Peasants from the community of San Antonio de Culluchaca, picture was taken by Nathalie Alegre '08.

Adam Bouland '09 and Alison Hoyt'09 with the Headmaster of the Kikoo Catholic School, showing off donated supplies and hand washing stations.

Atelopus varius - adult male dorsal pattern, picture taken by Gideon Bradburd, '08 while conducting reserach on the Harlequin Toad in Costa Rica.

Giant tortoises on San Cristobal Island, Galapagos, Ecuador, picture taken by Andrew Delman, '09.

New development on Ambergris Caye. Picture taken by Allison Guy '08.

Picture of Lauren Hallett '08 measuring grass in the RaMPs.

Emily Jack-Scott '08, measuring ghost crab holes sizes while studying factors involved in New Jersey shore protection strategies.

Picture taken by Jessica Jeffers '09 of a little girl at the end of the existing pipeline, at the location of the storage tank for the water distribution project in Kikoo, Cameroon.

Danielle Kehl '10 is measuring the width of a turtle while at the School for Field Studies’ Center for Coastal Studies.

Kelly Yamashita '09 is sleeping on top of Laojun Mountain in China. She conducted an internship with The Nature Conservancy Hong Kong Office.

Berkeley Adrio, Environmental Studies ’09, Faculty Advisor - Oswald Schmitz (F&ES): The Zululand Tree Project: Acacia population structure and landscape dynamics in Hluhluwe iMfolozi park. [9 weeks, South Africa]

Nathalie Alegre, Environmental Studies’08, Faculty Advisor - John Wargo (F&ES and Political Science): Elements of usage and sustainability in assessing the impact of infrastructure-building by national public development programs in the Peruvian Andes. [6 weeks, Peru]

Adedana Ashebir, Environmental Studies ’09, Faculty Advisor - Lillian Guerra (History): The New Haven/Leon Sister City Project: Agriculture and Public Health. [8 weeks, Nicaragua]

Kathryn Au, Environmental Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - Susan Clark (F&ES) : The Perspectives of Local Residents and the Policy Process behind the Mexican Wolf Recovery Project. [4 weeks, New Mexico and Arizona]

Emily Biesecker, Environmental Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - John Wargo (F&ES and Political Science): Subsistence Resource Use and Alaska’s National Parks. [8 weeks, Anchorage, Alaska]

Eric Bloom, Architecture ’08, Faculty Advisor - Alan Plattus (Architecture): Environmental Mapping Internship: Commission for Environmental Protection, Montreal, Canada. [8 weeks, Montreal, Canada]

 Adam Bouland, Mathematics ’09, Faculty Advisor - William Mitch (Environmental Engineering): Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon. [2 weeks, Kikoo, Cameroon]

Constance Bowen, Architecture–Urban Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - Sophia Gruzdys (Architecture): Urban Forest: Forces of Regrowth and Responsibility in Baltimore, Maryland. [Baltimore, Maryland]

Gideon Bradburd, Biology ’08, Faculty Advisor - Adalgisa Caccone (EEB): Conservation of the Harlequin Toad. [11 weeks, Costa Rica]

Sonia Cooke, Environmental Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - John Wargo (F&ES and Political Science): US Response to the Convention of Migratory Species: A Case Study in US Failure to Accede to a Major International Wildlife Treaty. [5 weeks, Bonn, Germany]

Andrew Delman, Geology and Geophysics ’09, Faculty Advisor - Jay Ague (G&G): Restoring Native Vegetation and Establishing Sustainable Models for Farming. [6 weeks, San Cristóbal Island, Galapágos Islands, Ecuador]

Nicholas Del Vecchio, Mechanical Engineering ’08, Faculty Advisor - William Mitch (Environmental Engineering): Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon. [2 weeks, Kikoo, Cameroon]

Brent Godfrey, History ’09, Faculty Advisor - Stuart Schwartz (History): Historical Perspectives on Ethanol Energy in Brazil. [8 weeks, Brazil]

Allison Guy, Environmental Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - John Wargo (F&ES and Political Science): Why No One Visits Paradise: Tour Guide Usage of Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve in Belize. [10 weeks, Ambergris Caye, Belize]

Lauren Hallett, Ecology and Environmental Biology ’08, Faculty Advisor - Melinda Smith (EEB): Understanding the Effect of Climate Change on Relative Growth Rates of Two Dominant Tall, Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas. [12 weeks, Manhattan, Kansas]

Angel Hertslet, Environmental Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - Amity Doolittle (F&ES), : Perceptions and Community Dynamics in Relation to Cusuco National Park, Honduras with NGO Op. Wallace. [8 weeks, Honduras]

Allison Hoyt, Geology and Geophysics ’09, Faculty Advisor - William Mitch (Environmental Engineering): Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon. [2 weeks, Kikoo, Cameroon]

Emily Jack-Scott, Environmental Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - John Wargo (F&ES and Political Science): Wetlands Institute Coastal Conservation Research Project: Variance in Beach Degradation Across Socioeconomic Level in Coastal Communities. [12 weeks, Stone Harbor, New Jersey]

Jessica Jeffers, Economics and Mathematics ’09, Faculty Advisor - William Mitch (Enviornmental Engineering): Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon. [2 weeks, Kikoo, Cameroon]

Xiaodong (Jessica) Jiang, Economics ’08, Faculty Advisor - Robert Mendelsohn (F&ES): Economics of Climate Change: A Foray into Uncertainty. [8 weeks, New Haven, Conn.]

Anna Johnson, Environmental Studies ’08, Faculty Advisor - Melinda Smith (EEB): How is carbon sequestration in agricultural soils affected by agricultural practices? A research internship at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, North Carolina State University. [8 weeks, Raleigh, North Carolina]

Danielle Kehl, ’10, Faculty Advisor - Derek Briggs (G&G): Conservation of Coastal Diversity and Threatened Marine Turtles in Bahia Magdalena, Mexico, with the School for Field Studies. [Four weeks, Bahia Magdalena, Mexico]

David Kohn, ’10, Faculty Advisor - Alessandro Gomez (Mechanical Engineering): Water Desalination and Policy Implications in Israel. [8 weeks, Israel]

Evan McCartney-Melstad, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology ’08, Faculty Advisor - Thomas Near (EEB): Ontogeny and the generation of biodiversity: an empirical study of centrarchid fishes. [14 weeks, New Haven, Conn.]

 Arvind Nagarajan, Economics and Political Science ’09, Faculty Advisor - Benjamin Cashore (F&ES):Economic Sustainability Research at the Congal Biomarine Reserve. [8 weeks, Ecuador]

Nicholas Olsen, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology ’09, Faculty Advisor - David Post (EEB): Influences of Light and Flow Rate Disturbances on Stream Insect Ecology, Yale Myers Forest. [12 weeks, North-Western Conn.]

Sean Pool, Environmental Engineering ’09, Faculty Advisor - Julie Newman (Office of Sustainability): Sustainability Research Exchange at Australia National University in Canberra. [8 weeks, Canberra, Australia]

Thomas Santoro, Environmental Studies ’09, Faculty Advisor - John Wargo (F&ES and Political Science): Plastics - Bisphenol A and Phthalates: State of the Science, and Strategies to Minimize Exposures; Student Intern and Research Assistant, Environment and Human Health, Inc. [10 weeks, North Haven, Conn.]

Kelly Yamashita, Anthropology ’09, Faculty Advisor - Helen Siu (Anthropology): An exploration of fundraising efforts to support environmental conservation in China, an Internship with Nature Conservancy's Hong Kong Office. [10 weeks, Hong Kong, China]

Top   |   Student Research   |   Previous Year

The Zululand Tree Project: Acacia population structure and landscape dynamics in Hluhluwe iMfolozi park
Berkley Adrio, Environmental Studies '09

With my Environmental Studies Internship Award, I was able to spend nine weeks in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The park is governed by Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife and is the result of the merger of Hluhluwe and iMfolozi parks in 1989. Some parts of the park have been protected since as early as 1895.  HiP covers 960 km2 and is surrounded by Zulu.  HiP was the site of the breeding program (“Operation Rhino” in the 1950s) that brought the White Rhino back from near extinction, and they are now common fixtures in the park.  There are also large populations of elephant, giraffe, impala, nyala, kudu, and dozens of other ungulate species in addition to thriving groups of lions, leopard, and cheetah.  The park is a spectacular place to live and work.

I spent the summer doing field work for the Zululand Tree Project (primarily affiliated with the University of Cape Town) with the help of community guards and other students.  I collected data on tree and grass dynamics across a broad range of ecosystems using 220 km of tourist and management roads inside the park.  Transects were laid down every 500m along the road and consisted of a forty-meter transect, along which we measured, identified, and recorded every tree species within five meters of either side of the tape.  We also recorded grass species, percent ground cover, and DPM every two meters along the transect tape. 

The data revealed changes in Acacia species dominance and recruitment.  It appears that Acacia karoo in addition to several non-Acacia species are replacing Acacia nilotica woodlands. These results give further evidence that bush encroachment is increasing on a landscape scale, as is the rate at which bush encroachment is occurring.  Maytenus, Spirostachys, and Euclea are all thicket species, and research currently underway in the park is starting to suggest that Acacia karoo may be a thicket indicator/precursor species as they are often found on the fringes of developing thickets.  The open grasslands of fifty years ago are swiftly dwindling in HiP, and are now mostly confined to the southern half of the park.  However, it remains to be seen if this transition from grassland to thicket will eventually lead to woodland and back to grassland again.  It is possible that the encroachment is part of a natural cycle, but it is also possible that once the thickets move in, we will never have savannas and grasslands again. 

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Elements of Usage and Sustainability in Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure-building by National Public Development Programs in the Peruvian Andes
Nathalie Alegre, Environmental Studies '08

This summer I spent six weeks in Peru’s Southern Andes region (Department of Ayacucho) investigating social aspects of sustainable development initiatives undertaken by the Peruvian government. I focused on the relationship between officials of the “National Program for Micro-Watershed Management and Soil Conservation” (PRONAMACHCS) -- an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture whose stated mission is “to promote the sustainable use of naturals resources in watersheds of the Sierra, to better life conditions for rural populations, and the preservation of the natural environment” --, and peasants in rural communities -- the beneficiaries of the program. I was interested in understanding the perceptions of natives regarding state intervention and wanted to assess how sustainable, if at all, the program really was. That is, to what extent did projects of environmental conservation and agricultural development are continued by the local population once state supervision is no longer present and what did this depend on?

The region of Ayacucho is one of the poorest and driest of the country. It was also one of the areas most affected by the wave of political violence sweeping the Peruvian Andes during the 1980s as a result of the actions of the Shining Path terrorist movement and its consequent armed conflict with the Peruvian military forces. Afterward, the government of President Alberto Fujimori during the 1990s set a precedent for all state development action by engaging in a paternalistic relationship with the rural beneficiaries of so-called “repopulation programs.” In these, peasants would ask for help from the national government and receive aid almost exclusively in the form of infrastructure building. There was no emphasis on comprehensive, environmentally sound, and society-empowering development. I imagined that past violent relations with the government would have made peasants distrustful of government officials and that their past experiences with institutions that would simply “give them fish” and not teach then “how to fish,” would severely compromise the local sustainability of the projects PRONAMACHCS undertook by making peasants dependent on the continuing presence of the institution’s technicians and engineers.

I concentrated on seven small communities (20-50 families) in three districts of the provinces of Huanta and Huamanga, in the department of Ayacucho. Each of these communities had its own “comité conservacionista” or conservationist committee: an organized group of peasants that worked in cooperation with PRONAMACHCS under a “contract” to undertake conservation and development activities such as construction of “slow-formation” terraces, reforestation, construction and maintenance of plant nurseries, construction of irrigation channels, animal sheds, warehouses, and workshops in micro-business and micro-watershed management. The committees agreed to meet once (or twice) a week to work on activities that benefited the community as a whole, sometimes in exchange for receiving food and supplies. A technician from PRONAMACHCS, headquartered in the “agencia provincial,” or provincial agency, was assigned to visit each community on their designated work day, to help plan and supervise activities and coordinate the repartition of materials funded by the institution.

To get a better sense of the mission and goals of PRONAMACHCS and to be able to outline national policies on rural development, I gathered documents and talked to experts at the National Agrarian University in Lima. I conversed with faculty members and also with individuals that had had experience in NGO work in the region of Ayacucho. I even had the opportunity to talk to a former director of PRONAMACHCS. Most of them agreed with that PRONAMACHCS lacked the participatory focus necessary to effectively engage local rural populations in conservation and environmental development practices, and that the institution used a top-down approach in which plans for conservation were made in offices in Lima, the capital, with little to no input from the local beneficiary population. The situation proved to be more complicated than they asserted as PRONAMACHCS did, at least on paper, have a mandate to develop conservation and development plans in consultation with native peasants. However, a combination of factors including lack of funds, external pressure from the national PRONAMACHCS directory, and lack of a deep understanding of the social dynamics of each specific community limited the level of participation of natives in the planning of activities process. These last transpired from both the formal and informal interviews I conducted with officials (technicians, engineers, and administrators) in the departmental and provincial agencies of PRONAMACHCS. Officials also pointed out that in many cases the peasants just “had no interest” in engaging in conservation and environmental development activities. I surveyed technicians and engineers to also understand how they individually related to peasants.

I conducted formal and informal interviews with peasants and farmers in the seven communities. Because I thought that cultural factors (attitudes towards government officials, past experiences with development organizations, level of education, etc.) were the most influential, I asked open questions regarded those issues and encouraged individuals to tell me a little about what they thought of the program, if they knew what the program was about, what were some complaints that they had regarding the program or the technicians, and what they felt their role was in conservation and development activities, among other questions. I also tried to get them to talk about their past experiences with other organizations and with terrorism itself, to gauge whether this could play a determinant role in their attitudes towards PRONAMACHCS. Another topic that interested me was the social dynamics of the comité conservacionista itself. It was not mandatory to participate in the activities promoted by the national program, yet the whole community benefitted from soil conservation and reforestation activities (anyone in the community could ask to be given wood from the reforested areas, for example). I wanted to know how members of the committee felt about this and if this discouraged their commitment to the program in any way.

Natives’ perspective of the work they executed with PRONAMACHCS was mixed, but some general observations can be pointed out: In many cases participants in the conservation projects sponsored by PRONAMACHCS would do so because working a certain number of hours was equivalent to receiving a certain number of food supplies under a contract PRONAMACHCS had with the World Food Programme. They would be foreign to the goals and missions of the agency and unknowledgeable of the functions of a conservationist committee. Of approximately fifty people interviewed, only two identified themselves as a “conservationist.” However, about 10 freely expressed that the activities they carried out were “for their own good.” In most cases, it was unclear whether or not peasants had a complete understanding of the purpose of the activities. It was interesting to see that in some communities, participants had no idea of what organization officials were part of, but were eager to receive “apoyo,” or support, from wherever they were coming from, perhaps a sign of the degree of marginalization these communities had suffered in recent years. There also seemed to be a correlation between how far from a major city or town the communities were located and the degree of understanding of the purposes of the program. For example, in the case of a very specific project: the construction of animal sheds to protect livestock from frost, individuals in the most isolated communities would work making adobe bricks but many did not know exactly what they were building.

Most interestingly, there seemed to be a correlation between how much personal good a specific conservation activity generated and how much effort individuals put on those activities and how much they understood their purpose. It transpired in conversation with both officials and peasant as well as through observation that plant nurseries were the most popular projects. Committees would work every week on them, keep them clean, watered, and organized. Committee members and members of the community could take home plants from the nursery and use them for personal purposes. On the other hand, building warehouses and animal sheds was problematic because the benefits were distributed throughout the community. Committees lacked the organization of who was to use the warehouse or animal shed or when. In some cases, warehouses and animal sheds ended up being used as houses because they looked prettier and felt warmer than the poor peasants’ houses were.

My time spent in Peru did open up other areas of inquiry. It was very interesting to observe that the burning of garbage still constituted a big part of farming practices for peasants in Ayacucho for example, and that little to no emphasis was put by state agencies such as PRONAMACHCS, which is supposedly dedicated to environmental sustainability, in composting (as alternative to burning). I would like to investigate the extent to which sustainable and ecological practices are used in Peruvian state intervention and asses the viability of introducing such practices in the work of PRONAMACHCS.

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The New Haven/Leon Sister City Project: Agriculture and Public Health
Adedana Ashebir, Environmental Studies '09

This summer I spent two months in León, Nicaragua with the New Haven/León Sister City Project. I studied agriculture in the rural community of Goyena, a twenty minute motorcycle ride from downtown León. I shadowed two farmers, Don Humberto and Don Francisco, and learned about their farming practices, as well as their distribution methods. I also worked with youth in starting a nursery, and it showed me how agricultural projects can be used to educate, bond, and give a purpose to young people. The crop from the nursery would be both consumed and sold. Through my conversation with various farmers, I also learned about the water quality issues. Most citizens of Goyena work in the sugarcane fields and are exposed to pesticides that not only contaminate the water, but cause illness. The water in Goyena is unsafe to drink, and many sugarcane workers have experienced kidney failure due to pesticides exposure.

The highlight of my experience in Nicaragua was attending the US-Nicaragua Solidarity Conference in Managua. This conference was sponsored by an American organization, the Nicaragua Network. The Nicaragua Network was founded by American citizens who wished to support Nicaraguans in the revolution against the US backed Somoza dictatorship. This conference was attended by many NGOs, including Sister City projects from across the United States and Nicaragua. The two workshops that interested me the most were “DR-CAFTA” and “Environment and Agricultural Ecology, Food Security and Sovereignty, and Effects of Pesticide Contamination.” During these workshops I learned about the Dominican Republic- Central America Free Trade Agreement, and how it impacts both Nicaraguan and other Central American farmers. I learned about dumping and a bit of the intricacies of corn, rice, and bean trade. In the latter workshop, I heard the terms “food security” and “food sovereignty” for the first time, and became interested immediately. These two workshops were closely related, as trade agreements such as DR-CAFTA, play an important role in food security.

Aside from shadowing farmers and attending conferences, living in Nicaragua during the summer of 2007 was a learning experience in itself. Water was shut off almost everyday. The energy crisis translated to daily blackouts in the beginning of my stay in Nicaragua, although the situation improved a bit. The water and the energy crisis did not discriminate. Restaurants, small business, homes, hotels, and hostels all experienced the same water and power troubles. Our Project office didn’t receive power until 2pm daily, which made productivity difficult.

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The Perspectives of Local Residents and the Policy Process behind the Mexican Wolf Recovery Project
Kathyrn Au, Environmental Studies '08

I spent five weeks of this summer in the American Southwest trying to map the social and decision process behind the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) by interviewing stakeholders in Arizona and New Mexico. My main lines of inquiry during the interviews were 1) what their stance towards the reintroduction program was, 2) what they perceived as the problem, 3) what they thought the solution was, 4) how they were involved with the decision-making, 5) what their stake in the program was, and 6) if relevant to the person, why the wolf reintroduction efforts in the Northern Rockies has been so successful.

I began my project last April by attending the 2007 North American Wolf Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona, where I became acquainted with many of the issues facing the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction as well as the people involved with the effort. From that experience I learned about the widespread discontent towards the management of the species. The 10(j) rule of the Endangered Species Act allows for this subspecies of wolves, currently the most endangered mammal in North America, to be listed as a ‘nonessential experimental population.’ That gives the policymakers and biologists flexibility in managing wolves if problems occur; in other words, Mexican gray wolves have less protection than other endangered species because they can be legally killed under certain situations. The other problematic piece of policy is Standard Operating Procedure #13, or SOP13, which mandates that wolves that kill livestock on three separate occasions within one year are permanently removed from the wild.

When I traveled to Albuquerque this summer and interviewed people from the various interest groups, it became clear that the issue was not simply a matter of bad policy. I spoke with a few ranchers and representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, White Mountain Apache Tribe, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Forest Guardians, the Rewilding Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, Catron County, New Mexico Cattle Growers, and the Gila Permittee Association. While nearly everyone had an opinion on the 10(j) status or SOP13, for most people those policies were not the main issue. Talking with the different stakeholders I realized that everyone was telling me a different story. My main conclusion from this summer would be that the prevalence and use of so many different narratives are the main factors preventing cooperation and collaboration between the stakeholders.

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Subsistence Resource Use and Alaska’s National Parks
Emily Biesecker, Environmental Studies ’08

Through the generous support of the Environmental Internship Program, I spent my summer in the southcentral and interior regions of Alaska, investigating the decision-making processes for subsistence hunting regulations within Alaska’s National Parks. Traveling across hundreds of miles of the subarctic landscape, I divided my time among Anchorage, Denali National Park and Preserve, Fairbanks, and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The research I performed there will form the basis of my senior project in Environmental Studies. Broadly, I hoped to explore the incorporation and exclusion of local people in the management of protected areas and to combine this insight with specific attention toward American wilderness studies and the history of North American National Parks. My research also reinforced my particular interest in public participation, through formal and informal avenues, in the regulatory decision-making process.

My research was interview-based, and I was able to meet with a great variety of actors in the policy process, including (1) employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game; (2) representatives of Native Corporations and Native village councils; (3) members of  Federal Regional Advisory Committees, Park-specific Subsistence Resource Commissions, and State Local Advisory Committees; (4) members of the Federal Subsistence Board and the State Board of Fish and Game; (5) active subsistence resource users; and (6) recreational and professional hunters. Our conversations tended to center around the most popularly hunted species – moose, caribou, sheep, and goat, as, not surprisingly, greater competition in harvest leads to more contentious management. The interviews also revealed important considerations of trust and power-sharing among managers and resource users, and the questionable state of the science employed in the regulatory decision-making.

This summer was an invaluable experience; while in the state I was able to gain access to so many people and resources otherwise unavailable to me, such as archives, internal reports, databases, and ongoing studies. Alaska’s subsistence resource management is a topic of incredible complexity and contention. The conflicts are numerous: between subsistence, sport, and commercial hunters, Native and non-Native resource users, Rural and non-rural resource users, and state and federal management professionals. It was a situation I could not sincerely approach without being wholly embedded, and my time in Alaska allowed me to do just that. This fall, I plan to continue my research, correcting my relatively limited access to the experiences and opinions of subsistence resource users not directly involved the regulatory process, especially those who live off the road system. With the guidance of cultural anthropologists and wildlife managers in the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I will write and administer a survey to be sent to households (P.O. boxes) within the specified Resident Zone Communities of Denali and Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks.

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Environmental Mapping Internship: Commission for Environmental Protection, Montreal, Canada
Eric Bloom, Architecture '08

My Environmental Studies Fellowship brought me to the city of Montreal, Canada, to work at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation as an Environmental Mapping Intern under Yale’s International Bulldogs Program. My intention was to explore the use of cartography in advancing awareness and understanding of environmental issues both through research into the diverse modes of representation used in cartography as well as through hands-on work with ArcGIS, a mapping software program used widely in my two long-term fields of interest, architecture and the environment. In my two months in Montreal, I learned not only that cartography is a powerful tool for representing environmental issues graphically, but also that its power is a source of controversy and contention in international environmental work.

The organization with which I worked, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, was established under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to facilitate collaboration and avoid potential conflicts on environmental issues among the three North American partner countries: Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The office itself was trilingual; conversations would begin in Spanish, switch almost unnoticeably to English, and then end in French, which provided me with the opportunity to discuss the environment in all three languages. Through my internship, however, I was working primarily with the two project managers of the CEC’s North American Atlas Project.

In order both to meet the needs of the CEC and to satisfy my own interest in acquiring experience with ArcGIS in the course of my nine weeks there, the internship consisted of several phases. At first, I catalogued hundreds of the CEC’s past maps and graphics to give the project managers a sense of how the CEC had mapped North American environmental issues throughout its ten-year history. After presenting my work, the project managers and I developed a two-part plan for the remaining portion of the summer: first, to compile a feasibility report involving research into innovative mapping techniques that could be applied to the CEC’s international pollutant release data; and second, to develop my skills with ArcGIS through independent tutorials and cosultation with the project managers. By the end, I had produced a 15-page feasibility report for the North American Atlas Project and a sample map in which I employed ArcGIS to show the amount of formaldehyde released to water across North American watersheds.

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Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon
Adam Bouland, Mathematics '09

The village of Kikoo is situated in the rural mountainous area of northern Cameroon. Its population of approximately 1,000 subsistence farmers uses the surrounding lands for farming and grazing livestock. The village currently obtains its drinking water from contaminated streams which run through the village, leading to high levels of waterborne illness.

There are several uncontaminated spring sources in the area, but they are too far from the population center to be accessed on a daily basis. Thus the Yale Student Chapter (YSC) of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), in collaboration with the community of Kikoo and the Social Welfare Dept. of the Catholic Diocese of Kumbo, has begun construction of a water distribution system to provide clean drinking water for the village. This distribution system consists of a spring box, several kilometers of PVC pipe, a large storage tank, and several community standpipes. This will ensure that the entire community has access to uncontaminated water for drinking and personal hygiene.

To these ends, the YSC-EWB conducted an assessment trip in which three members traveled to Kikoo in January 2007. The team surveyed the proposed piping routes and standpipe locations using GPS equipment. They assessed the community’s progress on the spring box and measured the flow rate of the spring. They also assessed fecal contamination levels (using total coliform tests) in the spring source and verified its integrity and purity. The team conducted a health survey of the village in accordance with EWB project regulations. The team assessed the availability of construction materials in nearby towns and tabulated costs of the proposed project, since all materials for the project were purchased locally.

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Urban Forest: Forces of Regrowth and Responsibility in Baltimore, Maryland
Constance Bowen, Architecture '08

This summer I was interested in discovering the social climate for citizen participation in environmental conservation efforts in cities and states across the country and to understand the strategies, and challenges, of making our urban centers more ‘green.’ I worked for the Parks and People foundation in Baltimore on a project to survey the city’s tree canopy as a first step in a larger project to double the canopy by the year 2036. Entirely citizen-driven, this project put me in touch with those on-the-ground making Baltimore a beacon for sustainable growth in this nation.        

While in the field, between identifying tree species, measuring tree diameters, and noting dead branches and overgrowth onto sidewalks, I was stuck by a few observations: on nearly all city blocks with more trees than the average five, regardless of the neighborhood’s geographic location or socio-economic vitality, I observed people walking, chatting with neighbors, and out and about using the public space of their sidewalks and the front stoops of their rowhouses. On blocks that were impoverished of trees, (23% of all blocks surveyed had no trees or tree pits in which to plant them), other evidence of neighborhood distress was blatant; trash outside homes, vacant properties, and no one using sidewalks and interacting with neighbors could be observed.          

Studies have shown, and Parks and People coordinator Kari Smith has experiencing this firsthand in her work for years, that tree health correlated to neighborhood health, and that an important factor is neighborhood awareness of the benefits of trees. As I talked to more Baltimoreans, it became apparent that many who live in neighborhoods lacking mature trees consider trees to be hindrances to their neighborhood, citing examples such as when leaves fall and begin to rot on the paint of their cars and when roots sometimes break underground water pipes. The benefits of trees— providing shade and protection to houses, drawing residents outdoors to enjoy conversations with neighbors, removing air-bourn debris from the air, and adding tremendous beauty and pride entire city blocks— are largely unappreciated in areas that are tree-impoverished.           

While I was in Baltimore on many of my weekends working on ‘Tree Baltimore,’ I also interned at a national non-profit organization, Smart Growth America, in Washington, DC during week. Here, I worked closely with state-based environmental organizations across the country, with legislators, planning professionals, environmental researchers and even with international representatives from across the world to research and implement ‘smart growth’ strategies.

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Conservation of the Harlequin Toad
Gideon Bradburd, Biology '08

Between May and August, I spent seventy-nine days in Costa Rica, collecting specimens of different reptile and amphibian species for the Peabody Natural History Museum and performing fieldwork for my own research on the Variable Harlequin Toad (Atelopus varius).  I worked in two collecting sites, one on each coast of the country.

The Caribbean site, Rara Avis, is a nature reserve near Sarapiquí, on the edge of the Braulio Carrillo national forest.  Averaging a little over 700m elevation, the primary forest at Rara Avis is home to 114 documented species of reptile and amphibian, of which I collected 191 specimens from 44 different species, including two species new to the area, as well as 664 tadpoles from 59 stream localities. 
The chytrid fungus was introduced to Rara Avis sometime in the past ten years by an unknown vector, and the collecting work I did there was primarily aimed at documenting changes in the make-up and distribution of the herpetological species found in the area. 

One frog in particular, the Brilliant Forest Frog (Rana warszewitschii) is of special interest, because sampled tadpoles of the species have been positively identified as having the chytrid fungus, yet it is by far the most common frog in the reserve.  The fact that it is so successful, despite clearly being susceptible to this pathogen, raises interesting ecological questions as to how it is able to thrive while other species perish, and it also implies that R. warszewitschii, if it has incomplete resistance to the fungus, may in fact be the mystery vector of chytrid.

The Pacific site, Rainmaker Preserve, located near Quepos, is the last refuge of the Variable Harlequin Toad, which was actually declared extinct in 1996, but rediscovered in 2003.  Since they were declared extinct, 31 A. varius individuals have been documented (the dorsal pattern is unique and variable enough to allow positive visual identification).  During my time at Rainmaker, I found the 32nd and the 33rd.  The 33rd was actually a yearling, which is a promising sign, as it means that the population is still reproductively active. 

My proposed senior project is to analyze the genetic health of this last population, comparing current and historic levels of allelic diversity and heterozygosity using noninvasive sampling techniques of extant individuals and museum specimens as the basis of the comparison.  In addition, if specimens of other Atelopus species are available in museums, I will attempt to create a comprehensive phylogeny of the genus.  

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US Response to the Convention of Migratory Species: A Case Study in US Failure to Accede to a Major International Wildlife Treaty
Sonia Cooke, Environmental Studies '08

This summer, I completed an internship at the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species in Bonn, Germany.  I conducted research to determine why the United States did not become a party to the Convention on Migratory Species.  It is my hope that understanding the political, economic, and cultural factors that led to U.S. non-participation in this case may help in some way to fostering constructive US engagement in international environmental affairs in the future. This is crucial, because as the most powerful nation in the world in terms of economy, diplomatic influence, and environmental impact, the United States’ degree of engagement can severely affect the success of a global environmental project.

I conducted my research by examining historical documents and interviewing key members of the U.S. Delegation to the 1979 Conference as well as others who were present during the CMS negotiations.  I also interviewed current U.S. government officials to understand current impediments to U.S. accession to CMS.
Through my research, I determined what I believe to be the main factors behind U.S. failure to accede to CMS.  Among these were a lack of interest in CMS by U.S. government agencies such as the State and Commerce Departments, and the strong opposition of state wildlife managers who were keen to protect state-level jurisdiction over wildlife management.  The issue of the wildlife management culture in the U.S. and its clashes with international conservation regimes is a fascinating area that I hope to explore further this year.   Perceptions of the natural environment, and how it should be used, managed, and protected have played no small role in shaping U.S. foreign environmental policy.  This is a particularly pertinent issue today.   Because of my work this summer, I am considering expanding my thesis to trace the effect of differing value systems on U.S. participation in international environmental agreements.

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Restoring Native Vegetation and Establishing Sustainable Models for Farming on San Cristóbal Island, Galápagos, Ecuador

Andrew Delman, Geology & Geophysics '09

For 6 weeks in the summer of 2007 I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Jatun Sacha biological station on the island of San Cristóbal in the Galápagos Islands.  The Jatun Sacha reserve is located in the moist cloud forest region of the island, which was once dominated by scalesia and miconia trees native to the Galápagos, but these species have since become threatened by exotic species intentionally and inadvertently brought to the islands by humans.  Despite stricter regulations following the designation of the Galápagos as a national park, invasive species have continued to disrupt native habitats.  One such species is the hill raspberry (Rubus niveus), known locally as mora.  Introduced 15 years ago by one individual seeking to cultivate it in her garden, the plant escaped cultivation and has since become pervasive in the cloud forest regions of the island.  To combat these threats, the Jatun Sacha station is attempting to establish a successful model for eradicating invasive species, replanting native species, and cultivating the land in a sustainable fashion on its approximately one-square-mile reserve in the moist forest region. 

Our work on the reserve consisted first of clear-cutting with machetes invasive species such as R. niveus and air plants (Bryophyllum pinnatum) as well as low-lying brush and grass that would inhibit planting, while leaving in place native species such as cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa) and non-invasive orange trees.  After the ground was cleared mostly to the level of exposed soil, holes were dug and young scalesia plants (Scalesia pedunculata) were transplanted from the plant nursery to be planted in these cleared areas.  Though not all of these plants will grow into full-fledged scalesia trees, the intention is to restore a scalesia forest that will support other native species of plants and even animals.  In addition to conservation and reforestation, I also helped out with the reserve’s agricultural activities, planting and picking crops in contained areas which are mostly non-native but are not invasive or harmful to native species, such as banana, papaya, passion fruit, orange, tomato, cucumber, and eggplant.  These activities are intended to be a model to be shared with local farmers, so that they can make a successful living off the land without growing invasive species. While at the reserve, I also participated in upkeep of the station, and helped experiment with a new method of making compost that would be used for enriching the soil that plants are planted in.  I lived with anywhere from 15-35 volunteers at the station, from all parts of the world with quite varied backgrounds, in addition to the Ecuadorian staff on the reserve with whom I was able to practice my Spanish.  On weekends we were able to go into town to interact with the local people, enjoy the beautiful beaches and wildlife, and even go on tours to other islands in the Galápagos.  It was an incredible experience; I would definitely recommend it to anyone with even a remote interest in conservation and agriculture, and I would like to thank the Environmental Studies department for generously supporting my trip.

Conclusions and Possible Future Inquiries

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Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon
Nicholas Del Vecchio, Mechanical Engineering '08

The Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders is an undergraduate organization which partners with developing communities around the world in an attempt to raise the standard of living through environmentally sustainable, creative, and economical engineering solutions to community problems.  We work on problems ranging from waste management and sanitation to the distribution of clean water.

This summer I was fortunate to be able to travel to the Northwest province of Cameroon in order to implement the first phase of a water project our group has been working on for the past year. 

The community of Kikoo is plagued by health problems which arise from drinking contaminated water.  The purpose of this project is to design an environmentally sustainable and economically viable solution in order to provide the community with clean water throughout the year.

The system that we have designed is a gravity fed water distribution system.  The proposed system begins in the mountains, approximately two kilometers from the village, where an artesian spring is captured by a masonry catchment.  The water flows from the catchment through a series of break tanks and into a centrally located storage tank.  It is then piped to ten public standpipes, which are dispersed throughout the community.  Due to the scope of the project we broke the construction into a number of phases which can be managed and funded more easily.  The first phase of the project involves piping the water from the catchment to the storage tank, as well as constructing the first prototype standpipe.

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Historical Perspectives on Ethanol Energy in Brazil
Brent Godfrey, History ’09

This summer I spent 2 months investing various aspects of Brazil’s ethanol energy regime.  In Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasilia and various parts of the interior, I met with a wide range of business leaders. government officials, representatives from non-profits and local citizens in an attempt to familiarize myself with the major economic, labor, social, political and environment aspects of the ethanol question.  My main goal was to ascertain a solid foundation of general knowledge so that I might pursue more in-depth research for my senior essay on a topic related to the history of ethanol energy. Given that this was my first major experience with independent research, I would say I was reasonably successful in accomplishing what I set out to do, but the majority of lessons that I learned related to “how to conduct effective research” rather than specific knowledge about my subject.  As I quickly found out, conducting independent research in a foreign country with negligible guidance and structure proved to be a daunting task. 

The two most interesting and revealing experiences of my trip were interviews with the director of Government Relations for General Motors of Brazil, Pedro Betancourt, and an interview with Antonio Toniello, the owner of a large sugar can plantation and ethanol production operation in the interior of São Paulo.  Both of these experiences really shed light on how terribly complex the issues are surrounding ethanol fuel.  My time with Mr. Betancourt showed me how committed the Brazilian automotive industry is to developing more environmentally sensitive technologies.  That said, there was also a moment when Mr. Betancourt showed me an internal company document in the form of a PowerPoint presentation that outlined some slick marketing and lobbying strategies to enhance GM Brazil’s image and boost profitability—clearly indicating that the company’s efforts weren’t exactly bold gestures of altruism. 

My interview with Antonio Toniello—and subsequent tour of his refinery—broke down a lot of my previous assumptions about the sugar cane industry in Brazil.  Much of the literature paints the big players in the sugar cane industry as ruthless barons of industry who exploit their laborers and wreak havoc on natural resources in search of a profit, but my experience with him humanized the planter class in a very important way.  After an hour-long interview and a day-long tour of his refinery led by various members of his staff, I came to see Toniello as a considerate businessman who took commendable measures to ensure: 1) the safety and well-being of his workers, 2) the environmental quality of his land and 3) the vibrancy of his local economy. 

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Why No One Visits Paradise: Tour Guide Usage of Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve in Belize
Allison Guy, Environmental Studies '08

Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve (BCNPMR), located in the north of Belize, has the potential of becoming a major ecotourism destination.  The park possesses, to some degree, every attraction that draws tourists elsewhere in the country. Opportunities to observe wildlife are fantastic, with regular sightings of crocodiles, manatees, turtles, rare birds and endangered mammals such as jaguar.  The snorkeling and diving are the equal of any other site in the country, and the sport fishing is widely considered to be among the best in the world.  The park has the unique geological feature of Rocky Point, the only place in Belize where the barrier reef actually touches the shoreline, and where a fossil reef is exposed to the pounding waves.  The park also possesses several unexcavated Mayan sites, as well as Bacalar Chico Canal, a meters-wide channel that separates Belize from the Mexican portion of the Yucatan Peninsula. Despite its numerous amazing attributes, Bacalar Chico is plagued by problems.  The park is understaffed, underutilized by tourists and tour guides, and beset by poachers and drug-running operations.

I decided to concentrate my research on the scuba, fishing, and tour guides based in San Pedro, the only large settlement on Ambergris Caye.  These guides act as the ‘guardians’ of the park, choosing whether or not to lead groups of tourists on sightseeing trips.  Increasing the likelihood that guides feel comfortable visiting the park is key to increasing the revenues generated by park fees.  High tourist interest and positive response is in turn key to raising the Belizean government’s willingness to increase the park’s budget and staff, which will prove vital to halting illegal activities within Bacalar Chico’s boundaries.  More importantly, a dramatic increase in tourist visitation may prevent the further approval of multimillion dollar resorts on private land within the park, and may force current projects to more closely comply with environmental laws.

My main method of research consisted of loosely structured interviews with key stakeholders, including tour business owners, lifelong fishing guides, park rangers, and government and NGO officials.  I additionally carried out a survey for those guides in San Pedro who did not regularly visit Bacalar Chico.  The reasons that guides and officials gave for the park’s unpopularity were many and varied.  The most cited reason for Bacalar Chico’s low visitation was the distance of the park from San Pedro and the gasoline costs incurred from such a long journey.

This was not a wholly satisfying answer, as most guides are routinely willing to travel two or more hours to less interesting sites.  Subsequent interviews with the most knowledgeable of the stakeholders revealed a prevailing attitude that the main problem with BCNPMR is the total lack of advertising of the park as a destination.  Only the most knowledgeable tourists are aware of the park, and must specially request a trip.  Guides who have not visited the park, either for tours or for their own pleasure, believe it to be dull, isolated, and mosquito-infested.  The failure of the park is not related to any fundamental flaws, but rather to a failure of the distribution of knowledge.  Tour agencies and guides are content with the standard package of tours offered, and so feel no need to invest the effort to run trips to a location for which little information or interest exists.  Due to Bacalar Chico’s unique characteristics, it is less suited to the traditional day or half-day trip offered by most tour agencies.  Education, advertising, and a willingness to innovate on the usual tourist offerings will be vital to developing the park into the destination that it deserves to become.

While researching my project, I also worked for the Greenreef Institute.  Greenreef is a small NGO that is one of the parties responsible for co-managing BCNPMR.  In the course of working for the institute, I wrote a seventy page guide to the marine habitats and organisms of Bacalar Chico, and produced a brochure to be used in promoting the park as a destination for recreation as well as education. 

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Understanding the Effect of Climate Change on Relative Growth Rates of Two Dominant Tall
Lauren Hallett, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology '08

Thanks to the support of Yale’s Environmental Summer Internship program and under the mentorship of Dr. Melinda Smith, I was able to conduct research to better understand the effects of climate change on tall grass prairies at the Konza Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site­­­ in Manhattan, Kansas.

Anticipated results of climate change include more extreme climatic events, such as larger storms and longer periods of drought, in addition to overall global temperature increase and altered rainfall patterns. My study assessed the effect of climate change on the individual growth rates of two dominant tall grass prairies species, Andropogon gerardii and Sorghastrum nutans. Past research on the effect of climate change on the two species at the physiological and population level has indicated that Andropogon is more responsive to changes in temperature whereas Sorghastrum is more responsive to changes in precipitation, although less research has focused on the level of individual growth.

To conduct this study I utilized a unique experimental design, the Rainfall Manipulation Plots (RaMPs), established 10 years ago as part of a long-term study on climate change. The 12 RaMPs function as rainfall shelters that divert rainfall and allow it to be reapplied. In 6 of the 12 RaMPs rainfall is applied to mimic ambient conditions, whereas in the remaining 6 experimental plots the interval between rainfall events is delayed by 50%, resulting in longer periods of drought and larger rainfall events, but with no change in the total water applied. Within each of the RaMPs the temperature of a subplot was increased ~2 degrees Celsius by infrared lamps. Thus, for each of the 6 pairs of RaMPs there was control condition subplot and 3 experimental subplots: delayed rainfall-warmed, delayed rainfall-control temperature, ambient rainfall-warmed.

 Within each subplot 10 canopy-cover individuals of each species was tagged, resulting in an overall sample of 240 individuals of each species (60 per treatment type). The height, number of leaves, type of leaves, and leaf width and length was recorded for each individual 5 times throughout the summer. These nondestructive measurements were related to biomass through a calibration, in which plants outside the RaMPs were measured, harvested, and dried, allowing equations to be generated that related nondestructive measurements to dried biomass.

Although data analysis is not complete, preliminary analysis indicated that, consistent with physiological and population level responses, Andropogon and Sorghastrum differentially responded to changes in temperature and precipitation. Specifically, early in the season Andropogon growth rates were higher under increased temperature conditions, but later into the season an increase in temperature resulted in a decrease in relative growth. Sorghastrum growth rates were lower under the delayed precipitation treatments but were less affected by heat than Andropogon. Interestingly, Andropogon growth increased under the delayed precipitation treatment.

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Perceptions and Community Dynamics in Relation to Cusuco National Park, Honduras with NGO Op. Wallacea
Angel Hertslet, Environmental Studies '08

Abstract: My project focused on a small, rural farming community in the hills of Honduras. The community sits within the “buffer zone” of Cusuco National Park. I spent my time conducting household interviews on a variety of topics with the aim or understanding the economic, familial, religious, and historical influences on life in Santo Tomas. In addition to collecting qualitative data on household economics and land ownership, I also used semi-structured interviews with each family on what it means to live in Santo Tomas. The future of the community is linked to a variety of outside actors including the Honduran state, the military, the NGO that has a base camp for scientific research located in Santo Tomas, the hydroelectric project, the international coffee market, etc. Deforestation continues within the core zone of the park because of economic pressures to grow coffee in order to buy essentials such as building supplies, food, and medicine. The data collection from the summer will be the basis of my senior essay, which will most likely focus on the power of family on land use, local economy, and migration.

My project focused on a small, rural farming community in the mountains of Honduras. The community is situated in a particularly interesting position both temporally and geographically. Santo Tomas is comprised of about thirty families that subsist on agriculture and ranching. The main cash crop is coffee, and the two main subsistence crops are corn and beans. Santo Tomas sits within a protected area, Cusuco National Park, designated by the Honduran state in the late 1980’s. The community is part of the buffer zone, meaning development and land management must adhere to a set of laws. Just above Santo Tomas the core protected area begins. As the community grows, there is mounting tension between the conservation goals of the state and the development needs of the community. They clear protected forest to plant coffee in order to feed their families.

Santo Tomas sits at about 500 meters above sea level and on a clear day you can see down to the Caribbean and up to the cloud forests above. Up until last year there were no roads or points of access to the community. All travel was done on foot or on horseback. A new hydroelectric dam project brought with it a dirt road that snakes its way to the base of the hilly community. Last year brought other changes as well—a British-based non-governmental organization set up a camp in the community to carry out research on the surrounding cloud forest. The aims of the NGO are to improve the status of the park by documenting heretofore unrecorded species so that the rate of deforestation is slowed. My role was as a social scientist within the community and affiliated with the NGO.

Originally I was interested in the community’s knowledge of Cusuco National Park and the associated rules and regulations. What was common knowledge in regards to park boundaries, to laws against cutting down trees, to killing animals within the park boundary? However, it quickly became evident that the amount of communication the community had received about Cusuco National Park was very minimal, if any at all. I therefore recast my research question to something broader in order to have enough fodder for my senior project. In addition to the household economic surveys the NGO requested I conduct, I also did a semi-structured household interview with each family. I worked with an F&ES graduate student and together we investigated the genealogy of the community, the local economy, the religious beliefs, immigration and out migration, land uses, dreams for the future and value systems, documented when and why people moved into the community, land use practices, previous crop prices, community organization, and local history and myth.

With this much wider lens, I was able to get more comprehensive and collective understanding of the heart of the community, of what it means to live in Santo Tomas. The semi-structured interview, combined with the household economy survey, provided me with both qualitative and quantitative data that will inform my senior paper in separate but powerful ways. I tentatively plan to write on the power of family within the community and how familial bonds influence land management, immigration and outmigration, and the economic welfare of the community as a whole.

The position of the community remains precarious. They are experiencing a great presence of the state in the community, eg. military personnel, with the aim of enforcing the laws against cutting trees within the protected area. The NGO has spent two summer seasons in the community, providing an enormous amount of employment for the locals, as well as exposing the community to “gringo” culture. The hydroelectric project and the road construction have also brought employment to the community and more exposure to people outside of the community. The road also brings opportunity for the community to pool their resources and buy or rent a car to bring the coffee to San Pedro Sula, a metropolitan area nearby, thereby cutting out the middle man and therefore getting a much higher price for their coffee. All of these recent developments cast the future of Santo Tomas into obscurity. Will the community continue to subsist largely on agriculture and cattle, or will ecotourism and the science community provide a continuous and reliable source of income? Will the road open access to markets below in such a way to alter the community’s economy? As one would expect, my time in the community brings more questions than answers.

In addition to the pursuit of knowledge about the community itself, I learned an incredible amount about my place within the community, how my associations with the NGO affected the community’s perception of me, and most importantly, I went through the process of social science research and all of its challenges. I now understand how difficult it is to remain somewhat of a neutral figure within a community and how important it is to do so for the integrity of the data.

The whole experience of living in a small, remote community in Honduras is still very much a part of me. I plan to return this winter break, if possible, to study the coffee harvest which takes place from October to January. All of my classes I have chosen this semester relate directly to my desire to understand and deconstruct my summer’s experience: Agrarian Societies, Social Science of Development and Conservation, Resistance, Rebellion, and Survival Strategies in Modern Latin America, as well as Senior Project Colloquium. I have also joined in the effort to reform the Farm Bill and will be traveling to DC next weekend. The Farm Bill has ramifications for our domestic farmers, as well as for the farming communities abroad who can’t compete with our subsidized, and therefore cheaper crops.

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Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon
Alison Hoyt, Geology & Geophysics '09

In the village of Kikoo, Cameroon, villagers currently draw their water from multiple polluted streams running through the community. These streams are severely contaminated due to agricultural runoff, wandering livestock and sanitation issues. Disease due to this polluted water supply is rampant in the community. While boiling techniques are acknowledged to purify water, few villagers have additional fuel resources available for this process. Engineers Without Borders Yale Student Chapter is working on water distribution system project to make clean water available to the community.

The water distribution system will be fed by a natural spring in a densely vegetated area above the village. The spring in its natural state is not easily accessible to community members. The system will make water available through a network of several kilometers of PVC pipe which connect the spring box catchment, storage tank and standpipes. The community has been actively involved in the project and has already excavated and constructed a spring box to protect the water source. They have also begun laying pipe for the distribution system.

In January, a three-member assessment team from Yale traveled to the village to gauge progress, collect surveying data, and gather community design input. They took measurements on possible pipe network locations, flow rates and contamination in the streams and spring. They found the natural spring water safe for drinking and other household uses. Over the course of the semester, students met weekly with a Yale professor and professionals from the New Haven community to work on improving design efficiency. The group used computer-aided calculations to model pressures and flow rates throughout the system, allowing them to determine the optimal size and location of the storage tank within the network.

The August implementation trip was a chance for students to learn practical engineering skills with the help of professional New Haven mentors, local village technicians, and Cameroonian engineering students. The trip focused on the construction of the central storage tank of the distribution system. Work began with selecting the final tank location, taking into account local input, overflow logistics and system hydraulics. The tank site was excavated with strong village support and workers began to break stone into gravel. A mudslab and final concrete slab were poured as the tank foundation and masonry walls were added. All the work was highly labor intensive as the concrete was mixed and poured by hand. Work at the main tank site was supplemented with exploration trips to surrounding areas. These trips scouted alternative water sources to serve villagers outside the hydraulic reach of the system. They took surveying data, measured water quality and flow rates. Daily health and hygiene lessons with school children taught students tools to protect clean water and to stay healthy. Overall, the trip was an amazing experience which taught participants hands-on engineering and introduced them to other more complex aspects of community-based development projects.
                

Water System Construction

Duing the trip, we made significant progress on the water distribution system. Due to the committed preparation of the villagers, we were ready to begin work on the storage tank immediately. We chose to focus on the tank because of its technical importance within the system. Villagers will then continue to lay pipe away from the tank to standpipes throughout the village. Work began with selecting the tank location, taking into account local input, overflow logistics and system hydraulics. The tank site was excavated with strong village support and workers began to break stone into gravel. The ground was leveled and a mudslab was poured as the tank foundation. Finally, the main steel-reinforced concrete slab was poured as the tank floor. All the work was highly labor intensive as the concrete was mixed and poured by hand. The walls were built of double layer stone masonry filled with mortar.

Exploration and Future Work

Exploration trips looked for alternative water sources that could be routed to serve villagers outside the hydraulic reach of the system. A local guide directed the trips, which interviewed villagers about nearby springs and streams. Surveying data, measurements of flow rates and water quality samples were taken in promising areas. While some springs offered clean water, it was very difficult to gauge future water flows in the dry season. Other alternatives include supplying this area with a pumped or slow sand filtration system.

Ongoing Health Education Program

Each day we taught health classes in the local school. While the children were on summer recess and busy with farm work, many managed to attend the daily lessons. 95 children jammed into a single classroom. Local teachers did the majority of the instruction. Teachers are enthusiastic to continue the health curriculum throughout the school year.

Lessons emphasized the importance of hygiene in protecting clean water from contamination. We made “hand-washing stations” for each classroom of large 40-liter lidded containers fitted with spigots. The children refilled these reservoirs daily with clean spring water. Lessons taught the routine of hand washing through hands-on activities and creative games. Simple puppets allowed the children to express themselves more easily through interactive skits and were useful in addressing a wide range of issues. In one simple game children acted out scenes of daily life. The children in the audience shouted, “STOP! Don’t forget to wash your hands!” whenever appropriate. The actors tried to trick their classmates by coming up with a diverse range of situations. In another lesson the children all designed their own germs imagining specific characteristics such as how the germ entered the body, made you sick, etc. Children were not accustomed to this creative learning style, which deviated from their memorization-oriented curriculum. The children were very responsive to these new applied lessons. The teachers are well prepared to continue the curriculum into the school year. The classrooms are each outfitted with “hand-washing stations” so that children will effectively integrate hygiene into their daily routine.

Local Community

The villagers were the backbone of the water distribution project. The local community provided continuous encouragement. We were welcomed with music, dancing, and opening addresses. Each day the villagers would arrive at the work site with picks, shovels and hoes to begin the day’s work. Upon our arrival, they had already laid pipe in a 2 kilometer trench, built the catchment, the low-point tank, and overflow. They worked to break stones into gravel, dig out the first standpipe location, and mix and pour concrete. With the encouragement and organizational support of the Social Welfare Department of the Kumbo Diocese, they have collected a significant portion of their monetary and labor contribution. Only a few skilled masons and technicians were hired. In our daily work the villagers provided valuable labor and technical insight.

Reflections

The villagers of Kikoo taught me practical engineering skills and allowed me to appreciate the scope of the project we had designed. While I had looked forward to learning practical engineering skills, the trip taught me what it truly means to be practical, from the perspective of the lives of the Kikoo villagers. At the opening ceremony, used plastic water bottles and old peanut jars were rewarded to hard workers as valuable storage units. In the field, we learned to be resourceful and redesigned aspects of the system based on local expertise.

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Wetlands Institute Coastal Conservation Research Project: Variance in Beach Degradation Across Socioeconomic Level in Coastal Communities
Emily Jack-Scott, Enviromental Studies '08

This summer I interned at the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ. Stone Harbor is located towards the very southern tip of New Jersey’s Atlantic coastline. The Wetlands Institute is nestled within over six thousand acres of undisturbed salt marshes. The Institute is a non-profit research institute/nature center, which fosters a wide variety of projects and outreach programs to the local community. It is well known and loved by all locals, and many seasonal visitors. A great deal of the research done by the Wetlands Institute centers on diamondback terrapin conservation measures, but it does a great deal of work with shore birds, beach biology and horseshoe crab populations as well.

The department of the Wetlands Institute that I was a part of was the Coastal Conservation Research Program (CCRP), intended for college students who are devoted to local environmental and ecological research. Many of the interns were, like me, conducting research for their senior theses, and we found each other to be a great support network. Students often helped one another in performing field work, which engaged me in fields of study beyond my intended direction. This was really rewarding as it provided me with the experience to work with an array of ecological field methods and ecosystems.

I spent my summer researching the ecological fallout of human activity along the Cape May County Atlantic coastline. I sampled 27 sites along the coastline, taken from 9 towns. The towns represent a cross-section of American socioeconomic levels. This dynamic was important as my senior thesis will concentrate on the relationship between town socioeconomic level and the inequitable implementation of shore protection and nourishment programs. I tested the population density of three common beach species: ghost crabs, Donax clams and mole crabs. A major factor of human impact on beach species is the manicuring or raking of the sand for any glass or harmful materials. The process also rakes up all shells or rack along the beach, leaving behind instead a flattened, “cleaner” beach. Other factors I took into account included human foot traffic, the length of the beach and the size and substantiality of the dunes.

The results of my experiment were very interesting. As expected, those beaches that were raked showed much lower population densities of ghost crabs on the beaches. However, some raked beaches still had ghost crab holes. Upon further investigation, I noticed that these beaches were those that were very short (only about 20-30m wide), and also had substantial dunes. This could have ecological implications for the implementation of dune building, as well as for beach raking.

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Yale Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders: Water Project in Kikoo, Cameroon
Jessica Jeffers, Economics and Mathematics ’09

This August nine members of the Yale Chapter of Engineers Without Borders traveled to Cameroon to implement a clean water distribution system in the village of Kikoo. After spending the year designing the system, our objective for this trip was to check the progress made by the village, build the storage tank and first standpipes, while also finding solutions for areas that could not be reached by the original system, carrying out community health education, and establishing solid contacts and relationships locally for our future trips. Though we did not progress on the standpipes as we would have liked, due partly to last minute changes in design and partly to the rainy season, we fulfilled the rest of our objective. On a personal level, I learned an incredible amount about the technical aspect of the work as well as the social aspect. It was also very rewarding to see where the work I had done during the year was going.

Kikoo had already progressed impressively when we came: we found water piped all the way to the potential storage tank location, representing 5 million CFA in labor ($1 = 455 CFA.) For this project, Kikoo is responsible for providing 1.2 million CFA in cash, as well as labor and primary materials like stone, sand and gravel. We began our work by analyzing the possibilities for overflow disposal at two possible storage tank locations (30 m from one another). As soon as we had finalized the location decision, digging began. Our design featured a cylindrical tank 3.5m in diameter and 2m deep embedded in a slope; a hole 6m in diameter and 1.5 m deep was dug in two days thanks to the important number of volunteers who came, on the first day especially. We also walked the entire length of the existing pipeline to check for potential problems, as well as go over the design.      

Activities at the school started on Wednesday 22nd, and continued almost every day we were there, thanks to the headmaster’s dedication. Activities included introducing hand washing stations, making puppets to act out hand-washing situations, and talking about germs. Three of our group went each time, and in addition to the headmaster two teachers came regularly to help us. We discussed with them a plan for continuing these activities during the school year. By our last class, there were over 90 children in the classroom.          

On the building front, we continued our week with concrete mixing, calculations for steel bars we were placing in the base slab, mortaring and digging for a standpipe. Part of the group also went on surveying expeditions in which they found other potential water sources, sampled water, and took GPS measurements. All of us were involved in interacting with the local workers, the Water Committee and the Kikoo Development Association; we also established closer ties with the Kumbo diocese, who was the instigator of this project. In addition, two engineering students from the School of Public Works in Yaoundé worked with us during the entire time, which added much to our experience. We have kept in very good contact with them since leaving.

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Economics of Climate Change: A Foray into Uncertainty
Xiaodong (Jessica) Jiang, Economics ’08

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How is carbon sequestration in agricultural soils affected by agricultural practices? A research internship at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, North Carolina State University
Anna Johnson, Enviromental Studies '08

My summer internship was at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) at NC State in Raleigh, North Carolina.  I split my time between doing soil analysis in a lab and visiting farms, talking to farmers, and generally getting a feel for North Carolina agriculture. 

Among the many different research stations established at CEFS, the unit I became the most familiar with was that of the farming systems trials.  Here, several different farming systems (conventional, organic, crop-pasture rotation, etc) are being cultivated and studied for differences between them.  These were the plots I took soil samples from to conduct my research.  To study the carbon sequestration in the soil, I chose three soil parameters to measure: 1) total carbon and nitrogen 2) carbon density fractions – lighter organic material is assumed to decay more quickly than heavier organic material and 3) soil microbial respiration, which helps inform on how quickly soil organic matter decays in the soil.  Preliminary data analysis showed that, even though the plots were only established eight years ago, differences in soil carbon are already beginning to emerge. 

However, I did not spend my entire summer in the lab: the internship was structured so that we (there were about a dozen interns in the program) had field trips and weekly lectures on a wide variety of current agricultural topics, from integrated pest management to genetic modification of plants.  I also spent my last week of the internship interviewing farmers in the Raleigh area about their farming practices, and got to see both a small sustainable dairy farm and the sweet potato farm that is the biggest provider of organic sweet potatoes to Gerber in the country.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the agricultural world.

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Conservation of Coastal Diversity and Threatened Marine Turtles in Bahia Magdalena, Mexico, with the School for Field Studies
Danielle Kehl '10

The town of Puerto San Carlos, B.C.S., Mexico has a population of approximately 8500 people – mostly fishermen and workers at the local cannery – who make their living directly from the resources of Bahia Magdalena, one of Mexico’s largest coastal lagoons. Bahia Magdalena is often referred to as a “bay of plenty” because it is the meeting place of the cool, temperate waters from the northern Pacific and the warm subtropical waters from the equator, creating an environment with extremely high biodiversity. The World Wide Fund for Wildlife considers the bay to be one of the most important coastal habitats in Mexico needing protection, as it is home to such an abundance of species of fish, sea birds, and marine plant and mammal species. And it was there, at the School for Field Studies’ Center for Coastal Studies campus, that I spent four weeks of my summer studying conservation of coastal diversity and threatened marine turtles.

The work that we did at the Center for Coastal Studies had three main components – the study of natural science and the resources of Bahia Magdalena, the challenge of managing these resources and developing sustainably, and the ethical and moral questions that are inherently tied to the idea of sustainable development. The purpose of this structure was not only to provide an interdisciplinary approach to environmental science, but also to demonstrate that this interdisciplinary approach can be considered the primary way to realistically tackle the environmental problems that communities like Puerto San Carlos face today. As a result of the course structure, our studies took a variety of forms, from traditional classroom lectures to field exercises and surveys of the local people.

The natural science work that we conducted was focused on the protected marine turtles of Bahia Magdalena, although we also studied and collected data on numerous other forms of marine life that can be found in the bay. We did work in the field nearly every day during the academic portions of the trip, collecting specimens for our study of the rocky shore environment, fishing for scallops to measure their abundance in Bahia Magdalena, snorkeling to study the rhodolith and sea grass populations in the Sea of Cortez, and several other activities. Although these activities were primarily concentrated in Bahia Magdalena, our work also took us to La Purisima, a desert oasis several hours from the Center for Coastal Studies, and Loreto, a town located on the Sea of Cortez on the opposite coast of the Baja Peninsula. And in addition to our contact with live animals in the water and on boats, we took part in a six mile mortality walk on the sand dunes of Magdalena Island, where we came across the remains of loggerhead turtles, green turtles, dolphins, and one whale that had washed up along the shore. Through these field exercises, I learned a great deal about the complex marine ecosystem we were studying and how to do research and take measurements in the field.
The two turtle monitoring trips that we made – overnight camping excursions in Estero Banderitas – were the highlight of these field exercises as we got to come in direct contact with the animals we were studying. We set nets across the mouth of the estuary and rotated four-hour shifts throughout the night to check the nets for any turtles that we had caught. This method yielded a number of juvenile green sea turtles for us to study. Before releasing them back into the water, we took measurements on them (curved and straight caparace length and width, length and width of their tails, and weight), mapped the barnacles on their shells, collected skin samples, and tagged both of their flippers if they had not been previously captured. This information was then entered into the turtle database for the area, to which the Center for Coastal Studies has been contributing data for several years. On the second of these monitoring trips, we were also accompanied by other researchers, whom we had the opportunity to observe taking blood samples from the turtles for their own studies. All of this data is analyzed by researchers on the peninsula to help further their understanding of the sea turtle lifestyle and sea turtle behavior.

Our hands-on work was complemented by various lectures both at the Center and in the field. These lectures covered topics that included the sea turtle life cycle, coastal and marine environments, sea turtle conservation, scallop fisheries, the rocky shore environment, sharks and marine mammals, the wetlands, and rhodoliths and sea grass. The lectures helped provide further detail and context to the work that we were doing in the field.

The second component of the course was focused on conservation management. We covered the principles of resource management, flagship species, management tools, stakeholder analysis, fisheries, data manipulation, and co-management. A great deal of this time was devoted to the comparison of different methods and tools that can be used and the relative merits of each. For example, we discussed seven different types of management tools – zonation, set-back lines and exclusionary zones, special area planning, acquisition, easements and development rights, mitigation and restoration, coastal permits, and protected areas – and the different costs and drawbacks of each of these methods. This portion of the course really made clear the challenges on both sides of the issue; not only is it difficult to find feasible ways to manage an area and work with members of the local population, but it is also difficult to choose the appropriate management tools and navigate the various levels of bureaucracy already in place. It also took us into the community Puerto San Carlos to survey the locals’ knowledge of and level of involvement with conservation, as well as on a tour of the local cannery to see the working conditions and discuss how the opening of the cannery has driven the development of Puerto San Carlos and the surrounding area. Both experiences were certainly eye-opening and helped us gain crucial insight into the community we were a part of for the month that we studied there.

Finally, the last component of the course dealt with a topic that I discovered was far more complex and interesting than I had previously imagined – the ethics of conservation. It had always seemed to me to be a fairly simple issue: conservation and sustainable development were ideals to be valued and sought, and those who were not interested in them were simply driven by apathy or the desire to make a profit. However, throughout my month in Puerto San Carlos, I began to see the delicate complexities of the issue. Who are we to enter another community and declare that development must be limited or even stopped entirely to protect the natural environment, when we ourselves may be destroying the environment or encouraging businesses that destroy it in other parts of the world? How do we even define sustainable development? What are the relationships between technology and ethics, between religion and sustainability? These questions were themes throughout the course as we studied the ethics and economics of sustainable development, the challenges of bottom-up development, park development, eco-tourism, and poverty and the environment.
The course culminated in our participation in a Directed Research (DR) project in one of the three components of the course. My group’s DR work was focused on community development, with a particular emphasis on conservation. About ten days into the trip, we helped run a Turtle Festival in the town square in Puerto San Carlos, which included activities and information for both adults and children on the importance of the preservation of turtles and on local conservation efforts they could get involved with. During the festival and in the days that followed, we asked local people to participate in a survey that we had written ourselves that gauged their level of interest and involvement in conservation, how they viewed the town of Puerto San Carlos and its future, and various other questions relating to the area’s natural resources. The first part of our DR work consisted of transcribing, sorting, and analyzing this data. Once we had a better sense of how the townspeople felt, we were able to begin work on a website for the town of Puerto San Carlos, which would contain information both for tourists who were interested in coming during whale season and locals on community events and conservation efforts in the area. The website is part of a larger effort on the part of the school to help build a community in Puerto San Carlos that values its natural resources and cares enough about them to act in environmentally sustainable ways and protect marine animals like sea turtles. By the end of our course, we were able to provide a blueprint and basic design for the website, which will be worked on further by future groups that come to the Center for Coastal Studies. Working at the Turtle Festival and on the surveys also offered me an opportunity to work on the Spanish skills that I studied at Yale freshman year.