Place and Environment Commons^™

Social Justice And The Us Food System: A Critical Course On The Human Dimensions Of Food, Ali Brooks

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

Our world is made up of overlapping political, environmental, and economic spheres that engender social injustice and inequality. Though separate societal issues can seem divergent and unconnected, they are all linked together by one universal necessity: food. Because everyone eats, everyone is connected to—and dependent on—food and the systems that govern it. However, the impacts of our industrial food system are not felt equally among people who hold different positions of power within it.

Today’s industrial food complex operates on the capitalist principle of profit accumulation through exploitation, commodification, and extraction. This set of relations is not defined by scale …

Emulating Agricultural Disease Management: Comparing Risk Preferences Between Industry Professionals And Online Participants Using Experimental Gaming Simulations And Paired Lottery Choice Surveys, Eric M. Clark, Scott C. Merrill, Luke Trinity, Gabriela Bucini, Nicholas Cheney, Ollin Langle-Chimal, Trisha Shrum, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia, Julia M. Smith

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Mitigating the spread of disease is crucial for the well-being of agricultural production systems. Implementing biosecurity disease prevention measures can be expensive, so producers must balance the costs of biosecurity investments with the expected benefits of reducing the risk of infections. To investigate the risk associated with this decision making process, we developed an online experimental game that simulates biosecurity investment allocation of a pork production facility during an outbreak. Participants are presented with several scenarios that vary the visibility of the disease status and biosecurity protection implemented at neighboring facilities. Certain rounds allowed participants to spend resources to reduce …

Implications Of Attitudes On Environmental Challenges: Understanding The Human Dimensions Of Invasive Insects In New England Landowners, Ariana Margarita Cano Gomez

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Many scientists argue that the threat of invasive insects is one of the most pressingenvironmental issues of our time. Decades of research quantify the threat and risk invasive species pose to the New England Forest, yet there is little research combining both the ecological impacts of invasive insects and human attitudes of the potential threats they pose. This dissertation aims to understand the current attitude of landowners in the New England region that are experiencing the threat of hemlock woolly adelgid, emerald ash borer, or Asian longhorned beetle. This dissertation includes three different studies focusing on social psychology frameworks and …

How And Why Do People Value Nature? An Examination Of Nonmaterial Aspects Of Human-Nature Interactions., Tatiana Marquina

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Nonmaterial benefits from nature, often labeled as cultural ecosystem services, represent a core dimension of human well-being. Yet despite their importance, these benefits and associated values remain overlooked in environmental assessments and decisions.

This dissertation applies insights from multiple disciplines to document nonmaterial dimensions of human-nature interactions across geographic contexts and user groups. As nonmaterial benefits can be hard to elicit and measure, this work uses multiple existing data collection methods and tests a novel data collection tool. First, I use a qualitative study design to explore values and stewardship practices associated with urban foraging in New York City, NY. …

Climate Impacts Associated With Reduced Diet Diversity In Children Across Nineteen Countries, Meredith T. Niles, Benjamin F. Emery, Serge Wiltshire, Molly E. Brown, Brendan Fisher, Taylor H. Ricketts

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

It is widely anticipated that climate change will negatively affect both food security and diet diversity. Diet diversity is especially critical for children as it correlates with macro and micronutrient intake important for child development. Despite these anticipated links, little empirical evidence has demonstrated a relationship between diet diversity and climate change, especially across large datasets spanning multiple global regions and with more recent climate data. Here we use survey data from 19 countries and more than 107 000 children, coupled with 30 years of precipitation and temperature data, to explore the relationship of climate to child diet diversity while …

An International Pilot Study Of Volunteer Stream Monitoring Groups: The Role Of Place Attachment In Volunteer Motivations, Rachel Pierson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Engaging the public in scientific research through volunteer monitoring (a form of community science) has potential to expand knowledge of conditions and to improve collaborative decision-making. Many studies have sought to understand motivations for participation and potential resulting actions or behaviors that benefit the environment. Place-based connections have been demonstrated to lead people to adopt environmentally responsible behaviors. However, few studies have considered possible differences in motivations across countries or the role place attachment may play as a driver of initial or sustained participation.

The aim of this research was to determine the extent to which place attachment influences people’s …

“The Soul Is Symphonic”: Lessons On Practicing Music As Ecological Philosophy From Hildegard Of Bingen, Daniel Cottle

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In this thesis I seek to understand how music may be practiced as an embodied form of ecological philosophy; that is, how it might help us attain ecological wisdom and lead sustainable lives. In the first chapter, I explore the concept of askesis: the spiritual exercises by which ancient Greek and Roman thinkers practiced philosophy as a way of life. I introduce a simple model for the practice of askesis which is taken from accounts of ancient Stoic spiritual exercise. I also consider evidence for art as a form of askesis. In the second chapter, I describe the influence of …

Enhancing Ecosystem Services And Climate Resilience In Agriculture: A Transdisciplinary Approach, Alissa White

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A complex of social, economic and environmental factors influences agricultural management in the northeastern US. Farmers often balance goals of farm viability, environmental stewardship, and resilience to climate change, while also under public pressure to enhance the provisioning of ecosystem services from their landscapes. Changes in farm management have been identified as cost-effective ways to address both local water quality issues, and global anthropogenic influences on greenhouse gas concentrations. Individual decision-making on the part of farmers that determines the fate of ecosystem service provisioning from agroecosystems, placing increasing importance on understanding how policy, outreach and research can support farmers’ capacity …

Erratum: Upcyclingphosphorus Recovered From Anaerobically Digesteddairy Manure To Support Production Of Vegetables And Flowers (Sustainability 2020, 12, 1139), Katherine K. Porterfield, Robert Joblin, Deborah A. Neher, Michael Curtis, Steve Dvorak, Donna M. Rizzo, Joshua W. Faulkner, Eric D. Roy

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The authors would like to make the following correction for the published paper [1]. The changes are as follows: (1) Replacing Figure 4 (Figure presented).

Healthy Diets Can Create Environmental Trade-Offs, Depending On How Diet Quality Is Measured, Zach Conrad, Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, Eric D. Roy

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Background: There is an urgent need to assess the linkages between diet patterns and environmental sustainability in order to meet global targets for reducing premature mortality and improving sustainable management of natural resources. This study fills an important research gap by evaluating the relationship between incremental differences in diet quality and multiple environmental burdens, while also accounting for the separate contributions of retail losses, inedible portions, and consumer waste. Methods: Cross sectional, nationally-representative data on food intake in the United States were acquired from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005–2016), and were linked with nationally-representative data on food …

Mobilizing Crop Biodiversity, Susan Mccouch, Zahra Katy Navabi, Michael Abberton, Noelle L. Anglin, Rosa Lia Barbieri, Michael Baum, Kirstin Bett, Helen Booker, Gerald L. Brown, Glenn J. Bryan, Luigi Cattivelli, David Charest, Kellye Eversole, Marcelo Freitas, Kioumars Ghamkhar, Dario Grattipaglia, Robert Henry, Maria Cleria Valadares Inglis, Tofazzal Islam, Zakaria Kehel, Paul J. Kersey, Graham J. King, Stephen Kresovich, Emily Marden, Sean Mayes, Marie Noelle Ndjiondjiop, Henry T. Nguyen, Samuel Rezende Paiva, Roberto Papa, Peter W.B. Phillips, Awais Rasheed

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Modeling The Influence Of Public Risk Perceptions On The Adoption Of Green Stormwater Infrastructure: An Application Of Bayesian Belief Networks Versus Logistic Regressions On A Statewide Survey Of Households In Vermont, Qing Ren, Asim Zia, Donna M. Rizzo, Nancy Mathews

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

There is growing environmental psychology and behavior literature with mixed empirical evidence about the influence of public risk perceptions on the adoption of environmentally friendly “green behaviors”. Adoption of stormwater green infrastructure on residential properties, while costlier in the short term compared to conventional greywater infrastructure, plays an important role in the reduction of nutrient loading from non-point sources into freshwater rivers and lakes. In this study, we use Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to analyze a 2015 survey dataset (sample size = 472 respondents) about the adoption of green infrastructure (GSI) in Vermont’s residential areas, most of which are located …

Modeling Alternative Collaborative Governance Network Designs: An Agent-Based Model Of Water Governance In The Lake Champlain Basin, Vermont, Patrick Bitterman, Christopher J. Koliba

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Public Management Research Association. With the widespread use of collaborative governance mechanisms for mitigating water pollution, an opportunity exists to test alternative institutional designs based on collaborative governance theory using computer simulation models, particularly when there is a clear relationship between governance networks, observable resource allocation decisions, and measurable outcomes. This is especially the case for wicked problems like nonpoint source water pollution where there are compelling questions regarding how best to design policies, allocate funds, and build administrative capacity to meet water quality standards. We present an agent-based model (ABM) …

Genome-Wide Association Study In Accessions Of The Mini-Core Collection Of Mungbean (Vigna Radiata) From The World Vegetable Gene Bank (Taiwan), Alena Sokolkova, Marina Burlyaeva, Tatjana Valiannikova, Margarita Vishnyakova, Roland Schafleitner, Cheng Ruei Lee, Chau Ti Ting, Ramakrishnan Madhavan Nair, Sergey Nuzhdin, Maria Samsonova, Eric Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek, or green gram) is important tropical and sub-tropical legume and a rich source of dietary protein and micronutrients. In this study we employ GWAS to examine the genetic basis of variation in several important traits in mungbean, using the mini-core collection established by the World Vegetable Center, which includes 296 accessions that represent the major market classes. This collection has been grown in a common field plot in southern European part of Russia in 2018. Results: We used 5041 SNPs in 293 accessions that passed strict filtering for genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium, population …

Dynamical Climatic Model For Time To Flowering In Vigna Radiata, Konstantin Kozlov, Alena Sokolkova, Cheng Ruei Lee, Chau Ti Ting, Roland Schafleitner, Eric Bishop-Von Wettberg, Sergey Nuzhdin, Maria Samsonova

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Phenology data collected recently for about 300 accessions of Vigna radiata (mungbean) is an invaluable resource for investigation of impacts of climatic factors on plant development. Results: We developed a new mathematical model that describes the dynamic control of time to flowering by daily values of maximal and minimal temperature, precipitation, day length and solar radiation. We obtained model parameters by adaptation to the available experimental data. The models were validated by cross-validation and used to demonstrate that the phenology of adaptive traits, like flowering time, is strongly predicted not only by local environmental factors but also by plant …

Editorial: Wild Plants As Source Of New Crops, Eric Von Wettberg, Thomas M. Davis, Petr Smýkal

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Perspective Article: Actions To Reconfigure Food Systems, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Philip Thornton, Jonathan Wadsworth, Bruce M. Campbell, Mario Herrero, Daniel Mason-D'Croz, Dhanush Dinesh, Sophia Huyer, Andy Jarvis, Alberto Millan, Eva Wollenberg, Stephen Zebiak

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

There is broad agreement that current food systems are not on a sustainable trajectory that will enable us to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, particularly in the face of anthropogenic climate change. Guided by a consideration of some food system reconfigurations in the past, we outline an agenda of work around four action areas: rerouting old systems into new trajectories; reducing risks; minimising the environmental footprint of food systems; and realigning the enablers of change needed to make new food systems function. Here we highlight food systems levers that, along with activities within these four action areas, may …

Characterizing Heterogeneous Behavior Of Non-Point-Source Polluters In A Spatial Game Under Alternate Sensing And Incentive Designs, Asim Zia, Shanshan Ding, Kent D. Messer, Haoran Miao, Jordan F. Suter, Jacob R. Fooks, Todd Guilfoos, Simona Trandafir, Emi Uchida, Yushiou Tsai, Scott Merrill, Scott Turnbull, Christopher Koliba

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Behavioral research on natural resource management has revealed a number of variables that can impact collective action. This research builds upon an interactive decision game using experimental economics methods with a focus on production decisions and the corresponding impact they have on ambient water quality. Using hierarchical clustering algorithms, four primary types of behavior are identified: competitive, hypercompetitive, cooperative, and hypercooperative. The results from the experiment are used to test the following three hypotheses: (1) financial incentives increase cooperative behavior, (2) increasing the number and frequency of water quality sensors increases cooperative behavior, and (3) the spatial location of the …

First Authorship Gender Gap In The Geosciences, T. Pico, P. Bierman, K. Doyle, S. Richardson

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

Although gender parity has been reached at the graduate level in the geosciences, women remain a minority in faculty positions. First authorship of peer-reviewed scholarship is a measure of academic success and is often used to project potential in the hiring process. Given the importance of first author publications for hiring and advancement, we sought to quantify whether women are underrepresented as first authors relative to their representation in the field of geoscience. We compiled first author names across 13 leading geoscience journals from January 2013 to April 2019 (n = 35,183). Using a database of 216,286 names from 79 …

Environment And Global Health: Investments In Natural Capital Can Improve Human Health, Stephen Posner, Taylor Ricketts

Reports and Policy Briefs

Gund Fellows led several key “big data” studies on how investments in nature can benefit people’s health and economic prosperity in developing countries. This policy brief summarized research evidence on links between health and the environment for stakeholders and partners, including the Biodiversity Results and Integrated Development Gains Enhanced Project (BRIDGE) managed by USAID’s Forestry and Biodiversity Office.

Growing Specialty Coffee: Economic Security And Environmental Sustainability In Global Coffee Systems, Stephen Posner, Janica Anderzen, Alejandra Guzman Luna, Ernesto Mendez

Reports and Policy Briefs

The Gund Institute has partnered with the Agroecology & Livelihoods Collaborative to create a more sustainable and just global coffee sector. Gund Fellows used this research brief to leverage our networks and engage NGOs such as The Specialty Coffee Association, funders, and companies in early discussions about how to address systemic inequity across the coffee value chain.

Effects Of Social Cues On Biosecurity Compliance In Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations, Luke Trinity, Scott C. Merrill, Eric M. Clark, Christopher J. Koliba, Asim Zia, Gabriela Bucini, Julia M. Smith

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Disease outbreaks in U.S. animal livestock industries have economic impacts measured in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Biosecurity, or procedures intended to protect animals against disease, is known to be effective at reducing infection risk at facilities. Yet, to the detriment of animal health, humans do not always follow biosecurity protocols. Human behavioral factors have been shown to influence willingness to follow biosecurity protocols. Here we show how social cues may affect cooperation with a biosecurity practice. Participants were immersed in a simulated swine production facility through a graphical user interface and prompted to make a decision that …

Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas Have Higher Biodiversity Via Increased Evenness, Not Abundance, Shane A. Blowes, Jonathan M. Chase, Antonio Di Franco, Ori Frid, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Paolo Guidetti, Tiffany M. Knight, Felix May, Daniel J. Mcglinn, Fiorenza Micheli, Enric Sala, Jonathan Belmaker

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

Journal of Applied Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. Protected areas are central to biodiversity conservation. For marine fish, marine protected areas (MPAs) often harbour more individuals, especially of species targeted by fisheries. But precise pathways of biodiversity change remain unclear. For example, how local-scale responses combine to affect regional biodiversity, important for managing spatial networks of MPAs, is not well known. Protection potentially influences three components of fish assemblages that determine how species accumulate with sampling effort and spatial scale: the total number of individuals, the relative abundance of species and …

Temperature Controls Production But Hydrology Regulates Export Of Dissolved Organic Carbon At The Catchment Scale, Hang Wen, Julia Perdrial, Benjamin W. Abbott, Susana Bernal, Remi Dupas, Sarah E. Godsey, Adrian Harpold, Donna Rizzo, Kristen Underwood, Thomas Adler, Gary Sterle, Li Li

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Lateral carbon flux through river networks is an important and poorly understood component of the global carbon budget. This work investigates how temperature and hydrology control the production and export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory in Pennsylvania, USA. Using field measurements of daily stream discharge, evapotranspiration, and stream DOC concentration, we calibrated the catchment-scale biogeochemical reactive transport model BioRT-Flux-PIHM (Biogeochemical Reactive Transport-Flux-Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model, BFP), which met the satisfactory standard of a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) value greater than 0.5. We used the calibrated model to estimate and compare the daily …

Noncooperative Dynamics In Election Interference, David Rushing Dewhurst, Christopher M. Danforth, Peter Sheridan Dodds

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Foreign power interference in domestic elections is an existential threat to societies. Manifested through myriad methods from war to words, such interference is a timely example of strategic interaction between economic and political agents. We model this interaction between rational game players as a continuous-time differential game, constructing an analytical model of this competition with a variety of payoff structures. All-or-nothing attitudes by only one player regarding the outcome of the game lead to an arms race in which both countries spend increasing amounts on interference and counterinterference operations. We then confront our model with data pertaining to the Russian …

Upcycling Phosphorus Recovered From Anaerobically Digested Dairy Manure To Support Production Of Vegetables And Flowers, Katherine K. Porterfield, Robert Joblin, Deborah A. Neher, Michael Curtis, Steve Dvorak, Donna M. Rizzo, Joshua W. Faulkner, Eric D. Roy

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) separates phosphorus (P)-rich fine solids from anaerobically digested dairy manure, creating opportunities to export surplus P to the marketplace as a bagged plant food product. Seedlings of tomato and marigold were amended at various volume per volume (v/v) ratios with plant foods consisting of fine solids upcycled (i.e., transformed into a higher quality product) by drying and blending with other organic residuals. A plate competition assay was conducted to assess the fine solids' potential to suppress the plant pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. Plant foods were comprised of 2.0-2.1% N, 0.8-0.9% P and 0.6-0.8% K. Extractions indicated that …

Majority Of Rural Residents Compost Food Waste: Policy And Waste Management Implications For Rural Regions, Meredith T. Niles

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

A growing number of municipalities and states are implementing household food waste diversion efforts such as curbside compost programs, though these programs present challenges for participation and implementation. While many food waste diversion programs are occurring in densely populated regions, understanding food waste management in rural regions is less studied. This research examines the food waste perceptions and current and future food waste management behaviors of residents in Vermont, one of the most rural U.S. states, through a representative telephone survey of Vermont residents (n = 583) in 2018. The findings suggest 55% of residents support banning food waste from …

Agricultural Development Addresses Food Loss And Waste While Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Gillian L. Galford, Olivia Peña, Amanda K. Sullivan, Julie Nash, Noel Gurwick, Gillian Pirolli, Meryl Richards, Julianna White, Eva Wollenberg

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Food loss and waste (FLW) reduce food available for consumption and increase the environmental burden of production. Reducing FLW increases agricultural and value-chain productivity and may reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with feeding the global population. Although studies of interventions that reduce FLW exist, almost no research systematically investigates FLW interventions across multiple value chains or countries, most likely due to challenges in collecting and synthesizing data and estimates, let alone estimating greenhouse gas emissions. Our research team investigated changes in FLW in projects supported by the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) global hunger and food security initiative, …

Why We Publish Where We Do: Faculty Publishing Values And Their Relationship To Review, Promotion And Tenure Expectations, Meredith T. Niles, Lesley A. Schimanski, Erin C. Mckiernan, Juan Pablo Alperin

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Using an online survey of academics at 55 randomly selected institutions across the US and Canada, we explore priorities for publishing decisions and their perceived importance within review, promotion, and tenure (RPT). We find that respondents most value journal readership, while they believe their peers most value prestige and related metrics such as impact factor when submitting their work for publication. Respondents indicated that total number of publications, number of publications per year, and journal name recognition were the most valued factors in RPT. Older and tenured respondents (most likely to serve on RPT committees) were less likely to value …

Are Wolves Welcome? Hunters' Attitudes Towards Wolves In Vermont, Usa, Nelson Grima, John Brainard, Brendan Fisher

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International. The forests of the north-east USA were once home to the Wolf Canis lupus, a species that played an important role in the ecology of this region. However, wolves were eradicated from the region more than a century ago, altering the species composition of the landscape and driving cascading changes in this ecosystem. Outdoor recreation is a major component of the economy of this region, and outdoor recreationists, including the hunting community, have a strong influence over decision-making related to policies on natural resources. Given their powerful position, …