Presentations
IIC has a series of presentations from guest speakers that have done international research or projects in different countries. Learn more about these by reading the description and watching the video recording.
Title: Land Policy Reform in Cameroon: Exploring the Multi-Stakeholder Approach as an Entry Into Future Implementation Strategies and Distributive Justice.
Presenter: Jacques Kenjio, Ph.D. (C) AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: "In a country where the piece of land legislation governing land resources is as old (47 years) as over 87% of the population, the question of land policy reform becomes inevitable. This is especially true in the face of unfair and unjust government practices dispossessing vulnerable local communities of their customary rights to land ownership. I seek to explore the current approach of Cameroon to revise its national land policy framework given its keen consideration to adopt multi-stakeholder participation in the process of land policy reforming."
Presenter: Jacques Kenjio, Ph.D. (C) AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: "In a country where the piece of land legislation governing land resources is as old (47 years) as over 87% of the population, the question of land policy reform becomes inevitable. This is especially true in the face of unfair and unjust government practices dispossessing vulnerable local communities of their customary rights to land ownership. I seek to explore the current approach of Cameroon to revise its national land policy framework given its keen consideration to adopt multi-stakeholder participation in the process of land policy reforming."
Title: Optimizing Packaging Waste Economy in Developing Economy Cities: Lagos, Nigeria
Presenter: Ayodeji Mario Akeju, Ph.D. (C) AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: "Some have argued that adopting the circular economy approach could help Nigeria unlock the waste management value chain's potentials. According to them, if efficiently implemented and recovery optimized, there is an opportunity to create wealth and reduce poverty using packaging wastes. My research, therefore, seeks to address two gaps: first, improving packaging waste collection and treatment towards reducing its impact (especially on vulnerable communities) and secondly, strengthening the existing value chain system from the bottom of the pyramid to create a fair, sustainable circular economy that will engage and create value for each stakeholder.
Presenter: Ayodeji Mario Akeju, Ph.D. (C) AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: "Some have argued that adopting the circular economy approach could help Nigeria unlock the waste management value chain's potentials. According to them, if efficiently implemented and recovery optimized, there is an opportunity to create wealth and reduce poverty using packaging wastes. My research, therefore, seeks to address two gaps: first, improving packaging waste collection and treatment towards reducing its impact (especially on vulnerable communities) and secondly, strengthening the existing value chain system from the bottom of the pyramid to create a fair, sustainable circular economy that will engage and create value for each stakeholder.
Title: The Bicycle Project: Cluj-Napoca, Romania and Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Presenter: Courtney Dragiff, M.R.A. AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: The Bicycle Project is a pilot study for the Circular and Low Carbon Cities Project, sponsored by the International Solid Waste Association. The project outcome is a Greenhouse Gas calculator which helps identify strategic leverage points within a city to reduce emissions. By mapping the routes a bicycle may take throughout its useful life in a city, The Bicycle Project serves as a proxy for studying how other products may be reused, repaired, resold or refurbished before they reach the end stages of waste or recycling. Initial research for The Bicycle Project took place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and Cluj-Napoca, Romania during the summer and early fall of 2021.
Navigate through the GIS story map of this project by clicking here.
Presenter: Courtney Dragiff, M.R.A. AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: The Bicycle Project is a pilot study for the Circular and Low Carbon Cities Project, sponsored by the International Solid Waste Association. The project outcome is a Greenhouse Gas calculator which helps identify strategic leverage points within a city to reduce emissions. By mapping the routes a bicycle may take throughout its useful life in a city, The Bicycle Project serves as a proxy for studying how other products may be reused, repaired, resold or refurbished before they reach the end stages of waste or recycling. Initial research for The Bicycle Project took place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and Cluj-Napoca, Romania during the summer and early fall of 2021.
Navigate through the GIS story map of this project by clicking here.
Title: Integrated Open Canopy (IOC) Coffee (Coffea Arabica) as a Conservation Tool for Nearctic-Neotropical Migratory and Resident Birds in Yoro, Honduras
Presenter: David Murillo Bustillo, M.S. (C), Mesoamerican Development Institute, Lowell, U.S.
Description: Honduras possesses 349,510 hectares of coffee crops (Coffea arabica), of which most are shaded and sun coffee farms, with a smaller number of Integrated Open Canopy (IOC) coffee farms. The IOC coffee system consists of coffee crops surrounded by forest in a ≥1:1 ratio, which allows preservation and restoration of native ecosystems. The objective of our investigation was to evaluate the IOC system as an alternative conservation tool for Neotropical migratory and resident birds. We evaluated ecological characteristics like species richness and abundance of individual species from November 2018 to April 2019 by establishing 75 points count survey stations in a coffee growing region in Yoro, Honduras. We found that species richness of migratory birds did not differ significantly among forest, IOC coffee, and shade coffee. Nevertheless, the richness of forest dependent species was higher in forest and IOC coffee than in shade and sun coffee, also some forest dependent species such as Slate-throated Redstart (Myioborus miniatus) and Ochre-bellied Flycatcher (Mionectes oleagineus) were more abundant (< 0.05) in forest and IOC coffee than shade and sun coffee. The results of this investigation support those conducted at IOC farms in Costa Rica – where this agroforestry land-sparing approach was first introduced. We show that IOC coffee is an alternative for the conservation of Nearctic-Neotropical migratory and resident birds, especially for the forest dependent species.
Presenter: David Murillo Bustillo, M.S. (C), Mesoamerican Development Institute, Lowell, U.S.
Description: Honduras possesses 349,510 hectares of coffee crops (Coffea arabica), of which most are shaded and sun coffee farms, with a smaller number of Integrated Open Canopy (IOC) coffee farms. The IOC coffee system consists of coffee crops surrounded by forest in a ≥1:1 ratio, which allows preservation and restoration of native ecosystems. The objective of our investigation was to evaluate the IOC system as an alternative conservation tool for Neotropical migratory and resident birds. We evaluated ecological characteristics like species richness and abundance of individual species from November 2018 to April 2019 by establishing 75 points count survey stations in a coffee growing region in Yoro, Honduras. We found that species richness of migratory birds did not differ significantly among forest, IOC coffee, and shade coffee. Nevertheless, the richness of forest dependent species was higher in forest and IOC coffee than in shade and sun coffee, also some forest dependent species such as Slate-throated Redstart (Myioborus miniatus) and Ochre-bellied Flycatcher (Mionectes oleagineus) were more abundant (< 0.05) in forest and IOC coffee than shade and sun coffee. The results of this investigation support those conducted at IOC farms in Costa Rica – where this agroforestry land-sparing approach was first introduced. We show that IOC coffee is an alternative for the conservation of Nearctic-Neotropical migratory and resident birds, especially for the forest dependent species.
Title: Narwhals & Noise in the Arctic
Presenter: Andrea Lynn, PhD (C). AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: How can acoustic data of narwhal calls gathered through non-invasive means serve as interpretive tools to limit seismic survey activity in the Arctic? Andrea proposes methods that lend value to the archive and afford opportunities for behavioral insights and discernment based on communication data gathered through non-invasive means and analyzed using new methods in machine learning that emphasizes the role of the hearer, the interpreter of the soundscape.
Presenter: Andrea Lynn, PhD (C). AUNE Environmental Studies Department
Description: How can acoustic data of narwhal calls gathered through non-invasive means serve as interpretive tools to limit seismic survey activity in the Arctic? Andrea proposes methods that lend value to the archive and afford opportunities for behavioral insights and discernment based on communication data gathered through non-invasive means and analyzed using new methods in machine learning that emphasizes the role of the hearer, the interpreter of the soundscape.
Title: St. Vincent and the Whistling Warbler: From Ashes to Opportunity
Presenter: Kaitlyn Okrusch, M.E.S. Antioch University Student, IIC 2022 Grant Awardee
Description: On April 9, 2021, La Soufrière Volcano, on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, began to erupt for the first time in 42 years. These explosive eruptions left the conservation community gravely concerned about impacts to the island’s wildlife and vegetation. AUNE in partnership with BirdsCaribbean and the St. Vincent Department of Forestry conducted a successful two-week pilot season surveying for the endemic Whistling Warbler and other forest species in May of 2022. Join us to find out what we did, what we found, and what's next!
Presenter: Kaitlyn Okrusch, M.E.S. Antioch University Student, IIC 2022 Grant Awardee
Description: On April 9, 2021, La Soufrière Volcano, on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, began to erupt for the first time in 42 years. These explosive eruptions left the conservation community gravely concerned about impacts to the island’s wildlife and vegetation. AUNE in partnership with BirdsCaribbean and the St. Vincent Department of Forestry conducted a successful two-week pilot season surveying for the endemic Whistling Warbler and other forest species in May of 2022. Join us to find out what we did, what we found, and what's next!
Title: Decolonizing Research: Past and Present Perspectives
Presenter: Ximena Gallegos Gutierrez, Antioch University MS Student
Description: In this presentation, Ximena will share what she have been learning about working with diverse people from a decolonized perspective. She will do that by comparing her previous research in the Peruvian jungle and the capstone project she is currently working on.
Presenter: Ximena Gallegos Gutierrez, Antioch University MS Student
Description: In this presentation, Ximena will share what she have been learning about working with diverse people from a decolonized perspective. She will do that by comparing her previous research in the Peruvian jungle and the capstone project she is currently working on.
Title: Acoustic and Behavioral Response of Wild Antillean Manatees to Playbacks of Conspecifics
Presenter: Phoebe Hodson, M.S. Antioch University Student, IIC 2023 Grant Awardee
Presenter: Phoebe Hodson, M.S. Antioch University Student, IIC 2023 Grant Awardee
International Research Publications
To feature and promote the work of AUNE's Students and Faculty who have done International research we have created a list of their publications. Click on this link for viewing the list of international research publications.
AUNE's Researchers & Publications
For a complete list of AUNE's researchers from the Environmental Studies department and their publications click on this link.
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