Environmental Science Research Articles

Navigating environmental academia in a disabled body: an embodied autoethnography of ableism and advocacy

Disabled scholars are seriously underrepresented in academia and experience some of the highest rates of harassment of any protected class within the post-secondary educational system. This paper recounts my personal experience as someone living with Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and endometriosis. Focusing on lived examples of ableism and approaches to advocacy, I highlight barriers to disabled individuals within the academic field of environmental science. I further argue that the pervasiveness of ableism within the environmental field is especially insidious, as such barriers limit the ability of ∼1/5 of the population to contribute to addressing environmental degradation. This account provides insights to administrators seeking to improve their organization’s treatment of disabled faculty and staff, to faculty and staff seeking to improve their treatment of disabled colleagues, and to disabled scholars currently navigating an ableist education system and job market.

Mission analysis and guidance and control for the SpEye inspection CubeSat

The space community is moving forward with the development of in-orbit servicing and removal technologies to enable the circular economy in space and improve future space missions’ scientific and commercial return and space environment exploitation. The application of nanosatellites to carry out proximity operations presents an additional opportunity to support various novel and cost-effective distributed mission architectures. The SpEye CubeSat mission, funded by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana in the framework of the Alcor Program, aims at demonstrating inspection and rendezvous guidance navigation and control capabilities of a nanosatellite in close-proximity of the satellite carrier in a low Earth orbit environment. This paper focuses on the design of the SpEye mission and on the guidance and control strategies to enable its technological demonstrations. Particular attention is placed on the safety aspects of trajectory design, considered of paramount importance for the robust autonomous operations of a low-cost CubeSat in proximity to another satellite.

Microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES)—A useful tool for the determination of silicon contents in plant samples?

The accurate quantification of silicon (Si) contents in plant materials represents a fundamental prerequisite for agricultural plant-soil system or terrestrial ecosystem studies. Si contents in plants are usually calculated from Si concentrations determined spectroscopically in corresponding plant extracts. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is widely used in environmental sciences for Si measurements, because this technique is characterized by relatively high sensitivity and low expenditure of human labor. However, as an ICP-OES instrument is also characterized by relatively high acquisition and running costs, it is not readily available to most laboratories. Microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES) might represent a cost-effective alternative to ICP-OES. In our study we compared the results obtained from ICP-OES and MP-AES measurements of Si concentrations in Tiron extracts of husk and straw samples of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) to evaluate the capability of the MP-AES technique for the determination of Si contents in plant materials. Moreover, we correlated these results with data on plant available Si concentrations in corresponding soil samples as well as phytolith contents in the husk and straw samples to evaluate the performance of MP-AES in biogeochemical Si plant-soil studies. Based on our results we found MP-AES to represent a suitable technique for the reliable determination of Si concentrations in Tiron extracts with negligible matrix effects. Our results clearly indicate that MP-AES represents a promising alternative for all researchers with a focus on biogeochemical Si cycling in general.

Dynamics of methanol conveying mono and hybrid nanoparticles to optimization of heat transfer across stretching cylinder

This manuscript investigates the comparative analysis of SiC and SiC − Ag with methanol-base fluid. The nano species are more important in many fields such as medicine, catalysis, energy-based research, imaging, and environmental sciences. The present study includes theoretical and numerical studies of the Prandtl hybrid nanofluid flow model, which takes into account the effects of heat radiation across a stretched cylinder, inclined magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), and Darcy-Forchheimer. The cylinder’s surface is subjected to the convective slip boundary condition as part of the study. The main aim of this study is to enhance heat transformation. The flow problem is formulated in a system of nonlinear partial differential equations. By employing a similarity transformation, a nonlinear system of partial differential equations can be converted into a linear system of ODEs. A feasible numerical technique Bvp4c is used to solve the reduced system of ODEs through MATLAB software. The results of temperature, concentration, and velocity profiles are discussed graphically. In section and injection scenarios, the velocity profile of both fluids decreased with increasing inputs of magnetic and Darcy-Forchheimer parameters. The heat transmission improved for higher inputs of Prandtl and thermal radiation parameters for both section and injection cases. Furthermore, our findings align with the body of current literature. The conclusions are supported by a careful comparison with pertinent research that has been published in earlier publications.

Innovative solutions for global water quality challenges: insights from a collaborative hackathon event

Addressing the global water quality challenges requires collaborative efforts, multidisciplinary approaches, and innovative solutions. Here we report on the success of a special collective intelligence “hackathon event,” organized by five United Nations agencies and the European Commission, with the aim of reinventing engagement with diverse experts and stakeholders to tackle real-world challenges in water quality monitoring and assessment. Participants from diverse backgrounds and regions convened to devise inventive solutions in four key challenge areas, including (1) transformation of water quality data into water stewardship action, (2) empowering citizen scientists to improve water quality, (3) incorporation of Indigenous communities and their water quality knowledge in global information systems, and (4) routine monitoring of antimicrobial resistance in water. The hackathon approach fosters collective intelligence in a safe, creative and collaborative environment, enabling participants to harness their collective knowledge, expertise and skills. Key outcomes were conceptualizing practical frameworks and tailored toolboxes for diverse water quality innovations to improve monitoring, empower communities, and support policy-making. Emphasis was placed on the purpose and value of interdisciplinary collaborations to address complex global challenges, showcasing synergies between technology, environmental science, and social engagement. Hackathons are catalysts for collaborative innovation which unlock future endeavors in harnessing collective intelligence to safeguard our most precious resource – water.

New Opportunities for Neutrons in Environmental and Biological Sciences

New Opportunities for Neutrons in Environmental and Biological Sciences

You Can’t Climb a Broken Ladder: Examining Underrepresentation of Multiply-Disadvantaged Groups in Secure and Senior Roles in UK Geochemistry

Geochemistry provides useful research tools related to fundamental processes in Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. It has a distinct identity among the academic communities in these subjects, yet there is no specific data on workforce diversity among geochemists. We present the first demographic data of UK geochemists from a voluntary anonymous survey. We scrutinise the data with respect to protected characteristics (e.g., age, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability) and seniority of those within the community. We furthermore use this UK data to compare the career progression of geochemists who belong to multiply-privileged identities with those who belong to multiply-disadvantaged identities, to assess their representations with increased seniority on the academic career. This UK based case study on diversity and inclusion suggests that the career paths of geochemists belonging to multiple disadvantaged groups are restricted, including overrepresentation among those on fixed-term contracts or in service roles for laboratory support. Our data highlight that there is a decrease in diversity with an increase in seniority; specifically, UK geochemists from sexual and gender minorities, neurodiverse, and women from ethnic minority groups were not represented among the participants of our survey at the top of the academic ladder. There are many reasons for the loss of diversity in the UK geochemistry community with increased seniority. In order to address this and the underrepresentation of particular groups in senior leadership roles, our findings suggest that the career progression of geochemists requires an intersectional lens to examine the complexity of identity data. Such an approach would enable a better understanding of the impact of multiple and compounded disadvantages, biases, negative experiences and discrimination faced by multiply-disadvantaged identities.

Environmental technology and traditional knowledge as a way to preserve the water resources of the Pataxó in the Jaqueira Village in Porto Seguro (BA)

Even with all the advances in environmental sciences, traditional knowledge cannot be neglected, therefore, traditional populations deserve and must be consulted when it comes to protecting the natural elements of a landscape. Biodiversity is treated differently between capitalist society and traditional societies. The difference is that traditional people have respect for nature and everything it represents in their lives. In this way, indigenous communities are extremely important for the study of environmental conservation. The research we are developing, which gave rise to this article, aims to contribute to the analysis of the physical-chemical characteristics of the water of the Itinga River, transferring technology through citizen science, so that the Pataxó People can monitor the river through the continuity of its historical cultural relationship, adding technology to its advantage. The text shows the need and possibility of building bridges between scientific knowledge and the traditional knowledge of the Pataxó People in Porto Seguro/BA. We believe in technology transfer as part of citizenship.

Mediating sequential turn-on and turn-off fluorescence signals for discriminative detection of Ag+ and Hg2+ via readily available CdSe quantum dots

Realizing the accurate recognition and quantification of heavy metal ions is pivotal but challenging in the environmental, biological, and physiological science fields. In this work, orange fluorescence emitting quantum dots (OQDs) have been facilely synthesized by one-step method. The participation of silver ion (Ag+) can evoke the unique aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of OQDs, resulting in prominent fluorescence enhancement, which is scarcely reported previously. Moreover, the Ag+-triggered turn-on fluorescence can be continuously shut down by mercury ion (Hg2+). This intriguing sequential fluorescence variation exhibits great sensing potency for discrimination and quantification of Ag+ and Hg2+. Meanwhile, our OQDs also exhibit good selectivity, sensitivity, and rapid response toward Ag+ and Hg2+ detection. Due to their high performance, OQDs have been applied to the determination of Ag+ and Hg2+ levels in daily necessities and water samples with satisfactory results. Moreover, a portable smartphone-assisted sensing platform based on chromatic change has been constructed, facilitating the real-time and naked-eye visualization in the resource-confined scene. We anticipate that the discovery of these OQDs would be advantageous for exploring novel QDs materials for fluorescence detection.

Collaboration networks in agricultural research in Uruguay: An exploration based on social network analysis

Scientific collaboration networks connect researchers across institutions and academic disciplines. Agricultural research involves multiple stakeholders and academic disciplines to address increasingly complex and diverse research agendas. However, the dynamics of collaboration and the patterns of interaction in the agricultural sciences have been little investigated. Uruguay has a rich tradition in agricultural research, but little is known about the ways in which institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration occur and have evolved recently. This article uses relational data from projects documented in researchers’ vitas (CVs) to examine patterns of collaboration in agricultural research in Uruguay during the period 2000–2017. Collaboration networks were explored with social network analysis (SNA) resulting in networks involving varied institutions and academic disciplines. An inter-institutional network with a center and periphery structure is revealed with long-standing science and technology centers as the fundamental nodes. Interdisciplinary collaborations show diversification over time with more academic fields involved in research projects in the agricultural sciences. Joint research between agricultural sciences and other academic fields to address complex current phenomena could benefit from increasing connections with multiple fields in the environmental, social, and health sciences. The study shows the usefulness of SNA and research project data to improve the understanding of collaboration patterns in agricultural research.

Exploration of Innovation Ability Cultivation Pattern for Environmental Students based on Open Experiments

The cultivation of innovation ability is especially important for students majoring in environmental science and engineering. In order to solve the problems existing in the process of traditional innovation ability cultivation, a novel pattern of innovation ability cultivation for environmental science and engineering majors based on open experiments is proposed. Through the exploration of platform construction, project declaration, process supervision and effect evaluation, an innovation-oriented open experiment system is constructed and put into practice, which provides students with richer practice opportunities and innovation space, further improves students' practical ability and innovation ability, and is a scientific and effective mode of cultivation of innovation ability.

Assessing Microplastics and Nanoparticles in the Surface Seawater of Venice Lagoon-Part I: Methodology of Research.

Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) both represent significant concerns in environmental sciences. This paper aims to develop a convenient and efficient methodology for the detection and measurement of MPs and nanoparticles from surface seawater and to apply it to the water samples collected from the UNESCO site of Venice and its lagoon, more precisely in the Venice-Lido Port Inlet, Grand Canal under Rialto Bridge, and Saint Marc basin. In this study, MPs were analyzed through optical microscopy for their relative abundance and characterized based on their color, shape, and size classes, while the concentration and the mean of nanoparticles were estimated via the Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis technique. Bulk seawater sampling, combined with filtration through a cascade of stainless-steel sieves and subsequent digestion, facilitates the detection of MPs of relatively small sizes (size classes distribution: >1 mm, 1000-250 μm, 250-125 μm, 125-90 μm, and 90-32 μm), similar to the size of MPs ingested by marine invertebrates and fishes. A protocol for minimizing interference from non-plastic nanoparticles through evaporation, digestion, and filtration processes was proposed to enrich the sample for NPs. The findings contribute to the understanding of the extent and characteristics of MPs and nanoparticle pollution in the Venice Lagoon seawater, highlighting the potential environmental risks associated with these pollutants and the need for coordinated approaches to mitigate them. This article is based on scientific research carried out within the framework of the H2020 In-No-Plastic-Innovative approaches towards prevention, removal and reuse of marine plastic litter project (G.A. ID no. 101000612).

AMR mechanisms in L. interrogans serovars: a comprehensive study.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the global health challenges of the 21st century. Data regarding AMR mechanisms in Leptospira interrogans, the causative agents of leptospirosis, have been relatively limited. Therefore, our study aimed to identify resistance genes and explore potential resistance mechanisms specific to particular serovars. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of 98 Leptospira strains, representing 10 common serovars, using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) FASTA files. Employing the PATRIC tool from the Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center (BV-BRC), we scrutinized the genomes for AMR genes. Our investigation revealed 32 genes associated with AMR, with 20 key genes consistently prevalent across most strains. Notably, we identified unique efflux pump systems in serovar Pomona, indicating distinctive resistance mechanisms in this serovar. In summary, our findings shed light on the genetic landscape of AMR in Leptospira, uncovering both common and serovar-specific resistance elements. The presence of unique efflux pump systems in serovar Pomona introduces a novel dimension to our understanding of resistance mechanisms. These insights underscore the importance of tailored intervention strategies and collaborative efforts between human and veterinary healthcare professionals, as well as environmental scientists, to address the complex dynamics of leptospirosis and its implications for antibiotic resistance.

Making explicit an Ecosystem Services indicator as a policy instrument

ABSTRACT Some policy-oriented concepts such as Ecosystem Services (ESS) remain widely utilized, despite obvious difficulties in operationalizing them. How does the concept persist? In a large EU Horizon 2020 project, researchers from different institutes worked together to develop an indicator of the environmental performance of agricultural practices, expressed in terms of ESS. Two observations of this project help to explain how ESS are progressively turned into a socially shared concept that may transform its environment and perpetuate itself. Firstly, the challenges of operationalizing ESS facilitated the formation of a group of researchers dedicated to the concept. As the project advanced, researchers progressively cut ties with the environmental sciences on which ESS are meant to be based. The interpretive flexibility of the ESS concept contributed to shaping the socially shared reality within which it was situated. Secondly, the legal obligations and procedures of the Horizon 2020 project were an essential factor for the constitutive strength of the ESS concept. As a straitjacket, the grant agreement ensured that the project maintained the researcher-indicator relationship. Thus, researchers were persistently oriented towards developing and expanding the ESS concept. This case illustrates how a research project can be formed and maintained around relatively ill-defined concepts in large consortia that are meant to produce policy-relevant science.

Food for Thought: Optical Sensor Arrays and Machine Learning for the Food and Beverage Industry.

Arrays of cross-reactive sensors, combined with statistical or machine learning analysis of their multivariate outputs, have enabled the holistic analysis of complex samples in biomedicine, environmental science, and consumer products. Comparisons are frequently made to the mammalian nose or tongue and this perspective examines the role of sensing arrays in analyzing food and beverages for quality, veracity, and safety. I focus on optical sensor arrays as low-cost, easy-to-measure tools for use in the field, on the factory floor, or even by the consumer. Novel materials and approaches are highlighted and challenges in the research field are discussed, including sample processing/handling and access to significant sample sets to train and test arrays to tackle real issues in the industry. Finally, I examine whether the comparison of sensing arrays to noses and tongues is helpful in an industry defined by human taste.

Missing Value Imputation of Wireless Sensor Data for Environmental Monitoring.

Over the past few years, the scale of sensor networks has greatly expanded. This generates extended spatiotemporal datasets, which form a crucial information resource in numerous fields, ranging from sports and healthcare to environmental science and surveillance. Unfortunately, these datasets often contain missing values due to systematic or inadvertent sensor misoperation. This incompleteness hampers the subsequent data analysis, yet addressing these missing observations forms a challenging problem. This is especially the case when both the temporal correlation of timestamps within a single sensor and the spatial correlation between sensors are important. Here, we apply and evaluate 12 imputation methods to complete the missing values in a dataset originating from large-scale environmental monitoring. As part of a large citizen science project, IoT-based microclimate sensors were deployed for six months in 4400 gardens across the region of Flanders, generating 15-min recordings of temperature and soil moisture. Methods based on spatial recovery as well as time-based imputation were evaluated, including Spline Interpolation, MissForest, MICE, MCMC, M-RNN, BRITS, and others. The performance of these imputation methods was evaluated for different proportions of missing data (ranging from 10% to 50%), as well as a realistic missing value scenario. Techniques leveraging the spatial features of the data tend to outperform the time-based methods, with matrix completion techniques providing the best performance. Our results therefore provide a tool to maximize the benefit from costly, large-scale environmental monitoring efforts.

Diffusion calculations on reconstructed bentonite microstructures with anion exclusion effects.

Due to their prevalence in the lithosphere and their high capability of sorbing pollutants, smectite clays play a foreground role in environmental pollution studies, waste management, and soil science. In complementarity with existing approaches at the molecular or macroscopic scales, real microstructures have been employed to investigate ionic transport by diffusion through montmorillonite and water-saturated Wyoming bentonite at intermediate scales ranging between the nanometer and the micrometer. The coupled solute transport and electrostatic phenomena investigated at the nanopore scale are upscaled using the homogenization of porous media approach. Homogenization computations rely on a hierarchical description of bentonite that acknowledges the existence of pores networks at different scales. At the scale of montmorillonite layers, digitized TEM images have been employed to simulate the diffusion of ionic solutes by considering electrostatic interactions in the vicinity of the negatively charged clay platelets' surface. Finite element microstructures are created after extraction of the contours of the layers using dedicated image processing algorithms. Local electric potential distribution, anion exclusion, and cation inclusion are displayed by ion distribution maps. The effective diffusion tensor and the transport equation obtained through volume averaging are then used to simulate diffusion at the scale of a Wyoming bentonite sample composed of clay gels of variable density, solid grains, and micropores. Qualitative comparisons were made with existing diffusion data, and a particular attention is given to the anisotropy of the diffusion tensors at both the mesoscopic and macroscopic scales.

Effects of Urban Greenway Environmental Types and Landscape Characteristics on Physical and Mental Health Restoration

As important linear public spaces, urban greenways are highly important for improving public health. Many studies have proven the benefits of urban greenways for human well-being, but fewer studies have focused on the impact of their specific environmental types and characteristics on physical and mental health. In this study, 100 subjects participated in a comparative experiment on three types of urban greenways (urban roads, urban parks, and urban rivers), and corresponding physiological indicator (systolic blood pressure [SBP], diastolic blood pressure [DBP], and pulse) and psychological indicator (perceived restorativeness scale [PRS] and positive and negative affect schedule [PANAS]) data were collected. The results indicated that (1) different greenway environment types lead to different physiological and psychological states; (2) urban park-type greenways (SBP [t = 2.37, p = 0.020], DBP [t = 2.06, p = 0.042], PANAS = 2.80, PRS = 5.39) have the greatest physical and mental recovery benefits, followed by urban river-type greenways (SBP [t = 2.84, p = 0.006], DBP [t = 1.29, p = 0.200], PANAS = 2.30, PRS= 5.02) and urban road-type greenways (SBP [t = 0.78, p = 0.440], DBP [t = 0.37, p = 0.716], PANAS = 2.00, PRS = 4.15); (3) plant color and layer diversity have a significant positive impact on the mental health benefits of the three greenway types; (4) the aesthetics of waterscapes and ornaments can significantly improve the perceived restoration ability of urban river-type greenways; and (5) the comfort of pathways and facilities can effectively promote the psychological recovery potential of urban road-type greenways. These findings systematically demonstrate for the first time the differences in restoration potential among urban greenways of different environmental types and summarize the key landscape characteristic predictors influencing the restoration potential of various types of urban greenways. Our research provides new ideas for proactive greenway interventions for physical and mental health and for enriching the restorative environmental science system.

Scenario analysis of local storylines to represent uncertainty in complex human-water systems

Storylines are important in evaluating the uncertainty inherent in complex human-water systems. The interrelated nature of qualitative and quantitative scenarios can enhance our ability to address the uncertainty of integrated modelling of complex systems. This study proposes a transdisciplinary approach that integrates social and environmental sciences to characterize and comprehend uncertainty in the dynamic interactions of key factors affecting a human-water system. We introduce a framework for representing uncertainty through linguistic and epistemic uncertainty quantification using storyline narratives in the context of a regional integrated dynamic model. A systematic exploration of uncertainty space is performed using storytelling, fuzzy sets, and low discrepancy sequences sampling methods. Scenario analysis is applied to the generated uncertain ensemble of projections to discover predominant storylines of interest. As a representative case of a human-water system operating in a developing country, we examine the uncertainty effects of a variety of drivers of climatic and socio-economic changes on key agriculture and water-related sectors in Pakistan’s Rechna Doab region. The findings revealed soil salinity and crop yield indices were the most uncertain and showed significant variance across all developed storylines. The 95th percentile for soil salinity in year 2100 was estimated to be nearly 60 % higher than the baseline level (year 2020). There was, however, considerable overlap in different socio-economic scenarios at the local scale, indicating that change in socio-economic conditions could not fully offset climate-related uncertainty. Our analysis provides better quantification and a deeper understanding of the uncertainty in integrated assessment modelling of coupled human-water systems and the complex relationships between inputs and outcomes.

Imaginaries of democratization and the value of open environmental data: Analysis of Microsoft's planetary computer

The proliferation of environmentally oriented programs within the tech industry, and the industry's coinciding efforts toward data and technology democratization, generate concerns about the status of environmental data within digital economy. While the accumulation of digital personal data has been a cornerstone of domination of the data analytics industry, many believe environmental data to be a source of “untapped potential.” The potential of environmental data, the argument goes, would benefit equally the digital economy, environmental sciences, and academic data and artificial intelligence experts. This article analyzes the proliferation of the rhetoric about open environmental data by focusing on Microsoft's Planetary Computer cloud computing program and computer vision experts who curate and use biodiversity data stored on Microsoft's servers. Through an analytical framework of sociotechnical imaginaries, the article draws connections between visions of future for environmental knowledge production and governance promoted by Microsoft and the work of computer vision experts intending to benefit from the potential of environmental data as machine learning training sets while at the same time helping environmental sciences. Although environmental data on the Planetary Computer is democratized, it nonetheless becomes a valued asset to data economy, but often with unintended consequences, such as enabling citizen science biodiversity data to be used by state surveillance apparatus. The article challenges the view that data's democratization is unproblematically serving environmental sciences by examining the consequences of imaginaries of democratization emerging from the data industry leaders and processes of nonmonetary valuation of environmental data by experts who curate these datasets.