Recent Accomplishments
July 2009
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) attended the annual summer meeting of the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors at the Airlie Center in Virginia
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) is PI on a grant submitted through the National Council for Science and the Environment: Creating a Learning Community for Solutions to Climate Change. $1,549,000 was requested from the National Science Foundation CCLI program. CoPI are include David Blockstein (NCSE), Arnold Bloom (UC Davis), Barry Benedict (University of Texas-El Paso), and Stephanie Pfirman (Barnard College). Senior personnel include Mark McCaffery (UC Boulder), Jean MacGregor (the Evergreen State College), Andy Jorgensen (University of Toledo), and Neil Leary (Dickinson College).
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) was named a Senior Fellow of the National Council for Science and the Environment. Jeffery Joyce
June 2009
- Helen Neill (Associate Professor) submitted a report to U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office Environmental Management Public Involvement Program on June 5, 2009 entitled An Examination of Rural Residents Perceptions of Environmental Activities at the Nevada Test Site: Results of a Mail Questionnaire 2008 - 2009. The report summarized results of a mail questionnaire and tested hypotheses related to awareness and information sources.
- William J. Smith, Jr. (Assistant Professor) and David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) are advisory board members for a seed grant on Losing the Lake: Promoting Sustainability Awareness through Educational Computer-Simulations of Lake Mead Water Levels and Water Supply to the Las Vegas Valley.
- Aurali Dade successfully completed her general examination and advanced to doctoral candidate status.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) was appointed to the National Council on Radiation Protection Scientific Committee 1-18 (SC 1-18): application of fundamental radiation protection principles and practices in the deployment of ionizing radiation systems for the detection of radiological threat materials.
- Helen Neill (Associate Professor) submitted a third quarter report for U.S. Department of Energy Fiscal Year 2009.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) traveled to Alexandria, Virginia for the summer meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis Council and the Society for Risk Analysis Program Committee meeting.
May 2009
- William J. Smith, Jr. (Assistant Professor) published a book review of Small Island States and Territories: Sustainable Development Issues and Strategies - Challenges for Changing Islands in a Changing World. In Island Studies Journal, 4 (1): 101 - 118.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) traveled to London, England, as an invited participant in a consultative meeting Windows and Warnings. Carried out in partnership with Social Science Research Council, this event is part of the AIDS2031 Project, track Cross-Cutting Issues.
- Timothy Farnham (Associate Professor) accepted a position as Director of Sustainability and Associate Professor at Mt. Holyoke College.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) was part of a team based at the National Council for Science and the Environment that was awarded $149,536 from NASA to develop undergraduate climate change education materials.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) was referenced extensively in an article on renewable energy in Nevada in Las Vegas Weekly.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) travelled to Tempe, Arizona to present a paper Managing Highly Uncertain Risks: Unused Pharmaceuticals, Climate Change and Nuclear Waste at the International Symposium on Technology and Society. He also served on the conference program committee.
April 2009
- 11 departmental seniors presented posters representing their theses at the annual departmental reception.
- Heather Skaza (MS Student) was awarded the Blue Communities Scholarship.
- Caryn Wright (Undergraduate) was awarded the James Deacon Scholarship.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) co-wrote an open letter to John Holdren, Director of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, with suggestions for managing high-level radioactive waste. His co-signers were Rob Goble and Roger Kasperson (Clark University) and Frank von Hippel (Princeton University).
- Scott Abella (Research Asst. Professor) published a research paper: Abella, S.R., J.L. Gunn, M.L. Daniels, J.D. Springer, and S.E. Nyoka. 2009. Using a diverse seed mix to establish native plants on a Sonoran Desert burn. Native Plants Journal 10:21-31.
- Krystyna Stave (Associate Professor), David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) and Tom Piechota (UNLV Urban Sustainability Initiatives) participated in the 2009 Federal Environment / Energy dialog, sponsored by the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, in Washington, DC.
- The Department of Environmental Studies sponsored Earth Day at UNLV; over 600 students from elementary schools around Clark County participated in the half-day event.
- William J. Smith Jr. (Asst. Prof) and David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) attended the first tri-state EPSCoR meeting (NV, NM and ID) in Boise Idaho. Smith lead two discussion breakouts on policy and outreach, and Hassenzahl gave a plenary presentation on the NV EPSCoR Education Component.William J. Smith Jr. (Asst. Prof) and David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) attended the first tri-state EPSCoR meeting (NV, NM and ID) in Boise Idaho. Smith lead two discussion breakouts on policy and outreach, and Hassenzahl gave a plenary presentation on the NV EPSCoR Education Component.
- William J. Smith Jr. (Assistant Professor) won the Greenspun College Outstanding Researcher Award
- Krystyna Stave (Associate Professor) won the Greenspun College Outstanding Service Award.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) traveled to Boston, where he gave two presentations: Risk analysis and uncertainty at the Boston University School of Public Health and Las Vegas, the Sustainability Everytown, a George Perkins Marsh Distinguished Lecture at Clark University.
- Jennifer Ward successfully defended her Professional Paper Binary Choice Models of Awareness: Do Geographic and Personal Characteristics Matter?
- Charlie Barr successfully defended his Professional Paper Valuing the Impact of Contamination: A Difference-in-Difference Approach
- Scott Abella (Research Asst. Professor) published two technical notes:
- Springer, J., and S. Abella. 2009. Using a diverse seed mix to establish native plants on a Sonoran Desert burn. The Plant Press 33(1):16-17. Arizona Native Plant Society, Tucson, AZ.
- Abella, S. 2009. ENV 492 undergraduate research symposium. Mojave Applied Ecology Notes 2(1):2.
- Springer, J., and S. Abella. 2009. Using a diverse seed mix to establish native plants on a Sonoran Desert burn. The Plant Press 33(1):16-17. Arizona Native Plant Society, Tucson, AZ.
- Scott Abella (Research Asst. Professor) gave a talk on Fire and climate change in American Southwest arid lands at the Environmental Biology Seminar Series, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV.
- Scott Abella (Research Asst. Professor) served on an invited review panel for Department of Defense, Strategic Environmental Research and Development (SERDP) proposals
- Scott Abella (Research Asst. Professor) served on an invited review panel for the National Science Foundation
March 2009
Several department members participated in the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
- William J. Smith, Jr. (Asst Prof) organized and participated in two panel presentations: Climate Change, Development and Research Agendas in the Lower Colorado River Basin and Climate Change, Ecosystems and Research Agendas in the Lower Colorado River Basin. He also participated in the Nevada EPSCoR information table in the exhibit hall and in the water resources specialty group meeting, for which he serves as treasurer.
- Ahmad Safi (PhD student) presented a paper on Environmental Technology Transfer to the Poor Communities: Concerns, Limitations, and Opportunities , which won an award for the best paper by a PhD student from the AAG s Water Resources Specialty Group, and was elected newsletter editor for that group. He also participated in the Nevada EPSCoR booth at the exhibit hall.
- Carmel LŽtourneau (Phd Candidate) presented a paper entitled Stakeholder Adaptive Capacities as Key System Drivers for the Management of Complex Environmental Problems: Comparative Analysis of National Nuclear Waste Management Policies and participated in a panel on Nuclear Waste Management: an International Comparison.
- Helen. R. Neill (Assoc Prof) presented a paper entitled Stigmatized Property Values: A tale of two neighborhoods" coauthored with Djeto Assane of the UNLV Department of Economics.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) participated in two panels, one on Nuclear Waste Management: an International Comparison, and the other on Geographic research in the new carbon economy: critical perspectives on our 'footprint'. He also hosted a booth for the Society for Risk Analysis and participated in the Nevada EPSCoR booth at the exhibit hall.
- Lyle Davis (undergraduate) participated in the Society for Risk Analysis booth at the exhibit hall.
- Nancye Bethurem successfully defended her dissertation entitled Flowing Toward Sustainability: Two Stream Adjudications Analyzed Under the IAD Framework. Dr. Bethurem s research was directed by Timothy Farnham (Asst. Prof)
- Helen Neill (Assoc. Professor) and Jennifer Ward (MS Student) attended the Waste Management Symposia Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Neill was a panelist for an International Forum on Sustainable Options for Uranium Production, giving a presentation entitled Sustainability and uranium production: lessons from the dismal science and beyond. She and Jennifer Ward also presented a jointly authored paper : H. R. Neill, K. K. Snyder, J. Ward, "Rural communities and awareness of DOE Environmental Management Programs at the Nevada Test Site: Do outreach efforts matter?", Session 66 on Site Specific and Citizens Advisory Board (CABs) - Public Involvement Makes a Difference, WM Symposia (2009), Phoenix, AZ
- Amy Northrup (PhD student) co-produced the Spring 2009 Newsletter of the Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences.
- Aurali Dade (Doctoral Candidate) was awarded first place at the 2009 UNLV Graduate & Professional Student Research Forum for her paper Campus sustainability participation and policies by operational units
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) helped to draft the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Committee of Past Presidents Recommendations to OMB on Regulatory Review.
- The Department hosted a group of students from Vassar College, on a visit to Las Vegas to study water issues. This included a workshop with Krystyna Stave on water use in the valley, and a half-day round table hosted by Timothy Farnham that included David M. Hassenzahl, Department founder Jim Deacon and UNLV Law School Professor Bret Birdsong.
David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) was appointed to the Pool of Scientific Advisors on risk assessment of the European Commission s Health and Consumers Directorate-General
- A number of Environmental Studies Departmental faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students participated in the UNLV Climate and Sustainability Education Symposium on March 6. David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) was on the planning committee and gave two presentations, one with doctoral student Amy Northrup, the other with Scott Mensing and Michael Collopy of UNR.
- Helen Neill (Assoc. Prof) Participated in two meetings of the Nevada Test Site Community Advisory Board.
February 2009
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) participated in a meeting of the National Institutes of Medicine Round Table on Environmental Health Sciences, Research and Medicine.
- The Department of Environmental Studies hosted the second Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues. Presenters included local and national native organizations, state and local governments, and the nuclear industry. The Greenspun College of Urban Affairs and the Nuclear Energy Institute helped sponsor the event. Participants came from around the U.S. and Canada.
- Scott Abella (Assistant Research Professor) had the following paper published: Abella, S.R., J.E. Spencer, J. Hoines, and C. Nazarchyk. 2009. Assessing an exotic plant surveying program in the Mojave Desert, Clark County, Nevada, USA. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 151:221-230.
- Scott Abella (Assistant Research Professor) presented the following paper: Abella, S.R., E.C. Engel, D.J. Craig, S.D. Smith, C.L. Lund, A.C. Newton, and J.L. Gunn. Post-fire plant recovery and restoration in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of western North America. Oral presentation (invited) at the Desert Tortoise Council symposium, Mesquite, NV. 21 February 2009.
- Scott Abella (Assistant Research Professor) presented the following paper: Abella, S.R. Fire regimes and forest structural changes as an ecological basis for resource protection in the Spring Mountains. Oral presentation (invited) at the Interagency Fuels Modeling Workshop, Las Vegas, NV. 9 February 2009.
- The Department of Environmental Studies hosted a forum on Recycling in Las Vegas.
- Dr. Scott Abella has joined the Department as an Assistant Research Professor. Dr. Abella is an expert in arid lands ecological restoration, and has a joint appointment with the Public Lands Institute. Learn more about Dr. Abella at http://environment.unlv.edu/bios/abella.html.
- William J. Smith Jr. (Assistant Professor) travelled to Hawaii and the Federated States of Micronesia to meet with collaborators from several U.S. agencies as well as local non-government officials. Dr. Smith s travel was funded by a joint project with the University of Iowa.
- Scott Abella (Assistant Research Professor) Published a peer reviewed government document: Tree canopy types constrain plant distributions in ponderosa pine-Gambel oak forests, northern Arizona. Research Note RMRS-RN-39. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO. 7 pp.
- Ted Greenhalgh (PhD student) helped to run a two-day NSF funded workshop on risk and uncertainty communication, led by Susanna Priest (Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at UNLV). David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) also participated in the workshop.
- David M. Hassenzahl (Chair) attended the Allied Social Sciences Association meeting in San Francisco, where he hosted a booth for the Society for Risk Analysis.