Month: April 2017

The Importance of Being Green: Green Roofs Help Urban Inhabitants Breathe Easier

Evan 16 Comments

 

Green roofs have become a popular amenity in cities as city dwellers seek environmentally friendly places to work, live and breathe.

 

Rachel Eckenreiter, Animal Science

Justin Esiason, Environmental Science

Patrick Meehan, Building Construction Technology

 

     As the sun rises in Beijing, the workforce can be seen flowing into the arteries of the city to start the day. The streets steadily fill with people, some whizzing by on bicycles, others on foot as the sun fights through toxic haze and dust. A father and daughter navigate through the dense crowd, completely unfamiliar with the language spoken around them and written on street signs, the young girl quickly glances around her, confused and overwhelmed. Faces of many sizes, ages and shapes glide by, most clad in white medical masks. Her eye catches something they’ve seen before: the welcoming sign of their hotel.  The bright and quiet lobby is cool and clean as they head toward the elevator. Once in the room, she wastes no time and heads straight for the bathroom sink, with the sensation that her face is covered in grime as if she had worked in a dry dirt field all day. After washing her face, she glances down to find that the pristine white hand towel had turned mostly dark grey and brown. Although their stay in China was only three weeks long, it was enough time to recognize that the city of Beijing had a major air pollution problem. (Rachel Eckenreiter, Personal Communication, April 6, 2017). Continue Reading →

Slowing the Decline of the Bombus

Evan 16 Comments

North American Bombus Pollinates a Vibrant Flower.

 

Alexander Neuzil, Science and Biochemistry

Chase Balayo, Building Construction Technology

Eli Lagacy, Enviornmental Science

 

When we think of our favorite apple, we typically do not associate the image with a

school-aged child precariously perched among the uppermost branches, balancing a pot of pollen

in one hand, while holding a paintbrush in the other hand to paint each individual bud with

pollen.  We don’t usually envision hundreds of farmers walking blossom to blossom, hand

pollinating each individual flower one at a time, hoping that it bears fruit that can be sold at a

market.  As far-fetched an image this is, it’s the reality that is happening right now in China.

Goulson (2012) provides such an example in an article he published in early 2012.  In his article,

Goulson describes how declines in natural pollinators in southwest China due to excessive

pesticide use, and the destruction of natural pollinator habitats, has led to the farmers, and their

children, being forced to hand pollinate the apple and peach trees that grow in that region.  He

goes on to describe what a market without bees could look like, describing the lack of berries,

apples, peas, beans, melons, and tomatoes all of which depend on pollinators such as bees to

thrive (Goulson, 2012).  Nearly 75 percent of crops that are grown globally for consumption by

humans require the services of pollinators to ensure adequate yields (Potts et al., 2010).

Furthermore, the sheer demand by consumers for these crops has skyrocketed in the last half

century, on average doubling over that time span (Goulson, 2012).  Potts et al. (2010) indicates

that the steady increase of crop cultivation occurred from 1961 onward (Potts et al., 2010).

Meanwhile Goulson (2012) also indicates that a combination of increased caloric intake per

person increased nearly 30 percent, and the doubling of the worldwide human population from

just over three billion in 1961 to just over seven billion in 2011 has produced an added strain to

pollination services, such as the bumble bee, as there are not enough pollinators to go around

(Goulson 2012; US Census Bureau).  These trends coupled with the decline of pollinators due to

the combination of several factors, including pathogens, pesticides, and habitat loss can have

serious negative impacts to commercial production of crops which are necessary for food

diversity and production.  (Grixti, Wong, Cameron, & Favret 2009). Continue Reading →

Polyculture (IMTA), a better way to produce fish

Evan 14 Comments

 

Aquaculture of the Future

Kendall Sarapas – Natural Resource Conservation Wildlife

Alexis Duda – Sustainable Food & Farming

Aaron Johnson – Building and Construction Technology

The fishing industry has been important since the dawn of mankind, being a rich and reliable food source. One of my first fishing voyages was with my grandpa on his boat in the sea. He was an avid fisherman who went fishing quite often. I caught my first salmon on his boat which made me want to explore the world of salmon. As soon as I saw the tip of the fishing pole point down towards the water I ran over. I started reeling in what felt like a ton of bricks on the other end dragging me to the side of the boat. I clenched on to that pole with all of my strength and reeled in the massive salmon very slowly. The weight of the fish on the hook squirming around below the water was a struggle for any ten year old to handle. My grandpa came running over and helped me reel in the salmon. That weekend we chopped up the salmon and cooked it for dinner. After that first salmon was caught, I needed to know more about their way of life. Continue Reading →

Trump’s border wall will destroy possibility of the return of jaguars to Southwest

Evan 9 Comments

Emily Hartmann – Natural Resource Conservation

Jonathon Curreri – Building and Construction Technology

Matthew  Cornacchia – Natural Resource Conservation

Benjamin Morse – Building and Construction Technology

In 2011 scientists established a camera monitoring system in the Santa Rita Mountains of Arizona intending to capture imagery of mountain lions. After checking the tapes, the wildlife biologists discovered something they never could have imagined: a lone wandering jaguar. Excited, they rushed to set up more cameras throughout the area to observe this majestic and elusive animal. This spotted bachelor, named “El Jefe”, continually maintained a home in the mountains of Arizona for five years. His popularity in the media made him a local celebrity. After all, the mysterious Panthera onca species once roamed the deserts and mountains of the southwestern United States in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and southern California but is now a rare sight. Unfortunately, the pressures on these populations due to human development and hunting caused the species to go extinct in the United States in the 20th century, with the remaining populations congregating in northern Mexico (Northern Jaguar Project, 2010). The range of the jaguar decreased by 40% due to anthropogenic effects. (Hunter, 2017) In recent years, conservationists observed jaguars wandering through the southwestern United States but none maintained a permanent residence. El Jefe gave conservationists hope that the species could return to the area and fully restore this precious ecosystem (Milberg, 2017). Continue Reading →

Environmental Impacts of Shrimp Aquaculture and Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) as a Solution

Evan 20 Comments

Kaitlyn McGarvey – Pre-Veterinary Science

Sean O’Neil – Environmental Science

Spencer Scannell – Natural Resources Conservation

In 1987, Champerico, Guatemala suffered a widespread outbreak of a severe neurological disease called paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). What began as six people at health clinics complaining of headaches, dizziness, and weakness, quickly grew into a much larger problem. Within hours, over 100 people sought medical attention for a wide range of symptoms. One child’s symptoms quickly progressed to respiratory paralysis, ultimately causing death. A total of 187 people received medical treatment and of those, 26 died (Rodrigue et al., 1990, p. 267).  Further investigation identified the consumption of clams or clam soup as the common link between the affected individuals (Rodrigue et al., 1990). Continue Reading →

Trump’s Proposed Border Wall Is Bad News For Wildlife

Evan 11 Comments

Mule deer stopped by pedestrian fencing at the U.S.-Mexico border

 

Emily Brown (Environmental Science and Geography)

Gabriella Saloio (Environmental Science)

Dylan Giles (Building and Construction Technology)

Robert Golden (Urban Forestry)

On November 16, 2016, a motion-detection camera from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management captured a rare image in the Dos Cabezas Mountains of Arizona. Displayed prominently in the foreground of the photograph was the unmistakable yellow and brown speckled coat of a jaguar. This jaguar sighting was the second in the last four months and the seventh since 1996, leading scientists to believe the population might re-establish in the U.S. after more than a century of decline (Davis, 2017, para. 10). Ironically, however, the photograph was taken one week after the election of President Donald Trump, whose promise of constructing a border wall between the United States and Mexico would prevent this endangered animal from entering the country (Davis, 2017, para. 18). Though the jaguar’s persistence in the U.S. is of concern to scientists, this is only one of many species threatened by the proposal to build an impermeable border wall (Lasky, Jetz, & Keitt, 2011, p. 673). Continue Reading →

The dramatic decline in Honeybee populations

Evan 32 Comments

 

Matthew Canning- Natural Resource Conservation

Andrew Koval- Wildlife Conservation

Kendra McNabb- Animal Science

Bees are quite an amazing insect, they pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants including 70 of the top 100 human food crops. One in three bites of food that we eat is derived from plants pollinated by bees (Allen-Wardell et al, 1998). Needless to say, bees are important to the crops we humans consume on a daily basis. Over the past two decades, the decline in bee population has reached a critical point. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (2017) concluded that there is a 30% decrease in hive losses annually within the United States. When introduced to stressors, bees can have adverse reactions, leading to what is known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This disorder that is plaguing global bee populations causes many of the adult and working bees in a specific hive to die out, leaving the colony unable to nourish and protect offspring. This eventually leads to a full destruction of the entire hive. The most logical reason for this phenomenon is the introduction of specific stressors to the hive and its bees directly (VanEngelsdorp, Evans, Saegerman, Mullin, Haubruge, Nguyen, Brown, 2009). If something isn’t done to manage declines in bee populations we can expect a negative impact agriculturally and ecologically. Allen-Warden et al. (1998) showed insecticides and pesticides’ have adverse effects on bees and other pollinating wildlife. This study also showed a reduction in pollinators caused a decrease in blueberry production. We can expect a similar impact on crops to continue as time goes by and this issue progresses. Estimates of the economic toll of honey bee decline is upwards of $5.7 billion per year (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2017). It is not out of the question that soon homeowners will have trouble keeping their personal gardens sufficiently pollinated, and forego that simple yet satisfying pastime. Knowledge of bee decline  has been acknowledged for many decades, but research and data behind the reasoning for the global decline are still heavily debated. Continue Reading →

Building Green Cities: Mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect with Green Roofs

Evan 17 Comments

Authors: Jill Banach (Environmental Science), Michael Mason (Building Construction Technology), Mitchell Good (Urban Forestry, Natural Resource Conservation), Sydney McGrath (Horticulture)

A short film, Brooklyn Farmer documents a group of urban farmers growing food on the rooftops of New York City. The head farmer, Ben Flanner, kneels in the dirt cutting fresh salad greens to send to restaurants later that day. As he glances up, the earthy green plants and brown soil contrasts starkly with the concrete skyscrapers on the horizon. He acknowledges that “the city itself has made it possible to do this by being so overbuilt and having all these impermeable surfaces that need sponges on them” (Cherrie & Tyburski, 2013, 6:24). Ben and his team set out to build the world’s largest rooftop farm. With success, two rooftops in the city are now abundant with tomatoes, herbs, root vegetables, and even beehives. Qwen Schantz, another essential person of the operation, describes the potential for future innovation: “When I look out at New York City rooftops and I see thousands of acres of empty space, I truly am moved to cover them with vegetation. And I think that this is something that has to happen. And I think it’s something that will happen” (Cherrie & Tyburski, 2013, 24:47). As the sun sets behind the New York skyline, Ben knows that this farm is making a difference in people’s lives. He is bringing the people of Brooklyn closer to their food, increasing vegetation in a way that is “flashy and weird and interesting” (Cherrie & Tyburski, 2013, 6:57), and contributing to the greater movement of green roofs to reduce the impacts of urbanization. Continue Reading →