2009 Fall Colloquium Series
All colloquia are held in Student Building 150 unless otherwise indicated. The colloquia start promptly at 4:00 pm. For the most up-to-date schedule and for contact information to meet with speakers, please email Susan White or phone: 812-855-6303.
Milind Thakar (September 11, 2009)
Title: Constructing a Durable National Identity: The Case of India
Abstract: Winston Churchill said, "India is no more a geographic expression than the Equator." Underlying this statement is the fact that India's survival as a state flies in the face of seeming contradictions. Its population is divided by primordial identity bonds more than it is united, namely by religion, caste, language and regionalism. A stable state after six decades of independence appears an anomaly not just in the region but also in the developing world at large where the legacy of colonial boundaries trumping national domains have created multi-ethnic polities that are chronically disunited. In this presentation I will outline how a national identity emerged in India by design and accident and has weathered challenges successfully until today. I will also discuss areas of concern and how durability of national identity can never be taken for granted.
Milind Thakar is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Indianapolis. His research interests are in the fields of comparative democratization and national identity construction with an accent on the South Asian region.
Grace Muriuki (September 18, 2009)
Title: Human migration, squatters, and land-cover change in the Chyulu Hills, Kenya
Abstract: Migration has been shown to be a key livelihood diversification and survival strategy for poor households in many parts of the developing world. It is commonly interpreted as a response to social and spatial disparities in resource distribution. But human movements are also recognised as a particularly influential force in land-cover change, which is considered the most influential footprint of human occupation on the earth’s surface. Migrants can exert extreme stress on ecosystems, particularly when this happens in fragile landscapes. To reduce the impacts of human movements, we need to understand the drivers, patterns, and volumes of migration and to relate these to the patterns and rates of land-cover change. Land-use/cover changes have been shown to directly impact on wildlife populations in areas adjacent to protected areas in east Africa. The Chyulu Hills, Kenya, border two major protected areas, and have been synonymous with squatter invasions over the last three decades. My research aims to contribute to the understanding of the processes of land-cover change, its drivers, and the implications of spontaneous human settlements. I combine survey data collected at household and village levels with GIS-based interpretation of land-cover change. We elucidate major forces that pull immigrants to the Chyulu Hills, measure land-cover change through time and space, and eventually combine these to model the land-cover change. I present results of human migration and settlement in the Chyulu Hills, and some findings on the patterns and rates of land-cover change. Modelling the process is in progress.
Grace Muriuki is from Kenya and works for the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. She is currently earning her Ph.D. in the School of Natural and Rural Systems Management at the University of Queensland, Australia, and her visit to Indiana University is co-sponsored by the Foster International Living-Learning Center. Her interests within the field of landscape ecology lie in land-use science, especially the integration of GIS and social methods to understand processes of land-cover change. Grace obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s of science degrees in Range Management at the University of Nairobi. Her professional interests are in the links between land users and the subsequent changes in land, particularly in spontaneous occupations such as settlement schemes, squatting, and refugee camps.
Richard P. Phillips (September 25, 2009)
Title: The C we do not see: How root-derived carbon may sustain forest productivity under elevated CO2
Abstract: Globally, forest ecosystems remove a significant amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. This has led to speculation that fast-growing trees such as loblolly pine may partially offset the heat-trapping effects of atmospheric CO2 by storing carbon (C) in biomass and soils. Trees require nutrients for growth, and thus the amount of C sequestered by forests ultimately depends on the availability of nutrients such as nitrogen (N) in the soil.
Despite hundreds of studies on the effects of elevated CO2 on forest ecosystems over the past decade, our understanding of the factors that influence how N availability mediates feedbacks to forest productivity remains unclear. My research seeks to employ a suite of experimental methods to examine the mechanisms by which trees exposed to elevated CO2 make physiological adjustments to alleviate N limitation. I measured in situ rates of root exudation from 28 year-old loblolly pine trees over a two year period and found that trees fumigated with elevated CO2 (200 ppmv over background) increased dissolved organic C supply to soil by ~50% in nutrient-poor soils, resulting in a doubling of microbial biomass and activity in the rhizosphere. Fumigated trees that also received nitrogen fertilizer did not exhibit increases in root exudation. Collectively, these results suggest that trees exposed to elevated CO2 may be accelerating ecosystem soil nutrient cycling, a mechanism which could help explain the sustained growth response to elevated CO2 in these nutrient poor soils.
Dr. Richard P. Phillips is Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Ecology in the Biology Department at Indiana University. His research broadly seeks to quantify and better understand how plants and soil microbes influence biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems in the wake of human-accelerated environmental change. He is especially interested in the degree to which root-microbial interactions influence ecosystem carbon (C) storage and nutrient transformations. Dr. Phillips uses a complimentary suite of approaches that integrate field observations with novel techniques (e.g. stable and radioactive isotopes) and controlled environmental systems (e.g. growth chambers, FACE sites). His research addresses questions that intersect plant physiological ecology and soil microbial ecology in an ecosystem context and include broad themes such as 1) the coupling of plant and microbial productivity, 2) species effects on nutrient cycling and 3) how plant-soil-microbial interactions influence feedbacks to global change. He earned his Ph.D. in Ecology from Cornell University and conducted his post-doctoral research at Duke University.
Matthew W. Wilson (October 9, 2009)
Title: Coding community: Geographic information technologies and mappings of the city street
Abstract: 'Coding Community' is an inductive study of the relationships between technological innovation, urban neighborhood revitalization, government performance measurement, and quality-of-life indicators. It is a recognition that cities are increasingly being geocoded, that the urban and code-work are co-constitutive. As public and private spaces are being ‘linked up’ to expansive data networks through sophisticated mobile and wireless geographic information technologies, this research analyzes particular, everyday moments of mapping occurring in ten neighborhoods within Seattle, Washington. Between the years 2004 and 2007, the nonprofit organization Sustainable Seattle conducted over 25 participatory street surveys in a program called the “Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods Initiative” (SUNI). Participants in these street-level surveys collected geographic data about community “deficits” and “assets” using handheld devices, while walking around their local neighborhoods. Collaboratively geocoding their urban landscapes, these residents marked graffiti, litter, vacant buildings, abandoned automobiles, and sidewalk obstructions, as well as, ‘friendly’ business districts, appropriate building facades, peopled sidewalks, and healthy vegetation – all among their categories of interest, initially borrowed from a New York City foundation responsible for developing the handheld devices. The Fund for the City of New York created the software for the handheld devices and developed a protocol for getting citizens involved in measuring government performance. This research asks, how do handheld geographic information technologies constitutively arrange subjects and objects in Seattle-based community mapping practices? Its findings contribute to the existing literature in urban political geography and GIScience, by discussing the implications of the increasingly individualized ways that bodies are coded and given digital form in the governing of city spaces.
Matthew W. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Geography at Ball State University. His research is situated across political, feminist, and urban geography as well as science and technoculture studies, interfacing these with the more specified field of ‘critical geographic information systems’. Dr. Wilson studies the use of geographic information technologies in representations of the urban and the environment. His interests in location-enabled mobile technologies and the resulting proliferation of user-created, Internet-based data lead him to ask questions about the intersection of technology across urban and ‘natural’ landscapes. Dr. Wilson teaches courses in geographic information science and urban political geography. He has been named a Faculty Fellow in BSU’s Emerging Media Initiative. Dr. Wilson will also be a mentor in the HASTAC Scholars program, a multi-university organization supporting interdisciplinary work across the humanities, arts, and sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Washington.
Sara C. Pryor (October 23, 2009)
Title: Climate variability, predictability and change in the Midwestern USA
Abstract: There is now unequivocal evidence for an anthropogenic forcing of climate change. Changes in the climate system on the global scale will inevitably have consequences that are regionally specific. This presentation will focus on the Midwestern United States—a region that contains approximately one-fifth of the nation's population, plays a critical role in national agricultural productivity, and experiences a high frequency of extreme events. Employing observational data and model simulations, the presentation will focus on changing precipitation regimes and discuss implications for climate change vulnerability and adaptation.
Sara C. Pryor is Professor of Atmospheric Science at Indiana University. Her primary fields of research are atmospheric chemistry with a specific focus on atmospheric particles and climate variability with a specific focus on regional manifestations of climate change. Sara currently holds four research grants from the National Science Foundation, has published over 80 journal articles, and edited a book published in summer 2009 entitled ‘Climate variability, predictability and change in the Midwestern USA’. She is also a contributing author of the latest IPCC report on ‘Renewable energy's role in climate change mitigation’, and editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres.
Timothy Bartley (November 6, 2009)
Title: Transnational Private Regulation in Practice: The Uneven Implementation of Labor and Environmental Standards
Abstract: Recent years have seen the rise of numerous systems of private regulation in global supply chains, including initiatives that certify sustainable forestry, decent labor conditions, or Fair Trade agriculture, to name just a few. Yet serious questions remain about how these global standards are translated into practice in particular places, where they inevitably intersect with numerous forms of national and sub-national governance. Drawing on fieldwork in Indonesia, I examine the varied processes by which initiatives to audit and/or certify responsible production are put into practice. Moving beyond single case studies, I compare two types of transnational standards—(1) for sustainable forestry (via certification by the Forest Stewardship Council, for instance) and (2) for labor conditions in apparel/footwear manufacturing (via codes of conduct and certification by Social Accountability International, for instance). Based on their position in global supply chains, both the forest products and apparel/footwear industries in Indonesia would appear to be prime candidates for involvement with private regulatory initiatives. Yet a comparison of these two domains reveals divergent practices and trajectories, as well as significant obstacles (often rooted in national-level configurations of power) that have greatly limited the impacts of these systems.
Tim Bartley is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Indiana University-Bloomington, working at the intersections of political, economic, and organizational sociology. Much of his research has focused on the rise of transnational private regulation of labor and the environment—with particular attention to certification of sustainable forestry, labor standards, and “corporate social responsibility.” He has published articles in the American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Law & Social Science, Politics and Society, Social Problems, Research in Political Sociology, and elsewhere. His current projects include analyses of the interactions between social movements and corporations, the evolution of transnational fields of governance, and the uses and abuses of “corporate social responsibility” in developing countries. He received a PhD in Sociology from the University of Arizona in 2003.
Sukanta Basu (November 13, 2009)
Atmospheric Science Group, Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University
Title: Addressing a few Emergent Challenges in Wind Power Meteorology
Abstract: Early 2007, the American Wind Energy Association projected that the wind energy industry in the U.S.
would install over 3000 megawatt (MW) turbines throughout the year. Beyond anyone’s expectations,
5244 MW were installed in 2007. Continuing this record-breaking trend, over 8500 MW were installed in
2008. A majority of the new installations took place in the U.S. Great Plains, with more than 30% in
Texas alone. If this trend continues, the projection to generate at least 20% of the U.S. electricity by wind
by 2030 will most likely be realized.
While this is encouraging news, numerous challenges are also surfacing in many spheres of wind power
meteorology. For instance: (i) we now undoubtedly need higher accuracy and better reliability in wind
resource assessment and turbine micro-siting in view of the fact that the next-generation wind farms will
likely be developed over complex terrains; (ii) our capability of short-term wind forecasting ought to be
significantly improved in order to transform intermittent wind into not only an alternative energy source
but a profitable one; (iii) future turbine design codes must include critical atmospheric events such as lowlevel
jets to avoid premature fatigue failures; and (iv) for the sustainable co-existence of agricultural
farming and wind farming, a rigorous quantification of the impacts of wind turbines on micro-climate is
urgently required.
My research group at Texas Tech University tries to address some of these emergent challenges by
synergistically combining new-generation modeling approaches (e.g., large-eddy simulation),
observational techniques (e.g., small-aperture scintillometry), satellite remote sensing, and by borrowing a
suite of tools from the field of complex systems. In this talk, I present a mélange of ongoing research
projects ranging from multi-physics ensemble forecasting of wind to micro-climate impact study
involving scintillometry, and from large-eddy simulation of low-level jets to synthetic inflow generation
for wind turbine design.
Christopher Craft (November 20, 2009)
President, Society of Wetland Scientists, 2008-2009
Duey-Murphy Professor of Rural Land Policy
School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Indiana University-Bloomington
Title: Tidal Wetlands and Climate Change
Abstract: Coastal regions are very susceptible to the effects of climate change, including sea level rise, increased frequency of storms and greater inter-annual variability in temperature (drought) and floods (precipitation). Tidal wetlands, marshes and forests, which provide key ecosystem services including disturbance regulation, waste treatment, biological productivity & fisheries support and biodiversity, are likely to be strongly affected by these changes.
We employed field and lab measurements, geographic information systems (GIS) and simulation modeling to investigate how tidal wetland area and delivery of ecosystem services will be affected by accelerated sea level rise (SLR) along the Georgia (USA) coast. Model simulations using the IPCC mean (52 cm) and maximum (82 cm) estimates of SLR by 2100 for the Georgia coast suggest that salt marshes will decline in area by 20% and 45%, respectively. Tidal freshwater marshes will increase by 2% under the IPCC mean scenario but will decline by 39% under the maximum scenario. Delivery of ecosystem services associated with productivity (macrophyte biomass) and waste treatment (N accumulation in soil, potential denitrification) also will decline. Our findings suggest that tidal marshes at the lower and upper salinity ranges, and their attendant delivery of ecosystem services, will be most affected by accelerated SLR unless geomorphic conditions (i.e. gradual increase in elevation) enable tidal freshwater marshes to migrate inland or vertical accretion of salt marshes increases to compensate for accelerated SLR.
The effects of climate variability were evaluated by analysis of climate (rainfall, temperature, salinity, freshwater discharge) and selected ecosystem services data collected since 2000 from permanent plots of ten marshes of the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER study domain. Of the climate drivers, river discharge was the most strongly correlated with the measured ecological variables. It was positively correlated with S. alterniflora aboveground biomass and sediment deposition. S. alterniflora on the marsh plain also was positively correlated with precipitation. Salinity was inversely correlated with freshwater discharge. Increasing salinity was associated with reduced S. alterniflora aboveground biomass and greater numbers of fiddler crabs. There was no association between temperature and the measured ecological variables. A long-term drought (1998-2002) in the region led to “brown” marsh and dieback of vegetation that lowered the elevation of the marsh surface by 2 cm. A drought-induced decline of this magnitude combined with accelerated sea level rise may exacerbate the ability of coastal wetlands to keep pace with rising sea level in the coming century.
This work provides a basis to (1) understand how ecosystem services vary among tidal wetlands, (2) determine how sea level rise will alter tidal wetland area and delivery of ecosystem services and (3) elucidate how climate variability affects temporal patterns of macrophytes, epifauna, sediment deposition and stability of the marsh platform.
Christopher Craft is the Duey-Murphy Professor of Rural Land Policy, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at Indiana University and President (2008-2009) of the Society of Wetland Scientists. His research laboratory studies biogeochemical cycling of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in coastal and inland wetlands, focusing on linkages among soils, vegetation and microorganisms across ecosystems and landscapes. This research aims to link basic and applied ecology to understand the effects of natural (nutrients, freshwater) and anthropogenic drivers (eutrophication, climate change) of wetland structure, function and ecosystem development, including ecosystem services such as water quality improvement, shoreline protection, biodiversity and carbon sequestration. The research team is particularly interested in how C, N and P cycles develop over human time scales with the goal of aiding and improving the success of wetland restoration projects. Funding to support this work comes from NSF, DOE, USEPA, USDA, NOAA and others.
