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Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2020: 18th Annual (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

Adaptive Injustice: Responsibility To Act In The Plastics Economy, Katie Conlon

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

How can plastic material be reduced, reused, repurposed, or salvaged so it is kept out of rivers, oceans and ecosystems in general? Social awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution is growing, and creative, social solutions to the ‘plastic menace’ are popping up globally. Every day, one can read about the latest, innovative method for managing plastic waste at the local level: plastic PET bottles stuffed with plastic-film food wrappers to make ‘ecobricks;’ paving roads with plastic waste; making yoga-wear out of marine plastic pollution; weaving plastic into tote bags; using a 3D printer to make plastic into products for …

Centering Equity In Oregon’S 100 Year Water Vision: A Student-Led Policy Paper Prepared By The Oregon Water Stories Team At Portland State University, Clare T. Mcclellan, Sadie Boyers, Victoria Cali De Leon, Tony Cole, Laura Cowley-Martinson, Shersten Finley, Dustin Lanker, Julia Seydel, Aakash Nath Upraity, Janet Cowal, Melissa Haeffner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this report is to provide evidence for the need to further intentionally incorporate equity into Oregon’s 100 Year Water Vision. Four case studies contextualize this need and highlight the variety of water issues throughout the state, supported by linguistic analyses of local newspapers. As Oregon policy-makers are responsible for ensuring working water systems for all Oregonians, we also suggest implementable criteria for the evaluation of equity in water issues and decision-making. This student-led and interdisciplinary report comes from the Haeffner-Cowal Oregon Water Stories research lab at Portland State University.

The Effects Of Historical Housing Policies On Resident Exposure To Intra-Urban Heat: A Study Of 108 Us Urban Areas, Jeremy Hoffman, Vivek Shandas, Nicholas Pendleton

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The increasing intensity, duration, and frequency of heat waves due to human-caused climate change puts historically underserved populations in a heightened state of precarity, as studies observe that vulnerable communities—especially those within urban areas in the United States—are disproportionately exposed to extreme heat. Lacking, however, are insights into fundamental questions about the role of historical housing policies in cauterizing current exposure to climate inequities like intra-urban heat. Here, we explore the relationship between “redlining”, or the historical practice of refusing home loans or insurance to whole neighborhoods based on a racially motivated perception of safety for investment, with present-day summertime …

Food Waste Knowledge, Attitudes, And Behavioral Intentions Among University Students, Manar Arica Alattar, James Delaney, Jennifer L. Morse, Max Nielsen-Pincus

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

After policy change, educational programming has been cited as one of the most powerful tools for improving food systems and decreasing food waste. University students represent a population in which emerging habits, skills, and identity may be targeted easily and changed through on-campus educational programming. To understand how to best implement programming on impacts of food, food waste, and related issues, the factors that underlie students’ behaviors related to food waste must be understood. We analyzed factors that influence food waste–related behaviors within a university student population to understand the potential for improving targeted, school-based food waste diversion programming. Four …

Curriculum Change 2020-2021, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Interview With Marvin Kaiser, Marvin Kaiser, Oona Fisher Campbell

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Marvin Kaiser was interviewed by Oona Fisher Campbell on May 15, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Also participating in the interview are Patricia Schechter and Cleophas Chambliss.

In this interview, Kaiser, who has a background in social work, discusses the structural obstacles in our society that create conflict and emphasizes the role that the university and higher education in general can play as a community public service.

The Impact Of Paying For Forest Conservation On Perceived Tenure Security In Ecuador, Kelly W. Jones, Nicolle Etchart, Margaret Holland, Lisa Naughton-Treves, Rodrigo A. Arriagada

Forest Collaborative Research

We study the impact of Ecuador’s national forest conservation incentives program on reported land conflicts. Data come from a survey of > 900 households located within 49 indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian communities holding communal conservation contracts.We use quasi-experimental methods to test for relationships between program participation and changes in land conflicts. Respondents reported that the program reduced land conflicts when households resided in communities with de facto communal tenure arrangements (vs. de facto semiprivate arrangements).We find no evidence that the conservation incentive program increased land conflicts. These results counter concerns that conservation payments undermine land tenure security; in some cases perceived tenure …

Real-Time Evaluation Of City–University Partnerships For Sustainability And Resilience, Liliana Elizabeth Caughman, Lauren Withycombe Keeler, Fletcher Beaudoin

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Cities face many challenges in their efforts to create more sustainable and resilient urban environments for their residents. Among these challenges is the structure of city administrations themselves. Partnerships between cities and universities are one way that cities can address some of the internal structural barriers to transformation. However, city–university partnerships do not necessarily generate transformative outcomes, and relationships between cities and universities are complicated by history, politics, and the structures the partnerships are attempting to overcome. In this paper, focus groups and trial evaluations from five city–university partnerships in three countries are used to develop a formative evaluation tool …

Statistical Analysis Of Social Network Change, Teresa Danielle Schmidt

Dissertations and Theses

This project explores two statistical methods that infer social network structures and statistically test those structures for change over time: regression-based differential network analysis (R-DNA) and information theory-based differential analysis (I-DNA). R-DNA is adapted from bioinformatics and I-DNA employs reconstructability analysis.

This project applies both R-DNA and I-DNA to analyze Medicaid claims data from one-year periods before (May 2011- Apr 2012) and after (Jan 2013-Dec 2013) the formation of the Health Share of Oregon Coordinated Care Organization (CCO). The formation of CCOs was legislated by the state of Oregon in 2012 with the triple aim of improving health outcomes, reducing …

Concept Note: Mexico, Danae Hernandez, Alejandro López-Feldman, Fernanda Márquez-Padilla

Forest Collaborative Research

Slides from a presentation that explores the connections between forest cover and deforestation on human health. The authors analyze medical records from the Mexican National Social Security Institute (IMSS) to determine the extent to which health outcomes are related to proximity to forests or deforested areas.

Forests And Mental Health In South Africa: Panel Data Evidence, Dambala Gelo

Forest Collaborative Research

Slides from a presentation that examines the linkages between the green environment (urban forests, green open urban space) and mental health in South Africa. The author used representative panel data from the National Income Dynamics Survey, including the Center for Epidemiological Studies Short Depression Scale, to uncover these links.

Economics Of Afforestation: A Global Leadership Opportunity For Efd, Jeffrey R. Vincent

Forest Collaborative Research

Slides from a presentation that examines the economics of afforestation and forest restoration in light of climatic changes, rising CO₂ levels, carbon sequestration and other factors. Provides directions for further research, including retrospective analysis of previous afforestation projects, and targeted analysis of impediments to institutional investment in afforestation.

Urban-Rural Surface Temperature Deviation And Intra-Urban Variations Contained By An Urban Growth Boundary, Kevan B. Moffett, Yasuyo Makido, Vivek Shandas

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The urban heat island (UHI) concept describes heat trapping that elevates urban temperatures relative to rural temperatures, at least in temperate/humid regions. In drylands, urban irrigation can instead produce an urban cool island (UCI) effect. However, the UHI/UCI characterization suffers from uncertainty in choosing representative urban/rural endmembers, an artificial dichotomy between UHIs and UCIs, and lack of consistent terminology for other patterns of thermal variation at nested scales. We use the case of a historically well-enforced urban growth boundary (UGB) around Portland (Oregon, USA): to explore the representativeness of the surface temperature UHI (SUHI) as derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging …

Social Vulnerability To Large Wildfires In The Western Usa, Palaiologos Palaiologou, Alan A. Ager, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Cody Evers, Michelle A. Day

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Federal land managers in the US can be informed with quantitative assessments of the social conditions of the populations affected by wildfires originating on their administered lands in order to incorporate and adapt their management strategy to achieve a more targeted prioritization of community wildfire protection investments. In addition, these assessments are valuable to socially vulnerable communities for quantifying their exposure to wildfires originating on adjacent land tenures. We assessed fire transmission patterns using fire behavior simulations to understand spatial variations across three diverse study areas (North-central Washington; Central California; and Northern New Mexico) to understand how different land tenures …

Do Corporate Owned Adaptive Learning Platforms Perpetuate Banking Style Learning? Integrating Technology For Activism Into Transformational Sustainability Education, Tina M. Garner

Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers

We live in a world that tends to be controlled by corporations. The public school system should be wary of the problems that corporate control has on education. Even though public schools should not have corporate influence, the fact remains that they do, and this perpetuates Freire's banking style learning. Through time, the corporate influence in education was through educational materials such as book sales. Since the decline of the use of books and the growth of the use of technologies, corporations have followed suit through the sales of Adaptive Learning Platforms. Through leveraging the technology which students enjoy using, …

Lloyd Urban Village (Luv), East Portland, Shellee Mccullick, Cait Olds, Eriko Shimada, Damon Tidwell, Eric Zechenelly, Nikki Zhao

Real Estate Development Workshop Projects

The LUV consists of 4 buildings with a central public gathering space. This new development has two primary goals:

1. Create a pedestrian friendly urban village in Lloyd that will draw the public to this burgeoning entertainment district.

2. Build a marketable and profitable development that will provide the highest and best use for the site.

Synergies And Tradeoffs Among Sdgs And Policies (Syntrap) - June 2019, John A. Oldekop

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focuses on the following research questions:

1) Under what conditions do policies and programs aimed at achieving SDG 15—in particular by conserving or restoring forests—promote or inhibit achieving other SDGs?

2) Under what conditions do policies and programs aimed at achieving SDGs other than SDG 15 promote or inhibit achieving SDG 15?

3) Under what conditions do various policies and programs aimed at conserving or restoring forests (SDG 15) have synergies or tradeoffs with each other?

4) What policy lessons can be learnt from cases where synergies and tradeoffs have occurred, and how can these lessons be used to …

Key Emerging Issues For Forests And Livelihoods In The 21st Century - June 2019, John A. Oldekop, Laura Vang Rasmussen, Arun Agrawal, Anthony Bebbington, David N. Bengston, Allen Blackman, S. Brooks, Iain Davidson-Hunt, Penny Davies, S. C. Dinsi, L. B. Fontana, T. Gumucio, C. Kumar, K. Kumar, P. Meyfroidt, D. Moran, T. H. Mwampamba, Robert Nasi, Margareta Nilsson, Miguel A. Pinedo-Vasquez, Jeanine M. Rhemtulla, William J. Sutherland, C. Watkins, Sarah Jane Wilson

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation about the FLARE network. The mission of the FLARE network is to establish a Community of Practice that advances the state of knowledge of the intersection of forests and livelihoods. In bringing together stakeholders – researchers, practitioners, donors, and decision makers – FLARE will leverage efforts that enrich the understanding of forest livelihood interactions.

The researchers focus on the most pressing conceptual, political, and practical issues concerning forests and livelihoods.

Impact Of Climate Change On Wildfire Across China, Based On Plot-Level Data From National Forest Inventory - June 2019, Shilei Liu, Jintao Xu

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focus on the impact of climate change on wildfires across China.

Devolution And Collective Action In Forest Management: The Case Of China - June 2019, Yuanyuan Yi, Jintao Xu, Gunnar Köhlin

Forest Collaborative Research

This paper examines: Can further devolution trigger collective action in forest management and benefit member households?

Empirically-Informed Agent Based Modeling Of Incentivized Forest Conservation - June 2019, Amare Teklay Hailu

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focuses on payment for ecosystem services (PES) and framed field experiment (FFE).

Forests And Health In Mexico: Preliminary And Pre-Preliminary Work - June 2019, Alejandro López-Feldman

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focuses on subjective wellbeing and natural protected areas in Mexico

Conference Introduction: Setting The Stage - June 2019, Allen Blackman

Forest Collaborative Research

Conference welcome, goals, agenda, and brief self-introductions.

Asset, Property Rights And Forest Dependency: Evidence From Machine Learning Analysis - June 2019, Dambala Gelo, Daniela Lamparelli

Forest Collaborative Research

In many poor regions, the poor heavily depend on the income derived from the natural resource base. This presentation tests the forest-dependency-asset poverty hypotheses; looks at the impacts of credit constraint on forest dependency; and using machine learning approach resolves the problems of model selection uncertainty and structural parameters identification.

The Nepal Community Forestry Program And Member Mental Health - June 2019, Randall Bluffstone

Forest Collaborative Research

This presentation asks - Do Community Forestry's (CFs) and better forest quality yield mental health benefits?

Economics Of Modern Plantation Forests In China - June 2019, Jintao Xu, Miaoying Shi

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focuses on eucalyptus forest development in Guangxi, China

Effects Of Water Funds Projects On Forest Loss And Water Quality In Ecuador And Brazil, Allen Blackman, Laura Villalobos

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focuses on Water Funds Projects

Connecting Forests And Human Health Using The Demographic And Health Surveys (Dhs), Ranaivo Rasolofoson

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focuses on the relationships between ecosystem alteration and human health.

Indonesia, Forest Fires, Haze, Height: Case For Planetary Health Economics - June 2019, Subhrendu K. Pattanayak

Forest Collaborative Research

Presentation focuses on environmental health economics in low and middle income countries.