Kristen received a Campus Sustainability Grant from the University of Georgia, to build and install bat houses on campus as well as lead educational activities. This project will provide important roosting habitat for local Athens bat species and connect people…
New paper on critical constraints on livelihood adaptation
When households practicing small-scale livelihoods such as pastoralism experience increasing hardships due to environmental change, adopting a new livelihood strategy is often promoted as a way to regain food security and reduce vulnerability. However, livelihood adaptation is a complex process,…
Participatory process for understanding ecosystem service tradeoffs
King, E., Cavender-Bares, J., Balvanera, P., Mwampamba, T. H., & Polasky, S. (2015). Trade-offs in ecosystem services and varying stakeholder preferences: evaluating conflicts, obstacles, and opportunities. Ecology and Society, 20(3). doi: 10.5751/ES-07822-200325 (open access) This paper, just published in Ecology…
UGA Chew Crew: Ecological Restoration and Environmental Stewardship
Dr. Eric MacDonald of the College of Environment & Design at UGA is shepherding this student-run initiative that uses prescribed grazing to control invasive species, reclaim forgotten natural areas on campus, and foster environmental stewardship in students. The goats, or the…
Pastoralism in Transition: Social and Ecological Dimensions of Vulnerability
Drylands cover 40% of the continent of Africa, and are the basis for traditional pastoralist social-ecological systems, in which societies have adapted to rely heavily or entirely on livestock production for their livelihoods in harsh and variable environments. Modernity has…
Understanding Sustainability Science via Tradeoffs in Ecosystem Services
Meeting human needs while sustaining the planet’s life support systems is the fundamental challenge of our time. While theoretical notions of the goals of sustainability science seek a unified path forward, realities on the ground present challenges. Too often, strategies…
From Mongolia to Maasailand: A Comparative Assessment of Linkages between Pastoralist Land Rights and Social-Ecological Sustainability
This interesting synthesis of transcendental factors that can be “deal-makers and deal-breakers” for pastoralist sustainability is now off the back burner and getting properly cooked and seasoned to be served up to the public quite soon!