Digital Commons Network^™

Putting Rooted Networks Into Practice, Alida Cantor, Elisabeth Stoddard, Dianne Rocheleau, Jennifer F. Brewer, Robin Roth, Trevor Birkenholtz, Katherine Foo, Padini Nirmal

Geography

Rooted networks provide a conceptual framework that embeds network thinking in nature-society geography in order to investigate socio-ecological relations, while emphasizing the place-specific materiality of these relations. This progress report examines how geographers have put the framework into scholarly practice. The conceptual approach has enabled researchers to: 1) articulate the territoriality and materiality of networks as assemblages, which may be simultaneously rooted and mobile; 2) discern diverse types of power that flow through network connections; and 3) conduct analyses that unearth multiply-situated knowledges within networks. Challenges emerge as we seek to integrate the approach more fully with disciplinary traditions, including …

Staying In Place During Times Of Change In Arctic Alaska: The Implications Of Attachment,Alternatives, And Buffering, Henry P. Huntington, Philip A. Loring, Glenna Gannon, Shari Fox Gearheard, S. Craig Gerlach, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

The relationship between stability and change in social-ecological systems has received considerable attention in recent years, including the expectation that significant environmental changes will drive observable consequences for individuals, communities, and populations. Migration, as one example of response to adverse economic or environmental changes, has been observed in many places, including parts of the Far North. In Arctic Alaska, a relative lack of demographic or migratory response to rapid environmental and other changes has been observed. To understand why Arctic Alaska appears different, we draw on the literature on environmentally driven migration, focusing on three mechanisms that could account for …

A Carbon-Neutral Future, Larry Clow

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Cuba’S Water Crisis: Coping With Water Scarcity In Havana And Santiago De Cuba, Jacqueline Gilbert

Spectrum

Based on nine weeks of original ethnographic research in Cuba, this article looks at how ordinary residents in Havana and Santiago respond to chronic water scarcity—a problem likely to intensify as the impacts of climate change advance in the Caribbean region and around the world.

Engagement In A Public Forum: Knowledge, Action, And Cosmopolitanism, Jennifer F. Brewer, Natalie Springuel, James Wilson, Robin Alden, Dana Morse, Catherine Schmitt, Chris Bartlett, Teresa Joihnson, Carla Guenther, Damian Brady

Geography

Facing challenges to the civic purpose of higher education, some scholars and administrators turn to the rhetoric of engagement. Simultaneously, the political philosophy of cosmopolitanism has gained intellectual favor, advocating openness to the lived experiences of distant others. We articulate linkages between these two discourses in an extended case study, finding that a cosmopolitan ethos of engagement in a rural context can improve (1) understanding among people ordinarily separated by spatialized social-ecological differences, (2) prospects for longer term environmental sustainability, and (3) the visionary potential of collaborative inquiry. Despite globalization of food systems and neoliberal shifts in fishery management, an …

A New Valuation School: Integrating Diverse Values Of Nature In Resource And Land Use Decisions, Sander Jacobs, Nicolas Dendoncker, Berta Martin-Lopez, David Nicholas Barton, Erik Gomez-Baggethun, Fanny Boeraeve, Francesca L. Mcgrath, Kati Vierikko, Davide Geneletti, Katharina J. Sevecke, Nathalie Pipart, Eeva Primmer, Peter Mederly, Stefan Schmidt, Alexandra Aragao, Himlal Baral, Rosalind H. Bark, Tania Briceno, Delphine Brogna, Pedro Cabral, Rik De Vreese, Camino Liquete, Hannah Mueller, Kelvin S.H. Peh, Anna Phelan, Alexander R. Rincon, Shannon H. Rogers, Francis Turkelboom, Wouter Van Reeth, Boris T. Van Zanten, Hilde Karine Wam, Carla-Leanne Washbourne

New Hampshire EPSCoR

We are increasingly confronted with severe social and economic impacts of environmental degradation all over the world. From a valuation perspective, environmental problems and conflicts originate from trade-offs between values. The urgency and importance to integrate nature's diverse values in decisions and actions stand out more than ever.

Valuation, in its broad sense of ‘assigning importance’, is inherently part of most decisions on natural resource and land use. Scholars from different traditions -while moving from heuristic interdisciplinary debate to applied transdisciplinary science- now acknowledge the need for combining multiple disciplines and methods to represent the diverse set of values of …

Anthropology Welcomes Three New Professors, Carolyn Stolzenburg

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Queer Farmers: Sexuality And The Transition To Sustainable Agriculture, Isaac Leslie

Master's Theses and Capstones

Intimate relationships are foundational to farm viability. Such relationships affect how farmers share tasks, earn income, and access land, yet the role of sexuality and heteronormativity in agriculture remains understudied. Furthermore, queers are largely ignored as potential farmers by the sustainable agriculture and LGBT movements. Through participant observation and interviews with 30 sustainable farmers of various genders and sexualities in New England, I document the lived experiences of queer sustainable farmers, an under-researched group, and examine whether sexuality and gender affects why they farm. Whereas the perception of rural heterosexism can discourage queer participation in agriculture, queer farmers faced less …

Seeing And Believing: The Emergent Nature Of Extreme Weather Perceptions, Matthew John Cutler

Doctoral Dissertations

Perceptions of environmental issues are influenced by a variety of factors. Sociological research on this topic has largely taken a social-psychological approach and as a result the effects of community and biophysical contexts on individual perceptions are given less attention than individual-level predictors, such as political party affiliation or measures of educational attainment. Using data from the Communities and Environment in Rural America (CERA) surveys, I employ a mixed-effects modeling technique to investigate the influence of individual- and county-level characteristics on public perceptions of unusual or extreme weather.

In addition to the survey data, I also utilize county-level weather events …

Paul College Perspectives, Fall 2014, Peter T. Paul College Of Business And Economics

Paul College Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The New Hampshire, Vol. 103 [104], No. 29 (Feb. 14, 2014), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 103, but it is the 104th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

Addressing The Complexities Of Boundary Work In Sustainability Science Through Communication, Bridie Mcgreavy, Karen Hutchins, Hollie Smith, Laura Lindenfeld, Linda Silka

New Hampshire EPSCoR

Sustainability science seeks to identify and implement workable solutions to complex problems. This transdisciplinary approach advances a commitment to work across boundaries that occur among individuals, disciplines, and institutions to build capacities for informed and innovative decision making in the face of uncertainty and change. The concept of boundary work and related discussions of boundary objects and organizations are important, expanding focal areas within sustainability science. While communication is described as central to boundary work, insights from the field of communication have largely yet to inform theorizing about boundaries within sustainability science. In this paper, we highlight three communication perspectives, …

Activism In The Gulf Coast After The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Sara Em Gassman

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Seafloor Characterization Using Airborne Hyperspectral Co-Registration Procedures Independent From Attitude And Positioning Sensors, Yuri Rzhanov, Shachak Pe'eri, James V. Gardner, James Guilford

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone.

The Long Journey To Become 'The River Of National Unity': The Sao Francisco River Basin From 1940s To 2008 And The Interactions Of Environment, Government And Local Citizens, Lucigleide Nery Nascimento

Doctoral Dissertations

In its 2,700 kilometers north and then eastern journey to the Atlantic Ocean, the Sao Francisco River of Brazil drains eight percent of the nation's territory. The watershed is three and a half times the size of New England. This research investigates the impacts of the federal water resource management, or lack of it, on the riverine environment and on the life of the people who locally have depended on the ecosystem's services of the river during the 1940s--2008 timeframe. A new legal instrument, the 1997 Water Policy, introduced a novel form of management regarding public participation, policy goals and …

Essays On Environmental Regulations And Performance Of Firms, Shrawantee Saha

Doctoral Dissertations

There has been a surge in the development of new, non-traditional and innovative approaches to address environmental problems in the last three decades of U.S. environmental policies. These new approaches affect polluting behavior via instruments other than taxes, permits or direct imperatives. They rely heavily on active engagement, collaboration and information sharing among firms and industry peers. This dissertation adds to our current understanding of these newer approaches by studying how external pressures and internal awareness affect a firm's polluting behavior. Two essays focus solely on the role of the print media, an external pressure to firms, under the U.S. …

The New Hampshire, Vol. 98 [99], No. 35 (Feb. 27, 2009), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 98, but it is the 99th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

The Failures Of American Poverty Measures, Stephen Pimpare

Business, Politics & Security Studies Faculty Scholarship

How we think about need or deprivation-how we judge its severity, its causes and effects, and the progress we have made (or not made) over time in reducing it-has much to do with how we define and then measure it. And, we measure it poorly. The insufficiencies of official data on American poverty are reasonably well known, yet they continue, nonetheless, to be the principal means by which we gauge need in the United States. After a review of such official measures, this article discusses alternative means of evaluating need in the United States, highlighting the benefits of examining poverty …

Integrating Landscapes That Have Experienced Rural Depopulation And Ecological Homogenization Into Tropical Conservation Planning, Aerin L. Jacob, Ismael Vaccaro, Raja Sengupta, Joel N. Hartter, Colin A. Chapman

Geography

If current trends of declining fertility rates and increasing abandonment of rural land as a result of urbanization continue, this will signal a globally significant transformation with important consequences for policy makers interested in conservation planning. This transformation is presently evident in a number of countries and projections suggest it may occur in the future in many developing countries. We use rates of population growth and urbanization to project population trends in rural areas for 25 example countries. Our projections indicate a general decline in population density that has either occurred already (e.g., Mexico) or may occur in the future …

An Academic-Community Outreach Partnership: Building Relationships And Capacity To Address Childhood Lead Poisoning., Nancy Serrell, Mals; Rosemary M. Caron, Phd, Mph; Bethany Fleishman, Bs; And Emily D. Robbins, Ba; National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University Press

Manchester Research Group

Article describing an academic and community partnership for social action and policy change regarding childhood lead poisoning in Manchester, N.H.

Climate Change Policy: Why Germany Leads And The United States Lags, Kristin Kesling

Master's Theses and Capstones

Why is climate change a top priority on the political agenda in Germany and not a top priority on the political agenda in the United States? This study seeks to answer this question by examining the evolution of climate change policy in both countries. Analyzing Germany's and America's environmental movement, the thesis points to several theories which include the European Union and cultural values. However, it is the nations' political structures/institutions and their post WWII foreign policy views that most determine where climate change policy stands on each country's political agenda. The analysis concludes with a possible outlook on America's …

Characterization Of Public And Stakeholder Objectives In Environmental Management: The Application Of Conjoint Analysis And Other Survey Tools To The Management Of The Lamprey River, Shannon Rogers

Master's Theses and Capstones

Management plans for natural resources can be seen as multi-attribute goods that are held in the public domain and therefore require input from experts, stakeholders, and citizens. The state is coordinating an Instream flow study for the Lamprey River in the Seacoast of NH and this research adds a key component to the existing study. This thesis explains how the values and objectives of stakeholders and the general public were elicited. Fourteen stakeholders participated in an interview and survey process and 229 randomly selected residents of the Lamprey River Watershed completed surveys about they how use and value the river. …

The Granite, 2003, University Of New Hampshire

The Granite – Yearbook

The yearbook of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, 1909-1922, the University of New Hampshire, 1923-

Five-Hundred Life-Saving Interventions And Their Misuse In The Debate Over Regulatory Reform, Lisa Heinzerling

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author argues that John D. Graham, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, holds strong anti-environmental biases and has perpetuated and encouraged a misrepresentation of his own research, which has largely influenced health, safety, and environmental regulation.

Workplace Pollution: Nuclear Safety, Ethics, And The Exploitation--Avoidance Argument, Kristin Shrader-Frechette

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author reviews evidence of poor worker health and safety practices in United States Department of Energy nuclear facilities in contending that less protective standards for workplace hazards constitute an environmental injustice not rectified by a hazard pay premium.

Who Are The Stakeholders In Environmental Risk Decisions - How Should They Be Involved, Mary R. English

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

[Excerpt] "In the United States, as in other countries, public participation in environmental policy decisions has come a long way. In its infancy, it was limited to public hearings concerning decisions that were, for all practical purposes, "done deals." Overturning public agency decisions could be accomplished only through expensive, often protracted, usually futile court cases, and then only if the issue was justiciable and the plaintiff had the funds and standing to sue. In recent decades - especially since the 1960s - opportunities for public participation in the U.S. have been overhauled. Access to documents has been assured through federal …

The Precautionary Principle In Australia: Policy, Law & Potential Precautionary Eias, Warwick Gullett

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Gullet argues that environmental impact assessments are a logical vehicle for factoring the precautionary principle into large-project-approval processes.

Frequency Of Use And Perceived Credibility Of Information Sources And Variations By Socioeconomic Factors Among Savannah River Stakeholders, Bryan L. Williams, Alex Vallei, Sylvia Brown, Michael Greenberg

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors examine the factors effecting credibility of risk communication in the communities surrounding the Savannah River Nuclear Weapons Site.

Pollution Prevention: Factors Behind Toxic Release Reduction In The U.S. Paper Industry, John P. Tiefenbacher, William D. Solecki

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Drs. Tiefenbacher and Solecki analyze the factors associated with, and influential in, the reduction of toxic releases in the U.S. paper industry.

Expert And Public Evaluations Of Technological Risks: Searching For Common Ground, James Flynn, Paul Slovic

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Drs. Flynn and Slovic compare and evaluate the ways in which the public and experts perceive technological risks.