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From: Jack Saba [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
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To: Norm Saunders
Subject: OK to post on the Osprey?

Dr. James Smith, Senior Scientist, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Space-Based Ornithology: On the Wings of Migration and Biophysics

Wednesday, Sept 11, 11:30-12:30 am
Library of Congress Pickford Theater
3rd floor, Madison Building

PRESS RELEASE:
August 28, 2008

Press contact:  Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639, 
Public contact:  Science, Technology and Business Division (202)  
707-5664
                           NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (301)  
614-6627

SPACE-BASED ORNITHOLOGY TO BE DISCUSSED
BY NASA SCIENTIST, SEPT. 10

             James Smith, NASA senior scientist, was watching birds at  
a backyard feeder not long ago, when he began to consider the  
possibility of studying man's feathered friends from space.  Could  
spaced-based observations be used to reveal changes in bird migration?
              According to Smith, changes in avian diversity and in  
patterns of bird migration present some of the most compelling and  
challenging problems of modern biology, with important implications  
for human health and conservation ecology.
             Smith will address the topic in a lecture titled "Space- 
Based Ornithology: On the Wings of Migration and Biophysics" at 11:30  
a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in the Mary Pickford Theater on the third  
floor of the Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington,  
D.C.  The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not  
required.
             Smith's talk will cover his development of tools that  
might help to answer questions on how drought, floods and changing  
climate affect bird migration, and how human alterations to wetland  
geography may affect migratory patterns.
The illustrated lecture, the fourth in a series of programs in 2008,  
is presented through a partnership between the Library's Science,  
Technology and Business Division and the NASA Goddard Space Flight  
Center (GSFC).
             Smith is a senior scientist and Goddard Senior Fellow in  
the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at GSFC.   
Previously, he was associate chief of the Science Information Systems  
Center and head of the Biospheric Sciences Branch at GSFC.  Earlier in  
his career, he was a professor in the College of Forestry and Natural  
Resources at Colorado State University, where he developed a research  
program in remote sensing.
             Smith also serves as an associate editor for the monthly  
journal Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, covering the  
section on Visible and Infrared Remote Sensing.  With a strong  
commitment to improving undergraduate science and engineering  
education, Smith serves as a commissioner and team chair for the ABET  
(Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) Computing Science  
Accreditation Board.  He also serves on the NATO Science for Peace and  
Environmental Security Panel.
             The recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and  
other awards and fellowships, Smith earned his academic degrees from  
the University of Michigan and the Johns Hopkins University.
             The Library of Congress maintains one of the largest and  
most diverse collections of scientific and technical information in  
the world.  The Science, Technology and Business Division provides  
reference and bibliographic services and develops the general  
collections of the Library in all areas of science, technology,  
business and economics.  For more information, visit www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/

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