Mark Nelson (scientist)

Dr. Mark Nelson (born 29 May 1947) is an American ecologist and author based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A. He is the founding director of the Institute of Ecotechnics. His research focuses on closed ecological system research, ecological engineering, restoration of damaged ecosystems and wastewater recycling.

Early life and education

Nelson was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated summa cum laude in 1968 with a B.A. from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. In 1996 he received a Masters Degree from the School of Renewable Natural Resources at the University of Arizona, Tucson. In 1998 he received his Ph.D., from the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida. He studied under the renowned systems ecologist and founder of ecological engineering, Professor H.T. Odum and worked with the university’s Center for Wetlands. His dissertation studied “Wastewater Gardens”; biodiverse constructed wetlands designed for sewage treatment and water re-use.[1]

Institute of Ecotechnics

The Institute of Ecotechnics[2] was founded in 1973, in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is also registered in the U.K. Since 1982 Nelson has served as Chairman of the Institute.[3][4] He chairs the annual conferences of the Institute, which are held at Les Marronniers Conference Centre, Aix-en-Provence, France and at Synergia Ranch, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Institute of Ecotechnics has developed ecotechnic demonstration projects around the world, including:

Synergia Ranch, Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a 130 acre property in the temperate, semi-arid grass and juniper ecology of northern New Mexico. The Institute’s goal is to reverse a history of land degradation. Nelson is currently manager of the organic vegetable gardens and helps maintain the orchards, which were originally planted in the 1970s.[2][3]

Birdwood Downs, Derby, West Australia , is a 4300 acre property in the tropical savannah region of NW Australia, Nelson was the first general manager on the project which focuses on pasture regeneration [5][6] and educating and training area residents in land restoration, cattle and horse management and horticulture methods.

Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico, 1100 acres of second growth forest in the mountains of Puerto Rico, a project developing sustainable tropical forestry methods.[7][8] Nelson served on several research programs, which also employed volunteers sent by the Earthwatch Institute.[9][10] He has co-authored several papers on programs begun in the mid 1980s.[11][12]

Mark Nelson chairs the 2011 Institute of Ecotechnics annual conference, at Les Marronniers, Aix-en-Provence, France.

Biosphere 2

Nelson was a member of the eight person “biospherian” crew that lived inside Biosphere 2 for two years, between 1991 and 1993.[13][14][15] Biosphere is a 3.15 acre materially closed facility located in Oracle, Arizona. He served as the Director of Earth and Space Applications for the project and was a member of Biosphere 2’s Board of Directors [16]

Mark Nelson tending a crop of lab beans in the Biosphere 2 agricultural Biome, during the 1991-1993 closure.

Space Bioregenerative Life Support Research

Nelson continues to work in the field of closed ecological systems and bioregenerative life support systems,[17] furthering the research begun at Biosphere 2. Nelson was an Associate Editor of the journal Advances in Space Research, from 2000-2013. He is now an associate editor of Life Sciences in Space Research and has served as co-chair of the COSPAR (International Committee on Space Research) panel on closed ecological systems [18]

"Wastewater Gardens"

Nelson is the founder and principal of Wastewater Gardens International and the author of the just published “Wastewater Gardener: Preserving the Planet One Flush at a Time”, Synergetic Press, 2014.[19][20] His company operates around the world, including recently in the marshlands of southern Iraq. WWG-I designs and builds constructed wetlands for sewage purification and water recycling. More than 150 systems have been installed in 12 countries, so far. Wastewater Gardens are particularly suitable for remote and isolated communities. They are designed to minimize technological or chemical input and rely on the natural ecological function of plants and microbes using sunlight and gravity-flow.[21][22][23]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Nelson, Mark (1998). "Limestone Mesocosm for Recycling Saline Wastewater in Coastal Yucatan, Mexico". Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences (University of Florida, Gainesville) (Ph.D. Dissertation).
  2. 1 2 Allen, John; Snyder, T.P; Nelson, Mark (1984). "The Institute of Ecotechnics". The Environmentalist 4: 205–218. doi:10.1007/bf02334671.
  3. 1 2 Allen, John (2009). Me and the biospheres : a memoir by the inventor of Biosphere 2. Santa Fe, N.M.: Synergetic Press. ISBN 0907791379.
  4. ↑ Rieder, Rebecca (2009). Dreaming the Biosphere: The Theater of All Possibilities. Albuquerque, NM: UNM Press. ISBN 9780826346759.
  5. ↑ Prior, Flip (August 14, 2010). "Biosphere Birdwood - The Minds behind a Kimberley Savannah Want Us to Rethink the Way We Live". The West Australian.
  6. ↑ Nelson, M., 1985. Synergetic Management of the Savannahs, in (eds. Tothill, J.C. and Mott, J.) Ecology and Management of the World's Savannahs, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, Australia.
  7. ↑ Colón, Luis Francisco Baerga (November 2010). Las Casas de la Selva: model of sustainable forest development. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Prensa Communitaria.
  8. ↑ Vakil, Thrity. "Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry Project in Puerto Rico". http://www.lifeartsmedia.com/. Life Arts Media. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Torr, Geordie (September 2008). "The wood for the trees". http://www.geographical.co.uk/. Geographical Magazine.
  10. ↑ "Mark Nelson". earthwatch.org. Earth Watch. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Nelson, M.; Silverstone, S.; Reiss, K.C.; Vakil, T.; Robertson, M. (2011). "Enriched secondary subtropical forest through line-planting for sustainable timber production in Puerto Rico". Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 309 (3): 51–63.
  12. ↑ Nelson, M.; Silverstone, S.; Burrowes, P.; Joglar, R.; Robertson, M.; Vakil, T. (2010). "The Impact of Hardwood Line-Planting on Tree and Amphibian Biodiversity in a Secondary Wet Tropical Forest, Southeast Puerto Rico". Journal of Sustainable Forestry 29 (5): 503–516. doi:10.1080/10549810903479045.
  13. ↑ Juniper, Tony (2014). What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?. Synergetic Press. ISBN 9780907791485.
  14. ↑ Levine, Alaina (2012). "A World Within". Cosmos Magazine 45: 84–88.
  15. ↑ Kevin Kelly, Whole Earth Review, 1992. "Biosphere 2 at One"
  16. ↑ Kelly, Kevin, 1994. Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World, Addison-Wesley, New York.
  17. ↑ Morowitz, H.; Allen, J.; Nelson, M.; Alling, A. (2005). "Closure as a Scientific Concept and its Application to Ecosystem Ecology and the Science of the Biosphere". Advances in Space Research 36 (7): 1305–1311. Bibcode:2005AdSpR..36.1305M. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2005.06.045.
  18. ↑ Nelson, M.; Dempster, W.; Allen, J. (2009). "The Water Cycle in Closed Ecological Systems: Perspectives from the Biosphere 2 and Laboratory Biosphere Systems". Advances in Space Research 44 (12): 1404–1412. Bibcode:2009AdSpR..44.1404N. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2009.06.008.
  19. ↑ "The Wastewater Gardener Preserving the Planet One Flush at a Time". Reviewed by Rachel Jagareski, Foreword Reviews. August 27, 2014
  20. ↑ "The Gardening Shelf: Wastewater Gardner". Midwest Book Review.
  21. ↑ Prior, Flip (13 August 2010). "Wastewater Recycling Brings in the Green". The West Australian.
  22. ↑ Franklyn, Patrick, 2006. Waste not, want not. Sydney Morning Herald, June 8, 2006.
  23. ↑ DeSena, Mary, 1997. Constructed Wetlands provide Water Treatment for Developing Countries. US Water News, 1997.

External links

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