Acid in the Environment

The Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies at Connecticut College is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program that builds on one of the nation's leading undergraduate environmental studies programs. The Center fosters research, education and curriculum development aimed at under­ standing contemporary ecological challenges. One of the major goals of the Good­ win-Niering Center involves enhancing the understanding of both the College com­ munity and the general public with respect to ecological, political, social, and economic factors that affect natural resource use. To this end, the Center has offered five conferences at which academicians, representatives of federal and state govern­ ment, and individuals from non-government environmental organizations are brought together for an in-depth, interdisciplinary evaluation of important environ­ mental issues. On April 1 and 2, 2005, the Center presented the Elizabeth Babbott Conant interdisciplinary conference on Acid in the Environment: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects. The Connecticut Institute of Water Resources at the Univer­ sity of Connecticut, the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program joined the Center as conference sponsors. During the past twenty five years acid rain, formally referred to as acid deposi­ tion, has been the focus of much political debate and scholarly research. Acid dep­ osition occurs when important precursor pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NO^), mix with water vapor and oxidants in the atmosphere and fall back to earth in either wet or dry form.