What Research Should be Done and Why? Four Competing Visions among Ecologists

Information we collect about our planet depends, in part, on the questions scientists ask regarding the natural world. Asking other questions might lead to different innovations and alternative understandings of policy problems and their potential solutions. With a seemingly infinite number of potential study subjects but limited resources with which to study them, why have we chosen to focus on the topics that we have? Here, I present a Q-method study that explores ecologists\u27 thought processes as they evaluate the merits of potential research topics. The participants, ecologists attending the Ecological Society of America\u27s 2008 Annual Meeting, nominally agreed with one another that their discipline should contribute to solving environmental problems, but they interpreted that goal differently. This study uncovers four competing visions that ecologists have for their discipline. On the basis of these findings, I contend that ecology might be more effective in informing policy if priority setting were a more deliberative process and open to insights from individuals and institutions outside of ecology

Review of: Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter , by Nancy Baron

Collectively, ecologists produce a staggering amount of information each year. Using the Web of Science Journal Citation Reports subject classification to define the field of ecology, our discipline comprises 129 ecology-specific journals that in 2009 published an astounding 14 280 articles. How much of that information is being used by policymakers? How much is potentially useful to those audiences? The message in Nancy Baron’s new book, Escape from the ivory tower: a guide to making your science matter, is that all of it could be taken up by the media, publicized, and utilized by policymakers if only we could communicate it better to reporters and politicians. But communicating science and making it matter to the public or to policymakers are not the same thing, and the book falls short in addressing this latter point

Nuclear Charge Radius of 12^{12}Be

The nuclear charge radius of $^{12}$Be was precisely determined using the technique of collinear laser spectroscopy on the $2s_{1/2}\rightarrow 2p_{1/2, 3/2}$ transition in the Be$^{+}$ ion. The mean square charge radius increases from $^{10}$Be to $^{12}$Be by \delta ^{10,12} = 0.69(5) \fm^{2} compared to \delta ^{10,11} = 0.49(5) \fm^{2} for the one-neutron halo isotope $^{11}$Be. Calculations in the fermionic molecular dynamics approach show a strong sensitivity of the charge radius to the structure of $^{12}$Be. The experimental charge radius is consistent with a breakdown of the N=8 shell closure.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Spanning Boundaries in an Arizona Watershed Partnership: Information Networks as Tools for Entrenchment or Ties for Collaboration?

The need to develop successful collaborative strategies is an enduring problem in sustainable resource management. Our goal is to evaluate the relationship between information networks and conflict in the context of collaborative groundwater management in the rapidly growing central highland region of Arizona. In this region, water-management conflicts have emerged because of stakeholders’ differing geographic perspectives and competing scientific claims. Using social network analyses, we explored the extent to which the Verde River Basin Partnership (VRBP), which was charged with developing and sharing scientific information, has contributed to collaboration in the region. To accomplish this, we examined the role that this stakeholder partnership plays in reinforcing or overcoming the geographic, ideological, expert, and power conflicts among its members. Focusing on information sharing, we tested the extent to which several theoretically important elements of successful collaboration were evidenced by data from the VRBP. The structure of information sharing provides insight into ways in which barriers between diverse perspectives might be retained and elucidates weaknesses in the partnership. To characterize information sharing, we examined interaction ties among individuals with different geographic concerns, hierarchical scales of interest, belief systems (about science, the environment, and the role of the partnership), and self-identified expertise types. Results showed that the partnership’s information-sharing network spans most of these boundaries. Based on current theories of collaboration, we would expect the partnership network to be conducive to collaboration. We found that information exchanges are limited by differences in connection patterns across actor expertise and environmental-belief systems. Actors who view scientists as advocates are significantly more likely to occupy boundary-spanning positions, that appear to impede the success of the partnership. This analysis challenges widely held assumptions about the properties that separate successful collaborations from those that are less successful. It has implications for our understanding of the factors that constrain information processing, knowledge production, and collective-action capability in institutions

Renewable energy in fisheries and aquaculture: Case studies from the United States

Fisheries and aquaculture are highly reliant on fossil fuels and must transition to renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions and meet global planetary heath goals. Here, we assessed total and renewable energy use in farmed catfish and wild-caught salmon, two of the largest seafood sectors in the United States (U.S.). Interviews were used to explore participants’ views of key barriers and opportunities to replace fossil fuel use. Modeled scenarios were used to assess changes in grid source energy and electricity costs for the farmed catfish sector using the U.S. EIA National Energy Modeling System. We found that renewable energy makes up 5% of direct energy use in catfish aquaculture in Mississippi and Alabama. Catfish industry interviewees indicate that cheap electricity costs and diurnal energy use are barriers to onsite implementation of renewables. Projected renewable energy use for the catfish sector could be as high as 41% of total direct energy use in 2050 under modeled scenarios, which would result in 86% lower CO2 emissions but 34% higher electricity costs. For wild-capture pink salmon from Prince William Sound, Alaska (AK) and sockeye salmon from Bristol Bay, AK, renewable energy makes up 2% and 0% of direct energy use, respectively. Wild-caught salmon industry interviewees identified the short duration of the fishing season as a barrier for onsite renewable energy, though there is a desire for more regional renewable energy technologies to lower electricity costs and increase reliability. Proposed renewable energy projects at utilities in fish processing towns in AK would only make modest improvements in the share of direct energy from renewables due to fuel use by fishing vessels. This is the first study to characterize current and potential renewable energy use among parts of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the U.S. We found that energy needs for fisheries and aquaculture are influenced by their often-remote location, production methods, and seasonal energy demands, which require context-specific solutions. There is the need for federal and state policies and incentives to shift energy sources used in these sectors to meet national and international climate change goals while supporting food security.publishedVersio

Core handling and processing for the WAIS Divide ice-core project

On 1 December 2011 the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice-core project reached its final depth of 3405 m. The WAIS Divide ice core is not only the longest US ice core to date, but is also the highest-quality deep ice core, including ice from the brittle ice zone, that the US has ever recovered. The methods used at WAIS Divide to handle and log the drilled ice, the procedures used to safely retrograde the ice back to the US National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) and the methods used to process and sample the ice at the NICL are described and discussed

Core handling and processing for the WAIS Divide ice-core project

On 1 December 2011 the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice-core project reached its final depth of 3405 m. The WAIS Divide ice core is not only the longest US ice core to date, but is also the highest-quality deep ice core, including ice from the brittle ice zone, that the US has ever recovered. The methods used at WAIS Divide to handle and log the drilled ice, the procedures used to safely retrograde the ice back to the US National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) and the methods used to process and sample the ice at the NICL are described and discussed

The UV-Optical Galaxy Color-Magnitude Diagram. I. Basic Properties

We have analyzed the bivariate distribution of galaxies as a function of ultraviolet-optical colors and absolute magnitudes in the local universe. The sample consists of galaxies with redshifts and optical photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy sample matched with detections in the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) bands in the Medium Imaging Survey being carried out by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite. In the (NUV − r)_(0.1) versus M_(r,0.1) galaxy color-magnitude diagram, the galaxies separate into two well-defined blue and red sequences. The (NUV − r)_(0.1) color distribution at each M_(r,0.1) is not well fit by the sum of two Gaussians due to an excess of galaxies in between the two sequences. The peaks of both sequences become redder with increasing luminosity, with a distinct blue peak visible up to M_(r,0.1) ~ − 23. The r_(0.1)-band luminosity functions vary systematically with color, with the faint-end slope and characteristic luminosity gradually increasing with color. After correcting for attenuation due to dust, we find that approximately one-quarter of the color variation along the blue sequence is due to dust, with the remainder due to star formation history and metallicity. Finally, we present the distribution of galaxies as a function of specific star formation rate and stellar mass. The specific star formation rates imply that galaxies along the blue sequence progress from low-mass galaxies with star formation rates that increase somewhat with time to more massive galaxies with a more or less constant star formation rate. Above a stellar mass of ~10^(10.5) M_☉, galaxies with low ratios of current to past averaged star formation rate begin to dominate