An atmospheric and oceanic science specialist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be the first speaker in a series of colloquium forums, focusing on the timely issue of climate change. The series is sponsored by the College of Natural Resources (CNR) at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

The first colloquium on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. in CNR Room 170, will feature John Norman, professor of soil science and atmospheric and oceanic science at UW-Madison.

Norman�s talk, "The Global Energy Budget and Climate Change," focuses on the role of energy stores and flows and the climate system. In addition, he will discuss the concepts of energy transfers and energy budgets connected to global climate change.

Norman received his doctorate from Madison in 1971 and then obtained a 14-month fellowship in the botany department at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He then became an associate professor of meteorology at Penn State University. In 1978 he joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a professor of agronomy. He joined the UW-Madison faculty in 1988 where he conducts biophysical research involving studies of the interaction between plants and their environments, such as plant, soil and atmospheric characteristics.

The colloquium series continues on Wednesday, Oct. 25 with Ken Menningen, UWSP associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will present "The Hydrogen Hope: A Quest for Oil-free Energy." On Wednesday, Nov. 29, John Magnuson, emeritus professor of zoology and past director of the Center for Limnology at UW-Madison, will give a talk titled "Changing Climate and Waters of Wisconsin." The forums are held in CNR Room 170 at 4 p.m.

Other colloquium speakers may be added in the coming weeks. Katherine Clancy, assistant professor of water resources, is colloquium coordinator this semester.

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