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Issue 3.2 Abstracts

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Aesthetic of Biological Diversity

By A. Ross Kiester

Aesthetic value is included in virtually all accounts of the values of biodiversity, but this value is still incompletely understood. Here I offer an account of the aesthetics of b iodiversity based on the understanding of aesthetics developed by Immanuel Kant. The claim of this analysis is that (to use Kant' s terminology) while individual organisms may be considered beautiful, biodiversity as a whole is sublime. This distinction poses challenges and opportunities for those who manage lands for biodiversity value. Comparison to managing art museums and wine cellars and a new vision for the role of sys tematics and taxonomy offer some insight into the management of the sublime aspects of biodiversity.

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The Public Policy Perspective and Human Ecology

By Jane DeLung

As a result of the election of a Republican Congress in 1994, long-standing federal commitments to science policy are being reconsidered and budgets seriously threatened. Because human ecology is a young discipline, one struggling to gain recognition in major academic institutions and from funding sources, it may be more affected by the current political debate in Washington than other more established scientific disciplines. Since one of the goals of scientific research, and particularly human ecology, is to develop knowledge that will improve the economic, social, and physical well-being of the world, a critical element in achieving that goal is the translation of scientific research into public policy decision making. For that reason, it is imperative that members of the human ecology community develop a system to educate members of Congress and their staffs about the scientific process and the developments within the field of human ecology. The integrative discipline of human ecology has a major role to play in the public policy debate, enlarging the more narrow perspective of other disciplines and improving the quality of decision-making. This effort should be approached in a systematic fashion in conjunction with other interested organizations. However: success in translating this research depends on the interaction of three elements, each with its own internal dynamics. These include: (I) the quality of the research presented, (2) the ability of the researchers to communicate to elected and appointed officials and (3) the willingness and availability of officials to listen.

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Redundancy Anxiety

By Willam R. Catton, Jr.

As a result of the election of a Republican Congress in 1994, long-standing federal commitments to science policy are being reconsidered and budgets seriously threatened. Because human ecology is a young discipline, one struggling to gain recognition in major academic institutions and from funding sources, it may be more affected by the current political debate in Washington than other more established scientific disciplines. Since one of the goals of scientific research, and particularly human ecology, is to develop knowledge that will improve the economic, social, and physical well-being of the world, a critical element in achieving that goal is the translation of scientific research into public policy decision making. For that reason, it is imperative that members of the human ecology community develop a system to educate members of Congress and their staffs about the scientific process and the developments within the field of human ecology. The integrative discipline of human ecology has a major role to play in the public policy debate, enlarging the more narrow perspective of other disciplines and improving the quality of decision-making. This effort should be approached in a systematic fashion in conjunction with other interested organizations. However: success in translating this research depends on the interaction of three elements, each with its own internal dynamics. These include: (I) the quality of the research presented, (2) the ability of the researchers to communicate to elected and appointed officials and (3) the willingness and availability of officials to listen.

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Limits to Growth in the Colorado River Basin

By Kathleen Truman

The paper describes the "limits to growth" in the Colorado River Basin by presenting a sop systems analysis of the current trends of economic and population growth, and relates these trends to changes in resource use and directions of quality of life indices. The limits to growth that are identified relate to "throughput" rather than to resource scarcity. It is not the limited water (or other resources) in this semiarid region that limits growth, but rather the inability to develop infrastructure and deal with pollution and waste; the destruction of biodiversity; and the resulting decrease in the quality of life. Given the pro-growth political and economic climate of the region, there are few alternatives available for people who are increasingly frustrated with the decline in their quality of life. New "social infrastructure" needs to be created to reintegrate newcomers and longtime residents into coherent communities to conserve the high quality of life people previously enjoyed in the Colorado River Basin.

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A Demographic Perspective on Air Quality: Conceptual Issues Surrounding Environmental Impacts of Populati on Growth

By James C. Cramer

A reasonable question that demographers often ask is, "What are the environmental impact of population growth?" This paper examines conceptual issues raised by asking this question about air quality in California. The conventional IPAT model must be modified in conventional ways noted by others: e.g., it must be made stochastic; the specification of population must incorporate congestion, dispersion, and age composition; and both direct and indirect effects of population must be examined. Other conceptual problems have received less attention. One problem is boundaries; pollution in a geographic area may be caused by populations elsewhere, so analysis should focus on emissions rather than pollution. A second problem is the need for disaggregated analysis, as population may be more strongly associated with some sources of emissions than with others. Finally, population may best be measured as the number of households, not the number of individuals.

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World-System Position, Tropical Climate, National Development, and Infant Mortality: A Cross National Analysis of 86 Countries

By Heidi D. Fain, Edward L. Kick, Byron L. Davis, and Thomas J. Burns

The ecology of surrounding social and physical environments affects international exchange dynamics and national development, which in turn impact factors associated with health care and infant mortality Tropical climate, in particular; reduces a country's ability to function as a viable and protective system for its population. We use data compiled by the World Bank and the World Resources Institute to test a select set of propositions regarding tropical climate, national viability in the world system, national development, local health care, and infant mortality. Our findings indicate that while tropical climate affects infant mortality directly, it also has sizeable indirect effects, largely mediated by world-system position and related dynamics of domestic development.

Key words: tropics; world system: infant mortality; development

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An Ecological Approach to Empower the Learner

By Martha W. Bristor and Dorothy L. West

An ecological model of the learning process is proposed. An overview of the assumptions about the leaner and the learning environment, a traditional versus an ecological teaching framework, and an overview of the systems model of the learning process are discussed. A summary of findings from a graduate course are presented which identifies advantages and disadvantages of implementing an ecological learning model.

Keywords: ecological; learning environment; androgogy; life- long learning; learning process

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Promoting Human Ecological Scholoarship Through Collaborative Linkages: Report of a Roundtable Discussion

By Julia R. Miller, M. Suzanne Sontag, and Robert J. Griffore

A roundtable discussion was held at the Eighth International Conference of the Society for Human Ecology to discuss ways to foster collaborative linkages across institutions to promote scholarship in human ecology This paper clarifies the concept of scholarship employed in the roundtable and gives u synopsis of the ensuing discussion organized around four parameters: needs and resources; available technology support; models for establishing interinstitutional linkages; and sources of financial support for building and maintaining interinstitutional linkages, together with follow-up activities.

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Information Systems for Human Ecology

By Suzanne N. Taylor and Jonathan Taylor

Human ecology requires a very broad spectrum of integration among disciplines. Such integration has many hindrances, but the advent of geographic information systems (CIS) has the potential to greatly aid interdisciplinary research. GIS's primary objective is to spatially relate and integrate a variety of data emanating from many different disciplines. Thus, GIs may have an increasingly important role in research applications of interdisciplinary human ecology.

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Linking Science and Citizens: Exploring the Use of Geographic Information and Analysis in Community-Based Biodiversity Conservation Initiatives

By Thom Meredith

Human ecology involves study of the adaptation of human activity to dynamic environments. The present environmental crisis is a special case of that-human activity is now at a level that it determines both the rate and nature of much environmental change, and it is becoming increasingly evident that in many cases we are crossing at least the ethically acceptable limit of the human capacity to adapt. Community action to protect local environmental quality is one manifestation of this. This paper examines the role of scientific environmental information, and information management capabilities, in the community-based decision process. It reports on four areas in which it appears that scientific data-specifically spatial data as managed by geographic information systems-an contribute to local decision-making. These are (l) contextualizing space and time in local perception, (2) conceptualizing or modeling environmental change and establishing paradigms of interpretation, (3) projecting consequences and envisioning possible futures, and (4) integrating information and communicating with critical constituencies. A discussion raises questions about the extent to which external support for decision-making may undermine local autonomy, but concludes that local use of scientific information can lead to empowerment in the face of the apparently inevitable rise in the use of high-technology environmental information management systems.

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