Your News Here (if you send us announcements of awards, research interests, inquiries, your new job, publishing opportunities, etc.)

Lori M. Hunter (Colorado-Boulder) has taken on the role of Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Population and Environment published by Springer and encourages submissions from the EESG research community, particularly those engaging the social-demographic dimensions of energy and environmental issues.  The journal is keen to expand its representation of quality research by EESG members! The journal's mission statement: Population and Environment publishes articles, commentary and reviews related to the bi-directional links between population, natural resources, and the natural environment, with the purpose of deepening scientific and policy dialogue in this often complex area. The coverage is multidisciplinary, spanning a range of social, policy, life, and natural sciences. Work at all scales, local to global, is presented as are both theoretical and empirical contributions. Population and Environment reaches a wide readership of researchers working in academic and policy institutions in the fields of demography, economics, sociology, geography, environmental studies, public health, ecology and associated sub-disciplines. For further information, please visit the journal’s website www.springer.com or Lori Hunter directly: Lori.Hunter@colorado.edu.

EESG Earl Cook Award 2007 to Waquar Ahmed of Clark University! Paper title: "Global Discourses and Local Politics in the Production of Power Policy in India"

Marilyn Brown (now at Georgia Tech) has just edited a book on energy policy (along with Benjamin Sovacool from Virginia Tech) called "Energy and American Society - Thirteen Myths". It was released in the U.S. by Springer this month.  The book enrolls twenty-four energy experts to debunk and contextualize thirteen energy myths relating to electric power, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation, and climate change.  With chapters by Lee Lynd, Joe Romm, Amory Lovins, Tom Casten, Eileen Claussen, Tom Wilbanks, Dan Kammen, and many others, the book is very readable collection of views about empowering alternative energy futures. It does this by exposing some of the myths about energy and society that serve to restrain thought and behavior, and by showing how myths can become powerful tools for sustaining the status quo. More about "Energy and American Society-Thirteen Myths" at http://www.springer.com/west/home/economics/social+policy?SGWID=4-40550-22-173696958-0

From Mike Heiman, Dickinson College: I completed a very successful second year of the Luce Foundation-funded Integrated Watershed Management semester whereby I took 16 students by van on a 6,000 mile semester-long journey comparing the Chesapeake and Lower Mississippi (coastal Louisiana) watersheds.  We spent a lot of time contemplating the impact of off-shore oil and gas development on Louisiana's fragile and rapidly vanishing wetlands. Next Fall will be the third and last year for this program. The  students prepared a very nice blog for the Louisiana portion of the adventure: http://itech.dickinson.edu/luce.

From Katie Miller, US General Services Administration:One interesting new mapping application I recently discovered was MapQuest Gas Prices:  http://gasprices.mapquest.com/ . While finding cheaper gas in the area is always great, I really like that they incorporated an alternative fuel mapping function into their application. You can type in your address and find the closest ethanol station to your house, for example. The Department of Energy already has a similar application on their Alternative Fuel Data Center site, but MapQuest's is particularly exciting because so much of the public already uses their website for driving directions. Perhaps it will encourage more of the public to look into purchasing an alternative fuel vehicle.

Funding Opportunities

Announcements

From Left Coast Press: “New book: ‘The World System and the Earth System: Global Socioenvironmental Change and Sustainability Since the  Neolithic’ edited by Alf Hornborg and Carole Crumley. In this benchmark volume, top scholars present the state-of-the-art in theory and research on the interaction between socioeconomic and ecological systems. Covering ancient through modern periods, they discuss the complex ways in which human culture, economy, and demography interact with ecology and climate change. Contributors include: Thomas Abel, Björn Berglund, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Alfred Crosby, Carole L. Crumley, John Dearing, Bert de Vries, Nina Eisenmenger, Andre Gunder Frank, Jonathan Friedman, Stefan Giljum, Thomas Hall, Karin Holmgren, Alf Hornborg, Kristian Kristiansen, Thomas Malm, Daniel Mandell, Betty Meggers, George Modelski, Emilio Moran, Helena Öberg, Frank Oldfield, Susan Stonich, William Thompson, Peter Turchin. To download an excerpt and read reviews, please visit: http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=32.

Human and Social Dimensions of the Bioeconomy: The HSDSBE Listserv is comprised of individuals within the Land Grant System and beyond who have expertise and/or interest in the human and social dimensions of bioenergy, biofuels, biobased products, and energy efficiency, especially their implications for rural people and places. The Listserv, now almost 300 individuals strong, was created to foster information exchange and share research, education, and extension activities, funding opportunities, related resources, and announcements. More information.

Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) seeks members (announcement or http://www.sssp1.org).

The Carsey Institute released a report by Jim Kleinschmit titled "Biofueling Rural Development: Making the Case for Linking Biofuel Production to Rural Revitalization". A copy can be downloaded from here.

Encyclopedia of Earth : From Cutler Cleveland: "I invite you to help build what is fast becoming a seminal reference on understanding and managing the environment.  With the recent public release of the Encyclopedia of Earth (http://www.eoearth.org/), scientists from around the world are joining to create a comprehensive, authoritative source of information about the environments of Earth and their interactions with society.  The Encyclopedia is written and governed by experts working in a unique collaborative environment, and it has been released through the initial work of about 300 Authors and 100 Topic Editors.  The Encyclopedia's  oversight comes from an outstanding group of international scholars, our International Advisory Board." For more ...

Geographical Review seeks manuscripts for volume 97 (2007) and beyond. The new editor, Craig Colten and associate editors Dydia DeLyser and Andrew Sluyter, seek high-quality manuscripts representing the breadth of geographical inquiry. The Geographical Review welcomes authoritative, original, ably illustrated, and well-written manuscripts on any topic of geographical importance. Prose and graphic materials should be straightforward and intelligible to both specialists and nonspecialists. The new editorial team seeks to continue the tradition of showcasing scholarship based on international field work – in both human and physical geography. Domestic topics, of course, are also welcome. Recent special issues have examined the Middle East, Gardens, Immigrants, Invasive Species, and Oceans. Prospective authors should consult the journal's instructions that appear in each issue or at the American Geographical Society web site: http://www.amergeog.org/gr/authors.html . Authors may submit manuscripts to the editors at: greditor@lsu.edu . The Geographical Review is fully peer reviewed and both the outgoing and incoming editorial team are dedicated to bringing work from submission to publication in a timely fashion.