December 7, 2021
Cat Combs recommends the Johnson Museum’s new exhibit on indigenous communities struggling with environmental change–check it out!
https://museum.cornell.edu/exhibitions/art-and-environmental-struggle
Nov 12, 2021–Suresh recommends this J Applied Ecology editorial and associated paper related to the role of ‘non native’ species in urban biodiversity
EDITOR’S CHOICE, INVASIVE SPECIES, URBAN ECOSYSTEMS
Editor’s Choice 58:11: Invasion theory as a management tool for increasing native biodiversity in urban ecosystems
Paper (open access): https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13953
Nov 8, 2021–Cat Combs recommends this upcoming seminar on Ithaca’s ambitious electrification program to mitigate GHG emissions
“1,000 Conversations about our Future:
The City of Ithaca made history this past Wednesday as the first city to commit to decarbonizing 100% of city’s building stock – including commercial and residential buildings. Read more about the program on the Ithaca Voice here and on the Washington Post here!
From 12:00PM to 12:45PM on Wednesday, November 10th, Dr. Luis Aguirre-Torres, Director of Sustainability, will be joined by Donnel Baird, CEO of Blocpower, to talk about the City’s plans to roll out this monumental, first-of-its-kind program.
This Power Lunch Conversation will be live-streamed on the 1000 Conversations YouTube channel! There will be a moderator in the chat so that we can address as many comments and questions as possible. Please join us in the conversation!”
October 28, 2021–Additional readings for Week 2 of the ‘What is Conservation’ topic module
Kate Riley and the student team leading the ‘What is Conservation’ topic module suggested two new optional readings for week 2, up on the class box account:
Briscoe T (2021). Conservationists see rare nature sanctuaries; Black farmers see a legacy bought out from under them. Propublica, online article available at: https://www.propublica.org/article/conservationists-see-rare-nature-sanctuaries-black-farmers-see-a-legacy-bought-out-from-under-them [last accessed Oct 28,2021]
Green R, et al. (2005) Farming and the fate of wild nature. Science 307:550-555.
October 27, 2021–Climate goals report card
Brett Hayhurst recommends this article from Nat Geo on countries’ performance in meeting climate targets: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/the-world-is-still-falling-short-of-meeting-its-climate-goals
October 19, 2021—Class visit from Dr. Luis Aguirre-Torres, City of Ithaca Director of Sustainability
We were fortunate to have Dr. Luis Aguirre-Torres, Director of Sustainability for Ithaca NY, speak to our NTRES 6140 Conservation Controversies grad seminar. Under Luis’ vision, Ithaca is launching a Green New Deal that is participatory, respects equity & justice, leverages innovative climate finance, and looks to enact durable long term solutions. Thanks to DNRE PhD student Stephanie Figary for making our class connection with Luis!
Oct 7, 2021–Cabral et al. paper on global marine reserve networks for food was retracted from PNAS
Disappointing to hear the Cabral et al. paper needed retraction, but good to see the science review process has led to the correction eventually, albeit ex post. Hopefully the authors can correct their analysis and find another outlet for a revised study. Official news @PNAS: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/43/e2117750118
Oct 6, 2021–Chad Cully recommends this provocative book on the economics of climate change by Naomi Kline
Kline N (2015) This changes everything: capitalism vs. the climate. Simon & Schuster, New York.
Oct 5, 2021–Rachel Neugarten recommends a few Freakonomics podcasts that are relevant to our Urban Greening discussions
Rent control: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/rent-control/
Cost of air pollution: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/pollution-brain/
Wage equality: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/minimum-wage/
Oct 1, 2021–Greensplaining! Steve Morreale recommends this provocative article on green gentrification in urban settings
Grorud-Colvert K, et al. (2021) Greensplaining environmental justice: A narrative of race,
ethnicity, and justice in urban greenspace development. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and the City. doi: 10.1080/26884674.2021.1921634 [also up on our box folder]
Sep 13, 2021–New Science paper on a management framework to guide effective MPAs globally
Grorud-Colvert K, et al. (2021) The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean. Science 373:eabf0861. doi: 10.1126/science.abf0861 [also up on our box folder]
Sep 9, 2021–Seminar series on learning from conservation failures
Rachel Neugarten recommends this seminar series on the ‘Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) Embracing Failures Project‘ . From the seminar series website: “CCI is a collaborative initiative working to identify practical steps for improving learning from failure in conservation. To close out this project, CCI is hosting a webinar series to present the main findings of Embracing Failures. We will also showcase other initiatives working to improve learning from failure and engage participants in a discussion around the practical steps that all those involved in the delivery of conservation action can take to fully “embrace” failure as an essential part of the learning process.”
Sep 8, 2021–Biomass status of exploited fish populations
David Weinsten recommends this fisheries status paper from the UBC group. Here the authors assess biomass trends of as many global stocks as they could get data for, but using the somewhat controversial ‘catch only’ assessment methods (pdf on class box account):
Palomares MLD, et al. Fishery biomass trends of exploited fish populations in marine ecoregions, climatic zones and ocean basins. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 243:106896. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106896
Sep 8, 2021–Assessing the effectiveness of global protected area planning
Hi all great discussion in class this week on global marine protected areas. There were questions about how the global protected area process can be improved. In light of that, Rachel Neugarten recommends these provocative perspective papers on efforts for global protected area planning (pdfs on the course box website):
Devillers, R., Pressey, R. L., Grech, A., Kittinger, J. N., Edgar, G. J., Ward, T., & Watson, R. (2015). Reinventing residual reserves in the sea: Are we favouring ease of establishment over need for protection? Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 25(4), 480–504. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.
Devillers, R., Pressey, R. L., Ward, T. J., Grech, A., Kittinger, J. N., Edgar, G. J., & Watson, R. A. (2020). Residual marine protected areas five years on: Are we still favouring ease of establishment over need for protection? Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 30(9), 1758–1764. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.
Wyborn, C., & Evans, M. C. (2021). Conservation needs to break free from global priority mapping. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1–3. doi: 10.1038/s41559-021-01540-x
Sep 1, 2021—Labor abuses in global fisheries
Rachel Neugarten recommends this piece on slavery and labor rights abuses in global fisheries and a need for fisheries science to engage to advance socially responsible practices in fishing:
Kittinger J et al. Committing to socially responsible seafood. Science 356:912-913.
A .pdf copy is in the class box folder.
Sep 1, 2021 – Learn about the world’s fishing gears
Pingguo He and collaborators put together this terrific illustrated guide to the world’s fishing gears. Enjoy!
8/11/21 Cutting edge issues
The issues we are discussing in this year’s seminar are at the forefront of conservation science and ecosystem management. Here’s a histogram of the year of publication of the course readings:
