Southern Fried Science

Resource Dependent Communities in a Globalizing World

April 19, 2011April 8, 2011 Bluegrass Blue Crab

Uncategorized

Bernie-Madoff-not-dying-of-cancer — perhaps the most notorious New York City bankers, Bernie Madeoff, thewrap.com

All people are still dependent on natural resources, but centuries of development complete with urbanization and globalization have removed a large proportion of the world’s population from the production of those natural resources both physically and psychologically. Take, for example, a New York City investment banker. He gets up in the morning, puts on his suit, grabs his coffee and bagel to go, and takes the subway to work where he will trade shares of largely transnational companies. However, each step of his day is connected to and supported by a network of natural resource-based communities: one in India that grew and spun his suit, one in Columbia that grew his coffee, one in North Dakota that grew the wheat for his bagel, and countless others that produce the raw materials for the company he trades. This process of separation means that natural resource dependent communities face both forces of marginalization and empowerment.

Book Review: Five Fundamentals for Fisheries

April 18, 2011April 19, 2011 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Conservation

Daniel Pauly’s research over the last 20 has provided much of the foundational theory in modern fisheries management. In 5 Easy Pieces, Daniel Pauly presents his five most influential papers, with a concise history of both the intellectual and human motivations that led to each study. The papers that were included in this volume are: Primary Production required to Sustain Global Fisheries, Fishing Down Marine Food Webs, Systematic Distortion in World Fisheries Catch Trends, Towards Sustainability in Global Fisheries, and The Future of Fisheries.

Beneath the Waves Film Festival: Shifting Gears

April 18, 2011April 18, 2011 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Shifting Gears tells the story of longlining in the Gulf of Mexico. If you have a question for the filmmakers, please leave it as a comment below and I’ll make sure they get it.

What Societal Changes need to be Made for a Sustainable Future?

April 18, 2011April 25, 2011 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Uncategorized

So far this month we’ve asked what Sustainability means to you and what you personally are doing to lead a more sustainable life. But not all sustainability goals can be met by individual actions. Our society is collectively on an unsustainable path. For the third week of Science and Sustainability Month, I’d like to know … Read More “What Societal Changes need to be Made for a Sustainable Future?” »

Science and Sustainability Comment of the Week

April 17, 2011April 16, 2011 David Shiffman

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As the second week of Science and Sustainability Month comes to a close, I’d like to congratulate Rebecca Nesbit for writing the latest comment of the week. “It makes it so much harder for consumers when there aren’t simple solutions like ‘local is better’. What I would love to see is better labeling. Just as … Read More “Science and Sustainability Comment of the Week” »

Weekly dose of TED – Dee Boersma: Pay attention to penguins

April 15, 2011April 14, 2011 Andrew Thaler

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Beneath the Waves Film Festival: Microworlds – What Do Marine Mammals Eat?

April 14, 2011April 2, 2011 David Shiffman

Science

This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from Paul Hillman at NOAA. What Do Marine Mammals Eat? is part of the Microworlds series, which focuses on NOAA scientists interacting with public school students.

Sustainability in Rural Areas

April 14, 2011April 14, 2011 Bluegrass Blue Crab 2 Comments

Uncategorized

Being a “green” person nowadays means that you compost, ride your bike everywhere, eat organic and local, drink tap water, and try to consume less. Visions of this person generally conjure the image of the urbanite, however, sometimes spilling into other aspects of life such as an activist job and vegan diet. Never do we think of the poor rural citizen either as the target of “greening” or as someone who might already be green.

A rig by any other name, could it be an artificial reef?

April 14, 2011 Andrew Thaler 2 Comments

Conservation, Science

There are currently more than 7,500 offshore oil platforms actively probing the earth’s crust for black gold. Their relatively minimal appearance at the surface belies the shear magnitude of human construction beneath the waves. Oil platforms are among the world’s tallest man-made structures. Compliant tower platforms reach up to 900 meters in depth (in contrast, the tallest building is 828 meters). these rigs are not permanent structures. As the wells run dry and sea water corrodes steel jackets, the wells are capped and rigs decommissioned. At least 6500 offshore platforms are slated for decommission by 2025, which begs the question, what do we do with inactive oil platforms?

Biodiversity Wednesday: Emerging Habitats

April 13, 2011April 13, 2011 Bluegrass Blue Crab

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A growing number of scholars now say that we live in an era known as the Anthropocene. Yes, this means that something fundamental about how the earth and its ecosystems function has shifted because of human activities. A quick history of the term shows that admitting to this shift also means admitting to the blame that humans arguably deserve. However, step away from that finger-pointing blame stance for a minute. If humans have fundamentally changed the earth’s geology, doesn’t that mean we’re looking at all sorts of new habitats and opportunities for evolution to create new critters? Yes, yes it does.