Factors that Influence Landowner Participation in Payment for Riparian Ecosystem Services Programs: Lessons for the Design of Utility-Initiated Watershed PES Programs

Examining committee: Robert Parker, chair; Max Nielsen-PincusEvery day millions of Americans enjoy clean safe drinking water from public water systems. Yet, human activity and development in sensitive watersheds pose significant threats to drinking water sources. This problem is compounded by the high cost of constructing new drinking water filtration plants. With cost ranging in the tens of millions to billions, municipalities and public utilities are searching for new ways to protect drinking water sources and avoid costly investments in filtration facilities. One alternative, seeks to eliminate the need for expensive water filtration plants by investing in watershed stewardship and conservation programs to protect ecosystems that benefit water quality. Using survey data collected in 2012, this research examines that factors that influence landowner’s “willingness to participate” in a payment of ecosystem services program to protect water quality in the McKenzie River watershed, Oregon. This paper builds on a growing body of research currently taking place in Oregon to investigate how public water districts/utilities and corporations might provide sufficient funding and incentives to pay for ecosystem services. This research provides basic lessons for public water providers and utilities interested in implementing PES programs in the future

Waremart Site Redevelopment Concept Plan

93 pagesWith an overall goal of facilitating the revitalization of the Mohawk District, this concept plan provides goals and strategies for the redevelopment of the Mohawk District. By evaluating existing conditions within the Mohawk District, six student teams developed a neighborhood profile including demographic and economic conditions and trends, land-use and area infrastructure, and neighborhood amenities. This profile informed the student groups of opportunities and constraints for redevelopment of the Waremart Site and the District as a whole. From this profile, teams developed concepts for redevelopment of the Waremart Site based around three themes: affordable/mixed-income housing, medical-related, and light-industrial. In addition, teams developed concepts for improvements within the larger Mohawk District to support the overall goals of nodal development. This concept plan synthesizes goals identified by the six student teams into key goals for the Waremart Site and the Mohawk District. Some of these goals are complementary, and some indicate different directions goals could take

Energy and Climate Change: Recommendations for the City of Springfield Regarding Buildings, Electricity, and Transportation

36 pagesThe City of Springfield is interested in learning about its current environmental impacts and ways that it might improve its environmental footprint in the future. The students of University of Oregon course PPPM 607: Energy and Climate Change researched three topics—buildings, electricity, and transportation— related to the City of Springfield’s influence on energy use, climate emissions, and quality of life of the community. Based on this research, groups of students made recommendations in these three areas for how the City of Springfield could reduce environmental impacts

Triple staining of a larval wing imaginal disk.

<p>The tissue was stained with Hoechst 33342 for nuclei, BODIPY FL Thapsigargin for ER, and MitoTracker Orange CMTMRos for mitochondria. Yellow arrows indicate peri-nuclear signals. White arrows indicate endosome-like or autophagosome-like unstained structures. Blue arrowheads indicate cells with small double nuclei. (<b>a</b>) Low magnification view. (<b>b</b>) High magnification view.</p