Natural Resource Management

Peter Vorster is a spritely hydro-geographer (“I invented that term!” he told me, beaming) from the Bay Institute, a group that studies this watershed “from the Sierras to the sea.” I’d asked him to join us on the mountain. He arrived a shaken-up soda can of a person -- just literally bursting with stories. It was easy to see how much he loves this river; his enthusiasm was infectious.

Does Elevated CO2 Alter Silica Uptake in Trees?

Paying attention to the twinned threats of climate change and species extinction requires ingenuity, cash, and nimble legal mechanisms. Two novel solutions—REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and Biodiversity Offsetting—comprise potentially win-win solutions.

To conservationist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, getting coastal communities involved in plans to protect their waters is critical for protecting the planet's oceans. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, she talks about her work in one Caribbean island and how it shows how such a strategy can get results.

That’s right. Neither wild fish nor farmed fish can be certified organic because no organic standards exist in the U.S. to regulate them. But that may be about to change—for the worse. Why? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently proceeding with the development of organic aquaculture regulations that could allow wild fish and ocean-based fish farms to be certified organic. Read a Switzer Fellow Thought Leadership piece by 1994 Fellow Lisa Bunin of the Center for Food Safety.

LSU ecologist James Cronin and colleague Laura Meyerson from the University of Rhode Island conducted an ambitious large-scale study on the native and invasive species of reed, Phragmites australis, in North America and Europe funded by the National Science Foundation. They found that the intensity of plant invasions by non-native species can vary considerably with changes in latitude.

From the Routledge press release: Society & Natural Resources and Routledge Journals are pleased to announce two new editors: Dr. David A. Sonnenfeld and Dr. Peter Leigh Taylor. Dr. Sonnenfeld is a professor of Environmental Studies at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) in Syracuse, and Dr. Taylor is a professor of Sociology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. They will begin their editorship with Volume 28 of the journal. We are excited to welcome them to Society & Natural Resources!