we’re especially looking for ecologists who study disturbance Call for Papers
Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers April 21-25, 2015 Chicago, Illinois Session Title: DISTURBANCE, Crisis, and Creative Construction Organizers: Brian C. Chaffin, National Risk Management Laboratory, U.S. EPA; David J. Wrathall, Institute of Environment and Human Security, United Nations University, Germany Session Description: In this session we will focus on the prospect of disturbance as a choice and as a tool. In ecology, disturbance can be understood as an event in time that disrupts system structure and resource availability. While disturbances can be destructive, they can also be important catalysts for growth, innovation and transformation. With this in mind, many phenomena disturb social-ecological systems and can lead to undesirable changes, even crises. As an example, global climate change will give rise to many types of disturbances to social-ecological systems – and correspondingly a host of actions by individuals, organizations, communities, and governments to manage these disruptions. Actions to mitigate a system’s exposure to risk or cope with adverse circumstances can also disturb other systems or system components, creating new crises. In this way, tools to manage disturbance can also cause disturbance. Unexpected, and potentially unfavorable, outcomes can occur when the tool (i.e., policy initiative, development program, etc.) is applied only to manage disturbance. This has been observed many times. In solving one problem, we create another. However, when tools are also viewed as potential disturbances at other scales or in other sectors, perhaps as potentially useful or constructive disturbances, the prospect for unintended negative consequences may diminish. In other words, designing tools to manage AND create disturbance may offer a tractable path forward as we attempt to manage and govern complex social-ecological systems through uncertain times. Through this session we hope to explore this idea through empirical and/or conceptual papers that focus on disturbances as choices and/or tools. Important themes may include but are not limited to: · Reflections on how disturbances are employed by environmental governance actors (both wittingly or unwittingly); · Explorations of who creates and who experiences disturbance, and the associated outcomes; · Failures, successes, and/or strategies for success in employing disturbance as a tool. To participate, please email abstracts of 250 words or less to Brian Chaffin ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>) by October 31st. Selected abstracts will be notified by November 3rd and presenters will be asked to provide a conference PIN number to confirm registration. ______________________________________ Timothy D. Baird, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Geography College of Natural Resources and Environment Virginia Tech http://geography.vt.edu/people/baird.htm http://tbaird007.wordpress.com
