A Response to the IPCC Fifth Assessment

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change\u27s (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report presented significant data and findings about climate change. But the IPCC\u27s working groups\u27 summaries for policymakers avoid making normative statements about the IPCC\u27s findings. The authors, members of the Environmental Law Collaborative, bridge this gap by identifying the normative claims that stem from the working groups\u27 summaries to spark deeper discussion and help shape the IPCC\u27s sixth assessment

A Response to the IPCC Fifth Assessment

This collection of essays is the initial product of the second meeting of the Environmental Law Collaborative, a group of environmental law scholars that meet to discuss important and timely environmental issues. Here, the group provides an array of perspectives arising from the Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Each scholar chose one passage from one of the IPCC’s three Summaries for Policymakers as a jumping-off point for exploring climate change issues and responding directly to the reports. The result is a variety of viewpoints on the future of how law relates to climate change, a result that is the product not only of each scholar’s individual knowledge but also of the group’s robust discussion

A Response to the IPCC Fifth Assessment

This collection of essays is the initial product of the second meeting of the Environmental Law Collaborative, a group of environmental law scholars that meet to discuss important and timely environmental issues. Here, the group provides an array of perspectives arising from the Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Each scholar chose one passage from one of the IPCC’s three Summaries for Policymakers as a jumping-off point for exploring climate change issues and responding directly to the reports. The result is a variety of viewpoints on the future of how law relates to climate change, a result that is the product not only of each scholar’s individual knowledge but also of the group’s robust discussion

A Response to the IPCC Fifth Assessment

This collection of essays is the initial product of the second meeting of the Environmental Law Collaborative, a group of environmental law scholars that meet to discuss important and timely environmental issues. Here, the group provides an array of perspectives arising from the Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Each scholar chose one passage from one of the IPCC’s three Summaries for Policymakers as a jumping-off point for exploring climate change issues and responding directly to the reports. The result is a variety of viewpoints on the future of how law relates to climate change, a result that is the product not only of each scholar’s individual knowledge but also of the group’s robust discussion

Adapting to 4 Degrees C World

The Paris Agreement\u27s goal to hold warming to 1.50-2 0 C above pre-industrial levels now appears unrealistic. Profs. Robin Kundis Craig and J.B. Ruhl have recently argued that because a 40 C world may be likely, we must recognize the disruptive consequences of such a world and respond by reimagining governance structures to meet the challenges of adapting to it. In this latest in a biannual series of essays, they and other members of the Environmental Law Collaborative explore what 40 C might mean for a variety of current legal doctrines, planning policies, governance structures, and institutions

Genetic diversity Goals and Targets have improved, but remain insufficient for clear implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework

Genetic diversity among and within populations of all species is necessary for people and nature to survive and thrive in a changing world. Over the past three years, commitments for conserving genetic diversity have become more ambitious and specific under the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) draft post-2020 global biodiversity framework (GBF). This Perspective article comments on how goals and targets of the GBF have evolved, the improvements that are still needed, lessons learned from this process, and connections between goals and targets and the actions and reporting that will be needed to maintain, protect, manage and monitor genetic diversity. It is possible and necessary that the GBF strives to maintain genetic diversity within and among populations of all species, to restore genetic connectivity, and to develop national genetic conservation strategies, and to report on these using proposed, feasible indicators

American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research

McDonald D, Hyde E, Debelius JW, et al. American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems. 2018;3(3):e00031-18

Research Experience in Bioinformatics for Undergraduates

The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) is a sequence comparison algorithm used to search sequence databases for alignments of some portion of nucleic acid or protein sequences. This is a compute-intensive operation that can take from several minutes to hours depending on the computer that runs it. During the summer of 2004, as a part of the Research Experience in Bioinformatics for Undergraduates at UK, we participated in extending and testing the software for BooleanBlast. While BLAST allows for a search of only a single sequence, BooleanBlast adds the functionality to use queries of arbitrary complexity. For example it can process queries such as, find sequence A AND sequence B OR sequence C, BUT NOT sequence D, et cetera. With the BooleanBlast, it is possible to create and use expressive BLAST queries based on Boolean combinations. Our group of Bioinformatics for Undergraduates focused on testing and providing user friendly graphical interfaces (GUIs). We developed and implemented for BooleanBlast two complete user interfaces, one similar to a traditional search engine, the other giving the user a more guided experience. In the process of adding these interfaces, the internal code of BooleanBlast was significantly tested and improved. As a result of the Summer Bioinformatics Program for Undergraduates, BooleanBlast offers a search tool with an intuitive GUI that is both flexible and powerful

Bridging the Gap: Collaboration using Nanosat and CubeSat Platforms Through The Texas 2 STEP (2 Satellite Targeting Experimental Platform) Mission

The Texas 2-STEP (2-Satellite Targeting Experimental Platform) mission is the University of Texas at Austin\u27s (UTAustin) entry into the University Nanosat-5 (UNP-5) competition, a program sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), NASA and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The 2-STEP mission is to perform an autonomous rendezvous and formation flight demonstration using an innovative and inexpensive GN&C system. Two vehicles will be launched in a joined configuration but will perform a separation maneuver on-orbit to drift apart to a distance of 3 kilometers. When commanded, the larger, actively controlled Chaser nanosatellite will autonomously maneuver back to within 100 meters of the smaller, passively controlled Target. The Target vehicle is designed based on the CubeSat platform, a design solution that merges the Nanosat and CubeSat programs in a unique collaboration that has not been previously demonstrated. A standard CubeSat platform has been designed using commercial hardware which can be adapted for a 1U (1-Unit), 2U or 3U CubeSat mission. Use of the CubeSat standard is a responsive space solution that incorporates a modular vehicle design for use in multiple university missions. Adoption of this standard also promotes collaboration between Satellite Design Laboratory programs at UT-Austin. This paper will review the Texas 2-STEP mission and highlight how the Target vehicle is bridging a gap between the Nanosat and CubeSat communities. Elements of vehicle design as well as Chaser-Target team cooperation will also be covered

Testing an Intervention for Recognizing and Reporting Subtle Gender Bias in Promotion and Tenure Decisions

Women make up the majority of doctoral degree earners yet remain underrepresented in tenure-track positions within the academy. Gender disparities result in part from the accumulation of subtle, typically unintentional biases that pervade workplace structures, practices, and patterns of interactions that inadvertently favor men. However, the subtle nature of gender bias makes it difficult to detect and thus diminishes the likelihood of action to address it. We experimentally evaluated the effectiveness of a brief intervention, the Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation in the Academy (WAGES-Academic), which was designed to increase recognition of subtle gender bias in the academic workplace. Participants (N = 177) completed either the WAGES intervention or one of two control conditions and later evaluated promotion and tenure materials of a woman faculty member who received either a blatant sexist, subtle sexist, or nonsexist review. Consistent with hypotheses, WAGES participants (vs. controls) detected more subtle gender bias (ps \u3c. 02) and were subsequently more likely to report concerns about bias (ps \u3c .04). Results suggest that low-cost interventions that educate individuals about subtle bias in a nonthreatening way may increase detection and reporting of gender bias in higher education institutions