Download Science of Human-Environment Interactions (SHE)

Science of Human-Environment Interactions (SHE)
Introduction
Understanding, predicting, and responding to a rapidly changing environment are among
the most pressing challenges of our time. Anthropogenic changes to our environment are
occurring at unprecedented rates, and will likely grow as humans continue to use natural
resources in an unsustainable manner and human population continues to explode. These
environmental perturbations are pervasive and local to global in scale. Particularly
egregious examples include climate change as the result of the emissions of greenhouse
gases, large-scale conversions of natural ecosystems to agriculture and urban areas (landuse change), widespread introduction of exotic species into terrestrial and freshwater
ecosystems, and alterations to water courses (e.g., construction of dams and reservoirs).
We suggest that it is an ethical obligation of universities to address these problems
through research and graduate and undergraduate education as we train our citizenry and
future leaders, as is acknowledged in the University of Oregon (UO) Academic Plan
(core value - Stewardship).
‘Sustainability’ has already been suggested as a Big Idea, however, as written in the
original Academic Plan, the concept of sustainability both lacked definition and ignored
the natural sciences. We urge that the university’s vision of sustainability be expanded
beyond a human-centric viewpoint by creatively coupling natural and human systems.
That is, sustainability is more than providing for human needs with minimal
environmental impact, as addressed by such activities as recycling, ‘green’ housing,
‘green’ chemistry, and ‘sustainable’ business practices (as worthwhile as all of these
activities are). As stewards of the environment, we must strive to maintain healthy
ecosystems and land use practices to sustain their delivery of the goods and services
(including clean water, fertile soil and natural resources) upon which human society
depends. Moreover, many believe, as do we, that our society has an ethical obligation to
preserve the world’s biodiversity, even if it has no direct benefit for humans. Therefore,
we suggest that any sustainability initiative at the university needs to take into account
how to minimize and mitigate human impact on the natural environment in a way that
fosters a future that is not biologically depauperate.
While the natural sciences are invaluable in documenting the scope of environmental
problems and occasionally providing technological remedies, it has become clear that
sustainable solutions require an interdisciplinary collaboration among the natural
sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Traditionally, scientists have studied human
impacts to the environment primarily from the perspective of humans as drivers of
change. Newer research recognizes a more complex web of interrelationships within
coupled human and natural systems. Real and perceived gaps in the approaches and
theories between the natural and social sciences have also hampered the development of
general concepts that are widely accepted. Developing these concepts and theories is
critical for a fully integrated understanding of environmental systems that would enable
predictive models to be developed, which would support robust solutions for
policymakers in the face of change.
Our Vision at the University of Oregon
SHE will serve to enhance integration across the environmental sciences. UO has a well
established reputation as a leader in environmental research and education that
encompasses many different disciplines on campus, as shown by the more than one
hundred faculty in twenty-five departments who are participating members of the
Environmental Studies Program (ENVS). However, the environmental science faculty
are currently split among numerous departments (Geology, Geography, Biology,
Anthropology, and Landscape Architecture, Museum of Natural and Cultural History),
which severely limits their ability to perform integrative research and education. Many
of their laboratory facilities are poor, outdated, and spread across campus, and no central
shared-use research and teaching facilities exist on campus. Moreover, it is clear that
integration across disciplines is best achieved when the people in those disciplines are
routinely in close spatial proximity to one another.
In the view of many outside the university, scholarship in environmental sciences in
Oregon has been largely relegated to Oregon State University, despite the presence of a
strong core group of excellent environmental scientists at UO. We believe that this
perception results from the lack of a unified identity of the environmental sciences at UO,
which, in turn, is a consequence of the infrastructure of traditional academic disciplines
inhibiting cross-discipline integration. For this reason, we propose to develop both an
environmental sciences identity and shared facility that is focused on the theme of the
Science of Human-Environment interactions (SHE) and will place UO in a leadership
position in environmental research and education. Moreover, we suggest that
environmental science at UO is in a particularly strong position compared to other OUS
institutions to form substantive linkages with the social sciences and humanities given
their environmental focus on this campus. Finally, we believe that the university cannot
be the flagship institution within OUS without a nationally recognized environmental
science research and education program.
SHE will strengthen the undergraduate and graduate environmental science components
of ENVS. ENVS is a campus-wide interdisciplinary program and offers two popular
undergraduate majors (Environmental Studies and Environmental Science), but courses
such as ENVS 202 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Natural Sciences and a new
course to be offered in soil science have no dedicated laboratory space. ENVS has a
limited focus on research that is mainly manifested through its graduate program; that
graduate program has not effectively served the environmental sciences because the
students in the master’s program in ENVS are predominantly interested in the social
sciences and humanities, and only one Ph.D. student has been in the natural sciences
throughout the life of the program. Thus, no integrative environmental science graduate
program exists on campus. While many of the signers of this document are strong
proponents and active members of ENVS, we believe that a new model needs to be
developed that effectively integrates environmental science research and graduate
education on campus while maintaining strong linkages to ENVS and building off their
strengths in the humanities and social sciences. We envision extensive dual membership
of faculty in SHE and ENVS and that ENVS be physically located within the footprint of
SHE (see Implementation below).
SHE Goals (institutional benefits)
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Strengthen the university's reputation for excellence in environmental science
research and education, and interdisciplinary studies (University Plan Goal 1).
Provide an identity and resources to develop a true intellectual community among
existing strong programs in the environmental sciences, and to connect them to the
social sciences and humanities (University Plan Goal 2).
Enhance research and graduate education by adding shared facilities and courses that
encourage interdisciplinarity across the environmental sciences and that develop
linkages between the natural and social sciences and humanities.
Enhance undergraduate education through the building of new laboratory facilities,
design of new courses, and the expansion of student-research interactions.
Strengthen the university's capacity for providing the science to solve environmental
problems and improve society's stewardship of our natural resources (University Plan
core value - Stewardship).
Build a new green building to house SHE that is a showcase for sustainable
architecture practices.
Implementation
We propose that the current footprint of Columbia Hall be used for SHE. Columbia Hall
already houses teaching laboratories for the Department of Geological Sciences and is to
be the new home of ENVS and Office of Sustainability. Its central location of Columbia
Hall on campus would maximize the visibility of environmental efforts at the university,
while allowing ready access to faculty and research facilities in the Center for Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology (Pacific Hall and Onyx Bridge), Geology (Cascade Hall and
Volcanology), and Landscape Architecture (Lawrence Hall). Construction of shared
research space in this location could also aid consolidation of laboratory operations for
environmental scientists from the Departments of Geography and Anthropology,
although it would not alleviate existing problems experienced by both departments of
having laboratory space that is far from core office, teaching, and administrative
facilities.
A green design for this building could create an architectural showcase for the application
of sustainable building practices. This building could be energy neutral (or even be a net
provider of energy), recycle rain water, be landscaped with native species, etc. It would
also provide an excellent opportunity to involve the School of Architecture and Allied
Arts in the design of the building and landscaping, using it as an educational opportunity
for their students and an example of putting their natural reputation for sustainable design
in practice on the campus.
The SHE building would incorporate the following components:
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Two undergraduate environmental sciences laboratories with adequate facilities to
allow hands-on access of undergraduates to a range of laboratory techniques used in
the environmental sciences. Currently, there are almost no undergraduate teaching
facilities on campus that address this need. Classes that could utilize these
laboratories include ENVS 202 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Natural
Sciences, Geog 141The Natural Environment, a new class on Introduction to
Geochemistry (will be taught on a trial basis next year), an ENVS soil science course
that is being designed, and several ecology courses in the Biology Department.
Shared research facilities in common laboratories for Sedimentology, Geochemistry,
and Geochronology. There is extensive overlap in the tools and techniques used by
the different branches of environmental science on campus. Not only are there
economies to be gained by sharing equipment, but shared laboratory space will also
greatly expand interaction, particularly among our graduate students. These facilities
could also be used for undergraduate laboratories that would be housed within the
same building.
A shared computational facility for data visualization and teaching, as well as
collaborative space for students to work/learn software/methods/etc.
Offices for graduate students who are participants in SHE.
ENVS will soon be housed in Columbia Hall, but the facilities are spread over three
floors. Teaching laboratories for the Geological Sciences are also spread over three
floors of Columbia. A new facility would allow design of optimal space for both
programs. The Office of Sustainability will also soon be housed in Columbia Hall,
and having these three environmentally focused organizations in the same building
would serve to foster collaborations.
We propose the following new teaching initiatives would be developed:
• A new integrative graduate program in the environmental sciences, focused on Ph.D.
students. Students would both be part of SHE and a ‘focal’ department, guaranteeing
strong linkages between natural science departments on campus and SHE. Potentially
this could be a new natural science track within the current ENVS Ph.D. program and
could encompass an NSF IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research
Traineeship) being prepared by a number of UO environmental science faculty. To
provide a strong interdisciplinary background for these graduate students, they would
be required to take such courses as environmental philosophy, the broad debate about
what sustainability actually entails, environmental policy and law, and environmental
economics.
• Regular research seminars that emphasize a broad interdisciplinary approach to
environmental problem solving.
• New team-taught courses that include faculty from very different disciplines that
provide students with a true interdisciplinary perspective. An example is a course on
water problems that would include faculty from the Law School and Geography.
• New integrative field and laboratory courses that would encompass the perspective
from the different environmental sciences.
• A program to foster greater availability of undergraduate research internships with
research faculty on campus.
Lastly, we suggest new cluster hires of faculty that use an integrative environmental
approach. These faculty would have tenure lines in at least two different natural science
departments, or potentially between departments in the natural sciences and the social
science or humanities. In many cases, these faculty might also have part of their
appointment be associated with ENVS.
Addressing Big Idea Criteria
1 and 2. This proposal addresses multiple aspects of UO’s missions and goals in the
Academic Plan. SHE addresses the core value of stewardship by providing the
integrative research framework and educational curricula that are necessary to
effectively address the pressing environmental problems facing Oregon, our nation,
and the world.
In terms of goals of the Plan, we address AAU Excellence on a Human Scale (Goal 1)
by designing new undergraduate and graduate curricula that enhance integrative,
personal research experiences in the classroom, laboratory, and field through such
venues as seminars, shared laboratory facilities for graduate students and faculty, and
undergraduate research internships. SHE furthers academic excellence at UO (Goal
1) and promotes intellectual communities (Goal 2) through fostering integration of
different disciplines, building a common infrastructure to serve those disciplines, and
enhancing the national visibility of the environmental sciences. SHE helps to retain
and engage a diverse community (Goal 3) through its strong focus on increasing the
quality of an integrative environmental education of undergraduate and graduate
students.
3. SHE builds on existing UO strengths in the environmental sciences by providing
common laboratory facilities and equipment and fostering integration of research and
graduate education from multiple departments. It also has a strong focus on
interdisciplinary research and education with a primary focus on the environmental
sciences, but strong linkages will be built with the social sciences and humanities.
We emphasize that SHE would complement and enhance existing environmental
initiatives on campus, including the Institute for a Sustainable Environment (AAA),
the Natural Hazards Center (PPPM), the Environmental and Resource Law program,
and the Green Business Initiative.
4. The essence of SHE is to foster substantive collaboration in research and teaching
with faculty working in the environmental arena across campus.
5. The dispersed nature of environmental sciences at UO across traditional disciplines
has reduced its visibility, stature, and effectiveness in teaching and research. SHE
will strengthen environmental science in Biology, Geography, Geology,
Anthropology, and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. It will also
strengthen the Environmental Studies Program through shared use of facilities and
building collaborations with social science and humanities faculty in that program.
6. Our society is faced with pervasive environmental problems that threaten our quality
of life. We also believe that human society has an ethical obligation to preserve
biodiversity and ecosystem function, along with the goods and services provided to
human society by those functions.
An important goal of SHE will be to disseminate the research findings of the faculty
in broader public venues than traditional academic outlets. Many of the faculty who
would participate in SHE have a proven record in working with a diverse group of
public and private entities at the local, state, and national levels.
7. This proposal will require substantial infrastructure costs from the university and/or
private donor funding. However, we believe these costs to be justified not only
because of the benefits to the institutional vision of developing national recognition in
the broad area of sustainability, but also because Columbia Hall’s central location on
campus gives it the potential to serve as an important gateway to the natural science
complex. In the Call for Building Project Proposals last year, a proposal for an
Environmental Sciences Research and Teaching Complex was placed on the
university's Identified Needs List. Moreover, the integrative environmental focus and
green design of the building may prove to be a popular target for funding from private
donors.
Research laboratory facilities will be equipped largely through equipment
contributions from current faculty. More expensive equipment could be sought
through equipment grants at the National Science Foundation, which has large
amounts of funds dedicated for this purpose in the new national stimulus package.
We hope that sustained funds for graduate training will be augmented through the
NSF IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) Program; a
pre-proposal (with the working title Earth and Human Interactions: Past and Present
(EHIPP)) is currently being prepared by a large group of environmental science
faculty. If successful, EHIPP would provide a framework for achieving some of the
graduate education goals of SHE. Conversely, success on IGERT grants is usually
dependent on significant institutional support, and UO’s acceptance of SHE as a Big
Idea would certainly demonstrate that support.
Long-term funding for maintenance and upkeep of common equipment in SHE would
be funded by a percentage of the overhead return from grants that utilized the facility.
Moreover, SHE should increase the competitiveness of the UO environmental science
faculty for external grant funding. Federal funding for environmental science is
increasingly emphasizing the necessity of an interdisciplinary focus. For example,
NSF has recently created two programs to promote integrative research of this type:
Coupled Natural Human Ecosystems Program and the Human Social Dynamics
program. Two UO research groups have recently been awarded grants from these
programs. The grant from the Coupled Natural Human Ecosystems program is titled,
Collaborative Research: The Interactions of Climate Change, Land Management
Policies and Forest Succession on Fire Hazard and Ecosystem Trajectories in the
Wildland-Urban Interface (for $1,133,152). Participants include two natural
scientists (Bart Johnson, PI, Landscape Architecture) and Scott Bridgham (Center for
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and two social scientists (Rob Ribe and David
Hulse, both Landscape Architecture), in additional to a social scientist at Oregon
State University and a number of natural scientists working for the U.S. Forest
Service. The Human Social Dynamics program recently awarded Douglas Kennett
(PI, Anthropology) and Patrick Bartlien (Geography) funds with cooperating
environmental scientists from other institutions ($900,000; UO as Lead Institution)
for a project titled Development and Resilience of Complex Socioeconomic Systems:
A Theoretical Model and Case Study from the Maya Lowlands. In addition, Kennett
and UO Political Scientist John Orbell have recently passed through the pre-proposal
stage in another integrated program at NSF (Cyber-Enabled Discovery and
Innovation Working Group) for a project titled The Political and Security Impacts of
Abrupt Climate Change on Modern Populations: An Integrated Computational Model
($1,500,000). These are just a few examples of ways in which SHE could be a
magnet for external competitive funds.
8. The shared space and laboratory facilities, integrative graduate program, and any
cluster hires would guarantee that SHE would have a substantial lifetime beyond the
three to five year focus period. Our goal is to use SHE to permanently change the
culture of environmental sciences at UO and elevate its reputation in integrated
environmental science nationally and internationally.
Start-Up Resources Potentially Available
The shared research laboratory facilities will be equipped largely through equipment
contributions from current faculty. Other more expensive pieces of equipment
unavailable from current faculty might be obtained from equipment grants submitted to
NSF. Given the large amount of money budgeted to NSF for this purpose in the national
stimulus plan, this may be a particularly opportune time to obtain such equipment.
ENVS has the office staff to run the SHE graduate program, particularly if it were a
second natural-science focused track of the current Ph.D. program in ENVS. An IGERT
is being submitted by a large group of environmental science faculty to NSF that, if
successful, would fund most of the graduate education initiatives outlined in this
proposal.
Connections with Other Big Idea Proposals
The goals of SHE are closely aligned with other Big Idea proposals, such as Genes in the
Environment, Bench Level Integrative Science (BLIS), and the Sustainable Cities
Initiative. While the leaders of these different initiatives have decided that the proposals
are unique enough that they should be kept separate, we strongly support these other
proposals and believe that together they would make great strides in strengthening
sustainability and the sciences on campus.
Collaborating Faculty
Points of Contact:
Scott Bridgham, Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology,
and Environmental Studies Program
Kathy Cashman, Department of Geological Sciences
Patricia McDowell, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies Program
Alan Dickman, Environmental Studies Program & Department of Biology
Douglas Kennett, Department of Anthropology
Signatories:
Dan Gavin, Department of Geography
Patrick Bartlein, Department of Geography
Josh Roering, Department of Geological Sciences & Environmental Studies Program
Qusheng Jin, Department of Geological Sciences
Paul Wallace, Department of Geological Sciences
Rob Ribe, Department of Landscape Architecture
Bart Johnson, Department of Landscape Architecture
Bitty Roy, Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Department of Biology
Jessica Green, Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Department of Biology
Michelle Wood, Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Department of Biology
Brendan Bohannan, Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Department of
Biology
Ted Toadvine, Department of Philosophy & Environmental Studies Program
Dennis Jenkins, Museum of Natural and Cultural History
Madonna Moss, Department of Anthropology
Frances White, Department of Anthropology & Institute of Cognitive and Decision
Sciences
Gyoung-Ah Lee, Department of Anthropology
Stephen Frost, Department of Anthropology
Sarah McClure, Department of Anthropology & Museum of Natural and Cultural History
J. Josh Snodgrass, Department of Anthropology
Jon Erlandson, Department of Anthropology & Museum of Natural and Cultural History