Tag: Preserving Mother Earth

Genomic ancestry is explained by both geography and ecology in Mimulus aurantiacus

Presenter(s): Connor Lane—Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Matt Streisfeld

Session 4: Preserving Mother Earth

One of the main goals of evolutionary biology and ecology is to understand the mechanisms by which the vast diversity in life on Earth is created . Integral to this process is speciation, where one species diverges into two . Recent work has shown that speciation can occur even if populations are not completely isolated with each other, which is known as speciation with gene flow . To understand this phenomenon, we perform a survey characterizing genetic admixture and genomic ancestry in Mimulus aurantiacus ssp . puniceus . From here, we test whether or not certain genome features thought to be indicative of local adaptation covary with geographic space and environmental differences . We hypothesize that due to local adaptation being well-characterized within ssp . puniceus, we will observe substantial genetic subdivision in our survey and find that important genome statistics covary with environment due to adaptation leading to genetic isolation . From our survey, we found both an extraordinary amount of genetic subdivision in ssp . puniceus, indicating that what we consider to be one subspecies has many distinct groups . In addition to this, we find that the most differentiated groups within puniceus have indistinguishable floral trait distributions, hinting at a deeper history of isolation rather than these groups being separated due to natural selection . Population genomic data reveals that variation in genome features signaling divergence is explained by variation in both geography and environment, implying that both neutral processes based on geographic isolation and positive selection due to local ecology are important for shaping the genome .

Biomagnification and Bioaccumulation of Pollutants and How They Disproportionately Impact the People of “Cancer Alley”

Presenter(s): Abigail Gyetvai—Environmental Studies, Political Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Peter Walker

Session 4: Preserving Mother Earth

This honors thesis examines the environmental, sociopolitical, and socio-economical aspects of Cancer Alley, Louisiana, United States of America . Cancer Alley is a name dubbed to an eighty- five-mile-long corridor in Louisiana that is dotted with petrochemical plants that continuously
poison its residents . The people living in this area are primarily lower-income, people of color who disproportionately face the full force of environmental ills that the petrochemical factories bring . The case of Cancer Alley is layered and delves into not only environmental issues—such as pollution and how various chemicals can move throughout the body, but it also deals with human rights issues and how the disempowered and disenfranchised residents in the area are being exploited due to their powerlessness . Various chemical pollutants have been emitted into the Cancer Alley air, land, and water, contributing to the worsening conditions of the area . The primary findings from this research have been that the more marginalized the group living within Cancer Alley, the more likely they are to be at risk for cancer and various other diseases . This honors thesis concludes with the application of my proposed solutions to alleviating environmental justice legislative issues surrounding Cancer Alley .

Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements: A Review of International Environmental Governance Theory

Presenter(s): Brendan Adamczyk—Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Ronald Mitchell

Session 4: Preserving Mother Earth

Every country in the world faces a myriad of environmental problems, from air and ocean pollution to the existential threat posed by climate change and many more . In response, many nations create or join international environmental regimes and agreements to affect positive change and influence global environmental policy . This paper examines the theory related to two research questions: how do scholars define the effectiveness of international environmental agreements? And what are the essential metrics by which the structure and effectiveness of a given international environmental agreement can be assessed? I seek to answer these questions by conducting a review of international environmental governance literature from the past three decades using a counterfactual framework—that is, comparing what did occur in the real world with a treaty in effect to what one expected would have happened if that treaty didn’t exist . Ultimately, I conclude that three key elements influence the effectiveness of international environmental agreements: the standards by which one measures effectiveness, the degree to which the language of an agreement utilizes legalization, flexibility, and specificity, and the tools environmental regimes encourage the use of in enforcing agreements . In the face of increasingly urgent environmental challenges, the most promising path for improving effectiveness moving forward is the complete integration of these three essential factors into the treaty writing, ratification, and enforcement processes .