Appalachian Research Initiative for Environmental Science (ARIES)

Visit the ARIES home page at the Virginia Center for Coal & Energy Research website.

http://www.energy.vt.edu/aries/

Call for Abstracts - Abstract submissions due by APRIL 1, 2012

This conference is aimed at bringing together interested parties from around the world to exchange ideas on energy production, including mining, oil and gas production and electrical power generation, and the impacts on the environment and society. The goals of this meeting are: to discuss 1) existing and emerging problems, 2) appropriate and innovative solutions and, 3) best practices and techniques; and to develop collaborations and open dialog on the impacts of energy production on the environment. Many of the issues relate to how environmental impacts and energy production in general affect community well-being and human health.

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The West Virginia Water Research Institute is one of 9 partners in the ARIES program.

ARIES was formed to address the environmental impacts of the discovery, development, production, and use of energy resources in Appalachia, and is under the direction of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech.

The purpose of ARIES is to engage in detailed studies of the environmental impacts of the mining, gas, and energy sectors in Appalachia, focusing on both upstream (mining, drilling, and processing) and downstream (water, land, and air) issues. To meet that purpose, ARIES will conduct scientific inquiry and research, foster publication and contribute to the relevant literature, and engage in outreach efforts to share and disseminate results. Initially, work carried out by ARIES will focus on the coal mining industry.

The members of ARIES have undertaken a carefully-structured array of interrelated studies, currently divided into six primary focus areas: