Universities and colleges are fertile foodscapes for action-based education. They are physical and socio-cultural sites where pressing food systems problems play out at micro to macro scales. ...Structural inequities based on race, class, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, dis/ability, and other forms of marginalization affect both access to food and to agri-food learning opportunities. In this article, we propose that students can learn through their everyday experiences of engaging with their physical and socio-cultural environment, namely the campus food system, by conducting foodscape mapping. Since 2015, the University of California Berkeley Food Institute has supported the Foodscape Mapping Project, in which students, staff, and faculty generate food systems knowledge while developing practical interventions to advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). We investigate how campus foodscape mapping might generate substantive learning about JEDI in food systems education; the kinds of learning that take place through foodscape mapping; and the educational practices and institutional structures that can support learning through foodscape mapping. We identify at least eight forms and processes of expansive learning that emerged through mapping work, using students' own insights into what they were learning. Finally, we reflect on our learning experiences in running the project, and develop broader design elements that other campuses can apply.
Aim Projections of future climate change suggest that regional climates may evolve to states that are unlike any climate regime found on Earth today. These climates will impose novel constraints on ...plant species, and are likely to give rise to plant associations that are compositionally unlike any found on Earth today. Here, we explore whether the geographical distribution of previously mapped no-analogue climates corresponds to the geographical distribution of simulated no-analogue vegetation under scenarios of global warming. Location Global landmasses. Methods We used JeDi, a process-based vegetation model that accounts for ecophysiological trade-offs in plant growth and survival, to identify the assembly of plant functional types into no-analogue associations under scenarios of global warming. We compared the geographical distribution of these no-analogue vegetation types with those of no-analogue climates derived from seasonal temperature and precipitation. To better understand the climatic causes that lead to no-analogue vegetation, we performed a set of JeDi simulation experiments and compared them, as well as selected climate indices, with the geographical distribution of no-analogue vegetation. Finally, we explored the changes in plant characteristics leading to no-analogue vegetation composition. Results In our model simulations, a no-analogue vegetation type emerged in Northern Eurasia due to the interacting effects of rising temperatures and the prolongation of the growing season, combined with stable patterns in the seasonal insolation cycle. Future tropical biomes experiencing novel temperature and precipitation regimes however, resemble contemporary vegetation despite significant losses of plant diversity. Main conclusions Our modelling study shows how no-analogue vegetation can emerge in response to novel climates produced by rising temperatures and stable insolation, while also suggesting that no-analogue climates do not necessarily lead to no-analogue vegetation types. This result underlines the importance of considering plant diversity and the need to integrate ecophysiological knowledge through process-orientated models when projecting future vegetation.
Abstract
Attacks on minoritized communities and increasing awareness of the societal causes of health disparities have combined to highlight deep systemic inequities. In response, academic health ...centers have prioritized justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in their strategic goals. To have a sustained impact, JEDI efforts cannot be siloed; rather, they must be woven into the fabric of our work and systematically assessed to promote meaningful outcomes and accountability. To this end, the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Clinical Research Education assembled a task force to create and apply a rubric to identify short and long-term JEDI goals, assess the current state of JEDI at our Institute, and make recommendations for immediate action. To ensure deep buy-in, we gathered input from diverse members of our academic community, who served on targeted subcommittees. We then applied a three-step process to ensure rapid forward progress. We emerged with concrete actions for priority focus and a plan for ongoing assessment of JEDI institutionalization. We believe our process and rubric offer a scalable and adaptable model for other institutions and departments to follow as we work together across academic medical institutions to put our justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion goals into meaningful action.
As an increasingly adopted renewable energy resource, solar power has a high potential for carbon emission reduction and economic development. This paper calculates the impact on job, income and ...output creation of a new solar power plant in an input‐output framework. The contribution is twofold. First, we compare the multipliers generated by the construction and operation/maintenance of a plant located in California with those it would have generated had it been built in Arizona. Second, we point out the differences in the results obtained with the popular IMPLAN software from those we get with the solar photovoltaic model of JEDI.
Resumen
La energía solar, debido a ser una fuente de energía renovable que cada vez se está adoptando más, tiene un gran potencial para la reducción de emisiones de carbono y el desarrollo económico. Este artículo calcula el impacto de la creación de una nueva planta de energía solar en la generación de empleos, ingresos y producción, dentro de un marco de input‐output. La contribución es doble. Primero, se comparan los multiplicadores generados por la construcción y la operación y el mantenimiento de una planta ubicada en California, con los que se habrían generado si se hubiera construido en Arizona. Segundo, se señalan las diferencias en los resultados obtenidos con el software de uso popular denominado IMPLAN respecto a las obtenidas con el modelo de energía solar fotovoltaica JEDI.
要約
太陽光発電は、再生可能エネルギーの資源としてその利用が拡大しているが、二酸化炭素排出量の削減と経済発展にとって大きな可能性を持っている。本論文では、新規太陽光発電プラントが、インプットとアウトプットのフレームワークにおいて、雇用、所得、生産に与える影響を算出する。本論文の貢献は2面的である。第1に、カリフォルニアに立地するプラントの建設と操業・維持から生まれる乗数と、プラントがアリゾナに建設されていた場合の乗数を比較する。第2に、JEDIの太陽光発電モデルから得られた乗数から、一般的なIMPLANソフトウェアを使って求められた結果の相違を明らかにする。
Which state is Yoda? Croucher, Matt
Energy policy,
03/2012, Volume:
42
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
As Yoda famously said “Size matters not,…. Look at me. Judge me by size, do you”. If indeed we do judge by size then Pennsylvania appears to be the Yoda of solar deployment.
Demystifying the Graduate School Application Process Estien, Cesar O.; Chapman, Melissa; Schell, Christopher J. ...
Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America,
01/2023, Volume:
104, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Open access
Navigating the graduate school application process is often challenging, requiring intricate knowledge of academia and graduate institutional structures. This “Hidden Curriculum of Academia” includes ...what different graduate degrees offer, how to connect with a faculty member of interest, and the skills needed to submit a “competitive” application. We hope to demystify a portion of this hidden curriculum by focusing on the process of applying to graduate school in research-oriented science programs. This article provides an overview of graduate school, the application process, how to prepare for it, and potential career paths to pursue following a Master’s or Doctoral degree. Our work contributes to the larger literature that aims to increase the transparency of academia and create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive space.
The number of three-dimensional structures of potential protein targets available in several platforms such as the Protein Data Bank is subjected to a constant increase over the last decades. This ...observation should be an additional motivation to use structure-based methodologies in drug discovery. In the recent years, different success stories of Structure Based Drug Design approach have been reported. However, it has also been shown that a lack of druggability is one of the major causes of failure in the development of a new compound. The concept of druggability can be used to describe proteins with the capability to bind drug-like compounds. A general consensus suggests that around 10% of the human genome codes for molecular targets that can be considered as druggable. Over the years, the protein druggability was studied with a particular interest to capture structural descriptors in order to develop computational methodologies for druggability assessment. Different computational methods have been published to detect and evaluate potential binding sites at protein surfaces. The majority of methods currently available are designed to assess druggability of a static structure. However it is well known that sometimes a few local rearrangements around the binding site can profoundly influence the affinity of a small molecule to its target. The use of techniques such as molecular dynamics (MD) or Metadynamics could be an interesting way to simulate those variations. The goal of this thesis was to design a new computational approach, called JEDI, for druggability assessment using a combination of empirical descriptors that can be collected ‘on-the-fly’ during MD simulations. JEDI is a grid-based approach able to perform the druggability assessment of a binding site in only a few seconds making it one of the fastest methodologies in the field. Agreement between computed and experimental druggability estimates is comparable to literature alternatives. In addition, the estimator is less sensitive than existing methodologies to small structural rearrangements and gives consistent druggability predictions for similar structures of the same protein. Since the JEDI function is continuous and differentiable, the druggability potential can be used as collective variable to rapidly detect cryptic druggable binding sites in proteins with a variety of MD free energy methods.
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