A Rising Tide: Oyster Aquaculture Survey Instrument

This document provides the survey instrument for the oyster aquaculture survey that was conducted throughout August and October of 2021. The purpose of the survey was to gain a food system-wide perspective on gender dynamics in the region’s aquaculture industry, inclusive of different genders and identify potential gender-based barriers and opportunities to participation for men, women, and non-binary/third gender oyster aquaculturists

A Rising Tide: Oyster Aquaculture Survey Results

This document provides the results from a survey conducted August-October 2021 on the Maine and New Hampshire oyster aquaculture industry. The purpose of the survey was to gain a food system-wide perspective on gender dynamics in the region’s aquaculture industry, inclusive of different genders and identify potential gender-based barriers and opportunities to participation for men, women, and non-binary/third gender oyster aquaculturists. The published survey results include qualitative responses and demographic data for a subset of farmers in the oyster aquaculture industry of Maine and New Hampshire

A Rising Tide Photovoice Photobook

This document provides the results of the photographic documentation and written narrative portion of the photovoice case study conducted from November, 2021 to March, 2022 by (n=4) research participants. The goal of the Photobook is to share the data collected by the research participants on their experiences as women owning and operating an oyster farm in Maine and New Hampshire

Preparing Councils for Their Work

The legitimacy of an individual councilmember’s power comes directly from the electorate, but respect and influence cannot be presumed; they have to be earned through action. The manager’s position, however, comes from professional qualifications to manage and provide policy guidance. In contrast with members of the council, the local government manager and professional staff benefit from a long-term familiarity with issues, specialization, and technical expertise and also from an organizational structure familiar to all. As we know, linking politics and the work of a governing body with the management of government involves an ongoing set of tasks and challenges. The idea of council-manager government is that political and administrative realms can be in partnership and not dependent on the system of checks and balances that characterizes our state and federal governments, where separation of legislative and executive powers is valued. The relationship between the manager and the elected officials sets a tone for the entire local government. Although some elected officials shy away from acknowledging a team or partner relationship between and among members of council and between the council and the staff, it is critical that the professional manager prepares the council for its work. In part, this takes place as the manager helps the council build its capacity to work as a body, earning respect for one another and in an effective partnership with staff. In this article, we set out some of the ways the manager can facilitate the building of council capacity

A Gendered Analysis of Fisherfolk’s Livelihood Adaptation and Coping Responses in the Face of a Seasonal Fishing Ban in Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, India

This study investigates how people respond to economic stresses incurred as a result of natural resource regulations. Previous research has demonstrated that in some cases, men and women adapt differently to livelihood stresses. We argue that looking only at an individual’s sex is insufficient for understanding why they adapt the way they do. Instead, using the framework of intersectionality, we examine individuals’ adaptation strategies and coping responses influenced not only by their sex but also their power and class. Using the case of a closed fishing season in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, India we employ interviews, seasonal activities calendars, and surveys to identify key variables that influence an individual’s likelihood of employing reactive strategies that may threaten their longer term livelihood sustainability. We show that if we categorize individuals only by sex, then women are more likely to resort to reactive coping than men. However, this sex divide in reactive coping is driven by particular subsets of people who also lack power and/or capital. Furthermore, we find that power and class lead to different outcomes for men and women, with networked power most helpful to women above a certain financial threshold. This study highlights the necessity of examining gender and livelihood adaptations beyond the male versus female dichotomy: considering intersecting and locally relevant measures of power, class, and sex are pivotal in understanding why people adapt and cope the way they do. This understanding of adaptation options may also have implications for resource management decisions that do not force individuals to choose between long-term livelihood resilience and response to immediate stresses

Predicting College Completion Among Students with Learning Disabilities

The authors analyzed National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) data to examine the role of high school academic preparation and receipt of postsecondary academic support services (PASS) in predicting college completion among students with learning disabilities. Logistic regression analyses revealed that students who earned a 3.0 GPA in a college prep curriculum were more than twice as likely to complete college than those with a similar GPA who did not complete a college prep curriculum. Furthermore, among students who completed a college prep curriculum, earning a higher GPA and accessing PASS both dramatically increased the likelihood that they would complete college. Results underscore the importance of incorporating a college prep curriculum into transition planning for college-bound students with learning disabilities

Cascading Globalization and Local Response: Indian Fishers’ Response to Export Market Liberalization

Scholars have long debated whether trade liberalization has positive or negative effects on resource use and ecosystems. This study examines the conditions under which resource use increases or decreases in response to reduced trade barriers, specifically after the 2008 World Trade Organization decision that led the United States to reduce anti-dumping duties on Indian shrimp. At the district level in South India, fishing fleet expansion was correlated with access to global market information via mobile phones. Model simulations indicate that increased mobile phone saturation could expand fish- ing effort sufficiently to deplete multiple marine species groups, while other species benefit from the loss of predators. However, scenario analysis suggests that regulatory interventions could mitigate these ecosystem pressures while still permitting fishers to benefit from increased access to global market information