The Biosemiotics of Aldo Leopold

Responding to Jean-Claude Gens’ article “Uexküll’s Kompositionslehre and Leopold’s ‘land ethic’ in dialogue,” which appeared in Sign Systems Studies in 2013, this article further develops a direct connection between Aldo Leopold’s approach to ecology and Jakob von Uexküll’s umwelt theory. The connection between Uexküll and Leopold is especially evident in Leopold’s descriptions of animal behaviour that he presents in the first part of his seminal work, A Sand County Almanac. In this work specifically, Leopold illustrates the biosemiotic processes described by Uexküll, and does so with a purpose: to reshape our understanding of the biotic community as a place of semiotic interaction

Demand responsive transport: A review of schemes in England and Wales

Local-authority-administered Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) schemes are increasingly prevalent in England and Wales, partly as a result of the growth in the availability of government funding. However, insufficient research has been undertaken into the nature of these schemes and their performance, making it difficult to predict their future role. In this respect, a survey was undertaken to collect data on the background, operation, and performance of DRT schemes in England and Wales. It found that DRT schemes are often designed in an attempt to tackle social problems caused by poor accessibility and that they took time to become established, to achieve their objectives, and to reach an acceptable performance in terms of subsidy level. The paper concludes that local-authority-led DRT schemes have a role to play, but that lessons learned from schemes currently in operation must be heeded by those contemplating new scheme development

Encounters with Climate Change: How SDG 13 Can Move from Awareness to Action

In a well-known passage from his book I and Thou, Martin Buber relates his encounter with a tree: “I contemplate a tree,” he writes, and then lists the various ways he could perceive the tree, as an artist or biologist, as someone interested in the trees parts and construction or interested in its function as a living system. But in all cases, Buber observes, “the tree remains my object and has its place and its time span, its kind and condition.” Yet sometimes, “if will and grace are conjoined,” Buber describes being drawn into a relation with the tree wherein the tree “ceases to be an It.” The relation is reciprocal—one that demands Buber not to view the tree through the lens of his own understanding, but rather to acknowledge the tree’s material autonomy; it is a moment of communal exchange. This paper teases out two key aspects of Buber’s encounter with a tree, aspects that characterize other famous encounters in environmental ethics, such as Aldo Leopold’s encounter with a wolf in “Thinking Like a Mountain” or Val Plumwood’s encounter with an alligator in “Being Prey.” First, these encounters all express that moment of “relation” as an erasure of subject/object dichotomies within the moment of this communal exchange. Second, the encounter demands a kind of awareness that is in itself active, leading to further social action. By then considering narratives of climate change, either direct or mediated through dramatizations, I ask the question, what encounters will be the most effective in generating an active response that extends beyond awareness? In other words, when does encountering climate change lead to social action? I conclude by considering how such encounters do indeed foster the social practice of human rights

Establishing a Chronology of Late Quaternary Glacial Advances in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica

Little research has focused on glacial events in the tropics. Providing an absolute glacial chronology in Costa Rica will build a foundation for future glacial chronologies and paleoclimate reconstructions in the highlands of Central America. Evidence of past glaciation, including moraines and glacial lakes, is preserved within formerly glaciated valleys in the Cordillera de Talamanca. Orvis and Horn (2000) constrained deglaciation ages of the most recent glacial event in the Cordillera de Talamanca based on radiocarbon dates of glacial lake sediments. Radiocarbon ages indicated complete deglaciation after 12.4 ka cal BP but before 9.7 ka cal BP (Orvis and Horn, 2000). This research aims to date the formation ages of moraines using cosmogenic 36Cl [chlorine-36] surface exposure dating. Exposure ages provide absolute age constraints on the timing of glacial events within the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. Cosmogenic 36Cl exposure ages indicate a Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) event ~21–18 ka, which is synchronous with the global LGM. Ages also indicate periods of glacial retreat and stillstands ~18–10 ka. An elevation and age comparison suggests similar timing and extent of LGM advance between two valleys on opposite sides of the mountain range. These results improve understanding of the timing of glacial events in the tropics, which is of critical importance for reconstructing regional and global climate patterns

Economic restructuring in New York State

When economic activity slows down, labor markets may undergo extensive structural change-the permanent reallocation of workers across industries. Job losses can be heavy, and creating new jobs and retraining displaced workers to fill them can take time. A high degree of restructuring may help to explain why New York State's most recent downturn persisted for well over two years. Subseries: Second District Highlights.Employment - New York (State) ; Labor market - New York (State) ; Industries - New York (State) ; Federal Reserve District, 2nd

Degree of Change: The MA in English Studies

From the publisher: As the needs of those seeking an MA in English studies have evolved, so too have the degree’s mission and identity. Margaret M. Strain and Rebecca C. Potter, editors of Degree of Change: The MA in English Studies, argue that the MA is positioned in a dynamic contact zone—“a place where disciplinary knowledge, student need, and local exigencies interact and where disciplinary identity is constantly negotiated.”Looking primarily at stand-alone master’s programs, this volume examines the design, delivery, and value of a master’s degree in English in the twenty-first century and challenges the characterization that MA programs in English serve primarily as stepping-stones to the PhD. Rather, contributors reveal how central the MA is to shaping the purpose and identity of contemporary English studies, through descriptions of a variety of specific MA programs. Gathering perspectives from faculty, program directors, and students from across the country, Strain and Potter showcase not only the diversity of such programs, but also the ways in which program identity and mission are richly interwoven with concerns about local needs, graduate student career trajectories, and the effects of a market-driven educational climate. This collection provides a substantive discussion that goes beyond questioning the state of English studies—it points to curricular, programmatic, and professional innovations that are transforming the field, calling for new dialogue in higher education about the pivotal role of the MA in English

Getting Past “Post-Truth”: Librarians Respond

There is concern among librarians that information illiteracy and the rapid spread of false news via social media have changed the information climate considerably, to the point where it feels as though we are witnessing the dawn of the “post-truth” era. Coupled with changing campus climates and a rise in hate crimes post-election, this panel of librarians feels an urgency for librarians to provide support to marginalized students, faculty, and fellow librarians. Librarians dedicate their lives to fostering critical evaluation of information sources through information literacy instruction, collection development, partnerships with campus stakeholders, and many other roles. Librarians are equally dedicated to ensuring access to information, privacy and safety within our spaces. Academic libraries stand poised to lead the way as inclusive and non-partisan, but never neutral, spaces for intellectual freedom on college campuses. In light of the recent election, many librarians are wondering how to ensure we live up to this standard. Though it seems most relevant for this type of work to fall on public service librarians, librarians across departments and at all levels of staff, from technical services to public services and instruction, need to be involved in fostering inclusivity. On this panel, librarians from a wide variety of New England’s institutions of higher education will discuss ways their libraries have mobilized to expand or begin providing programming and other resources to ensure that students, faculty, and staff feel safe, welcome, informed, and adequately represented in their libraries. Panelists will provide examples of positive actions that they, their libraries, and their institutions have taken to address these shifting social climates, with concrete examples of public statements, programming, toolkits, and staff training (among other things). While these actions will be perceived as positive among some members of our academic communities, the panel is also prepared to address the very real negative issues of lack of campus support, negotiating fall out, and both personal and professional burnout. The goal of this panel is to provide attendees with not only why this work is increasingly important, but also concrete examples of what has worked, what has not worked, what we need to do more of moving forward, and what could be adapted for your library more specifically and your campus community more broadly