Mellon Initiative Researchers

Ryan Bailey
Institution: Skidmore College
Major: Environmental Studies/Economics
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: What forces for or against smart growth are the most dominant in local community planning? Through preliminary research we have identified five challenges to planning for smart growth and five forces for smart growth that will be examined over the next two years to determine which has the greatest influence on local planning. These forces highlight the contrast between the planning experts and the local governments that are attempting to implement smart growth into their community.

Evan Blankenship
Institution: Lewis & Clark College
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: Why is it that people continue to live in a hazardous wasteland even after it seems clear that the land and air are poisoning them? How can a population actively participate in the degradation of their health and livelihoods? Is there a limit to what people can allow before they will realize their mistakes? These questions each feel common and pertinent in a world seemingly tipping towards environmental crisis. However, there is an overarching theme between them that I believe is more important to address. The question I want to look at is how people understand their environments, looking especially at what factors shape the sense of being in crisis.

Erin Brogan
Institution: Northwestern College
Major: Biology/Ecological Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: In our research, we are specifically interested in the effects of invasive species, both to the prairie and forested environments they invade and also to the recreational and agricultural spaces they invade. We would like to focus mostly on the effects of the one to several of the following vegetative invasives: Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula), Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana), Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), and Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum).

Jordan Brown
Institution: SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry
Major: Environmental & Forest Biology
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: We plan to assess the utility of carbon isotopes to trace attenuation of manure contamination to stream water in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed. Skaneateles Lake serves as the primary drinking water supply to the Syracuse NY metropolitan area.

Krystle Castillo
Institution: Allegheny College
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: There is a need for a comprehensive initiative in Crawford County to address childhood exposures within the home in line with the five following objectives: 1) Collect baseline data on regional childhood environmental health issues; 2) Provide families with opportunities for free, in-home healthy home assessments; 3) Conduct community outreach efforts to address the prevention of childhood environmental diseases; 4) Develop hands-on educational activities about regional environmental health concerns; 5) Reduce childhood environmental health exposures.

Garwen Chen
Institution: Pomona College
Major: Environmental Analysis/Biology
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: I will be doing a chemical and biological soil survey in Costa Rica at the Hacienda Baru Nature Reserve and Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology to provide a data base for resource conservation purposes. This will include an intensive sampling, GPS mapping and on-site autoclaving routine, followed by analytical work and interpretive analysis. The results will be conveyed to Park Management at the Baru Rainforest and adjoining firestone staff. Of particular interest will be the influence of elevation, slope, substrate, and land use practice on soil characteristics as well as an examination on invertebrate classification in the different types of soils.

Darren Daly
Institution: Adelphi University
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: Along the New Jersey shelf, sand ridges have been observed. The objective of this project is to determine the nature of these features. There are two theories to explain them: either they are barrier islands stranded when sea level rose or sand waves that were formed more recently by currents. I am going to investigate the environment of deposition. This will provide insight into the depositional conditions of the site and their development.

Jacob Hendee
Institution: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Major: Natural Resources
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: The forestry profession in the United States faces much uncertainty. Luckert (2006) argues that the profession has succumbed to Behan’s (1966) “Myth of the Omnipotent Forester.” Behan warned that professional foresters could not “tell the public how their land could be managed,” but instead, “We must have enough sense to stand up and listen to the public, and to work with it in setting forest land objectives. Then as professional foresters we can supply the technological means to these sociological ends, and not confuse the one with the other.”

Sara Holmes
Institution: Ithaca College
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: I propose to conduct situated research to investigate the old Morse Chain Company factory and the associated contamination on South Hill in Ithaca, N.Y. Situated research is useful for examining environmental issues because it allows for the focused and concentrated study of an environmental problem in one location. The findings then can be applied to a broader context.

Mandy Hulke
Institution: Macalester College
Major: Chemistry
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: The concentrations of toxic heavy metals in aquatic ecosystems have increased due to human activities. Some avian species which occupy upper trophic levels, such as the Common Loon (Gavia immer), have an increased risk of poisoning due to long life spans and piscivorous diets. Loons, and other birds, have a natural defense mechanism against heavy metal poisoning; they excrete unwanted metals into growing feathers and egg shells. The metals stay persevered within the feather, which naturally resists decay. This provides a great record of the environmental conditions of the habitat in which the bird lived in.

Jenifer Jackson
Institution: Lewis & Clark College
Major: Environmental Studies/International Affairs
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: The watershed of the city of Puebla, Mexico has chemical, physical and biological contamination arising from industrial and municipal discharge. Physical pollution is defined as unnaturally high levels of physical particles such as dust, grit, or silt present. Chemical contamination occurs when there are unnaturally high levels of chemicals such as mercury, lead, oil and sulfuric acid. Finally, biological contamination refers to high levels of bacteria. Studies show that there are anti-bacterial resistant bacteria present in the Atoyac and Alseseca Rivers in Puebla, which cause diseases in humans.

Courtney JnBaptiste
Institution: Bethune-Cookman University
Major: Biology
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: The largest spring on the St. John’s River, Blue Spring (BSSP) taps into an underground aquifer to produce a meandering run of crystal clear, 73 degree water. The run attracts animals and humans alike, including a growing population of West Indian Manatees (Trichechus manatus), such that Blue Spring has become a designated Manatee Refuge and a winter home (mid-November through March) to a growing population. Coincidently, the spring run is also an ecological haven for rare species such as the Blue Spring Pygmy Siltsnail (Cincinnatia parva) and the Blue Spring Hydrobe (Aphaostracon asthenes). These species have adapted to the unique features of this isolated environment and are endemic to the habitat.

Alena Kimbrough
Institution: University of Arizona
Major: Geosciences
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: My research focuses on improving our understanding of drought in southwestern North America, using records of past climate from paleoclimatic (proxy) sources. Various proxy records indicate that during medieval times (roughly 800-1400 A.D.) the southwest experienced prolonged and intense “megadroughts” that lasted for decades. Likewise, climate models project that with an increase in temperatures the aridity of this area will increase as well. In this extended research project I will be analyzing cave speleothems (stalagmites) to address the timing and severity of medieval drought in southwestern North America and evaluate how the hydrologic balance was affected in low elevations of this region. We are hoping to heighten our understanding of how these areas of the Southwest were affected over the past 1200 years and fill an important gap in the existing analysis of drought in the Southwest.

Rachael Lipinski
Institution: Lewis & Clark College
Major: Environmental Studies/English
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: The questions I want to work towards answering relate to the connections between political ecology and narrative. By political ecology, I am referring to the political, social, and economic factors that influence a given state, and by narrative I am referring to the story told about a change over time. Different political ecological factors act as a strong force in creating and changing an environmental state, but also affect how the story of the changing state is told and interpreted. Better understanding an environmental change leads to more informed analysis and, in turn, better human responses to the change.

Megan Mills-Novoa
Institution: Lewis & Clark College
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: The way in which humans gain sustenance from the earth reflects the basic connection we, as species, have to our environment. The process and ritual of attaining food within a community speaks to the location of that community, as well as the culture and history of that group. We live in a time in which the world is changing rapidly. Anthropogenic climate change is altering the way in which we, as a race, are able to cultivate food on a global scale. My research question focuses on how communities can creatively adapt agriculturally to a changing climate.

Nora Prior
Institution: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Major: Integrative Biology
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: Recent research involving behavioral follows of individually-recognized, free-ranging red colobus males in Kibale National Park, Uganda has provided clear evidence that the males engage in therapeutic self-medication against Oesophagostomum sp. with the bark of African cherry (Prunus africana). This research project will examine the generality of self-medication in red colobus by conducting an equivalent study focused on females. More specifically, this study will attempt to determine whether self-medication is occurring in female red colobus. Assuming self-medication is occurring, through behavioral follows we will investigate whether the form or frequency of therapeutic self-medication displayed differs from that of the males.

Nora Purcell
Institution: Warren Wilson College
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: Panamanian rainforests, famed for their superlative beauty and biodiversity, are at the epicenter of local and global forces threatening their existence. Deforestation is perpetuated through the logging operations of large corporations and the “slash and burn” agricultural methods of local farmers trapped in the cycle of rural poverty. While scholars and citizens alike agree that deforestation is ecologically damaging, gathering accurate and localized data on the wide range of effects remains an elusive goal. Thus, the over-all question that will guide my research is: How can the localized effects of tropical deforestation be studied in new ways through the use of wireless sensor networks?

Vandhana Rabindranath
Institution: University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: I plan on researching the Salt Creek tiger beetle (Cicindela nevadica linconiana) and important environmental factors associated with this federally endangered species. I would like to get to the bottom of this species’ endangerment and answer important questions such as “what exactly is causing the endangerment of this beetle?” and “is its ecosystem degrading?” This is a logical thought because the Salt Creek tiger beetle is considered an indicator species. Wherever it is present and thriving, a healthy saline marsh exists. Saline marshes are characterized by cordgrass, spike grass, and black grass. These marshes are known well for supporting species that require saline conditions. The tiger beetle is known to only be found in Nebraska, but is it possible to set up critical habitats in other locations to help save the species?

Jonathan Sege
Institution: Boston College
Major: Environmental Geoscience/English
Graduation Date: Spring 2009

Research Project: The process of community development is profoundly fundamental and alarmingly fragile. Whatever the terms in which we choose to assess a community’s vitality, the effectiveness of a population ultimately depends upon its successful interaction with the land it inhabits. This community-land relationship rarely develops in isolation from external factors, and can be subject to influences that are shockingly distant both temporally and spatially. In perhaps few places is this complex interdependence more starkly apparent than in the small nations of Central America, and particularly in Nicaragua. There, a history of political and ecological upheaval and the resultant population migrations have yielded urban centers burdened with displaced and extremely impoverished residents. My project will be carried out in the capitol city of Managua. In order to address the complexities of community development in this environment, my project will isolate a particular resource – water – and analyze its implications for development, its current condition, and the history of its use, in detail.

Margo Ward
Institution: Wentworth Institute of Technology
Major: Environmental Science
Graduation Date: Spring 2010

Research Project: Within the next decade, the US Army Corps of Engineers will perform a major infrastructure project in the heart of Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. The project will include daylighting a portion of the Muddy River, dredging and re-engineering the channel for a portion of the river, and performing significant road improvements. The Army Corps undertaking is a multi-year, multi-million dollar project that will have both short-term and long-term impacts to environmental quality, local transportation, park access and business, hospital and community interests in the Fenway. Our project will study the environmental impacts of the planned renovation project, put them in perspective to previous major public works that have affected the park, and assess the relative effect of this project to local residents in the nearby communities of the Fenway.