Ultrafast Dynamics of Single Crystal and Polycrystalline VO2

In recent decades, interest has rapidly developed in the group of materials known as strongly correlated electron systems. These systems exhibit numerous startling behaviors ranging from high temperature superconductivity to the topic of this thesis: metal-insulator transitions, specifically in the material vanadium dioxide (VO2). Unfortunately, due to wide variations within and between samples, it has been difficult to determine the underlying cause of such a phenomenon. In an effort to establish more consistent discrepancies between different growth methods, I have studied two samples of VO2 : a single crystal and a polycrystalline thin film. The differences observed in the responses of each provide validation to further research in this area, if not a fully conclusive result

Co-Production and the Politics of Usable Knowledge for Climate Adaptation in Tanzania

The concept of ‘co-production’ is increasingly offered as an approach to enable more responsive and inclusive processes of knowledge production across a range of disciplines. While it is recognized that uneven power relations play a significant role in shaping co-production processes, how these dynamics affect, and are affected by, intentional efforts to ‘co-produce’ usable knowledge is not well understood. In this dissertation, I examine the multiple ways in which power is exercised within efforts to ‘co-produce knowledge’ for climate adaptation decision-making in Tanzania, and with what effect. I do so through a multi-scalar mixed methods case study. To begin, I conduct a systematic literature review to illustrate the lack of conceptual clarity around the term co-production and argue that there is a need to distinguish between ‘strong constitutive’, ‘strong interactional’, and ‘weak interactional’ interpretations of the term. Then, I present results from a survey examining the production, circulation, and use of climate knowledge across institutional scales in Tanzania. I find that existing landscapes of climate knowledge are complex, with both formal and informal pathways for knowledge production and circulation playing an important role. Next, I conduct a modified Actor-Network analysis to understand the ‘constitutive’ dimensions of co-production. I find that current efforts to co-produce climate knowledge in Tanzania rely on stable science-society configurations in which there is a clear demarcation between ‘producers’ and ‘users’ of knowledge. This may have the unintended effect of delimiting the full participation of some actors within instrumental co-production efforts. Finally, using a critical application of the Knowledge System Criteria (KSC) framework (credibility, salience, legitimacy), I examine the politics involved in the production of ‘usable’ knowledge. I find that how actors relate to and employ these criteria within instrumental co-production efforts represents a political move that can reinforce existing power differentials. In sum, I find that uncritical usages of the concept of co-production may contribute to the very problems they are intended to solve. These findings are offered as part of an effort toward developing more critical, yet integrative and productive, understandings of co-production

Climate change policy inventory and analysis for Tanzania

This report is an output of the Global Framework for Climate Services Adaptation Programme in Africa. The goal of the report is to: 1) assess the extent to which climate change concerns have been integrated or mainstreamed into national policy documents in mainland Tanzania, 2) to consider the role of climate services in achieving national sectorial policy goals, and 3) identify entry points for the further development of climate services within the current policy frameworks. Fifteen key policy documents relevant to economic development, climate change and environment, agriculture and food security, disaster management and risk reduction, and health planning were analysed. Three major findings emerged from this analysis. First, while climate change is addressed in a number of the policy documents, the concept of climate services was not. Second, policy documents across all sectors identified improved early warning systems as a specific objective. This represents a common entry point for development and delivery of climate services, as well as an opportunity to increase cross-sectorial adaptation coordination and planning. Third, the analysis highlighted that efforts to manage short- and long-term climate risks are not well integrated under current policies and legislation in Tanzania. Additionally, we found that the National Environmental Policy and National Environmental Management Act are the primary policy documents that oversee climate change-related issues. It will be important to link the development and delivery of climate services with the established institutional structures for climate change adaptation under these current policies and legislation, to avoid creating isolated or duplicative institutional arrangements. Based on these findings, several recommendations are made that can inform climate services development and delivery in Tanzania

The Politics of ‘Usable’ Knowledge: Examining the Development of Climate Services in Tanzania

field of climate services has arisen rapidly out of a desire to enable climate science to meet the information needs of society to respond to climate variability and change. In order for knowledge to be &lsquo;usable&rsquo; for decision-making, in the field of climate adaptation and beyond, it must meet the criteria of credibility, salience, and legitimacy (Cash et al. 2003). Deliberate &lsquo;co-production&rsquo; of knowledge between&lsquo;producers&rsquo; and &lsquo;users&rsquo; has the potential to increase usability for decision-making and policy in some contexts. While co-production is increasingly advanced as an instrumental approach to facilitate the production of &lsquo;usable&rsquo; climate services, such efforts have paid scant attention to the role of power relations. In this article, we bring together literature on normative approaches to co-production &mdash; which treats co-production as an instrumental means to an end &mdash; with analytical interpretations of coproduction within the field of Science and Technology Studies to examine efforts to develop &lsquo;usable&rsquo; climate services in Tanzania. We show that without reflexive processes that are explicitly attentive to power dynamics, normative co-production within climate services development can serve to reinforce, rather than overcome, power imbalances among actors.</p

Media and Climate Change Observatory Monthly Summary - Issue 6, June 2017

June 2017 coverage of climate change and global warming went up nearly 46% compared to May. This was attributed largely to the news surrounding United States President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 United Nations Paris Climate Agreement, with media coverage on emergent US isolation following through the Group of Seven (G7) summit a few weeks later. These June 2017 numbers were also a 24% increase from the amount of June 2016 climate change coverage around the world. This was predictably most pronounced at the epicenter of the (in)action, where coverage in June in North America doubled from the previous month’s counts (see Figure 2 for US coverage)

Findings of the East Africa Humanitarian Climate Risk Management Workshop

The East African humanitarian community is looking for ways to better respond to the challenges presented by climate risks, including climate change, but is struggling to access appropriate and targeted scientific data that can inform their operations. Recent advances in science and technology have produced a variety of new tools for humanitarian organizations working on climate risk management. Humanitarian actors have an enormous opportunity to utilize these tools to inform risk reduction, preparedness and contingency planning, as well as program implementation. Despite such advances, many challenges remain to the practical application of these tools in the humanitarian context. Often times, climate information is too technical or lacks the context necessary for use in humanitarian planning and operations. Thus, climate information must be tailored to specific needs and presented in formats that are readily accessible to these users. In response, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), in close collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), initiated the development of a 2-day Humanitarian Climate Risk Management Workshop on 23- 24 February 2010. Initiatives that enable interaction can help to bridge the divide between humanitarian practitioners and climate experts; feedback provided by end-users can guide research and development of new prediction technologies and tools, as well as more appropriate packaging of current information. At the same time, humanitarian actors need to evaluate how such information can usefully inform their decision-making at various timescales. The challenge of decision-making under uncertainty must be addressed if climate information is to be used effectively within humanitarian planning, preparedness, and response. This workshop aimed to address such barriers to the use of climate information

Media and Climate Change Observatory Monthly Summary - Issue 4, April 2017

April 2017 coverage of climate change and global warming decreased compared to the previous month, as coverage across all sources in twenty-eight countries showed an approximate 7% decrease compared to March 2017. Coverage of political, scientific, ecological/meteorological, and cultural dimensions of climate change decreased most prominently in Oceania, which saw more than a 20% decrease compared to the previous month. Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America all saw modest month-to-month decreases in coverage, while Africa (140%) was the only region to increase its coverage of climate change compared to March 2017. Overall, coverage across all sources in twenty-eight countries decreased approximately 25% compared to April 2016

Media and Climate Change Observatory Monthly Summary - Issue 2, February 2017

February 2017 saw climate change coverage decrease across the fifty sources in twentyseven countries around planet Earth (see Figure 1). Coverage of political, scientific, ecological/meteorological, and cultural dimensions of climate change issues dropped 26% globally from the previous month and 23% from the previous February (2016). Compared to January 2017, this decrease was most pronounced in North America with a 55% dip. While the content of coverage in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US) and around the world continued to place a steady focus on movements of the newly anointed Donald J. Trump Administration in the US (see Figure 2), media attention focused more frequently on a range of other political, social and economic threats and issues during the month of February. Trump Administration movements did not contribute to a bump in coverage overall in February; instead, it was more of a ‘Trump Dump’ where media attention that would have focused on other climate-related events and issues instead was placed on Trump-related actions, leaving many other stories untold in this month

Media and Climate Change Observatory Monthly Summary - Issue 1, January 2017

January ushered in a new era for many things, including media attention to climate change. As many around the world braced for a new phase of approaches to science and the environment by the United States (US) Trump administration - who took up power on January 20th – stories focused largely on political and policy dimensions of climate change this month

Media and Climate Change Observatory Monthly Summary - Issue 5, May 2017

May 2017 coverage of climate change and global warming increased compared to the previous month, as overall coverage across all sources in twenty-eight countries showed an approximate 10 percent increase compared to April 2017. Coverage of political, scientific, ecological/meteorological, and cultural dimensions of climate change increased most prominently in Africa and Asia, which saw 31 percent and 28 percent increases in coverage, respectively. Europe and North American also saw modest month-to-month increases in coverage, while the Middle East, Oceania, and South America all showed slight decreases compared to the previous month. Europe (142%), Oceania (81%), and Asia (22%) all increased coverage of climate change compared to May 2016. Overall, coverage across all sources in twenty-eight countries decreased approximately 43 percent compared to May 2016