New Solutions for Global Control of Parasitic Infections: The Case of Schistosomiasis

Biomineralization and past climate change: The ion microprobe revolution

Carbon dioxide sequestration by forests: The importance of cation and phosphorous limitation and its relationship to landscape evolution

Toward sustainable coastal tourism in Costa Rica

Facilitating Pro-Environmental Behavior: Leveraging Nature-based Experiences into Everyday Stewardship

Enhancing the conservation value of countryside: Hawaii and Costa Rica as test systems

This project's overarching goal is to make conservation economically attractive and commonplace on land that is managed largely for human enterprise -- "countryside." Researchers propose to develop the scientific, economic and institutional basis for achieving this goal. We aim to characterize the potential conservation value of countryside in terms of biodiversity and vital ecosystem services, such as the provision of fertile soil, productive forests and climate stability. We also seek to help private landowners and societies realize this potential by characterizing the ecological, economic, legal and other social tradeoffs associated with alternative patterns of land use. We will strive to make our conceptual framework and analytical approaches generalizable by working in two contrasting and exceptionally biodiverse systems that already serve as models for the world: Hawaii and Costa Rica.

Social and environmental transformation in Chile's aquaculture industry, 1950-2000

Recognizing that it is difficult to ameliorate environmental problems without understanding their connections to associated social changes, we aim to research the complex feedback loops that connect environmental and social change in the salmon-farming industry of southern Chile. We propose to map and analyze the social transformations brought about by comparing the region before and after the advent of salmon farming using methodologies from the humanities and social sciences. Data will be gathered through quantitative and qualitative surveys, archival research, and collaborations with ongoing research in Chile.