NH Department of Environmental Services Shellfish Program Activities, January 2006 – December 2006

This report summarizes the activities of the NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) Shellfish Program for the period of January 2006 to December 2006, emphasizing those tasks for which NHDES received direct funding from the NH Estuaries Project. The NHDES Shellfish Program conducts a number of activities to minimize the health risks associated with consuming shellfish, and to continue to comply with National Shellfish Sanitation Program guidelines. These include water sampling on a prescheduled/randomized basis, as well as a pollution source identification and evaluation program. These sampling programs are supplemented by other activities aimed at improving the management of conditionally-approved harvesting areas. Augmented sampling in conditionally approved areas after rainfall events and/or sewage treatment plant upsets provides information to improve management decisions and, in some cases, increase harvesting opportunities. A study to compare results from two different bacterial analysis methods (the traditional fecal coliform Most Probable Number, or MPN, test, and a newer fecal coliform membrane filtration test using mTEC agar) was initiated in 2004 and continued through 2006. The results of the study will help DES determine how classification of growing areas might change if the lessexpensive mTEC test is chosen to replace the traditional MPN method. Sanitary surveys were completed for the Hampton/Seabrook Estuary, as well as for the Piscataqua River (North) growing area, which encompasses the tidal portions of the Cocheco River, Salmon Falls River, and Upper Piscataqua River. Future work will focus on maintaining the classifications established by sanitary surveys conducted since 2000. The remaining 13 percent of unclassified estuarine waters will be periodically evaluated to determine if/when sanitary surveys should be conducted

NHDES Shellfish Program Activities, Jan -Dec 2004, Nash, C

This report summarizes the activities of the NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) Shellfish Program for the period of January 2004 to December 2004. The NHDES Shellfish Program conducts a number of activities to minimize the health risks associated with consuming shellfish, and to continue to comply with National Shellfish Sanitation Program guidelines. Among basic program functions is a routine water quality monitoring program, which involved the collection of nearly 800 samples at over 70 sites in 2004, the results of which are used to ensure that assessments of water quality for all areas are kept up-to-date. Weekly “red tide” monitoring was critical for early detection of dangerous levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning toxin in offshore waters in August, leading a nearly one-month closure to all harvesting in the Atlantic coastal waters. The program’s pollution source identification and evaluation program involved the collection of nearly 200 water samples, used to guide proper classification of the receiving waters. A number of other studies and sampling programs, including effluent dilution/dispersion studies of the Newmarket and Dover wastewater treatment facilities, were completed. A particularly useful sampling program has been the initiation of post-rainfall water and shellfish tissue sampling in conditionally approved areas. This program improved management decisions and increased harvesting opportunities in Hampton/Seabrook Harbor, providing data that drove decisions to open the flats on most of the 16 days that the harbor was available for harvesting. Sanitary surveys were completed for Great Bay, and are near completion for Little Bay and the Bellamy River. Surveys for Hampton/Seabrook Harbor, the Cocheco River, Salmon Falls River, and the Upper Piscataqua River have been initiated and are scheduled for completion in 2005

Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Suspended Solids Concentrations in Tributaries to the Great Bay Estuary Watershed in 2013

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads to the Great Bay Estuary are a growing concern. The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) calculates the nitrogen load from tributaries to the Great Bay Estuary for its State of Our Estuaries reports. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to collect representative data on nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment concentrations in tributaries to the Great Bay Estuary in 2013. The study design followed the tributary sampling design which was implemented by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services between 2001 and 2007 and by the University of New Hampshire between 2008 and 2012, so as to provide comparable data to the previous loading estimates

Building LGBT Nonprofit Leadership Talent: Thoughts and Suggestions for LGBT Organizations and Funders

Offers a model for supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender nonprofit leadership development: define strategic aims and recruit, manage, develop, and retain talent. Includes practical guidance and list of LGBT leadership development programs

Book review: the relevance of political science

A new collection engages directly with how political science can achieve wider relevance as a discipline. Matt Wood finds The Relevance of Political Science a must read for any scholar interested in the impact debate and he welcomes a return to the more social constructivist ideas of impact through teaching and learning. But there is a risk this relevance debate descends into a Buzzfeed world of hints and tips. More attention could be spent justifying to society why the theoretical and conceptual work political scientists already do is intimately valuable in any democratic society

Europe's legitimacy crisis isn't just about identity, it's about institutions

The UK’s decision to vote for Brexit has been viewed by many observers as proof that the European Union suffers from a deep crisis of legitimacy. As Matt Wood highlights, this crisis is often conceived of in identity terms, with a large number of EU citizens no longer feeling ‘European’ or identifying with the goals of European integration. However, he argues that while public identification with Europe is important, the roots of the EU’s legitimacy crisis lie within the EU institutions and their perceived distance from citizens

How the UK’s trade deals will impact healthcare access across Europe

How might the negotiations over the future UK-EU relationship affect healthcare access? Drawing on a new research briefing, Matt Wood provides a detailed assessment of the impact UK-EU and UK-US trade agreements may have on healthcare across Europe

Sex Talk: Designing for Sexual Health with Adolescents

In this paper, we describe a user-centred design process, where we engaged with 58 adolescents over an 18-month period to design and evaluate a multiplayer mobile game which prompts peer-led interactions around sex and sexuality. Engagement with our design process, and response to our game, has been enthusiastic, highlighting the rich opportunities for HCI to contribute constructively to how HCI may contribute to sexual health in adolescents. Based on our experiences we discuss three lessons learnt: lightweight digital approaches can be extremely successful at facilitating talk among young people about sex; sharing control of the conversation between all stakeholders is a fair and achievable approach; even problematic interactions can be opportunities to talk about sex