Water Governance in the Lerma-Chapala Basin of Mexico: A Shift from State-centred to a Multi-stakeholder Approach?

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a framework for assessing water governance by consolidating and refining disparate principles of water governance in the existing research literature. The developed framework is then applied in a case study of the Lerma Chapala basin in Mexico to assess the state of water governance, and identify accomplishments and constraints in the implementation of an effective water governance system. The study conducts a content analysis of primary data collected through semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders in the basin (N=51) and secondary data from national water policy documents (N=18). Overall, the study identified one major achievement and five major constraints in the implementation of water governance in the Lerma-Chapala basin. The achievement pertains to successful stakeholder negotiations that resulted in a treaty for the allocation of scarce surface water resources in the basin; hence, mitigating allocation conflicts. Constraints include (1) the failure of water user representatives to advance issues that pertain to their stakeholder group in the Basin Council, (2) a fragmented approach to water management that hinders the success of programs and activities at the basin level, (3) the persistence of a centralized decision making protocol that neglects local context, among other issues. Overall, the application of the developed framework in a content analysis of policy documents and stakeholder interviews reveals a major disconnect between policy and practice in the Lerma-Chapala’s water governance experience. The dissertation contributes to the existing literature by providing a conceptual framework for assessing water governance systems. The refined set of five meta-principles allows for better conceptualization, and makes it easier to identify policy-practice disconnects and tease out achievements and constraints to water governance. In this sense, the framework could assist in guiding water sector reforms where changes are needed, and improve the water governance system

"How Well Do Individuals Predict the Selling Prices of Their Homes?"

Self-reported home values are widely used as a measure of housing wealth by researchers; the accuracy of this measure, however, is an open empirical question, and requires some type of market assessment of the values reported. In this study, the authors examine the predictive power of self-reported housing wealth when estimating housing prices, utilizing the portion of the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study covering 1992-2006. They find that homeowners, on average, overestimate the value of their properties by 5–10 percent. More importantly, the authors establish a strong correlation between accuracy and the economic conditions at the time of the property's purchase. While most individuals overestimate the value of their property, those who buy during more difficult economic times tend to be more accurate; in some cases, they even underestimate the property's value. The authors find a surprisingly strong, likely permanent, and in many cases long-lived effect of the initial conditions surrounding the purchase of properties, and on how individuals value them. This cyclicality of the overestimation of house prices provides some explanation for the difficulties currently faced by many homeowners, who were expecting large appreciations in home value to rescue them in case of interest rate increases--which could jeopardize their ability to live up to their financial commitments.

Carbon dioxide level and form of soil nitrogen regulate assimilation of atmospheric ammonia in young trees.

The influence of carbon dioxide (CO2) and soil fertility on the physiological performance of plants has been extensively studied, but their combined effect is notoriously difficult to predict. Using Coffea arabica as a model tree species, we observed an additive effect on growth, by which aboveground productivity was highest under elevated CO2 and ammonium fertilization, while nitrate fertilization favored greater belowground biomass allocation regardless of CO2 concentration. A pulse of labelled gases ((13)CO2 and (15)NH3) was administered to these trees as a means to determine the legacy effect of CO2 level and soil nitrogen form on foliar gas uptake and translocation. Surprisingly, trees with the largest aboveground biomass assimilated significantly less NH3 than the smaller trees. This was partly explained by declines in stomatal conductance in plants grown under elevated CO2. However, unlike the (13)CO2 pulse, assimilation and transport of the (15)NH3 pulse to shoots and roots varied as a function of interactions between stomatal conductance and direct plant response to the form of soil nitrogen, observed as differences in tissue nitrogen content and biomass allocation. Nitrogen form is therefore an intrinsic component of physiological responses to atmospheric change, including assimilation of gaseous nitrogen as influenced by plant growth history

Model Atmospheres for Irradiated Giant Stars: Implications for the Galactic Center

Irradiation of a stellar atmosphere by an external source (e.g. an AGN) changes its structure and therefore its spectrum. Using a state-of-the-art stellar atmosphere code, we calculate the infrared spectra of such irradiated and transformed stars. We show that the original spectrum of the star, which is dominated by molecular bands, changes dramatically when irradiated even by a low-luminosity AGN ($L_{\rm X} = 10^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$), becoming dominated by atomic lines in absorption. We study the changes in the spectrum of low-mass carbon- and oxygen-rich giant stars as they are irradiated by a modest AGN, similar to the one at the Galactic center (GC). The resulting spectra are similar to those of the faintest S-cluster stars observed in the GC. The spectrum of a star irradiated by a much brighter AGN, like that powered by a tidally disrupted star, is very different from that of any star currently observed near the GC. For the first time we have discovered that the structure of the atmosphere of an irradiated giant changes dramatically and induces a double inversion layer. We show that irradiation at the current level can explain the observed trend of CO band intensities decreasing as a function of increasing proximity to Sg $A^{*}$. This may indicate that (contrary to previous claims) there is no paucity of old giants in the GC, which coexist simultaneously with young massive stars.Comment: Submitted to ApJ; typo in name correcte

Toward a Critical-PBL: Centering a Critical Consciousness in the Middle Grades

The dual pandemic of 2020 that includes racism and COVID-19 demonstrates the need for students to become socially responsible and critically conscious world citizens. Students in the middle grades are developing their sense of identity while concomitantly trying to understand the complex world around them. While many teachers understand the need for critical pedagogy, many still struggle to find time to teach rigorous content standards while integrating social justice education. In this article, we propose the four pillars of Critical-Problem Based Learning (Critical-PBL). Using critical standards, critical problems, critical content, and critical discourse, we offer a framework to support teachers in creating a space for students to learn how to name injustices and work toward social transformation