Diversification in Rural Kentucky: The Potential Wealth of Kentucky’s Cultural Heritage

Diversification in Rural Kentucky: The Potential Wealth of Kentucky’s Cultural Heritage Kentucky has had ongoing economic challenges throughout its history. The mountainous terrain creates difficulties for infrastructure and an economic dependency on non-renewable energy. Pursuits in economic development have taken a new approach to create a more sustainable future for the state. Kentucky is unique in many historical, geographical, and cultural contexts that draws tourists from both in and around the state. Historical landmarks like the Red River Gorge Geological Area, Fort Boonesborough State Park, and the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum all offer their own unique draw. Kentucky\u27s place as a guidepost in the history of America is unparalleled with its geographical heritage demonstrating Civil War landmarks, Appalachian folklore, and indigenous history. This literature review explores avenues for Kentucky to amplify its own history as a thriving resource for Kentucky’s future. Keywords: Economic Diversification, Tourism, Kentucky, Heritage, Civil Wa

Diversification in Kentucky: The Potential Wealth of Kentucky’s Natural Areas

As Kentucky moves toward a more sustainable future, natural areas and land recovery efforts suggest an alternative and renewable source of revenue. Not only can this mean tangible financial revenue, but wealth in terms of Ecosystem Services as well. Provisioning Services can be extracted like vegetables, drinkable water, and medicine. Regulating services provide protection like carbon sequestration and flood mitigation. Supporting services like photosynthesis and the water cycle make life possible. Finally, Cultural Services provide the aesthetic and recreational venue to satisfy finer psychological and human self-fulfillment needs. Here we find a particularly alluring benefit for the recreation professional. Reclaimed land can be reinvented for varying tourist attractions and other economic alternatives. As aesthetic and cultural landmarks, natural areas imply an opportunity to attract visitors internationally. Likewise, they appeal to outdoorsmen and adventurers. The introduction of elk in Kentucky generates $5 million dollars in revenue through hunting guides and sightseeing tours alone (Whang, 2020). World class climbing presents untapped opportunities. This literature review identifies avenues for Kentucky to expand their repertoire of enterprise to include not only existing natural areas, but to explore opportunities for altered and restored landscapes as well

Diversification in Kentucky: The Potential Wealth of Kentucky’s Natural Areas

As Kentucky moves toward a more sustainable future, natural areas and land recovery efforts suggest an alternative and renewable source of revenue. Not only can this mean tangible financial revenue, but wealth in terms of Ecosystem Services as well. Provisioning Services can be extracted like vegetables, drinkable water, and medicine. Regulating services provide protection like carbon sequestration and flood mitigation. Supporting services like photosynthesis and the water cycle make life possible. Finally, Cultural Services provide the aesthetic and recreational venue to satisfy finer psychological and human self-fulfillment needs. Here we find a particularly alluring benefit for the recreation professional. Reclaimed land can be reinvented for varying tourist attractions and other economic alternatives. As aesthetic and cultural landmarks, natural areas imply an opportunity to attract visitors internationally. Likewise, they appeal to outdoorsmen and adventurers. The introduction of elk in Kentucky generates $5 million dollars in revenue through hunting guides and sightseeing tours alone (Whang, 2020). World class climbing presents untapped opportunities. This literature review identifies avenues for Kentucky to expand their repertoire of enterprise to include not only existing natural areas, but to explore opportunities for altered and restored landscapes as well. Keywords: Economic Diversification, Tourism, Natural Areas, Commodity Dependence, Reclaimed Land, Reforestationhttps://encompass.eku.edu/swps_graduategallery/1114/thumbnail.jp

Empathy: The Key to Leadership

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another individual. According to a recent study on the topic, empathy is a critical driver to overall performance, however research shows that most frontline leaders were not proficient or strong in empathy (Lipman 2018). Organizations are constantly searching for ways to improve their productivity, including richer organizational cultures that are shown to increase morale and employee retention (Crowley 2013). Many organizational leaders tend to focus on the short-term of getting results instead of understanding the positive long-term impacts from incorporating empathy within their working environment. Empathy is the key to restoring the human essence that is frequently lost within the mechanized workplace environment. In the recreational field, it is crucial to recognize that empathy is a critical piece of emotional intelligence that will help nurture relationships, maintain positive emotional bank accounts, and improve the overall efficiency within the workplace. The purpose of this research is to illuminate what it means to express empathy as a leader, provide guidance on how to become a proficient empathetic leader, and include methods on how to incorporate empathy as part of a healthy work culture. The research methods used were a literature review with a qualitative research component involving interviews with recreation professionals in leadership roles, successfully implementing empathy in their working environments

The Southern Westerlies during the Last Glacial Maximum in PMIP2 simulations

The Southern Hemisphere westerly winds are an important component of the climate system at hemispheric and global scales. Variations in their intensity and latitudinal position through an ice-age cycle have been proposed as important drivers of global climate change due to their influence on deep-ocean circulation and changes in atmospheric CO2. The position, intensity, and associated climatology of the southern westerlies during the last glacial maximum (LGM), however, is still poorly understood from empirical and modelling standpoints. Here we analyse the behaviour of the southern westerlies during the LGM using four coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations carried out by the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 2 (PMIP2). We analysed the atmospheric circulation by direct inspection of the winds and by using a cyclone tracking software to indicate storm tracks. The models suggest that changes were most significant during winter and over the Pacific ocean. For this season and region, three out four models indicate decreased wind intensities at the near surface as well as in the upper troposphere. Although the LGM atmosphere is colder and the equator to pole surface temperature gradient generally increases, the tropospheric temperature gradients actually decrease, explaining the weaker circulation. We evaluated the atmospheric influence on the Southern Ocean by examining the effect of wind stress on the Ekman pumping. Again, three of the models indicate decreased upwelling in a latitudinal band over the Southern Ocean. All models indicate a drier LGM than at present with a clear decrease in precipitation south of 40A degrees S over the oceans. We identify important differences in precipitation anomalies over the land masses at regional scale, including a drier climate over New Zealand and wetter over NW Patagonia