Food justice youth development: using Photovoice to study urban school food systems*

How do youth learn through participation in efforts to study and change the school food system? Through our participatory youth action research (YPAR) project, we move beyond the “youth as consumer” frame to a food justice youth development (FJYD) approach. We track how a group of youth learned about food and the public policy process through their efforts to transform their own school food systems by conducting a participatory evaluation of farm-to-school efforts in collaboration with university and community partners. We used the Photovoice research method, placing cameras in the hands of young people so that they themselves could document and discuss their concerns and perspectives. The research was designed to gain insight about youths’ knowledge of food, health, and community food systems. Drawing upon the youth group’s insights, we build a framework for building critical consciousness through FJYD.     

Comparing the Extent and Permanence of Headwater Streams From Two Field Surveys to Values From Hydrographic Databases and Maps

Supreme Court cases have questioned if jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act extends to water bodies such as streams without year‐round flow. Headwater streams are central to this issue because many periodically dry, and because little is known about their influence on navigable waters. An accurate account of the extent and flow permanence of headwater streams is critical to estimating downstream contributions. We compared the extent and permanence of headwater streams from two field surveys with values from databases and maps. The first used data from 29 headwater streams in nine U.S. forests, whereas the second had data from 178 headwater streams in Oregon. Synthetic networks developed from the nine‐forest survey indicated that 33 to 93% of the channel lacked year‐round flow. Seven of the nine forests were predicted to have >200% more channel length than portrayed in the high‐resolution National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). The NHD and topographic map classifications of permanence agreed with ~50% of the field determinations across ~300 headwater sites. Classification agreement with the field determinations generally increased with increasing resolution. However, the flow classification on soil maps only agreed with ~30% of the field determination despite depicting greater channel extent than other maps. Maps that include streams regardless of permanence and size will aid regulatory decisions and are fundamental to improving water quality monitoring and models.     

Multi-lag cluster designs for estimating the semivariogram for sediments affected by effluent discharges offshore in San Diego

Maps are useful tools for understanding, managing, and protecting the marine environment, yet few useful and statistically defensible maps of environmental quality and aquatic resources have been developed in near-coastal regions. Current environmental management efforts, such as ocean monitoring by sewage dischargers, routinely sample areas of potential impact using sparse sampling grids. Heterogeneous oceanic conditions often make extrapolation from these grids to non-sampled locations questionable. Although rarely applied in coastal monitoring, kriging offers a more rigorous statistical approach to mapping and allows confidence intervals to be calculated for predictions. Its usefulness relies on accurate models of the spatial variability through estimating the semivariogram. Many optimal designs for estimating the semivariogram have been proposed, but these designs are often difficult to implement in practice. In this paper, we present simple design strategies for augmenting existing monitoring designs with the goal of estimating the semivariogram. In particular, we investigate a multi-lag cluster design strategy, where clusters of sites, spaced at various lag distances, are placed around fixed stations on an existing sampling grid. We find that these multi-lag cluster designs provide improved accuracy in estimating the parameters of the semivariogram. Based on simulation study findings, we apply a multi-lag cluster enhancement to the monitoring grid for the City of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant as part of a special study to map chemical contaminants in sediments around its sewage outfall.     

Diet of young Atlantic bluefin tuna (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Thunnus thynnus</Emphasis>) in eastern and western Atlantic foraging grounds

Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) are highly migratory predators whose abundance, distribution, and somatic condition have changed over the past decades. Prey community composition and abundance have also varied in several foraging grounds. To better understand underlying food webs and regional energy sources, we performed stomach content and stable isotope analyses on mainly juvenile (60–150 cm curved fork length) bluefin tuna captured in foraging grounds in the western (Mid-Atlantic Bight) and eastern (Bay of Biscay) Atlantic Ocean. In the Mid-Atlantic Bight, bluefin tuna diet was mainly sand lance (Ammodytes spp., 29% prey weight), consistent with historic findings. In the Bay of Biscay, krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) made up 39% prey weight, with relative consumption of each reflecting annual changes in prey abundance. Consumption of anchovies apparently declined after the local collapse of this prey resource. In both regions, stable isotope analysis results showed that juvenile bluefin tuna fed at a lower trophic position than indicated by stomach content analysis. In the Mid-Atlantic Bight, stable isotope analyses suggested that >30% of the diet was prey from lower trophic levels that composed <10% of the prey weights based upon traditional stomach content analyses. Trophic position was similar to juvenile fish sampled in the NW Atlantic but lower than juveniles sampled in the Mediterranean Sea in previous studies. Our findings indicate that juvenile bluefin tuna targeted a relatively small range of prey species and regional foraging patterns remained consistent over time in the Mid-Atlantic Bight but changed in relation to local prey availability in the Bay of Biscay.     

Hybrid poplar and forest soil response to municipal and industrial by-products: a greenhouse study

Little research has been conducted in the Lake States (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan) to evaluate the effects of municipal and industrial by-product applications on the early growth of short rotation woody crops such as hybrid poplar. Anticipated shortages of harvestable-age aspen in the next decade can be alleviated and rural development can be enhanced through the application of by-products to forest soils. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of inorganic fertilizer, boiler ash, biosolids, and the co-application of ash and biosolids application on tree growth and soil properties by measuring hybrid poplar clone NM-6 (Populus nigra L. x P. maximowiczii A. Henry) yield, nutrient uptake, and select post-harvest soil properties after 15 wk of greenhouse growth. Treatments included a control of no amendment; agricultural lime; inorganic N, P, and K; three types of boiler ash; biosolids application rates equivalent to 70, 140, 210, and 280 kg available N ha(-1); and boiler ash co-applied with biosolids. All of the by-products treatments showed biomass production that was equal to or greater than inorganic fertilizer and lime treatments. A trend of increased biomass with increasing rates of biosolids was observed. Soil P concentration increased with increasing rates of biosolids application. None of the by-products treatments resulted in plant tissue metal concentrations greater than metal concentrations of plant tissue amended with inorganic amendments. Biosolids, boiler ash, and the co-application of biosolids and boiler ash together on forest soils were as beneficial to plant growth as inorganic fertilizers.     

Transport of fecal bacteria by boots and vehicle tires in a rural Alaskan community

People living without piped water and sewer can be at increased risk for diseases transmitted via the fecal-oral route. One rural Alaskan community that relies on hauling water into homes and sewage from homes was studied to determine the pathways of fecal contamination of drinking water and the human environment so that barriers can be established to protect health. Samples were tested for the fecal indicator, Escherichia coli, and the less specific indicator group, total coliforms. Shoes transported fecal contamination from outside to floor material inside buildings. Contamination in puddles on the road, in conjunction with contamination found on all-terrain vehicle (ATV) tires, supports vehicle traffic as a mechanism for transporting contamination from the dumpsite or other source areas to the rest of the community. The abundance of fecal bacteria transported around the community on shoes and ATV tires suggests that centralized measures for waste disposal as well as shoe removal in buildings could improve sanitation and health in the community.     

A small subsurface ion mobility spectrometer sensor for detecting environmental soil-gas contaminants

A small subsurface ion mobility spectrometer (SS-IMS) was constructed and tested with several environmental contaminants to determine its potential for monitoring gaseous volatile organic compounds in the vadose zone. Trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were detected and separated in IMS for the first time. Detection limits as low as 1 part per billion volume-to-volume (ppb(v)) were observed. Reduced mobility (K(0)) values were reported for 11 environmental contaminants. These data demonstrated the potential of ion mobility spectrometry as a viable technology for detecting and separating environmental soil-gas contaminants in the field, which may lead to a practical and simple approach for long-term monitoring of contaminated soils.