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Metadata only record The Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz S.A. has agreed to invest over $5,000,000 to protect forests where it has hydroelectric operations. The project will pay $40 per ha/year for environmental services protection contracts lasting 10 years. There are currently 7,356 ha submitted to the program. CNFL is making payments for environmental services to forest and plantation owners located in the following watersheds: PES-1 (Payments for Environmental Services Associate Award)

Loblolly pIne (Pinus taeda) and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) were grown in miniature stands at 7.6-cm spacings outdoors in open-top chambers (4.6 m in diameter and 3.5 m tall) for 16 months. Treatments consisted of ambient- and elevated-CO₂ , drought-stressed and well-watered, and stand type (monoculture and 50:50 replacement mixture). Gas exchange was measured monthly, growth parameters bimonthly. Loblolly pine carbon exchange rate (CER) was positive throughout the winter in all treatments and averaged 83% of summer rates. Between November 1994 and April 1995, relative crowding coefficient (RCC) of pine stem volumes increased regardless of CO₂ or water availability. RCC of pine biomass increased in droughted stands relative to well-watered stands, while RCC of sweetgum showed the opposite response. Based on these results increased atmospheric CO₂ concentrations will not affect the competitive outcomes of loblolly pine and sweetgum mixed stands: loblolly pine will continue to be more competitive on dry sites, sweetgum on wet sites. CER of loblolly pine and sweetgum, as well as soil respiration, were consistently significantly greater in elevated-C02 stands. CER in upper-canopy foliage was significantly greater than that of lower-canopy foliage for sweetgum. Loblolly pine, but not sweetgum, demonstrated a significant canopy position x CO₂ interaction, with upper-canopy CER greater only in elevated-CO₂ conditions. No consistent acclimation of CER to elevated CO₂ was statistically significant for either species, although acclimation response was stronger in sweetgum than in loblolly pine. Master of Science

Metadata only record This website offers several videos that provide in-depth information about different aspects of sustainable agriculture. Below is a list of the videos:

Because women share much of the burden of agricultural production, it is critical to examine the impact that agricultural innovations will have on the distribution of labor between genders. Conservation agriculture has been identified as an innovation to improve agricultural production in the Mid-hills of Nepal by reducing erosion and increasing soil organic matter. This paper identifies the gendered distribution of agricultural labor in three Chepang tribal villages of central Nepal, in order to estimate the changes in labor required by conservation agriculture interventions, and assess the implications of labor shifts with respect to the potential for adoption of conservation agriculture practices. Three tribal villages in Chepang were surveyed, with the male and female heads for each household questioned separately to assess the labor hours from each gender for cropping activities under conventional and conservation agricultural systems. Field experiments were also conducted to determine labor hours necessary for the adoption of conservation agriculture practices. Conservation agriculture was found to increase women’s share of agricultural labor, with a greater increase for intercropping with conventional tillage than for intercropping and minimal tillage. LTRA-11 (CAPS among tribal societies in India and Nepal)

Metadata only record This chapter discusses the interplay between human, social, natural, and financial/constructed capital that is needed for integrated conservation and development projects to succeed. She also evaluates the effectiveness of different motivation sources, such as social pressure, force, and economic incentives.

Provides a basic understanding of the principles of solar energy systems, including uses, limitations, material selection, and design practices. Reprinted Originally published February 1979

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The last few decades have seen an explosion in population growth and along with this growth we have also witnessed an increase in demand for products. Although our resources are limited, consumers' needs know no bounds. It is not surprising that we are also increasingly demanding more from our environment. It is therefore imperative that we make better use of our resources and reassess how we construe a product's lifecycle. Instead of a linear perspective, which typically follows a product's lifecycle from mining of raw materials to manufacturing, but then stops when products are trashed, we need to use a circular perspective, where we focus on the entire lifecycle of products, from not just manufacturing to usage, but also from usage to creation of new products through recycling. The focus of this dissertation is on understanding two important processes in the circular economy: that of usage and disposal. I focus on the role that consumers' product valuations play in these processes. In essay 1, I show that consumers value products made from recycled materials more than comparable regular products. I also document why this happens and demonstrate how this affects usage. In essay 2, I investigate the relationship between reuse and product disposal. The circular economy is based on what is now referred to as the 3R approach: reduce, reuse, and recycle. However, I show that consumers are more (vs. less) likely to trash products that they have used extensively (vs. rarely). This then leads to a conundrum: if we encourage consumers to reuse products extensively, it appears that they are more likely to trash them. It is therefore imperative that we understand this relationship better and find interventions to mitigate this negative relationship. Doctor of Philosophy The last few decades have seen an explosion in population growth and along with this growth we have also witnessed an increase in demand for products. To create a more sustainable world, it is imperative that we move towards a more circular economy, where we not only minimize waste, but also find ways to extract more use from our resources. One way to do this is to find ways to reuse products after they have reached the end of their lifecycle. The focus of this dissertation is on understanding two important processes in the circular economy: that of usage and disposal (essentially addressing questions about what to do with products that we no longer have a need for). I primarily focus on the role that consumers' product valuations play in influencing these processes. In essay 1, I study how consumers feel about products made from recycled materials. I find that consumers are willing to pay more for products made from recycled materials compared with products made from regular raw materials. The higher willingness to pay emerges because consumers value the process that transforms the recycled materials into brand new products. I also show that this valuation impacts use: consumers use products made from recycled materials more judiciously. In essay 2, I investigate the relationship between product usage and disposal. I find that when consumers use a product more extensively, they are more likely to trash the product compared with other forms of reuse, such as, disposing in the recycling bin, giving it to others, or reselling it. This effect emerges because when consumers use a product more frequently, they believe that the product has less value remaining for others, and a product that confers lower value to others should be trashed.

The point absorber is one of the most popular types of ocean wave energy converter (WEC) that harvests energy from the ocean. Often such a WEC is deployed in an ocean location with tidal currents or ocean streams, or serves as a mobile platform to power the blue economy. The shape of the floating body, or buoy, of the point absorber type WEC is important for the wave energy capture ratio and for the current drag force. In this work, a new approach to optimize the shape of the point absorber buoy is developed to reduce the ocean current drag force on the buoy while capturing more energy from ocean waves. A specific parametric modeling is constructed to define the shape of the buoy with 12 parameters. The implementation of neural networks significantly reduces the computational time compared to solving hydrodynamics equations for each iteration. And the optimal shape of the buoy is solved using a genetic algorithm with multiple self-defined functions. The final optimal shape of the buoy in a case study reduces 68.7% of current drag force compared to a cylinder-shaped buoy, while maintaining the same level of energy capture ratio from ocean waves. The method presented in this work has the capability to define and optimize a complex buoy shape, and solve for a multi-objective optimization problem. Master of Science The marine kinetic energy includes ocean waves power, tidal power, ocean current power, ocean thermal power and river power. The total potential marine kinetic energy in 2021 is 2300 TWh/year, where 1400 TWh/year is from the ocean wave power. To discover and harvest the huge potential power from the marine, researchers have been developed for different types of WECs for several decades. One of the most successful concepts is the point absorber typed WEC, which can extract waver energy from the heaving vibration motion of a floating body and convert the kinetic energy into electrical energy. This thesis presents an optimization strategy to optimize the shape of the floating body to improve power extraction and reduce the installation cost by implementing the machine learning tool and genetic algorithm. Compared with the state-of-the-art optimization strategies, the proposed optimization method allows the floating body to have more parameters in shape changes and reduces the computational cost from minutes to milliseconds. The final optimized floating body shape performs extraordinarily compared to the other two state-of-the-art floating body shapes.

Spanning 14 states in the northeast United States, the Appalachian Trail (AT) is a popular destination for outdoor recreation, with thousands of individuals attempting to thru-hike the AT every year. For its scenic views and accessibility from the cities, the AT is experiencing a record number of visitors raising concerns about the sustainability of the trail. Many trail organizations manage the AT to reduce the visitor impact on the outdoors. In this research, I study the role of information and communication technologies in promoting collaboration between these trail agencies and visitors. I identify the need for a formal communication channel between the stakeholders by examining the existing information-sharing practices of hikers and trail managers through social media analysis, interviews, and a design workshop. I present the design of an online discussion platform, the SmarTrail board, and conduct a field usability study with two AT trail clubs to evaluate the platform. Findings from the study reveal that centralized direct communication and streamlined information can support trail management on the AT by promoting collaboration within the trail community. The research paves the path for future research into the design of ICTs for driving nature conservation goals. Master of Science The Appalachian Trail (AT) in the northeast of the United States spreads across 14 states. It is accessible from many regional urban centers, offering recreational opportunities to thousands of individuals every year. It is also a popular site for thru-hiking, an endeavor to hike the trail from end to end in a year. Such popularity and accessibility to the trail put pressure on the natural resources, raising concerns about the sustainability of the trail. Management of the trail deals with minimizing the resource impact while preserving the trail experiences of the visitors. Thirty trail clubs maintain separate sections of the AT, and a number of trail organizations work together to manage the trail. The core of this management relies on the collaboration of these trail agencies with each other and the visitors. As communication is central to collaborations in everyday life and for the trail, I explore the practices and possibilities for information sharing and communication on the AT. Digital conservation refers to the technological developments that support and forward nature conservation goals. As the pristine environment of the trails and the AT are not barred from the reach of digital technology, the prevalence of smartphones among visitors presents opportunities for information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support the digital conservation of the trail. In this research, I study digital technology use among hikers and trail managers on the AT, particularly for information sharing. By analyzing comments on Reddit, conducting interviews with the AT trail managers, and organizing a workshop with long-distance hikers, I highlight the need for direct communication between these stakeholders. I present the design of an online discussion board called the SmarTrail platform as a formal communication channel between hikers and trail managers and evaluate it with two trail clubs on the AT. The results from the evaluation offer several use cases of mediated communication, highlighting its need and potential in supporting trail management on the AT. Centralized and formal communication can lead to effective trail management by engaging visitors in trail management, improving volunteer management for the clubs, and enabling knowledge sharing and coordination between the trail agencies. With design considerations for improving human-nature interaction and simplifying the available information for visitors and trail management authorities, this study informs the design of ICTs for trail environments that would forward the digital conservation goals on the AT.