Brad Marden

 

An Evaluation of Restoration and Recovery Within The Unending Aral Sea Ecological Disaster

The ecological, financial, agricultural, and human health consequences of the Aral Sea disaster have been thoroughly documented and reported. The steady decline in volume of the Aral Sea over the past 50+ years has caused indisputable damage to the health of humans and biota in the Aral/Caspian Basin. Efforts have been made to recover some of the beneficial uses of the Aral Sea and to improve the management of water in the Aral Sea watershed. While some projects have produced favorable outcomes, many others have met with little to no success due to institutional reasons or from implementation failures. In contrast, the World Bank funded dam project on the Small Aral Sea has been a demonstrable success in terms of restoring marine conditions to the Small Aral Sea capable of supporting the recovery of aquatic species including vertebrates and invertebrates. Ecological conditions of the northern bays of Tuschybas and Chernishov have similarly shown some limited improvements in limnological conditions and ecological functions. In spite of these improvements the region remains severely impacted by the demise of the Aral Sea. The pathway forward remains intertwined in international and regional conflicts over water development and usage and will certainly be influenced by the expansion of oil and gas development in the former seabed of the Aral Sea.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH FOR BRAD MARDEN

Education

PhD Candidate in Applied Biological Sciences: Ghent University, Belgium (Current)

Masters Degree in Environmental Toxicology: Western Washington University

Bachelors degree in Biology and Polar Studies: Middlebury College

Great Salt Lake

Farmington Bay ecological/ cyanobacteria investigation during the summer of 2013 (14 transect surveys)– Factors Influencing Cyanobacteria Blooms in Farmington Bay, Great Salt Lake, Utah; Central Davis Sewer District (CDSD) and the Jordan River/Farmington Bay Water Quality Council

Directed GSL research program for Great Salt Lake Artemia, Inc. from 2005-present

Conducted detailed ecological research on the GSL on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis for the past 14 years (over 200 ecological surveys of the GSL).

GSL Selenium Project: Directed Project 2b: Synoptic Survey of the Pelagic Zone: Selenium in Water, Seston and Artemia, 2006-2007

Directed GSL research program for INVE Aquaculture (a Belgian company) from 1999-2004

President of Avocet Artemia, Inc. (a brine shrimp company)—1997-2001

Foreign Travel and Research

Lake Urmia Crisis Recovery Team member 2014

Director of research programs on salt lakes in Russia (Siberia), Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan from 2000 to the present.

Extensive ongoing research on the Aral Sea, Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan, and the Altai region of Siberia.

Principal Research Scientist on NATO Science for Peace projects in Central Asia/Uzbekistan and Russia 2002-2007

Participant and member of : International Study Center for Urmia Lake, Iran (2014)

Current Employment

Great Salt Lake Artemia: Research coordinator

Parliament Fisheries, Inc.: Executive director

Weber State University / Health Sciences: Adjunct Faculty—Human Anatomy and Physiology

Former Research Positions

Wildlife Toxicology Group/ USEPA Corvallis Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon (toxicology research)

Transglobal Environmental Geosciences, Olympia, Washington (contaminant analysis)