Brice, E. M., Miller, B. A., Zhang, H., Goldstein, K., Zimmer, S. N., Grosklos, G. J., Belmont, P., Flint, C. G., Givens, J. E., Adler, P. B., Brunson, M. W., & Smith, J. W. (2020). Impacts of climate change on multiple use management of Bureau of Land Management land in the Intermountain West, USA. Ecosphere, vol. 11. doi:10.1002/ecs2.3286
Abstract:
Although natural resource managers are concerned about climate change, many are unable to adequately incorporate climate change science into their adaptation strategies or management plans, and are not always aware of or do not always employ the most current scientific knowledge. One of the most prominent natural resource management agencies in the United States is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is tasked with managing over 248 million acres (>1 million km2) of public lands for multiple, often conflicting, uses. Climate change will affect the sustainability of many of these land uses and could further increase conflicts between them. As such, the purpose of our study was to determine the extent to which climate change will affect public land uses, and whether the BLM is managing for such predicted effects. To do so, we first conducted a systematic review of peer‐reviewed literature that discussed potential impacts of climate change on the multiple land uses the BLM manages in the Intermountain West, USA, and then expanded these results with a synthesis of projected vegetation changes. Finally, we conducted a content analysis of BLM Resource Management Plans in order to determine how climate change is explicitly addressed by BLM managers, and whether such plans reflect changes predicted by the scientific literature. We found that active resource use generally threatens intrinsic values such as conservation and ecosystem services on BLM land, and climate change is expected to exacerbate these threats in numerous ways. Additionally, our synthesis of vegetation modeling suggests substantial changes in vegetation due to climate change. However, BLM plans rarely referred to climate change explicitly and did not reflect the results of the literature review or vegetation model synthesis. Our results suggest there is a disconnect between management of BLM lands and the best available science on climate change. We recommend that the BLM actively integrates such research into on‐the‐ground management plans and activities, and that researchers studying the effects of climate change make a more robust effort to understand the practices and policies of public land management in order to effectively communicate the management significance of their findings.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Brett Alan Miller co-authored a chapter in the next edition of Place Attachment: Advances in Theory, Methods and Applications on the history and development of Place Attachment theory, entitled "Metatheoretical moments in Place Attachment research: Seeking clarity in diversity."
Christy Glass, Alison Cook & Brandon Pierce (2020). Do Women in Leadership Reduce Sexual Harassment Claims on College Campuses?, Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 13:2, 193-210, DOI: 10.1080/26379112.2020.1782227
Abstract:
This article analyzes whether the representation of women in leadership roles reduces sexual harassment claims on college campuses. We test competing claims regarding the impact of women’s workplace authority on sexual harassment. Our framework draws on the women as agents of change and power paradox perspectives to interrogate the role of gender and power in reducing workplace harassment in institutions of higher education. We find that women’s overall integration into upper administrative positions reduces harassment claims. However, we also find that the gender of the president and the Title IX officer is not significantly related to the number of harassment claims. We consider the implications of these findings for ongoing efforts to reduce harassment on college and university campuses.
Glass, C., Van Miegroet, H. (2020). Recognition through awards: A source of gender inequality in science? International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, vol. 12, 289—315).
Abstract:
Drawing from Acker’s gendered organizations perspective, this study analyzes the gender distribution of research and non-research awards in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) colleges at a mid-size public doctoral university in the western U.S. This analysis is complemented with a faculty survey (2016) elucidating faculty perceptions of the nomination process and their standing within their department and college. Despite an increase in the number of women among STEM faculty over time, women remain underrepresented among research award recipients, especially at the university level. The ratio of research to nonresearch awards for men is 3 to 6 times that of women faculty. Differences in productivity cannot be invoked as a mechanism for this gendered awards distribution. Women report being overlooked in the nomination process for all awards. This study suggests that the nomination and selection processes put women at an evaluative disadvantage with respect to high-status research awards. Social proximity tends to neutralize some of the evaluation bias at the college level.
Brooks, M. M., Mueller, J. T., & Thiede, B. C. County reclassifications and rural-urban mortality disparities in the United States (1970-2018). American Journal of Public Health. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305895
Abstract:
Objectives. To demonstrate how inferences about rural–urban disparities in age-adjusted mortality are affected by the reclassification of rural and urban counties in the United States from 1970 to 2018.
Methods. We compared estimates of rural–urban mortality disparities over time, produced through a time-varying classification of rural and urban counties, with counterfactual estimates of rural–urban disparities, assuming no changes in rural–urban classification since 1970. We evaluated mortality rates by decade of reclassification to assess selectivity in reclassification.
Results. We found that reclassification amplified rural–urban mortality disparities and accounted for more than 25% of the rural disadvantage observed from 1970 to 2018. Mortality rates were lower in counties that reclassified from rural to urban than in counties that remained rural.
Conclusions. Estimates of changing rural–urban mortality differentials are significantly influenced by rural–urban reclassification. On average, counties that have remained classified as rural over time have elevated mortality. Longitudinal research on rural–urban health disparities must consider the methodological and substantive implications of reclassification.
Public Health Implications. Attention to rural–urban reclassification is necessary when evaluating or justifying policy interventions focusing on geographic health disparities. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 15, 2020: e1–e3.
Roberts, M., Reither, E.N. & Lim, S. (2020). Contributors to the black-white life expectancy gap in Washington D.C.. Sci Rep, vol. 10. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-70046-6
Abstract:
Although the black-white gap in life expectancy has been shrinking in the U.S., national improvement conceals ongoing disparities. Nowhere is this more evident than Washington D.C., where the black-white gap has persistently exceeded 10 years. Using 1999–2017 mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics, we employed demographic techniques to pursue three aims: first, we created period life tables to examine longevity trends in Washington D.C.; second, we decomposed black-white life expectancy differences into 23 causes of death in three time periods (2000, 2008, 2016); third, we assessed age-specific contributions for each cause of death. Findings revealed that heart disease (4.14 years), homicide (2.43 years), and cancer (2.30 years) contributed most to the 17.23-year gap among males in 2016. Heart disease and cancer contributed most at ages 55–69; homicide contributed most at ages 20–29. Among females in 2016, heart disease (3.24 years), cancer (2.36 years), and unintentional injuries (0.85 years) contributed most to the 12.06-year gap. Heart disease and cancer contributed most at ages 55–69, and unintentional injuries at ages 50–59. Our investigation provides detailed evidence about contributors to the black-white longevity gap in Washington D.C., which can aid in the development of targeted public health interventions.
Church, Sarah P.; Floress, Kristin M.; Ulrich-Schad, Jessica D.; Wardropper, Chloe B.; Ranjan, Pranay; Eaton, Weston M.; Gasteyer, Stephen; Rissman, Adena. 2020. How water quality improvement efforts influence urban–agricultural relationships. Agriculture and Human Values. 18 p. doi:10.1007/s10460-020-10177-8.
Abstract:
Urban and agricultural communities are interdependent but often differ on approaches for improving water quality impaired by nutrient runoff waterbodies worldwide. Current water quality governance involves an overlapping array of policy tools implemented by governments, civil society organizations, and corporate supply chains. The choice of regulatory and voluntary tools is likely to influence many dimensions of the relationship between urban and agricultural actors. These relationships then influence future conditions for collective decision-making since many actors participate for multiple years in water quality improvement. In this policy analysis, we draw on our professional experiences and research, as well as academic and practitioner literatures, to investigate how different types of water quality interventions influence urban-agricultural relationships, specifically examining policy tools on a regulatory to voluntary spectrum. Interactions between farmers and other rural agricultural interests on one hand, and urban residents and their stormwater managers and wastewater treatment plants on the other, influence dynamics relevant for water quality improvement. We suggest that the selection of policy tools within complex governance contexts influence urban–agricultural relationships through financial exchange, political coalitions, knowledge exchange, interpersonal relationships, and shared sense of place. Policy tools that provide a means to build relationships and engage with people’s emotions and identities have potential to influence personal and community change and adaptive capacity, while processes such as lawsuits can catalyze structural change. Engaging these relationships is particularly critical given the need to move out of polarized positions to solve collective problems.
Shircliff, J. E., Is Chinatown a place or a space? A case study of Chinatown Singapore. Geoforum, vol. 117. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.10.006
Abstract:
This paper argues that the routine development of Chinatowns has, in many ways, disjointed them from specific locations and into a space in the abstract. The average Chinatown frequently highlights generic ethnic symbols and products, rather than the exclusion and specific migrations that made historic Chinese enclaves possible. Approaching Singapore Chinatown as a case study, I draw upon interview and survey data to demonstrate how abstract space plays an important role in residents’ and tourists’ interpretations of Chinatown. Singapore Chinatown has undeniable connections to Singaporean Chinese heritage. However, tourists often treat it as a standardized space, framed according to their knowledge of Chinatowns in general. This framework of generic space may explain why tourists authenticate even the most contentious redevelopments that have been criticized by local groups. Chinatowns’ entanglement with globalization generates this dislocating phenomenon. I aim to further distinguish Chinatowns from ethnic enclaves as a dynamic space, where meaning is transformed by the designs and narratives projected by urban planners not just in one location, but globally. Delineating Chinatowns as unique ethnic places can benefit their role as attractions and vehicles of heritage and cultural representation.
Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed is a graduate student in his second year, pursuing a doctorate in sociology at USU. He recently helped survey Utahns to see if environmental concerns affect the decision to have children.
Utah State University President’s Office recently held receptions for this year’s round of inaugural lectures. Three recently promoted faculty in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences presented thoughtful reflections on their research and the even...
