Event Title
Plenary 1: A Multidisciplinary Lens
Location
Moakley Auditorium
Start Time
14-5-2014 9:00 AM
End Time
14-5-2014 10:00 AM
Description
Autonomous Airborne and Ground-Based Weather Sensor Network for Monitoring Atmospheric Boundary Layer Conditions in the Peruvian Andes
Dr. Robert Hellström
Over nearly a decade, an autonomous weather sensor network (ASN) of ground-based automated instruments extending across the crest of the Cordillera Blanca of the Peruvian Andes Mountains has provided data crucial for evaluating climate change indicators. In June and July 2013, eight new weather stations were installed in the Cordillera Blanca of the Peruvian Andes Mountains as part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional program for assessing hydrological, glaciological and vegetative change. This project used CARS FLRG grant funds to upgrade and expand the ASN and to design a portable cost-effective, airborne sensor platform for measuring atmospheric conditions using a kite. Field experiences, preliminary data and future plans will be discussed.
How Industry Shapes and is Shaped by Regulatory Processes: A Look at Air Pollution in the U.S. Power Industry and the Evolution of the Clean Air Act
Dr. Kelley Donalds, Dr. Xiangrong Liu
This presentation describes an example of how regulatory processes are created and changed over time, specifically, the case of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the U.S. power industry. This case is important since the power industry plays a vital role in the well-being of society and because it is a major contributor to air pollution. Additionally, legal scholars have argued that the CAA is the most complex federal environmental legislation ever enacted in U.S. Three observations will be discussed. First, multiple stakeholders with conflicting objectives are actively involved. These stakeholders include executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government, state governments, environmental and public health non-governmental organizations, industry associations and individual citizens. Individual states are often pitted against one another and industry groups do not always agree. Second, due to the conflictual nature of the process and multiplicity of issues involved, rules are long delayed and entail unintended consequences. Third, the totality of rules becomes increasingly complex over time as regulators attempt to address multiple conflicting goals and rectify unintended consequences.
Modeling a Community Resources Mapping Project for Strategic Community Development and Civic Engagement
Dr. Yongjun Shin
This project aims to develop a conceptual foundation and a methodological prototype to create a community resources mapping project, which will be designed to provide the public and civic entities with a comprehensive database on community resources and a networking system to solve local communities’ public issues and problems through strategic coalition and collaborative problem-solving engagement. Some community organizers in the civic sector employ Community Informatics, a technological strategy to connect community development efforts with emerging technological innovation such as civic networks, virtual community, and electronic democracy. However, the efforts are limited to the extent of providing online agoras or public spheres for public deliberation, so that they have not been able to provide more effective coalition strategy to solve community problems and sometimes participate in community politics. This study attempts to demonstrate the rationale for the community resources mapping project and design a prototype of the mapping strategy.
Plenary 1: A Multidisciplinary Lens
Moakley Auditorium
Autonomous Airborne and Ground-Based Weather Sensor Network for Monitoring Atmospheric Boundary Layer Conditions in the Peruvian Andes
Dr. Robert Hellström
Over nearly a decade, an autonomous weather sensor network (ASN) of ground-based automated instruments extending across the crest of the Cordillera Blanca of the Peruvian Andes Mountains has provided data crucial for evaluating climate change indicators. In June and July 2013, eight new weather stations were installed in the Cordillera Blanca of the Peruvian Andes Mountains as part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional program for assessing hydrological, glaciological and vegetative change. This project used CARS FLRG grant funds to upgrade and expand the ASN and to design a portable cost-effective, airborne sensor platform for measuring atmospheric conditions using a kite. Field experiences, preliminary data and future plans will be discussed.
How Industry Shapes and is Shaped by Regulatory Processes: A Look at Air Pollution in the U.S. Power Industry and the Evolution of the Clean Air Act
Dr. Kelley Donalds, Dr. Xiangrong Liu
This presentation describes an example of how regulatory processes are created and changed over time, specifically, the case of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the U.S. power industry. This case is important since the power industry plays a vital role in the well-being of society and because it is a major contributor to air pollution. Additionally, legal scholars have argued that the CAA is the most complex federal environmental legislation ever enacted in U.S. Three observations will be discussed. First, multiple stakeholders with conflicting objectives are actively involved. These stakeholders include executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government, state governments, environmental and public health non-governmental organizations, industry associations and individual citizens. Individual states are often pitted against one another and industry groups do not always agree. Second, due to the conflictual nature of the process and multiplicity of issues involved, rules are long delayed and entail unintended consequences. Third, the totality of rules becomes increasingly complex over time as regulators attempt to address multiple conflicting goals and rectify unintended consequences.
Modeling a Community Resources Mapping Project for Strategic Community Development and Civic Engagement
Dr. Yongjun Shin
This project aims to develop a conceptual foundation and a methodological prototype to create a community resources mapping project, which will be designed to provide the public and civic entities with a comprehensive database on community resources and a networking system to solve local communities’ public issues and problems through strategic coalition and collaborative problem-solving engagement. Some community organizers in the civic sector employ Community Informatics, a technological strategy to connect community development efforts with emerging technological innovation such as civic networks, virtual community, and electronic democracy. However, the efforts are limited to the extent of providing online agoras or public spheres for public deliberation, so that they have not been able to provide more effective coalition strategy to solve community problems and sometimes participate in community politics. This study attempts to demonstrate the rationale for the community resources mapping project and design a prototype of the mapping strategy.
Comments
Moderator: Dr. Mark Kemper