The Corruption Game: Health Systems, International Agencies, and the State in South Asia

Drawing on ethnographic material collected in Pakistan, India, and Nepal, this article analyzes patterns of corruption in vaccination programs in South Asia. Corrupt practices—which required substantial work—were deeply shaped by both the money and systems of accountability of the global health system. Bilateral and multilateral donors provided substantial funding for immunization programs across South Asia. International agencies and governments instituted systems of accountability, including documentation requirements and a parallel UN bureaucracy in problematic districts, to try to ensure that health workers did what they wanted. Some immunization program staff skillfully bent these systems of accountability to their own ends, diverting vaccination funding into their own pockets. Corruption operates not in opposition to the official rules, but in spaces opened up by them. These practices sometimes transform Weber’s rational bureaucracy into a sophisticated game with many players, whose aims are more complex than the stated goals of the bureaucracy

Economic Benefits of Immunization for 10 Pathogens in 94 Low- and Middle-Income Countries From 2011 to 2030 Using Cost-of-Illness and Value-of-Statistical-Life Approaches

Objectives Vaccination has prevented millions of deaths and cases of disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). During the Decade of Vaccines (2011-2020), international organizations, including the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, focused on new vaccine introduction and expanded coverage of existing vaccines. As Gavi, other organizations, and country governments look to the future, we aimed to estimate the economic benefits of immunization programs made from 2011 to 2020 and potential gains in the future decade. Methods We used estimates of cases and deaths averted by vaccines against 10 pathogens in 94 LMICs to estimate the economic value of immunization. We applied 3 approaches—cost of illness averted (COI), value of statistical life (VSL), and value of statistical life-year (VSLY)—to estimate observable and unobservable economic benefits between 2011 and 2030. Results From 2011 to 2030, immunization would avert $1510.4 billion ($674.3-$2643.2 billion) (2018 USD) in costs of illness in the 94 modeled countries, compared with the counterfactual of no vaccination. Using the VSL approach, immunization would generate$3436.7 billion ($1615.8-$5657.2 billion) in benefits. Applying the VSLY approach, $5662.7 billion ($2547.2-$9719.4) in benefits would be generated. Conclusion Vaccination has generated significant economic benefits in LMICs in the past decade. To reach predicted levels of economic benefits, countries and international donor organizations need to meet coverage projections outlined in the Gavi Operational Forecast. Estimates generated using the COI, VSL, or VSLY approach may be strategically used by donor agencies, decision makers, and advocates to inform investment cases and advocacy campaigns

EFFECTIVENESS OF CITES AT MITIGATING ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING OF EUROPEAN EELS

In 2007, as a result of drastic population decline over the last century, European eels were added to Appendix II of CITES in order to regulate and limit its trade exploitation. However, illegal trade of these species is still rampant to meet consumption demand in Asia and Europe. This suggests that CITES is not armed with the tools necessary for effective implementation and not sufficiently using these tools; therefore, amendments to this treaty are necessary. A review of government reports and literature indicate existing gaps in European eels morphological and life cycle research along with technological limitations that contribute to poor implementation of CITES regulation for European eels resulting in significant presence of illegal trafficking. To address these limitations, CITES amendments are recommended to allow for more effective mitigation of European eel trafficking. However, an effective approach to trade regulation requires a dynamic policy approach. Relying on one instrument, such as CITES, to possess all the tools to deter illegal wildlife trafficking is unreasonable. Rather, multiple policies that employ different sets of tools should be implemented in a complementary way to promote sustainable trade practices

THE EFFECT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC SHELTER-IN-PLACE ORDERS ON WILDLIFE BEHAVIOR: ONGOING HUMAN CONFLICT DURING THE ANTHROPAUSE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

I conducted this study with the mentorship of Johns Hopkins University faculty member and lecturer, Dr. Kimberly Vest Gardner. I had the idea for this study in April of 2020 while enrolled in Dr. Gardner’s Landscape Ecology course, about a month after the COVID-19 pandemic began. At the time, I was working as a Consulting Utility Forester for Pacific Gas and Electric and as an Assistant Wildlife Biologist at the Santa Clara Valley Water District and noticed a significant shift in wildlife behavior after the first stay-at-home orders were enacted. In addition, having grown up in the Santa Cruz Mountains / Southern San Francisco Bay Area, my personal observations and anecdotal evidence from my colleagues helped to confirm this shift in local wildlife behavior. As I approached the end of my time in the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Johns Hopkins, I decided to revisit my final project proposal from Professor Gardner’s Landscape Ecology course and refine some the methodology. I have always been interested in wildlife behavior in response to human activity, conservation biology, as well as the impact of urbanization and habitat fragmentation, especially at the local scale. Silicon Valley and the surrounding communities continues to expand and the surrounding area has become increasingly more developed; it is my hope that the publication of more studies researching the link between wildlife-human conflict and intensified development will help to encourage local and state government to preserve area with ample habitat connectivity and prevent industries from producing inadequate environmental mitigation plans or simply just throwing money at regional agencies to turn a blind eye. The COVID-19 pandemic provided the rare opportunity to examine this connection as an individual researcher without prior data collection. As a budding wildlife biologist and the combined analytical skills I gained from my undergraduate and graduate coursework, I looked forward to monitoring this relationship both through the lens of an essential worker that was able to directly observe the decrease in human activity and as an academic

THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF COLONIALISM ON THE NEOTROPICS

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were a time of exploration and colonization. Fueled by the necessity to establish new trade routes and profit potential by sea, colonists flocked to the Neotropics. Colonization brought a convergence of cultures, along with exotic and non-native biota, as well as the development of new social and economic systems and the rapid transformation of the regional landscape. To understand the world we currently inhabit and our current ecological catastrophe – a world where food shortages, the mass die-off of coral reefs, and wildfires are common occurrences – we need to look at colonialism and its roots. Thus, the heart of the paper lies in examining the past to gain insight into the future. Archaeology and its many subsets are well-suited to examine the consequences of human eco-dynamics across any region, including the Neotropics. Through the analysis and synthesis of the collaborative and collective research of archaeologists and by employing the standpoints of cultural and medical anthropologists, economists, environmental engineers, and other experts who study human-environmental relationships, this paper seeks to understand and shed light on the social, economic, environmental, and engineered factors of colonialism that have created an environmental legacy that persists in the Neotropical region today. As the global community faces the challenges of climate change, this paper looks into the past through the lens of historical ecology to better understand the anthropogenic changes to the earth system and humanity’s interrelationship with the biosphere over time

CLIMATE ACTION: AN EVALUATION OF EQUITY IN DELAWARE CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION PLANNING

The impacts of a changing climate continue to pose a detriment to the livelihood of all communities across the globe. This has increased the need for response on a global, national, and state level to respond to the changing climate by way of effective climate action planning. Robust climate action planning is accomplished to swiftly address adaption to a changing climate and mitigation of any further advanced degradation of its effects on the public health and well-being of constituencies. In the United States, a national climate change plan has been developed to aid in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas production and consumption to minimize its harm to the climate. From the national commitment to address climate change, the states across the United States have generated climate action plans to respond to state-specific needs to adapt and mitigate the concern. The State of Delaware, although the sixth smallest state in the United States, has followed many other states in its composition of a climate action plan, however, there is little evidence to support its effectiveness based on the perceived increase in state temperatures and delayed response to adverse weather-related events which have displaced its constituency. This capstone attempts to enhance our understanding of the State of Delaware’s Climate Action Planning and whether it can be effective in responding to the needs of a changing climate. This study reviews the effectiveness of the formal Delaware Climate Action Plan as developed by the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and its ability to address the climate concerns the state faces and equitably distribute its actions to the constituency of the state. The effectiveness of this plan is analyzed through a review of the state’s key climate concerns by evaluation of temperature increases and equitable distribution of actions through an established model of equity

Experimental Study on the in-plane behavior of standing seam roof assembly and its use in lateral bracing of rafters

Final Test ReportThe standing seam roof (SSR) system is the most commonly used roof system for metal buildings due to its superior durability, water tightness, and energy efficiency. In this type of system, SSR panels attach to Z-shaped or C-shaped purlins with clips, and the purlins are in turn connected to rafters (i.e. roof beams). For the design of the rafters against lateral torsional buckling, bottom flange braces provide torsional bracing to the rafter and the SSR system provides some lateral bracing. However, the degree to which the SSR system can restrain the rafter against lateral movement has not previously been studied. The objective of this study is to quantify the in-plane strength and stiffness of the SSR system and identify how this can be used to provide lateral bracing to the rafter. A total of 11 full-scale standing seam roof specimens were tested to investigate the effects of different standing seam roof configurations (SSR panel type, clip type, thermal insulation, and purlin spacing) on the in-plane stiffness and strength of the SSR system. The resulting stiffness and peak strength of the specimens were tabulated and compared for different SSR configurations. Results showed that the in-plane load-deformation behavior of SSR systems was governed by clip deformations and that variations in the type of SSR panel or clip can have a major impact on the strength and stiffness of the specimens. A specimen with vertical rib panels was shown to have 16 times more stiffness than a similar specimen with trapezoidal rib panels because the vertical ribs restrain the clip deformation. However, even a small standoff was found to reduce the stiffness of vertical rib SSR assemblies with more than three-fold drop in stiffness as the standoff was increased from 0 in. to 0.4 in. Trapezoidal rib SSR assemblies had consistent strength stiffness with fixed clips having standoff of 0 in. or 0.5 in., but with floating clips the stiffness decreased with increasing standoff. Addition of blanket insulation and thermal blocks were found to result in 60% to 350% increase in stiffness. A method for using these experimental results in calculations of required bracing for metal building rafters is described. An example is also provided which demonstrates that the SSR roof can contribute to bracing of the rafter and may reduce spacing or size of discrete/point torsional braces.American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Steel Deck Institute (SDI), Steel Joist Institute (SJI), Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), National Science Foundation (NSF

EXPLORING THE NEXUS OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND CONSERVATION SCIENCE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE MAPPING REVIEW, 2009-2021

Over the past 40 years, the ecological conservation research and policy community has advocated for the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge and diverse cultural and spiritual worldviews in conservation science, management, and decision-making. Biodiversity conservation can benefit from the deep history of applied Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Additionally, Western scientists and conservation managers have a responsibility to acknowledge and remedy the historic and current Euro-American institutions and power mechanisms that impede knowledge mutualism, equity, and Indigenous agency in conservation outcomes. The objective of this research was to create a systematic literature map of Indigenous knowledge contributions to biodiversity conservation science in the United States, during 2009 - 2021, to: 1) understand the nexus of Indigenous Knowledge and Western Scientific Knowledge in the conservation biology literature; and 2) identify knowledge gaps to inform future work. Web of Science was queried using Indigenous knowledge, ecological system, and knowledge interaction search terms informed by the literature. A total of 37 articles, merged into 33 records, were coded and mapped to evaluate study location, focal issue, Indigenous knowledge contributions, underlying institutional mechanisms, and knowledge gaps. Results of this research indicate that Indigenous knowledge is informing a diverse conservation science and management evidence landscape. Indigenous Knowledge - Western Science blending or mutualism was reported in all the studies, however additional research is needed to evaluate the breadth of Indigenous knowledge sources and quality of mutualistic outcomes. Institutional mechanisms and power inequities continue to limit Indigenous self-determination in conservation science and management in the United States. Mapped records indicate the importance of elevating Indigenous environmental management frameworks, eco-cultural data confidentiality and ownership practices, acknowledging and compensating Indigenous partners for their contributions and participation, and most importantly, building respectful, trust-based relationships with Indigenous leaders and communities. Systematic literature reviews are an underutilized tool for exploring Indigenous and Western conservation science relationships in the United States. Results from this literature mapping review provide initial insights on Indigenous-Western Science conservation knowledge relationships in the United States and provide a framework for future research in this area