THE HEALING ROLE OF NATURE . - Environment.yale.edu

Agricultural activity is the leading cause of emissionof nitrous oxide, accounting for 70 percent of globalhuman-derived N2O emissions over the past decade.RESEARCH UPDATESNitrous Oxide EmissionsIncreasing at ‘Devastating’ RateThe term “greenhouse gas” is often usedinterchangeably with carbon dioxide, due to itsprevalence in our atmosphere and the wellestablished historical “Keeling curve” showingits increase. Indeed, CO2 is estimated to be morethan 80 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.But another greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide(N2O), has far more impact on a molecule-bymolecule basis.And, according to a recent study, N2Oemissions are increasing at a “devastating”rate, faster than predictions introduced by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.4YALE SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENTIn a paper published in Nature, a large,multinational team of researchers associatedwith the Global Carbon Project — includingPeter Raymond, professor of ecosystem ecologyat Yale School of the Environment, and YSEpostdoctoral fellow Taylor Maavara — provides amore complete picture of global N2O emissions.The researchers found strong increases in N2Oemissions in emerging economies — particularlyBrazil, China and India — due in large partto agricultural activity, the cause of nearly 70percent of global human-derived N2O emissionsover the past decade.“Nitrous oxide is often seen as the thirdmost important greenhouse gas” behind carbondioxide and methane, says Maavara. “Not asmuch attention is paid to nitrous oxide, butit’s extremely important.” In addition to beingan ozone depleting chemical, nitrous oxide,she explains, can take more than a century tocompletely break down in the atmosphere andhas a climate warming potential nearly 300times higher than carbon dioxide.And as populations grow and more foodis needed, the researchers predict that N2Oemissions will continue to grow if not mitigated.“It’s going to be difficult because we needfood,” says Maavara, who suggests moresustainable practices, such as better managementpractices for farming that focus on more precisetiming and applications of fertilizer.Food Consumption in India’sUrban AreasPandemic ChangingU.S. West AttitudesThe world’s population is shifting to cities —by 2050, an estimated 2.3 million more peoplewill be living in urban areas. In India, thisdemographic shift appears to be putting a strainon food systems.PhD students Bhartendu Pandey andMeredith Reba and YSE Professor Karen Setoconducted a comprehensive study, published inScientific Reports, that looked at how urbanizationinfluences both quantity and diversity of foodconsumption in India. The researchers foundthat variations in food consumption were likelydue to income, not urbanization; that marketaccess, infrastructure, and societal normshave more influence on food consumptionthan urbanization; and that any effect thaturbanization has on food consumption isindirect and multidimensional.Rural communities, particularly in the AmericanWest, traditionally hold more anti-governmentattitudes. A team of YSE researchers, led byassociate professor Justin Farrell, recentlyfound that the COVID-19 pandemic is changingthat dynamic.In a representative study of residents inrural counties in the West, the researchersfound significant bipartisan support for several“big government” interventions to supportrural recovery, including federal relief spendingon unemployment benefits, healthcare,housing, small businesses, and individualstimulus payments.“We are only beginning to understand thesocial, economic, and environmental impactsof the COVID-19 pandemic,” Farrell says, “butour new survey suggests that a realignment ofpolitical preferences is taking place.”The Wealth of OceansTo understand the value of the world’s oceans, wemust look past the traditional metrics such as thegross domestic product, says a team of researchersled by Knobloch Family Professor of NaturalResource Economics Eli Fenichel.In a paper, “National Accounting for the Oceanand Ocean Economy,” the researchers lay outnew systems of national accounting that includesustainability indicators like ocean production,changes in the value of ocean assets, and oceanincome. These new measurements, the researcherssay, enable governments to calculate the return oninvestment for improving ocean governance, andcould potentially create jobs and reinforce foodsecurity and regional stability.“The ocean has great value in its biodiversity,as well as other benefits it provides humans,”Fenichel says. “Diminishing the quality of oceansdecreases the quality of life and ultimately,national wealth.”How to Make PaperRecycling GreenerThe environmental benefits of recycling mightseem obvious, but a new study contends thatrecycling of certain materials — specificallypaper — can’t reach its full potential unless it ispowered by renewable energy.A study published in Nature Sustainability,co-authored by postdoctoral associate Stijn vanEwijk of the YSE Center for Industrial Ecology,found that if all wastepaper was recycled, by2050, greenhouse gas emissions from paperrecycling would actually increase by 10 percent.With a switch from fossil fuels to renewables,the researchers estimate that emissions wouldreduce by 96 percent.“Recycling alone isn’t going to help us reachour climate goals; we need renewable energy,”van Ewijk says.Paper recycling using renewable energy sources could reduce emissions by as much as 96 percent, researchers say.CANOPY FALL 20205

The Outsider’s AdvantageDr. Dorceta Taylor ’85 MFS, ’91 PhD, who joined the YSE faculty inJuly as a full professor, on why she was excited to return to Yale andher kinship with the celebrated environmentalist Rachel Carson.BY CARA MCDONOUGHDorceta Taylor thinks often about Rachel Carson.Initially trained as a zoologist like Taylor, Carson went on to becomea famed writer authoring the landmark book “Silent Spring” about theenvironmental impacts of pesticides and other harmful chemicals in1962 — as well as a tireless environmental advocate.“She used the freedom that comes from being overlooked, andshe turned that on its head. She was able to apply the lensof an outsider,” Taylor says, noting Carson’s influence inwhat was then a man’s world.Taylor has experienced some of the same in hercareer. And, like Carson, she has taken advantage ofbeing an outsider in her field, making connections thatothers might miss.She’s been making those connections for as long asshe can recall.“My earliest memories are of myself in the outdoors,”illustration by sam hadleyshe says, remembering her childhood in Jamaica. “Enjoying thegarden, being curious about the flowers. Being curious and watching6YALE SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENTthings grow.”This passion for observation has undoubtedly played a role in her storiedcareer as an environmental scholar and activist. And, since returning toYale this year as a full professor — she earned her Master of Forest Scienceat YSE in 1985 and a joint doctoral degree from the School and thedepartment of sociology in 1991 — Taylor is taking the opportunity toobserve, connect and contemplate solutions at the university as well as inthe city of New Haven and beyond.Teaching “Poverty, Environment, and Inequality” online this spring,she’ll highlight her interdisciplinary approach to environmental thoughtand policymaking — including a keen focus on urban and rural issues likefood insecurity — while continuing her tireless work fostering institutionaldiversity within the field.A sampling of her striking achievements and accompanyingaccolades illustrates a life dedicated to intersecting themesin the world of conservation: She authored severalinfluential books, including the award-winning“The Environment and People In American Cities”;her well-known 2014 study on diversity inenvironmental organizations (uncovering a startlinglack thereof ) brought about needed reflection andtangible change; she received the 2020 Wilbur LuciusCross Medal by the Yale Graduate School, as well as the2020 Women in Sustainability Cross Sector Award fromEnvision Charlotte and Wells Fargo; AARP recently recognizedher as a leader helping to carry on Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy; and,in 2018, she received the Rachel Carson Award from Audubon Womenin Conservation.FEARLESS ATTITUDES AND UNCONVENTIONAL PATHWAYSYet when she began her academic career, Taylor’s interests — theconnections and ethical quandaries she observed when she consideredthe natural world and the people who inhabited it — didn’t necessarily fitwithin the traditional confines of “environmentalism” or even havea name.  She studied zoology and botany while looking for ways toincorporate human behavior and impacts more fully into these disciplines.CANOPY FALL 20207

“I’m one of those people who just never reallyLAND ANDBELONGINGquite fit perfectly in a single disciplinary box.I was very convinced that there was a fieldto be developed around inequalities and theenvironment. So, nothing could really stop mefrom exploring those possibilities.”So nothing could really stop me from exploring those possibilities.”She remembers professors suggesting the joint course of study mightbe a foolhardy step —while at the same time encouraging her wayof thinking. That’s something she appreciates about Yale and one ofthe reasons she was excited to return. “When I was a student, I reallyappreciated being in a student body where students were not afraid toreally think big, outside the box.”The university, she says, has been supportive of her academicgoals, which include blending an understanding of the environment,inequality, and workforce dynamics, but also history, sociology, theory,and political mobilization. And the city of New Haven — and the stateof Connecticut as a whole — provides vibrant context for studying thereal-world implications of these issues, as Taylor did during her tenureat the University of Michigan, where she was prior to joining YSE inJuly of 2020.“Connecticut is one of those states where really a lot more work canbe done around the nexus of equity, environment, climate, health — allof those things are there to bring together,” she says.Being at YSE also means pursuing meaningful connectionswith thought leaders whose specialties align with her own, redefining“typical” courses of study all over again as she did as a student. Taylor isexcited about the prospect of partnering with professors like NarasimhaRao, who examines links among energy systems, human development,and climate change, including studying inequality and climate policy.Taylor also heads the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Programand the Environmental Fellows Program, both of which help studentshistorically underrepresented in college environmental programs8YALE SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENTpursue careers in the sector. And she says that when it comes todiversity — including ensuring equity and representation in academicsand the workplace — we’re past the time for talk.“People love to talk about it, and I say, ‘Do something about it,’” shesays. “When people say they want diversity, I say, ‘How much is yourdiversity budget?’ We don’t really need to spend that much more timetalking about what’s an obvious problem.”The concrete steps toward a more diverse workforce, including wageequity, well-paying internships for students of color and low-incomestudents, advertising jobs to diverse applicant pools, and hiring peopleof color are the vehicles for change, she asserts. Attending anotherwebinar on diversity is not enough.“The two programs I run set out to identify very talented studentsof color early on and say to them, ‘There is a place for you in this field.There are pathways through which you can excel.’”Taylor’s own pathway was unconventional, and that helped shapeher fearless attitude.“Being both Black and female, it is easy to be dismissed,” shesays. “But when people don’t expect much, it can give you anadvantage. In my life, I have trained myself to look for those openings.”The sentiment brings Carson to mind once again. “Shemoved across barriers and lines and she was undaunted andunapologetic,” Taylor says.That’s Taylor’s way, too, allowing ideas to flourish in bold, newways, whether exploring lush island vegetation or bustling city life.“It’s the ability to make those observations where other peoplemight see them as mundane and make connections and understandthem,” she says. “My environmental outlook comes out of that abilityto observe and translate complex ideas in a way that other people cansee the connections.”Dana Burow“I’m one of those people who just never really quite fit perfectly ina single disciplinary box,” she says. “I was very convinced that therewas a field to be developed around inequalities and the environment.Doctoral candidate Paul Burow uses an ethnographic approachto understanding the complicated dynamics behind land usein the American West — hoping to translate his observationsinto a blueprint for effective collaboration that advances thesovereignty of Indigenous peoples.B Y D Y L A N WA L S H ’ 1 1 M E MCANOPY FALL 20209

S“This is the value of ethnography,” Burow says. “You wrap yourself inthe daily work and routines of a group of people and, that way, start tosee the world as they do.”Burow’s desire to understand competing interests in the Walker RiverBasin springs from the confluence of personal history and professionalexperience. As a kid from Sacramento, Burow had a deep familyconnection to the wilderness of eastern California; he spent summershiking and backpacking less than 30 miles from the Walker River, nearthe Carson River, where his family owns a cabin.Burow ultimately hopes to translate the findings of his research intomore complementary and inclusive land management practices. Oneway to do this is to move beyond the statutory process of “consultation,”by which federal agencies must discuss their management plans withIndigenous groups. “These consultations are of questionable value whennot treated seriously,” Burow says. “They’re generally treated as a box tocheck.” Instead, he’d like to see the widespread establishment of genuinepartnerships, with Indigenous groups allowed to manage public landsbeyond the borders of their reservation. One example of this at work is theYakama Nation of eastern Washington, which has been contracted by theForest Service to reduce fire risk on lands adjacent to its reservation. Whatif the Paiute nations were given similar powers in managing pinyon forest?“In the end, a tremendous amount of knowledge exists in thesecommunities,” Burow says. “That’s something we’ve failed to heed in landmanagement, but there is an opportunity to revitalize.”This past March, COVID-19 put the brakes on Burow’s work. Whilewaiting for the pandemic to abate, he has worked with his thesis advisorYSE Associate Professor Justin Farrell and YSE doctoral student KathrynMcConnell on the Rural West Covid Project. Funded by a National ScienceFoundation rapid response grant, the project investigates how ruralcommunities in 11 Western states are grappling with COVID-19. Thefirst survey, from the summer, asked a broad range of questions aboutthe effects of the virus on daily life and on trust in government institutions;a second survey, planned to run soon,will ask officials in local government aboutthe repercussions they’ve experienced intheir communities.As of this fall, though, Burow beganworking in the archives and focusing onhis dissertation again. He aims to returnto ethnography — “the opposite of socialdistancing” — next year, during which he’llspend much of his time with ranchers. Hisgraduation is set for 2023.That date signals to Burow neither theend of something old nor the beginning ofsomething new. “My commitment to thisplace and its people and issues is lifelong,”he says. “My hope is that this research opensup opportunities to reintroduce the kindsof management practices seen on this landfor thousands of years — and that, by doingthis, the sovereignty of Indigenous nationswill be respected.”Paul BurowPaul Burowince Paul Burow enrolled in theYale School of the Environmentas a Ph.D. student in 2016, hehas been exploring a palimpsestof claims to land in the AmericanWest. He is focused specifically on the WalkerRiver Basin along the Nevada-California borderand on three groups with disparate and oftenconflicting interpretations of the land’s value:Indigenous tribes, ranchers, and federal landmanagers from the U.S. Forest Service.“The land-use politics in this area, andaround this tree [the pinyon pine], are quitecomplicated,” says Burow, a combineddegree doctoral candidate in the Yale Schoolof the Environment and the department ofanthropology. “That’s what my dissertation istrying to get at.”At the center of Burow’s research are four“nonhuman figures,” as he puts it: pinyon pine,sage grouse, cattle, and wheatgrass. For thePaiute of the Walker River Basin, pinyon pineanchors their view of the landscape — it is thespecies that informs much of their interactionEnvironmental monitors check levels of California’s Mono Lake for its annual April reading.with the natural world. For ranchers, pinyon canbe competition to plants that cattle use as forage,and they have historically sought removal of theMichael Dove, one of Burow’s thesis advisors. “And the perceptiontrees and replanted with non-native crested wheatgrass.of something as belonging or not has enormous implications for“Ranchers simply have a different orientation toward trees,” Burowenvironmental conservation.”says. “For them, cattle are at the center of the landscape.” Meanwhile,Archival research and personal interviews help Burow shed light onthese landscapes have also experienced a decline in the iconic sage grouse,this issue of belonging, but the methodological foundation of his work isand arresting the decline of sage grouse through the eradication ofethnography. He has spent months shadowing Forest Service employees;pinyon forests has been a core goal of local land management agencies forhe has logged countless hours from a desk in their Bridgeport, California,the past 25 years. The explosive spread of invasive cheatgrass threatensoffice; he has attended staff meetings; and he has hiked with rangersall three of these interests — and it’s the knotty and fragile relationshipto observe the assessment of public land. He has spent months withamong these four things that interests Burow.members of the Paiute tribe, as well, sitting with them in their homes,“Paul is examining the issue of who — people, plants, and animals — iscollecting traditional plants with them, harvesting pine nuts, andseen as ‘belonging’ in the U.S. West and who isn’t,” says YSE Professorembarking on a pilgrimage-like walk to Yosemite.Maturing bristlecone pine cones in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California’s White Mountains.10 YALE SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENTCANOPY FALL 202011

URBAN FORESTCONNECTION,Alumnus startup looks toreimagine the urban tree lifecyclewith “reforestation hubs.”BY JOSH ANUSEWICZNEW TREESWOOD WASTEWOOD MATERIAL12YALE SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENTWhen Ben Christensen ’20 MEM set out to establish a companythat would reimagine the urban tree lifecycle — and help combatclimate change in the process — he was inspired by the role of theplant tissue cambium, which supports the secondary growth oftrunks, branches, stems, and roots to make a tree healthy and full.Thus, Cambium Carbon was born.“Cambium, within a tree, is about connection and growth,”says Christensen. “Those are two things we see our companybeing able to do. We want to connect the dots and facilitategrowth across the system.”GROWTH ANDCHANGEThe company is aiming to build“reforestation hubs,” a first-of-itskind private-public partnershipthat restores city forests across theU.S. The company is creating fundsto plant trees in urban natural areasby valuing their benefits — like the raw wood materialthey provide and their ability to absorb carbon dioxide —to help turn the tide of urban forest loss. Today fallen treesare often chipped for low-grade application or hauled toa landfill at significant cost; Cambium Carbon is workingto build systems for processing that wasted material intohigher-quality wood products that can subsidize futuretree-planting efforts.Researchers say the supply is there. A 2019 report fromthe U.S. Forest Service estimates that annual urban woodybiomass loss totals about 46 million tons of sellable woodwith a potential value of more than 700 million. CambiumCarbon sees opportunity in the current inefficiency andaims to create a sustainable cycle by closing the resourceloop, working with stakeholders at each step — from parksdepartments and arborists who manage urban trees to localmillers and makers who craft wood products and on toestablished tree-planting programs.One key to success will be understanding the needs ofindividual cities. Most cities in the U.S. have gaps in theirurban forestry system — a city like Detroit has thousands ofdead trees it’s unable to remove due to financial constraints,whil

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