Comparative Survey of Integrated Watershed Management Potential in Several Continents: Preliminary Results [abstract]

2 pages

Comparative Survey of Integrated Watershed Management Potential in Several Continents: Preliminary Results [abstract]

2 pages

Mitigating an Energy Utility Death Spiral in the United States: Applying Lessons from Germany

The purpose of this paper is to present evidence that the United States is entering a Utility Death Spiral - a dramatic shift away from the utility based model of electricity supply to consumers. It also explores how U.S utilities can reposition themselves to best mitigate the economic losses associated with a Death Spiral. A Utility Death Spiral is currently taking place in Germany called the Energiewende and it is having immediate impacts on its energy landscape. The case study of the Energiewende is presented, its impacts, and the response taken by the country’s “big four” utility companies. After analyzing the German utilities, recommendations are made that inform how U.S. utilities should organize to mitigate potential impacts of a Death Spiral here in the U.S

Monitoring Waste to Minimize Waste at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to sustainability, however, the campus could further reduce its costs and save energy by optimizing the current method of waste removal. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that by the end of the century, Earth’s average temperature will rise by 11 degrees Fahrenheit unless society takes action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to the EPA, about one-third of carbon emissions in the U.S. come from transportation. Campus garbage bins are collected by carbon-emitting trucks daily, and large truckable waste compactors are collected about three times per week. The amount of harmful carbon emissions released by trucking all of the compactors to their disposal sites totals 9,600 pounds of CO2 (the weight of 12 grand pianos) every week. In this analysis, the current waste removal system is investigated and a method is proposed to save UMass money and energy by reducing the number of waste collections. Initial research focused on how traditional bins could be replaced with solar-powered compactors from Bigbelly Solar Inc. to reduce pickup frequency and generate revenue from separating waste. Findings indicate that solar compactors alone would not have a worthwhile impact on the energy consumption of the UMass campus. Alternatively, a monitoring system that reduces how frequently waste compactors are hauled from campus would have greater impact, saving $1,000 every two weeks, reducing harmful carbon emissions, and using less diesel fuel. Due to the current environmental crisis, UMass should take action to reduce its carbon footprint through this economically favorable system

Higher Education Instructional Change in a U.S. Context: Investigating the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Innovations at Niagara University

A metà Settembre 2013, due degli autori di questo articolo sono stati a Lecce (Italia) realizzando una presentazionein una conferenza sull’istruzione superiore. In quella sede, è stato possibile condividere con i partecipanti i dieci cambiamenti più potenti e significativi che hanno avuto luogo nel vasto panoramadell’accademia americana. L’elenco si componeva di sviluppi di tipo teorico; così come da diversi livelli di implementazione e pratica presso l’Università di Niagara, nell’angolo Nord Est degli Stati Uniti. Tra le iniziative messe in evidenza è stata prima e soprattutto menzionato il lavoro di Ernest Boyer sulla Scholarshipof Teaching and Learning (SoTL), ovvero la sua visione su strade alternative comunque accademiche, basate sulla didattica, per il successo della formazione universitaria. Il percorso tracciato dal movimento SoTL cambia la cultura universitaria, collocando l’insegnamento come priorità; e la “scholarship” (ricerca didattica) emergente dagli studi sull’innovazione didattica come una disciplina di ricerca che può alinearse ad altre nell’ambito accademico. Le esperienze all’Università Niagara forniscono sia un caso di studio dell’implementazione dei suddetti concetti in una moderna istituzione americana; sia un’opportunità per la comparazione con i vari casi delle istituzioni italiane. Inoltre, il lavoro portato avanti dall’università di Niagara risulta competitivo con riguardo ad alcune delle più riconosciute università americane, potendo essere considerato all’avanguardia dell’emergente movimentoSoTL. Questo articolo fornisce un breve resoconto e definizione del modello di Boyer su SoTL, suggerendo come le istituzioni potrebbero adottare tale paradigma sia come strategia per lo sviluppo professionale accademico, sia come adeguata base per la valutazione del lavoro del docente universitario

Participatory Testing and Reporting in an Environmental-Justice community of Worcester, Massachusetts: A pilot project

Background: Despite indoor home environments being where people spend most time, involving residents in testing those environments has been very limited, especially in marginalized communities. We piloted participatory testing and reporting that combined relatively simple tests with actionable reporting to empower residents in Main South/Piedmont neighborhoods of Worcester, Massachusetts. We answered: 1) How do we design and implement the approach for neighborhood and household environments using participatory methods? 2) What do pilot tests reveal? 3) How does our experience inform testing practice?. Methods: The approach was designed and implemented with community partners using community-based participatory research. Residents and researchers tested fourteen homes for: lead in dust indoors, soil outdoors, paint indoors and drinking water; radon in basement air; PM2.5 in indoor air; mold spores in indoor/outdoor air; and drinking water quality. Monitoring of neighborhood particulates by residents and researchers used real-time data to stimulate dialogue. Results: Given the newness of our partnership and unforeseen conflicts, we achieved moderate-high success overall based on process and outcome criteria: methods, test results, reporting, lessons learned. The conflict burden we experienced may be attributable less to generic university-community differences in interests/culture, and more to territoriality and interpersonal issues. Lead-in-paint touch-swab results were poor proxies for lead-in-dust. Of eight units tested in summer, three had very high lead-in-dust (\u3e1000 μg/ft2), six exceeded at least one USEPA standard for lead-in-dust and/or soil. Tap water tests showed no significant exposures. Monitoring of neighborhood particulates raised awareness of environmental health risks, especially asthma. Conclusions: Timely reporting back home-toxics\u27 results to residents is ethical but it must be empowering. Future work should fund the active participation of a few motivated residents as representatives of the target population. Although difficult and demanding in time and effort, the approach can educate residents and inform exposure assessment. It should be considered as a core ingredient of comprehensive household toxics\u27 testing, and has potential to improve participant retention and the overall positive impact of long-term environmental health research efforts. © 2010 Downs et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Vulnerability-Based Spatial Sampling Stratification for the National Children\u27s Study, Worcester County, Massachusetts: Capturing Health-Relevant Environmental and Sociodemographic Variability

Background: The National Children\u27s Study is the most ambitious study ever attempted in the United States to assess how environmental factors impact child health and development. It aims to follow 100,000 children from gestation until 21 years of age. Success requires breaking new interdisciplinary ground, starting with how to select the sample of \u3e 1,000 children in each of 105 study sites; no standardized protocol exists for stratification of the target population by factoring in the diverse environments it inhabits. Worcester County, Massachusetts, like other sites, stratifies according to local conditions and local knowledge, subject to probability sampling rules.Objectives: We answer the following questions: How do we divide Worcester County into viable strata that represent its health-relevant environmental and sociodemographic heterogeneity, subject to sampling rules? What potential does our approach have to inform stratification at other sites?Results: We developed a multivariable, vulnerability-based method for spatial sampling consisting of two descriptive indices: a hazards/stressors exposure index (comprising three proxy variables), and an adaptive capacity/sociodemographic character index (five variables). Multivariable, health-relevant stratification at the start of the study may improve detection power for environment-child health associations down the line. Eighteen strata capture countywide heterogeneity in the indices and have optimal relative homogeneity within each. They achieve comparable expected birth counts and conform to local concepts of space. Conclusion: The approach offers moderate to high potential to inform other sites, limited by intersite differences in data availability, geodemographics, and technical capacity. Energetic community engagement from the start promotes local stratification coherence, plus vital researcher-community trust and co-ownership for sustainability

Manganese in residential drinking water from a community-initiated case study in Massachusetts

Background: Manganese (Mn) is a metal commonly found in drinking water, but the level that is safe for consumption is unknown. In the United States (U.S.), Mn is not regulated in drinking water and data on water Mn concentrations are temporally and spatially sparse. Objective: Examine temporal and spatial variability of Mn concentrations in repeated tap water samples in a case study of Holliston, Massachusetts (MA), U.S., where drinking water is pumped from shallow aquifers that are vulnerable to Mn contamination. Methods: We collected 79 residential tap water samples from 21 households between September 2018 and December 2019. Mn concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We calculated descriptive statistics and percent of samples exceeding aesthetic (secondary maximum containment level; SMCL) and lifetime health advisory (LHA) guidelines of 50 µg/L and 300 µg/L, respectively. We compared these concentrations to concurrent and historic water Mn concentrations from publicly available data across MA. Results: The median Mn concentration in Holliston residential tap water was 2.3 µg/L and levels were highly variable (range: 0.03–5,301.8 µg/L). Mn concentrations exceeded the SMCL and LHA in 14% and 12% of samples, respectively. Based on publicly available data across MA from 1994–2022, median Mn concentration was 17.0 µg/L (N = 37,210; range: 1–159,000 µg/L). On average 40% of samples each year exceeded the SMCL and 9% exceeded the LHA. Samples from publicly available data were not evenly distributed between MA towns or across sampling years. Impact statement: This study is one of the first to examine Mn concentrations in drinking water both spatially and temporally in the U.S. Findings suggest that concentrations of Mn in drinking water frequently exceed current guidelines and occur at concentrations shown to be associated with adverse health outcomes, especially for vulnerable and susceptible subpopulations like children. Future studies that comprehensively examine exposure to Mn in drinking water and its associations with children’s health are needed to protect public health. © 2023, The Author(s)

The case for integrative sustainable development practice based on the Minas Conga gold-mining experience in Peru

Mining projects are among the most impactful development projects, and the most controversial. The Conga Mining Project, proposed by the U.S. based Newmont Mining Corporation, in partnership with Minas Buenaventura, was slated for the Cajamarca region of Peru. Since the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed in 2010, controversy has escalated: public protests have precipitated a political crisis for President Humala, with several ministers resigning. The proposed project would have been made located approximately 73 km northeast of the city of Cajamarca, in the northern Peruvian Andes, in the district of Sorochuco, within an area defined by four major lakes, headwaters of rivers, and wetlands. Despite findings of “no significant impact” by the 2010 EIA, the project is currently postponed indefinitely due to the public backlash, international attention, and questions of integrity surrounding environmental and social concerns. We use the Conga Mining case to interrogate business-as-usual (BAU) design, assessment, planning, implementation and monitoring practices for extractive development in Peru, and suggest alternatives. Our analysis is based on an integrative framework that is empirically based (previously developed by the authors), one with a greater likelihood of improving sustainable development and the equity of positive and negative impacts among stakeholders. Suggestions are tailored to the setting: we pay special attention to the climate-change and socio-political contexts of Peru. We seek to exploit a shifting political landscape that is resisting BAU and countering the systematic disenfranchisement of vulnerable populations by extractive resource industries. These appear to be enabling conditions to promote the adoption of a capacity building, socio-technical enterprise approach to framing and designing sustainable development projects in Peru, with implications beyond

Vulnerability-based spatial sampling stratification for the National Children\u27s Study, Worcester County, Massachusetts: capturing health-relevant environmental and sociodemographic variability

BACKGROUND: The National Children\u27s Study is the most ambitious study ever attempted in the United States to assess how environmental factors impact child health and development. It aims to follow 100,000 children from gestation until 21 years of age. Success requires breaking new interdisciplinary ground, starting with how to select the sample of \u3e 1,000 children in each of 105 study sites; no standardized protocol exists for stratification of the target population by factoring in the diverse environments it inhabits. Worcester County, Massachusetts, like other sites, stratifies according to local conditions and local knowledge, subject to probability sampling rules. OBJECTIVES: We answer the following questions: How do we divide Worcester County into viable strata that represent its health-relevant environmental and sociodemographic heterogeneity, subject to sampling rules? What potential does our approach have to inform stratification at other sites? RESULTS: We developed a multivariable, vulnerability-based method for spatial sampling consisting of two descriptive indices: a hazards/stressors exposure index (comprising three proxy variables), and an adaptive capacity/sociodemographic character index (five variables). Multivariable, health-relevant stratification at the start of the study may improve detection power for environment-child health associations down the line. Eighteen strata capture countywide heterogeneity in the indices and have optimal relative homogeneity within each. They achieve comparable expected birth counts and conform to local concepts of space. CONCLUSION: The approach offers moderate to high potential to inform other sites, limited by intersite differences in data availability, geodemographics, and technical capacity. Energetic community engagement from the start promotes local stratification coherence, plus vital researcher-community trust and co-ownership for sustainability