Month: December 2015

Impacts of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Evan 145 Comments

Lauren Bettino, Natural Resource Conservation (Wildlife Focus)

Hank Moylan, Natural Resource Conservation (Wildlife Focus)

Victoria Stukas, Animal Science

Deemed “the sacred place where life begins” by Alaska’s native Gwich’in people (Cultural Survival, 2005), the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) possesses massive environmental and cultural importance. Spanning approximately 8.9 million acres across northeastern Alaska, the ANWR is part of the National Wildlife Refuge System run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; one of 16 refuges in Alaska. Continue Reading →

Assisted Migration as a Tool to Combat Climate Change

Evan 49 Comments

Linnea Johnson(Environmental Science), Paul Kieras (Natural Resources Conservation), Rebecca Tiernan (Natural Resources Conservation)

Every year, human encroachment threatens natural habitats and the communities of species who inhabit them (Fordham et al., 2012). However, habitats are even more threatened now due to the inevitable threat of climate change (Williams, Kutzbach, & Jackson, 2007). While it is not often on the forefront of our minds, species are losing habitat, their geographic ranges are shifting, and their ability to migrate to a better home is becoming less and less (Miller et al., 2012). Continue Reading →

De-Extinction as a Means of Restoring Biodiversity

Evan 69 Comments

Mika Black – Animal Science B.S.

Emma Weir – Animal Science B.S.

E. Alexandra Panagiotou – Wildlife Conservation B.S.

 

Human action is often a culprit in recent animal extinction. One such victim is the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalis), or thylacine, who used to be an apex predator of mainland Australia and Tasmania (Attard, 2013). Even though the thylacine was a shy and secretive animal (Bulte, Horan & Shogren, 2003), that avoided contact with humans, it was driven to extinction as a result of human introduction of the dingo as well as human intensification (Prowse, Johnson, Bradshaw, & Brook, 2014). Overhunting of the thylacine was also thought to play a role in its extinction (Attard, 2013). The Javan Tiger and the Western Black Rhino are two other animals humans drove to extinction (Ellis, 2005). These species didn’t go extinct due to natural phenomena and so their disappearance caused imbalance in their natural ecosystems. Resurrecting species to these habitats not only could restore ecosystems, but will help protect and preserve other animal and plant species within that ecosystem. Resurrecting extinct species is now becoming a reality as science is advancing and the environment is changing. With developing biological technology, we can own the opportunity to restore ecological diversity worldwide and perhaps reverse the negative impact that humans placed. Continue Reading →

Is Aquaculture Good or Bad for the Environment?

Evan 51 Comments

Zack Nash (BCT)

Molly Korowotny (NRC)

Rachel Grabar (Pre-Vet)

A fish farmer smiles as he looks out over his 11,000 hectare (about 42 square miles) farm near the Guadalquivir River in Spain, where a feast is taking place. Except he wasn’t watching the fish feasting on pelleted feed, it was the local population of birds devouring the stock of this natural aquaculture farm. Dan Barber, an American chef, asks: “[Why are you smiling?] [Aren’t] they feasting on your fish?”  The farmer emphatically replies: “Yes!”  The farmer goes on to describe that the farm loses 20% of their fish and fish eggs to birds (Abend, 2009). However, this is an interconnected ecosystem. The booming bird population eats the shrimp and the shrimp eat the phytoplankton. In this system, the healthier the predatory birds are, the healthier the rest of the system becomes. The farmer created an ecosystem that relies on each part to be healthy, and he extracts the excess. This means the farmer does not need any extra feed for the fish, because all of their food is produced naturally within the farm by algae and the other complimentary organisms (Barber, 2010). This technique for growing fish has not only produced large amounts of fish (1,200 tons a year to be exact), but has proven to be beneficial to the Guadalquivir River and the surrounding environment (Abend, 2009). This Spanish fish farm illustrates that aquaculture can be productive and beneficial to the environment if done correctly.  Continue Reading →

Assessing the Problem of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids

Evan 39 Comments

 

Richard Hicks – Building Construction Technology

Brendan McGowan – Natural Resources Conservation

Kyle Karaska – Building Construction Technology

 

Assessing the Problem of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids

Across the United States, millions of people have access to natural resources. One of the most important resources, clean drinking water, is usually held to strict regulations. In the small town of Dimock, Pennsylvania, this privilege was stripped from people due to the actions of Cabot Oil & Gas, one of the largest fracking companies in the U.S. CBS reported that the corporation collected natural gas via hydraulic fracturing and as a result chemicals seeped into their water, compromising all of the drinking water (2010). Hydraulic fracturing companies left families across the town with toxic, flammable water. This was only the beginning of their problems, as the gas company wasn’t held accountable due to a loophole, the same loophole that protected Chesapeake Energy in 2009 after fracking fluids infiltrated waters nearby killing 17 cows (CBS, 2010). Continue Reading →

Gone with the Wind: The Threat Posed by Wind Turbines to the Surrounding Ecosystems

Evan 38 Comments

John Balsamo: Building and Construction Tech.

Will McKenney: Building and Construction Tech.

Jess Creighton: Animal Science

Jamie Lay: Wildlife Conservation

In the late 80’s, the California condor was officially extinct in the wild. With poaching, DDT, lead poisoning, and more general habitat destruction, one of the largest birds on the planet was driven to the brink.  As of the 2014 report, there are approximately 425 condors in total on the planet, easily ranking them among the rarest species, both in North America and globally (Wikipedia, 2015). Now might be the time to mention that most Condors are currently inhabiting an area only a few miles away from the majority of California’s wind farms. It might also be the time to mention that, in Spain, upwards of 2,000 vultures– a close relative with similar patterns and behaviors– are killed annually in wind turbine collisions (Duchamp, Lange & Wiegand, 2012). Both species are known to actually perch atop wind turbines, as the treachery of the blades is no match for a hungry bird in search of a good vantage point to roost and scope out a meal.  All of the moving parts involved, physically and metaphorically, seem like a disaster waiting to happen for a critically endangered species teetering on the edge of the precipice. Continue Reading →

Removal of Non-Power Generating Dams on the Connecticut River

Evan 48 Comments

Raquel Gayle, Building and Construction Tech, B.S.
Cameron Young, Natural Resources Conservation, B.S.
Jesse Armfield, Geology, B.S.

People living near a body of water or in low lying areas acknowledge the likelihood of flooding and understand its risks. What many people are unaware of is the possibility of flash flooding due to dam failure. Catastrophic dam failure can destroy bridges, homes, and take human lives. Just this year, flooding in South Carolina caused 13 dam failures that lead to 17 deaths and destruction of property (Smith, 2015, p.1). Tragedies like this can be avoided by taking down dams that are not necessary for energy generation. Due to public safety concerns and declining migratory fish populations, a government grant should fund the removal of small non-hydroelectric dams in the Connecticut River watershed. Continue Reading →

Conservation Cloning: Feasible Way to Save Species

Evan 1,197 Comments

Adam Suvalskas: Building & Construction Tech.

Maria Peralta: Animal Science

Derek O’Dea: Turf Grass Management

Today, only four magnificent Northern White rhinos remain (Wei-Haas, 2015). These light-skinned rhinoceros have been critically endangered since the beginning of the 21st century.  The San Diego Zoo in California has one female and the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya has three females, and the last remaining male (Wei-Haas, 2015). Conservationists are fighting to prevent this species from becoming extinct. Since the last remaining male Northern White rhino is at an age where it can no longer successfully breed, traditional conservation tactics such as captive breeding are failing to provide effective results (Wei-Haas, 2015). These passive, enormous creatures used to inhabit the grassy plains of Southern Africa and roam freely, but now these defenseless survivors are on the brink of extinction without much hope for survival left (National Geographic, n.d.). Luckily, there is one method that can become the solution to repopulate the Northern White rhinoceros and similar species that are so far gone, where only a small population of the same gender or infertile individuals remain. Cloning, the process of producing a genetically identical individual using the DNA of another individual, has been used over the past decade to revive extinct species. We can use this process to clone the last male White rhino to create a male that would successfully mate with the remaining females, and thus resolve the captive breeding issue. In order to accomplish this, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and private organizations should provide funds for cloning-based conservation programs to repopulate endangered species that cannot be saved through traditional conservation methods. Continue Reading →

The Threat of Reintroduced Wolves to Livestock in Yellowstone

Evan 99 Comments

The year is 1926.  In Yellowstone National Park, gunshots crack through the air. Then there is silence as the last remaining pack of wolves in the park falls.  For over fifty years, these predators were viewed as just that – wild animals that ate people and livestock – and were hunted to the point of local extinction.  It would take another fifty years for people to realize that something was wrong, out of balance, in the park since the extermination of these iconic carnivores (National Parks Service [NPS], 2015). The animals, the plants, even the very geography of the park changed. Elk overpopulated the region, devouring trees and shrubs. With less plant life, birds were left with no places to nest. Rivers eroded the soil, becoming wider, shallower, and warmer without the shade and roots of the trees. Eventually, only one beaver dam was left, damaging rivers and aquatic life even more. Coyotes flourished without competition from their larger cousins, and decimate small mammal populations, leaving little behind for raptors, foxes, and badgers (Chadwick, 2010). The Yellowstone ecosystem was collapsing. And so from 1995 to 1996, thirty-one wolves were released back into the park with the hopes of restoring balance to this dying ecosystem (NPS, 2015). Continue Reading →

Embodied Energy in Building Materials

Evan 18 Comments

Chris Zecca – BCT

Nealon Weir – BCT

David Bailey – BCT

Timothy Cowles- Environmental Science

University of Massachusetts Amherst

 

In 2013, a mining company called Gogebic Taconite set its sights on the beautiful Penokee hills of northern Wisconsin. They proposed a four and a half mile long strip mine (which would eventually be expanded to twenty-two miles long) stretching across thirty-five acres of privately owned and managed forest land.  The material mined from this project would be taconite, an ore that contains magnetite that is generally about 20-30% iron, typically of a low grade.  To remove this iron from the ground, the mining company must remove forests, which are a natural carbon sink, and the top layer of earth, which, if aggregated, would be around 500 feet high and one and a half mile long (Iron Mining, 2015).  This doesn’t even begin to cover the tailings left behind by the mining process.  Using a computer aided design program called Solidworks, an estimate was done stating that tailings created over thirty five years of operation would be enough to cover the entire country (over 3,750 acres of land) with forty seven feet of tailings.  For scale, an acre is just slightly smaller than a football field.  The processes of land clearing, excavating, and mining are very fuel intensive, releasing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.   In addition, a study by Bjornerud, Knudsen, and Trotter from Lawrence University shows that in the first thirty-five years of operation alone, two and a half billion pounds of sulfur would be released, which would combine with air and water to create acid rain.  Finally, the runoff from this mine would leach heavy metals including arsenic, copper, mercury and zinc, and would also release phosphorus (a major wetlands pollutant) into the watershed (2012).  These pollutants are poised to affect the headwaters of both the Tyler Forks and Bad River (which both empty into Lake Superior), in addition to over fifty miles of streams and rivers.  The mine will also have a detrimental effect on the traditional wild rice fields of the Ojibwe and Chippewa Native American tribes, and the Penokee Aquifer, which provides clean drinking water to many residents (Iron Mining, 2015). The raw iron from this mine will eventually go on to be refined, and much of it will be combined with carbon to create steel which will be used for building materials around the world. Steel is a strong alloy (mix of metals) that provides many structural benefits.  However, the side effects of its production must be considered as well. Continue Reading →