nutrient loads each summer before the
   hypoxic zone forms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
   the Environmental Protection Agency, states and the Mississippi
   River-Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force use the data to
   assess the relation between nutrient loads and Gulf hypoxia and to
   develop nutrient reduction strategies. Access real-time nutrient
   information and annual reports and learn more about nutrients in the
   Mississippi River basin by logging onto the hypoxia Web site
   http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/ or EPA's Web site
   http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/taskforce/. For more information, contact
   Jennifer LaVista at (703) 648-4432 or jlavista@xxxxxxxxx

   Picturing the Birds and the Bees: Got a story, but need an image? The
   USGS has released a new Web site for its rapidly growing Digital Image
   Library http://images.nbii.gov. With 30,000 images in the queue, the new
   Digital Image Library has multiple ways for you to browse the
   collections and find the images you need. The images are also linked to
   detailed information — such as location, scientific and common names,
   and habitat and behavior descriptions — to support research, education
   and decision-making. For more information, contact Annette Olson at
   (703) 648-4080 or alolson@xxxxxxxxx

   STORY SEEDS (points to ponder or investigate)

   USGS Report on Endangered Pallid Sturgeon Habitat: The USGS recently
   published a report documenting the availability and quality of potential
   pallid sturgeon spawning habitat on the Lower Missouri River. Scientists
   surveyed about 800 miles of the river during low-water conditions from
   2003 to 2006 and mapped 443 potential spawning areas. Learn more about
   this multi-year, collaborative research study to determine factors
   leading to reproduction and survival of the endangered pallid sturgeon
   and the closely related shovelnose sturgeon.  The report and related
   maps are available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1192. For more
   information, contact Robert Jacobson at (573) 876-1844 or
   rjacobson@xxxxxxxxx

   Worldwide Water Monitoring: The USGS is a proud sponsor of the World
   Water Monitoring Day kick-off, Sept. 18. Citizens of the global
   community will join together Sept. 18 - Oct. 18 in this opportunity to
   positively impact the health of rivers, lakes, estuaries and other
   waters. Volunteer monitoring groups, water quality agencies, students
   and the general public may be testing the four key indicators of water
   quality: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity in a nearby
   river or stream. Visit
   http://www.usgs.gov/homepage/science_features/world_water_2007.asp and
   check back often for updates about USGS sponsored events. For more
   information, contact Jennifer LaVista at 703-648-4432 or
   jlavista@xxxxxxxxx

   .