Contact:  Michael Medler, Huxley College of the Environment, (360) 650-3173.

BELLINGHAM - The Huxley College Speaker Series at Western Washington University will host Katey Walter, a researcher and professor at University of Alaska Fairbanks, at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, in Communications Facility (CF) room 420. 

Walter will speak on her primary research interests of carbon cycling and greenhouse gas emissions from aquatic ecosystems, as well as feedback to climate change.  This presentation is free and open to the public.

Walter will discuss how methane emitted from arctic lakes is a significant but poorly understood component of the global atmospheric methane budget. Release of methane from arctic lakes is expected to increase dramatically as climate warming accelerates thaw and degradation of permafrost. There is high potential for a strong positive feedback to the climate system from arctic methane emissions. She will present data from several years of observing methane bubbling from lakes in Alaska and Siberia. 

Walter's work has been featured on National Public Radio, the BBC, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and in the New York Times. She works directly with Western students as part of the Polaris Project: www.thepolarisproject.org.

Anyone interested in these issues is encouraged to come and participate. The presentation will examine opportunities for addressing these issues and include a question and answer period. The speaker series is held by Western's Huxley College of the Environment to bring together the environmental studies/ science community and other interested members of the WWU and Bellingham communities. Speakers address topics of contemporary environmental concern in the region and the world.

WWU's Huxley College of the Environment is one of the oldest environmental colleges in the nation and a recognized national leader in producing the next generation of environmental stewards.  The College's academic programs reflect a broad view of the physical, biological, social and cultural world. This innovative and interdisciplinary approach makes Huxley unique. The College has earned international recognition for the quality of its programs.

For a parking permit or information, please stop at the south campus Visitor Center, open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays. There is a $2 hourly charge for parking from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Parking meters at various campus locations cost $2 an hour, 24 hours/7 days.

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