Projects
Our projects range from field studies to modeling exercises, and from local Vermont work to global efforts. All tend to combine natural and social dynamics within living landscapes and to link rigorous research with real-world issues in environment and sustainability.
Crop Pollination Services
Roughly 70% of the world's most economically important crops benefit from animal pollination. As managed honeybees face growing pressures, it has become increasingly important to understand how communities of wild bees provide pollination services and how they respond to global change. We conduct field studies in Vermont, Costa Rica, and elsewhere to understand the ecological dynamics and economic value of crop pollination services. We work with global collaborators to distill general lessons from these field studies. And we develop simple models that predict pollination services across agricultural landscapes and estimate consequences of land use change. We aim to use all this work to support land use decisions and policies both in Vermont and around the world.
Key collaborators:
Shalene Jha, Adina Chain-Guardarrama, Lucas Garibaldi, Rufus Isaacs, Eric Lonsdorf, Alejandra Martinez-Salinas, Neal Williams, Vermont and Costa Rican farmers
Ecology, Economics, and Policy of Ecosystem Services
Ecosystems provide multiple interacting services that support human economies and livelihoods (e.g., carbon storage, water purification, recreation opportunities, coastal protection). We collaborate widely to map sources of ecosystem services across landscapes, estimate their values, quantify trade-offs among them, and predict consequences of likely land use and climate change. This work includes spatial modeling at state to national scales, global studies on potential synergies between ecosystem services and biodiversity, and analyses of equity and policy implications of managing ecosystem services. We collaborate with the Natural Capital Project (based at Stanford University) and contribute to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (sponsored by the United Nations). The ultimate goal of all this work is to mainstream ecosystem services into routine decisions by governments, landowners, lenders, and NGOs.
Key collaborators:
Amy Luers, Andrew Balmford, Elena Bennett, Gretchen Daily, Rachelle Gould, Claire Kremen, Steve Polasky, Donna Rizzo, JB Ruhl, Beverley Wemple
Ecosystems and Human Health
Ecosystems not only provide economic benefits to people, they support human health as well. Forests, reefs, and wetlands can provide nutrition to rural communities, regulate air and water quality, and control infectious diseases. We collaborate widely to investigate the linkages between ecosystems and human health. Starting with a grant from SESYNC, we continue to use global health surveys to relate ecosystems and resource governance to children’s health outcomes. In collaboration with UVM's Complex Systems Center, we are using social media and wearable technologies to relate exposure to nature with mental health. And as part of the Planetary Health Alliance, a broad consortium of universities and conservation organizations, we are working to strengthen and connect the global community investigating these links.
Key collaborators:
Laura Bloomfield, Chris Danforth, Brendan Fisher, Anila Jacob, Mark Mulligan, Sam Myers, Meredith Niles, Steve Osofsky
Equity and Justice in Social-Ecological Systems
Social, economic, and racial inequalities are among the most pressing challenges we face as a society. Natural capital and how we manage it can either mitigate or exacerbate these inequities. We seek to understand how ecosystem services are distributed among different demographic and socioeconomic groups, and in turn, how conservation can achieve more equitable outcomes. Projects range from evaluating the distribution of flood risk among property owners in Vermont to identifying households most reliant on nature-based health benefits worldwide. Our goal is to inform policies and practices that improve the equitable distribution of nature’s benefits.
Key collaborators:
Brendan Fisher, Rachelle Gould, Anila Jacob, Meredith Niles, Ranaivo Rasolofoson, Steve Polasky, Jesse Gourevitch
