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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Development Of A Stakeholder-Driven Spatial Modeling Framework For Strategic Landscape Planning Using Bayesian Networks Across Two Urban-Rural Gradients In Maine, Usa, Spencer Meyer, Michelle Johnson, Robert Lilieholm, Christopher Cronan
Development Of A Stakeholder-Driven Spatial Modeling Framework For Strategic Landscape Planning Using Bayesian Networks Across Two Urban-Rural Gradients In Maine, Usa, Spencer Meyer, Michelle Johnson, Robert Lilieholm, Christopher Cronan
Publications
Land use change results from frequent, independent actions by decision-makers working in isolation, often with a focus on a single land use. In order to develop integrated land use policies that encourage sustainable outcomes, scientists and practitioners must understand the specific drivers of land use change across mixed land use types and ownerships, and must consider the combined influences of biophysical, economic, and social factors that affect land use decisions. In this analysis of two large watersheds covering a total of 1.9 million hectares in Maine, USA, we co-developed with groups of stakeholders land use suitability models that integrated four …
Bridging The Divide: Tensions Between The Biophysical And Social Sciences In An Interdisciplinary Sustainability Science Project, Susan Gardner
Bridging The Divide: Tensions Between The Biophysical And Social Sciences In An Interdisciplinary Sustainability Science Project, Susan Gardner
Publications
Interdisciplinary research has gained tremendous popularity in higher education over the past several decades and funding for such efforts through federal agencies has underscored its relevance. In sustainability science, in particular, interdisciplinarity is seen as integral to the research endeavor. However, a paucity of empirical evidence exists regarding the process of interdisciplinary endeavors, particularly those that cross the social-biophysical science divide. The current study incorporated insights over a four-year period from 25 faculty members involved in a large, interdisciplinary effort at one institution of higher education in the United States. Issues of disciplinary status, power, and hierarchy were prevalent in …
Land Conservation In Northern New England: Historic Trends And Alternative Conservation Features, Spencer Meyer, Christopher Cronan, Robert J. Lilieholm, Michelle Johnson, David Foster
Land Conservation In Northern New England: Historic Trends And Alternative Conservation Features, Spencer Meyer, Christopher Cronan, Robert J. Lilieholm, Michelle Johnson, David Foster
Publications
Protected areas (PAs) are an important component of the global conservation strategy and understanding the past drivers of land protection can inform future conservation planning. Socioeconomic and policy drivers of protection vary through time and space, but a lack of spatio-temporal data limit the ability to conduct retrospective analyses of PAs. We developed a spatio-temporal database covering 90% of area in PAs in northern New England in the U.S. to quantify trends in the extent, rate of increase, ownership characteristics, and level of protection from 1800 to 2010. We found an accelerating rate of protection and an increase in the …
Interdisciplinarity And Actionable Science: Exploring The Generative Potential In Difference, Bridie Mcgreavy, Linda Silka, Laura Lindenfeld
Interdisciplinarity And Actionable Science: Exploring The Generative Potential In Difference, Bridie Mcgreavy, Linda Silka, Laura Lindenfeld
Publications
Community practice and actionable science share a commitment to solving complex problems to promote sustainability. Collective abilities to address these types of problems rely on interdisciplinary collaborations that also offer unique challenges. In this case study of a statewide interdisciplinary setting, we focus on key methodological differences related to problem identification, stakeholder involvement, competing research paradigms, and orientations towards communication. We argue the generative potential in interdisciplinarity is enhanced through sustained effort and attention to difference; acceptance of the ethical responsibility to reflect critically on power in shared decision making spaces; and strategic interventions to continually promote and improve learning.
On The Travel Emissions Of Sustainability Science Research, Timothy M. Waring, Mario F. Teisl, Eva Manandhar, Mark Anderson
On The Travel Emissions Of Sustainability Science Research, Timothy M. Waring, Mario F. Teisl, Eva Manandhar, Mark Anderson
Publications
This paper presents data on carbon emissions generated by travel undertaken for a major sustainability science research effort. Previous research has estimated CO2 emissions generated by individual scientists, by entire academic institutions, or by international climate conferences. Here, we sought to investigate the size, distribution and factors affecting the carbon emissions of travel for sustainability research in particular. Reported airline and automobile travel of participants in Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative were used to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions attributable to research-related travel over a three-year period. Carbon emissions varied substantially by researcher and by purpose of travel. Travel for the …
The Complementary Niches Of Anthropocentric And Biocentric Conservationists, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr., Kent H. Redford, David Lindenmayer
The Complementary Niches Of Anthropocentric And Biocentric Conservationists, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr., Kent H. Redford, David Lindenmayer
Publications
A divergence of values has become apparent in recent debates between conservationists who focus on ecosystem services that can improve human well-being and those who focus on avoiding the extinction of species. These divergent points of view fall along a continuum from anthropocentric to biocentric values, but most conservationists are relatively closer to each other than to the ends of the spectrum. We have some concerns with both positions but emphasize that conservation for both people and all other species will be most effective if conservationists focus on articulating the values they all share, being respectful of divergent values, and …
Cooperation Across Organizational Boundaries: Experimental Evidence From A Major Sustainability Science Project, Timothy M. Waring, Sandra Goff, Julia B. Mcguire, Dylan Moore, Abigail Sullivan
Cooperation Across Organizational Boundaries: Experimental Evidence From A Major Sustainability Science Project, Timothy M. Waring, Sandra Goff, Julia B. Mcguire, Dylan Moore, Abigail Sullivan
Publications
Engaged research emphasizes researcher–stakeholder collaborations as means of improving the relevance of research outcomes and the chances for science-based decision-making. Sustainability science, as a form of engaged research, depends on the collaborative abilities and cooperative tendencies of researchers. We use an economic experiment to measure cooperation between university faculty, local citizens, and faculty engaged in a large sustainability science project to test a set of hypotheses: (1) faculty on the sustainability project will cooperate more with local residents than non-affiliated faculty, (2) sustainability faculty will have the highest level of internal cooperation of any group, and (3) that cooperation may …
Entertaining Our Way To Engagement? Climate Change Films And Sustainable Development Values, Laura Lindenfeld, Bridie Mcgreavy
Entertaining Our Way To Engagement? Climate Change Films And Sustainable Development Values, Laura Lindenfeld, Bridie Mcgreavy
Publications
How we communicate about climate change shapes our response tothe most complex and challenging issue society currently faces. In this paper,we conduct a discursive analysis and ideological critique of stereotypicalrepresentations in three climate change films: The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy (2008) and An Inconvenient Truth (2006).We argue that these films situate their treatment of climate change in anarrative context that reiterates troubling stereotypes about race/ethnicity,gender, and sexuality. These representations do not align with key sustainabledevelopment goals such as equity, freedom, and shared responsibility. Ouressay demonstrates how the stories we consume about climate change as weentertain …