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• 1. [Article] Bridges and Barriers to Developing and Conducting Interdisciplinary Graduate-Student Team Research

  Understanding complex socio-environmental problems requires specialists from multiple disciplines to integrate research efforts. Programs such as the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Bridges and Barriers to Developing and Conducting Interdisciplinary Graduate-Student Team Research Author: Nielsen-Pincus, Max, Morse, Wayde Cameron, Force, Jo Ellen, Wulfhorst, J. D. Year: 2007 Understanding complex socio-environmental problems requires specialists from multiple disciplines to integrate research efforts. Programs such as the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship facilitate integrated research efforts and change the way academic institutions train future leaders and scientists. The University of Idaho and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Costa Rica collaborate on a joint research program focusing on biodiversity conservation and sustainable production in fragmented landscapes. We first present a spectrum of integration ranging from disciplinary to transdisciplinary across seven aspects of the research process. We then describe our experiences and lessons learned conducting interdisciplinary graduate student team research. Using our program as a case study, we examine the individual, disciplinary, and programmatic bridges and barriers to conducting interdisciplinary research that emerged during our student team research projects. We conclude with a set of recommendations for exploiting the bridges and overcoming the barriers to conducting interdisciplinary research, especially as part of graduate education programs. Title: Bridges and Barriers to Developing and Conducting Interdisciplinary Graduate-Student Team Research Author: Nielsen-Pincus, Max, Morse, Wayde Cameron, Force, Jo Ellen, Wulfhorst, J. D. Year: 2007 Understanding complex socio-environmental problems requires specialists from multiple disciplines to integrate research efforts. Programs such as the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship facilitate integrated research efforts and change the way academic institutions train future leaders and scientists. The University of Idaho and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Costa Rica collaborate on a joint research program focusing on biodiversity conservation and sustainable production in fragmented landscapes. We first present a spectrum of integration ranging from disciplinary to transdisciplinary across seven aspects of the research process. We then describe our experiences and lessons learned conducting interdisciplinary graduate student team research. Using our program as a case study, we examine the individual, disciplinary, and programmatic bridges and barriers to conducting interdisciplinary research that emerged during our student team research projects. We conclude with a set of recommendations for exploiting the bridges and overcoming the barriers to conducting interdisciplinary research, especially as part of graduate education programs. Close

• 2. [Article] Toward a new sustainable economy

  The current financial meltdown is the result of under-regulated markets built on an ideology of free market capitalism and unlimited economic growth. The fundamental problem is that the underlying assumptions ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Toward a new sustainable economy Author: Costanza, Robert Year: 2009 The current financial meltdown is the result of under-regulated markets built on an ideology of free market capitalism and unlimited economic growth. The fundamental problem is that the underlying assumptions of this ideology are not consistent with what we now know about the real state of the world. The financial world is, in essence, a set of markers for goods, services, and risks in the real world and when those markers are allowed to deviate too far from reality, ?adjustments? must ultimately follow and crisis and panic can ensue. To solve this and future financial crisis requires that we reconnect the markers with reality. What are our real assets and how valuable are they? To do this requires both a new vision of what the economy is and what it is for, proper and comprehensive accounting of real assets, and new institutions that use the market in its proper role of servant rather than master. Title: Toward a new sustainable economy Author: Costanza, Robert Year: 2009 The current financial meltdown is the result of under-regulated markets built on an ideology of free market capitalism and unlimited economic growth. The fundamental problem is that the underlying assumptions of this ideology are not consistent with what we now know about the real state of the world. The financial world is, in essence, a set of markers for goods, services, and risks in the real world and when those markers are allowed to deviate too far from reality, ?adjustments? must ultimately follow and crisis and panic can ensue. To solve this and future financial crisis requires that we reconnect the markers with reality. What are our real assets and how valuable are they? To do this requires both a new vision of what the economy is and what it is for, proper and comprehensive accounting of real assets, and new institutions that use the market in its proper role of servant rather than master. Close

• 3. [Article] A Systems Approach to Ecological Economic Models Developed Progressively in Three Interwoven Articles

  My dissertation develops and analyzes ecological economic models to study the complex dynamics of an ecological economic system (EES) and investigate various conditions and measures which can sustain a ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: A Systems Approach to Ecological Economic Models Developed Progressively in Three Interwoven Articles Author: Uehara, Takuro Year: 2012 My dissertation develops and analyzes ecological economic models to study the complex dynamics of an ecological economic system (EES) and investigate various conditions and measures which can sustain a developing economy over the long term in view of resilience and sustainability. Because of the intrinsic complexity of the system, I take a systems approach, using economics as the foundation for the basic structure of an ecological economic model, and system dynamics as the method to build and analyze such a complex ecological economic model. Throughout my dissertation, the model developed by Brander and Taylor (1998) is adopted as a baseline model (henceforth the BT model). The BT model explains population-resource dynamics and is characterized as a general equilibrium version of the Gordon-Schaefer Model, using a variation of the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. The findings are presented as three articles. The first article provides a comprehensive analysis of the BT model and its descendants, to elicit directions for further research, including population growth logic, substitutability, innovation, capital accumulation, property rights and institutional designs, and modeling approach. The second article extends the BT model to study the resilience of an EES reflecting three key issues in modeling such systems: 1) appropriate system boundary, 2) non-convexity of ecosystems, and 3) adaptation. The article discusses two types of thresholds: the ecological threshold, a threshold for an ecological system independent of economic systems, and the ecological economic threshold, a threshold for an EES. The latter is often different from the former and is highly dynamic and context dependent. The third article is another extension of the BT model to study the sustainability of an EES by implementing the suggestions made by the first article except for property rights and institutional designs. The main focus is on the impact of endogenous innovation regarding input substitutability on the system sustainability. The main finding is that improvement in the input substitutability, ceteris paribus, may not contribute to sustainable development despite its contribution to expanding the economy. However, it could be possible for susbstitutability improvements to contribute to sustainable development when combined with other specific types of technological progress. Title: A Systems Approach to Ecological Economic Models Developed Progressively in Three Interwoven Articles Author: Uehara, Takuro Year: 2012 My dissertation develops and analyzes ecological economic models to study the complex dynamics of an ecological economic system (EES) and investigate various conditions and measures which can sustain a developing economy over the long term in view of resilience and sustainability. Because of the intrinsic complexity of the system, I take a systems approach, using economics as the foundation for the basic structure of an ecological economic model, and system dynamics as the method to build and analyze such a complex ecological economic model. Throughout my dissertation, the model developed by Brander and Taylor (1998) is adopted as a baseline model (henceforth the BT model). The BT model explains population-resource dynamics and is characterized as a general equilibrium version of the Gordon-Schaefer Model, using a variation of the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. The findings are presented as three articles. The first article provides a comprehensive analysis of the BT model and its descendants, to elicit directions for further research, including population growth logic, substitutability, innovation, capital accumulation, property rights and institutional designs, and modeling approach. The second article extends the BT model to study the resilience of an EES reflecting three key issues in modeling such systems: 1) appropriate system boundary, 2) non-convexity of ecosystems, and 3) adaptation. The article discusses two types of thresholds: the ecological threshold, a threshold for an ecological system independent of economic systems, and the ecological economic threshold, a threshold for an EES. The latter is often different from the former and is highly dynamic and context dependent. The third article is another extension of the BT model to study the sustainability of an EES by implementing the suggestions made by the first article except for property rights and institutional designs. The main focus is on the impact of endogenous innovation regarding input substitutability on the system sustainability. The main finding is that improvement in the input substitutability, ceteris paribus, may not contribute to sustainable development despite its contribution to expanding the economy. However, it could be possible for susbstitutability improvements to contribute to sustainable development when combined with other specific types of technological progress. Close

• 4. [Article] Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS): Approach, Challenges, and Strategies

  Understanding the complexity of human–nature interactions is central to the quest for both human well-being and global sustainability. To build an understanding of these interactions, scientists, planners, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS): Approach, Challenges, and Strategies Author: Alberti, Marina, Asbjornsen, Heidi, Baker, Lawrence A., Brozović, Nicholas, Drinkwater, Laurie E., Drzyzga, Scott A., Jantz, Claire A., Fragoso, José, Holland, Daniel S., Kohler, Timothy A., Liu, Jianguo, McConnell, William J., Maschner, Herbert D. G., Millington, James D. A., Monticino, Michael, Podestá, Guillermo, Pontius, Robert Gilmore, Jr., Redman, Charles L., Reo, Nicholas J., Sailor, David J., Urquhart, Gerald Year: 2011 Understanding the complexity of human–nature interactions is central to the quest for both human well-being and global sustainability. To build an understanding of these interactions, scientists, planners, resource managers, policy makers, and communities increasingly are collaborating across wide-ranging disciplines and knowledge domains. Scientists and others are generating new integrated knowledge on top of their requisite specialized knowledge to understand complex systems in order to solve pressing environmental and social problems (e.g., Carpenter et al. 2009). One approach to this sort of integration, bringing together detailed knowledge of various disciplines (e.g., social, economic, biological, and geophysical), has become known as the study of Coupled Human and Natural Systems, or CHANS (Liu et al. 2007a, b). In 2007 a formal standing program in Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems was created by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Recently, the program supported the launch of an International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS-Net.org). A major kick-off event of the network was a symposium on Complexity in Human–Nature Interactions across Landscapes, which brought together leading CHANS scientists at the 2009 meeting of the U.S. Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology in Snowbird, Utah. The symposium highlighted original and innovative research emphasizing reciprocal interactions between human and natural systems at multiple spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The presentations can be found at: http://chansnet. org/Symposium_2009.aspx. The symposium was accompanied by a workshop on Challenges and Opportunities in CHANS Research. This article provides an overview of the CHANS approach, outlines the primary challenges facing the CHANS research community, and discusses potential strategies to meet these challenges, based upon the presentations and discussions among participants at the Snowbird meeting. Title: Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS): Approach, Challenges, and Strategies Author: Alberti, Marina, Asbjornsen, Heidi, Baker, Lawrence A., Brozović, Nicholas, Drinkwater, Laurie E., Drzyzga, Scott A., Jantz, Claire A., Fragoso, José, Holland, Daniel S., Kohler, Timothy A., Liu, Jianguo, McConnell, William J., Maschner, Herbert D. G., Millington, James D. A., Monticino, Michael, Podestá, Guillermo, Pontius, Robert Gilmore, Jr., Redman, Charles L., Reo, Nicholas J., Sailor, David J., Urquhart, Gerald Year: 2011 Understanding the complexity of human–nature interactions is central to the quest for both human well-being and global sustainability. To build an understanding of these interactions, scientists, planners, resource managers, policy makers, and communities increasingly are collaborating across wide-ranging disciplines and knowledge domains. Scientists and others are generating new integrated knowledge on top of their requisite specialized knowledge to understand complex systems in order to solve pressing environmental and social problems (e.g., Carpenter et al. 2009). One approach to this sort of integration, bringing together detailed knowledge of various disciplines (e.g., social, economic, biological, and geophysical), has become known as the study of Coupled Human and Natural Systems, or CHANS (Liu et al. 2007a, b). In 2007 a formal standing program in Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems was created by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Recently, the program supported the launch of an International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS-Net.org). A major kick-off event of the network was a symposium on Complexity in Human–Nature Interactions across Landscapes, which brought together leading CHANS scientists at the 2009 meeting of the U.S. Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology in Snowbird, Utah. The symposium highlighted original and innovative research emphasizing reciprocal interactions between human and natural systems at multiple spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The presentations can be found at: http://chansnet. org/Symposium_2009.aspx. The symposium was accompanied by a workshop on Challenges and Opportunities in CHANS Research. This article provides an overview of the CHANS approach, outlines the primary challenges facing the CHANS research community, and discusses potential strategies to meet these challenges, based upon the presentations and discussions among participants at the Snowbird meeting. Close