Category: 2018

Moss to Prevent Loss?: Exploring Methods for Halting Permafrost Deterioration in Siberia

Presenter(s): Maya O’boyle − Russian, East European And Eurasian Studies (Reees), International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Dave Sutherland

Poster 175

Research Area: Natural/Physical Science (Cryosphere)

Permafrost, a layer of subsurface that remains frozen for two or more uninterrupted years, plays a significant role in the global cryospheric system. Permafrost lends stability to some of the world’s most barren environments, perhaps most important to no other place than Russia, of which it covers “more than 60%” (Anisimov and Reneva 169). This particularly applies
to the Siberian region, whose factories, nuclear plants, large cities, and abundant natural resources remain under threat, vulnerable to permafrost thawing that often leaves the ground unstable, contaminated by leached mercury, and disrupted of vegetation. This permafrost deterioration also impacts the global climate, “acting through release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere” and accelerating climate change (Anisimov and Reneva 174). However, while many studies have been conducted on thawing impacts, few have explored the roll vegetation can have in preventing permafrost shrinkage, particularly native mosses, which serve as an effective natural insulator. This study will explore the impacts of permafrost thawing on these native mosses, paying particular attention to how thawing affects moss thickness, in order to better understand and predict Siberian climate change. What can studying this moss cover reveal about methods to halting permafrost deterioration and global warming?

Welcome to the Jam: Effects of Climate on Mid-winter River Ice Breakup

Presenter(s): Annalee Nock − English

Faculty Mentor(s): Dave Sutherland

Poster 174

Research Area: Earth Science

Dynamic breakup of river ice cover and subsequent ice jamming, or damming, can cause flooding with socio-economic and ecological impacts. Breakup processes are sensitive to weather conditions, so changing climatic patterns engender concern over their potential impacts. Understanding how to predict ice jamming events could both mitigate destruction and offer insight toward climate’s effect on river ice. Usually, breakup and flooding happen in the spring, but occasionally perturbations in winter temperatures invoke mid-winter ‘thaws’. These are influenced by rainfall, augmented river flow, and ice decay. By synthesizing hydroclimatic studies on mid-winter breakup and ice jams, my research shows these mid-winter events have repercussions on ensuing spring breakup. This demonstrates the magnitude of even slight warming on river ice. With more high-resolution data and quantifying research, cryologists can look at mid-winter breakup as both a predictor for spring events and an easily-perceptible representation of climate change.

Climate Change and Indigenous Food Systems in the Andes

Presenter(s): Haley Nicholson − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 173

Research Area: Social Science

Climate change will have substantial impacts on agriculture which may affect our modern food system as we know it. Despite all of the climate change research that has been conducted, there is not enough importance placed on how climate change impacts indigenous food systems, particularly in the Andes region. Indigenous food systems are at particularly high risk for adverse climate change impacts because of their reliance on environmental predictability. Modern climate changes result in immediate nutrition and food security consequences for farmers in the Andean region, which is why it is so important that these impacts and possible mitigation strategies are studied. Through research in various peer-reviewed journals and United Nations and World Bank reports I will discuss how climate change has resulted in decreased food sovereignty, security, and nutrition for indigenous food systems in the Andes. I will also examine how climate change has already spurred adaptation strategies based on traditional knowledge of the agricultural landscape in the Andes. These adaptation strategies demonstrate the importance of traditional knowledge in the face of climate change.

An examination into the Success or Failure of the EU Negotiating Group’s Climate Policy on Lowering Emissions

Presenter(s): Marie Moore − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Crown, Ronald Mitchell

Poster 172

Research Area: Political Science

For my poster project I have chosen to research the climate policy of the European Union (EU) negotiating group. The EU negotiating group consists of 28 countries that have collaborated on one official climate policy. For my research I am investigated what carbon dioxide emission reduction commitments the EU negotiating group have established. I am exploring which European countries have met their goals or if they were unsuccessful in lowering emissions and why that is. I am researching variables, such as clean energy sources, that have led to countries successfully lowering emissions. By gaining a deeper understanding of what has worked for other countries in combating climate change, we as a country would have an effective template on how to successfully lower our emissions.

How Two Ice Sheets Are Causing Accelerated Distress on Sea Level Rise

Presenter(s): Morgan Mooney-Mccarthy − Political Science, Spanish, International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Dave Sutherland

Poster 171

Research Area: Natural Science

Two of the largest ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are experiencing expedited mass loss which is contributing to sea level rise. The estimated sea level rise per year is 0.54 mm/year and the respective ice sheets contribute 19% of the annual sea level rise. There has been a steady increase of glacial mass loss since the late 19th century, however, within the last two decades glacial mass loss has increased rapidly. The recent years of accelerated glacial mass loss has dramatically increased the rate of sea level rise. If this trend continues it will rapidly influence and impact coastlines. The research methods currently being used involve satellites and remote sensors. If the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets were to completely melt the sea level would increase up to seven meters. While 55% of the annual sea level rise can be attributed to all types of glacial melt, Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets make up 19% of that rise, which is nearly 2⁄3 of the sea level rise from all glacial ice. The results show that these two ice sheets add a disproportionate amount of ice mass loss compared to other factors affecting sea level rise. I anticipate research to accelerate as mass loss does in order to provide strong scientific arguments to present to the public and political leaders.

Contextualizing the Role of Pre-20th Century Conservation Initiatives in the Contemporary Environmental Conservation Movement

Presenter(s): Trevor Meyer − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 170

Research Area: Humanities

Modern environmental conservation initiatives are inseparable from centuries-old traditions, and attitudes toward nature. The purpose of this project is to present early conservation initiatives and interpretations, prior to the progressive era, that are especially foundational in the context of the contemporary conservation movement in the United States. It is critical
to acknowledge the parallelism between contemporary and traditional environmental conservation issues—deforestation, urbanization, and industrialization that spurred the first Euro-American conservation ideas during the 17th century. Despite the 18th and the 19th centuries being characterized mostly by the manifest destiny and the exploitation of natural resources, this time in history is also responsible for fostering immensely transformative valuations, understandings, and attitudes toward natural resources. During the 18th and 19th centuries the overuse and misuse of natural resources under traditional utilitarian conservation regimes was questioned, and contested by alternative conservation initiatives that perceived value in the preservation of nature, and wildlife habitat. From which values arose the nation’s first state parks, national parks, national forests, forest management practices, and wildlife protection organizations. In order to understand the complexities of decision-making in the contemporary environmental conservation movement we first ought to consider the age-old traditions and attitudes toward natural resources that provided foundation for the earliest conservation ideologies.

The History of a Modern Era of Conservation in the United States from 1964 to the Present

Presenter(s): Brooke Mckinney − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 169

Research Area: Social Science

The Modern Era of conservation and the conservation movement is extensive in political, racial, social, ethical, and ecological controversies. To understand the definition and benefits or setbacks of conservation my research seeks to explain the effects of conservation on racial issues and ecological issues in order to create a comprehensible timeline of events. Important components to this collective timeline are to identify effects of conservation on tribal communities and the environment in the US and in Oregon from literature, legislation, and creation of National Parks and how racial, social, and ecological issues changed conservation and its efforts from 1964 to the present. The timeline will be used by the organization Bark to help educate the public of the history of conservation and in training within the organization. My research is important because it intends to educate the public on how conservation efforts and legislation often lacks input from tribal communities, has historically excluded those communities from benefiting from these efforts and National Parks, and how conservation has, and could, change for the future.

Traditional Knowledge as the Essential Component in Preservation of the Environment and Culture in the Arctic

Presenter(s): Trenton Martinez − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 168

Research Area: Environmental Science

Indigenous communities within the Arctic region directly experience the consequences of climate change and have been disproportionately impacted. However, environmental projects and research concerned with these regions have failed to consider the cultural values and traditions of the local people. Popular world-views have contributed to the marginalization of indigenous populations in the Arctic as they are perceived as insignificant in relation to the global population. Thus, traditional knowledge is an essential component in collecting observational data and developing sustainable practices that maintain the community’s values, traditions, and relationship with the environment. Through examination of specific cases, the importance and use of traditional knowledge is demonstrated in its implementation, or lack thereof, within environmental strategy, design, and practice. Collectively, some of the most valuable data and information was obtained from oral narratives that provide an environmental history, personal experiences of environmental events and disasters, and the cultural adaptations, including hunting and traveling behaviors, as a response to local observations of environmental changes. This type of data is scientific knowledge specific to the region and culture, which prevent generalizations to be made through comparisons between similar environments without comparing differences between indigenous cultures as well. Incorporating these cultural aspects ensures that strategies to combat climate change protect the lives as well as the values and traditions of the people.

Inclusive Language Protocol for Environmental Organizations to Avoid Classist Language

Presenter(s): Allison Ludden − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 167

Research Area: Environmental Studies

I am part of a team developing a protocol for the environmental organization Bark to check whether they are using inclusive language. I am developing the part of the protocol that will address classist language, including general principles to follow and suggested vocabulary. I will be researching existing protocols and applying them to an environmental context in order to develop a socioeconomic inclusive protocol. Inclusive language is essential for the equal treatment of all groups that have been marginalized because of their ethnicity, culture, race, gender, disability, age, socioeconomic status and more. These groups are especially vulnerable to issues like environmental racism and climate change, yet we fail to see them represented in the environmentalist movement. This protocol will allow organizations to audit their websites, canvassing material and social media in order to adapt their language to reach out and represent these groups.

The Environmental Integrity Group: Each Country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution Commitments

Presenter(s): Barbara Lombardi − Business

Faculty Mentor(s): Ronald Mitchell

Poster 166

Research Area: Policy

This research will explore the Environmental Integrity negotiating Group’s position on climate change and how that aligns with the five individual country’s stances. The primary research question is: despite the fact that Mexico, South Korea, Lichtenstein, Monaco, and Switzerland belong to the same negotiating group, did each country make the same Intended Nationally Determined Contribution commitments? The position of the Environmental Integrity Group will be examined and compared to each individual country’s previous activities, Greenhouse Gas emissions, and policy implementations. Primary research suggests that these countries have different emission patterns and mitigation targets. These five country’s all agreed to be apart of a common group adopting the same values, but do they individually all end up making the same individual contributions? Each country’s vulnerability to climate change may play a vital role in their decision to form a group. These questions are important to answer because if these vastly different country’s are able to agree on solutions to global warming, then possibly all country’s can reach an agreement to make a significant impact on reversing climate change.