麻豆免费版下载Boulder researchers Colleen Reid, Emma Rieves and their colleagues explored the potential impact of objective and perceived greenspace exposure on mental health

If you or a loved one is struggling with mental health, you鈥檙e not alone. Roughly one in every five adults experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression over the past two weeks, according to a 2022 CDC . The good news is a better state of mind could be right in your backyard鈥攍iterally.

Perceived greenspace exposure鈥攚hich represents a person鈥檚 perception of the amount and quality of access to and time spent in nearby greenspace鈥攎ay have a significant positive effect on certain aspects of mental health, according to from an interdisciplinary 麻豆免费版下载 team.

With Associate Geography Professor Colleen Reid at the helm, researchers from the Geography, Psychology and Neuroscience departments as well as the Institute for Behavioral Genetics and the Institute of Behavioral Science explored the link between greenspace exposure and stress, anxiety and depression.

Their study revealed a strong association between perceived greenspace exposure and reduced anxiety. Could better mental health be as simple as a walk in the park? Perhaps, says lead study author and geography PhD candidate Emma Rieves.

The relationship between greenspace and mental health 鈥渋sn鈥檛 just about the greenspace that鈥檚 empirically there,鈥� which they measured by aggregating the green pixels, representing greenspace, from aerial imagery, also known as objective green space. 鈥淭he relationship is mainly influenced by aspects of green space that aren鈥檛 well captured by objective measures, such as the quality of the green space, how much time someone spends in green space and how accessible it is,鈥� she says.

Research in the time of COVID-19

Reid started the study in late 2019, says Rieves, who arrived on campus to begin her graduate education in the fall of 2020. 鈥淚t was weird,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淏ut the [geography] department did a lot to facilitate interactions between students despite the restrictions that were in place at the time.鈥�

Even before Rieves dove into the research project, she had personal experience with nature鈥檚 capacity to ease her mind, particularly during the early days of lockdown. 鈥淏eing in nature definitely helped to combat some of the negative emotions you have when you鈥檙e stuck sitting in your house, doomscrolling and wiping down all your produce,鈥� she recalls.

To determine the effect of greenspace exposure on the study鈥檚 research subjects, the team had to switch gears early in the data-collection process to account for the extra stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, says Rieves.

Once COVID-19 public health restrictions were in place, however, they added pandemic-specific questions to their mental health survey so that subjects could share the extent to which they were impacted by stressors such finances, resources and the possibility of infection. Their analysis could then control for pandemic-specific variables to more accurately identify the connection between mental health and greenspace exposure, says Rieves.

Is greenspace exposure a key to mental health?

The researchers found that perceived greenspace exposure was directly linked to reduced anxiety metrics and had a borderline statistically significant relationship with lower levels of depression metrics. Meanwhile, objective greenspace exposure bore no statistically significant association with anxiety, depression or stress.

In other words, when it came to mental health, and anxiety in particular, objective greenspace exposure mattered far less than subjects鈥� perceptions of greenspace exposure.

鈥溾�夿ased on the presence of green pixels, a vacant lot full of weeds would register as having a high green space signal. But if you were there, you might not perceive it as a superabundant green space,鈥� says Rieves. 鈥淲e found that other factors, like the quality of the environment in this example, is more important to the mental health and greenspace relationship.鈥�

At the same time, the findings revealed a positive association between socioeconomic status and both objective and perceived greenspace, where people with higher socioeconomic status had higher perceived and objective greenspace exposure.

The takeaway

While no one is promising that a walk in the woods is a magic bullet, getting out in nature is never a bad idea, says Rieves. And no matter what the pixels indicate, or how many minutes a day you spend around trees, the data indicate that people鈥檚 perceptions of their own greenspace exposure are important to unlocking better mental health, says Rieves.

鈥淭his study doesn鈥檛 prescribe any specific level of greenspace exposure needed to reap its mental health benefits, but if you feel like you鈥檙e surrounded by greenspace, it鈥檚 probably good for you.鈥�

麻豆免费版下载Boulder researchers Naomi Friedman and Samantha Freis contributed to this research.

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Wildfire smoke鈥檚 health risks can linger in homes that escape burning鈥�as Colorado鈥檚 Marshall Fire survivors discovered

On Dec. 30, 2021, a raced through two communities just outside Boulder, Colorado. In the span of about eight hours, and businesses burned.

The fire left entire blocks in ash, but among them, , seemingly untouched. The owners of these homes may have felt relief at first. But fire damage can be deceiving, as many soon discovered.

When wildfires like the Marshall Fire reach the , they are burning both vegetation and human-made materials. Vehicles and buildings burn, along with all of the things inside them鈥�electronics, paint, plastics, furniture.

Research shows that when human-made materials like these burn, from what is emitted when just vegetation burns. The smoke and ash can blow under doors and around windows in nearby homes, bringing in chemicals that stick to walls and other indoor surfaces and continue off-gassing for weeks to months, particularly in warmer temperatures.

In a , my colleagues and I looked at the health effects people experienced when they returned to still-standing homes. We also created a in the future to help them protect their health and reduce their risks when they return to smoke-damaged homes.

Tests in homes found elevated metals and VOCs

In the days after the Marshall Fire, residents quickly reached out to nearby scientists who study wildfire smoke and health risks at the 麻豆免费版下载 and area labs. People wanted to know what was in the ash and .

In homes we were able to test, my colleagues found . We also found elevated VOCs 鈥� volatile organic compounds 鈥� in airborne samples. Some VOCs, such as , , and , can be toxic to humans. Benzene is a .

People wanted to know whether the chemicals that got into their homes that day could harm their health.

At the time, we could find no information about physical health implications for people who have returned to smoke-damaged homes after a wildfire. To look for patterns, we affected by the fire six months, one year and two years afterward.

Symptoms six months after the fire

Even six months after the fire, we found that that aligned with health risks related to smoke and ash from fires.

More than half (55%) of the people who responded to our survey reported that they were experiencing at least one symptom six months after the blaze that they attributed to the Marshall Fire. The most common symptoms reported were itchy or watery eyes (33%), headache (30%), dry cough (27%), sneezing (26%) and sore throat (23%).

All of these symptoms, as well as having a strange taste in one鈥檚 mouth, were associated with people reporting that their home smelled differently when they returned to it one week after the fire.

Many survey respondents said that the smells decreased over time. Most attributed the improvement in smell to the passage of time, cleaning surfaces and air ducts, replacing furnace filters, and removing carpet, textiles and furniture from the home. Despite this, many still had symptoms.

We found that living near a large number of burned structures was associated with these health symptoms. For every 10 additional destroyed buildings within 820 feet (250 meters) of a person鈥檚 home, there was a 21% increase in headaches and a 26% increase in having a strange taste in their mouth.

These symptoms align with what could be expected from exposure to the chemicals that we found in the ash and measured in the air inside the few in depth.

Lingering symptoms and questions

There are a still a lot of unanswered questions about the health risks from smoke- and ash-damaged homes.

For example, we don鈥檛 yet know what long-term health implications might look like for people living with lingering gases from wildfire smoke and ash in a home.

We found a significant reporting symptoms one year after the fire. However, 33% percent of the people whose homes were affected still reported at least one symptom that they attributed to the fire. About the same percentage also reported at least one symptom two years after the fire.

We also could not measure the level of VOCs or metals that each person was exposed to. But we do think that reports of a change in the smell of a person鈥檚 home one week after the fire demonstrates the likely presence of VOCs in the home. That has health implications for people whose homes are exposed to smoke or ash from a wildfire.

Tips to protect yourself after future wildfires

Wildfires are as the wildland-urban interface, and fire seasons lengthen.

It can be confusing to know what to do if your home is one that survives a wildfire nearby. To help, my colleagues and I put together a if your home is ever infiltrated by smoke or ash from a wildfire.

Here are a few of those steps:

• When you鈥檙e ready to clean your home, start by protecting yourself. Wear at least an N95 (or KN95) mask and gloves, goggles and clothing that covers your skin.
• Vacuum floors, drapes and furniture. But avoid harsh chemical cleaners because they can react with the chemicals in the ash.
• Clean your HVAC filter and ducts to avoid spreading ash further. Portable air cleaners with carbon filters can help remove VOCs.

documents how within a home can reduce reservoirs of VOCs and lower indoor air concentrations of VOCs.

Given that we don鈥檛 know much yet about the health harms of smoke- and ash-damaged homes, it is important to take care in how you clean so you can do the most to protect your health.

Colleen E. Reid is an associate professor in the  Department of Geography.

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Professor Jennifer Fluri, a feminist political geographer, notes that the growing restrictions on women and girls are echoing strictness not seen since the 1990s

Speaking at U.N. Headquarters in New York City Monday, Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep observed that household pets and rodents in Afghanistan have more rights than women under draconian new Taliban laws rolled out at the end of August.

鈥淭oday in Kabul, a female cat has more freedoms than a woman,鈥� Streep said. 鈥淎 cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because the public parks have been closed to women and girls.鈥�

Among other restrictions, the new laws ban women from reciting the Quran in public, raising their voices or looking at men other than their husbands or relatives, and they require all women to cover the lower halves of their faces in addition to covering their heads.

Jennifer Fluri, a professor and chair of the Department of Geography, notes that the newest Taliban restrictions are a huge blow to Afghan women, especially those in urban areas.

For Jennifer Fluri, a 麻豆免费版下载 professor of geography and chair of the Department of Geography, these newest laws鈥攖he latest in a steadily growing number of restrictions on women enacted since the Taliban regained power in 2021鈥攁re further evidence that for the Taliban, women are easy targets.

Fluri鈥檚 doctoral research focused on the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), a clandestine feminist-nationalist organization. From that, her research interests evolved to studying the differentiated methods used by Afghans and internationals in Afghanistan to provide for their own security in spaces increasingly beset by political violence and a general state of insecurity.

From 2012 to 2021, she worked on two projects focusing on women's social and political activism, influence and power in Afghanistan: One examined women's roles in the peace process in Afghanistan, and the second focused on women's leadership and influence at different scales, from home and family to national political participation and governance鈥攁 project funded by the National Science Foundation.

However, despite her deep experience in the country, she hasn鈥檛 been able to travel there since 2019鈥攆irst because of COVID restrictions and then because of those enacted by the Taliban鈥攁nd has pivoted her research focus to Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in the United States and Canada, along with the status of women's rights and their social, political and economic participation in Afghanistan.

Fluri recently spoke with Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine about the newest laws further restricting Afghan girls and women in education, movement and presence in public spaces.

Question: Since 2021, restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan have gotten steadily stricter. How much worse are these new laws going to make their lives?

Fluri: It鈥檚 a huge blow to women, particularly women in urban areas, who had become more used to traveling with just a head scarf, not having to wear a burqa, not having a male escort. As we get further and further from August 2021, the leaders are being more and more emboldened to go back to the 鈥�90s version of the Taliban. At first it seemed like they were going to be more moderate, a sort of Taliban 2.0鈥擨 even thought that was the case, and so did a lot of women鈥檚 organizations and feminist activists鈥攂ut now it鈥檚 looking pretty clear they鈥檙e going to keep cracking down more and more.

I鈥檓 also very critical of what the U.S.  has done. I don鈥檛 think U.S. officials really took the full time and energy they should have to really do right by Afghan women and girls. It鈥檚 such a diverse population鈥攅ducated urban women have a totally different experience than women in rural areas or women who are more conservative. Some women see Islamic feminism as a path, but even Islamic feminists can鈥檛 work with the Taliban. (The Taliban鈥檚) reading of Islam is so narrow, even though the Quran says women and men are equal before God.

Question: These new laws seem really petty, for lack of a better word; why are the Taliban doing this?

Women in Kabul, Afghanistan, wait to receive food rations distributed by an international aid group in April 2023. (Photo: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)

Fluri: To me, it鈥檚 such a silly law. It鈥檚 culturally expected that men and women don鈥檛 make eye contact鈥攊t's a sign of respect鈥攖hat putting it into law seems unnecessary. It鈥檚 just another way of controlling women. I think this is the Taliban wanting all women to follow their very strict interpretations of the Quran and to gather control and power, because this law undercuts family-based or community-based ways of thinking about how people want to express religious beliefs or cultural beliefs, and how to dress or be in public. I hate to say it, but for the Taliban, women are easy targets.

Question: Do you worry that this will further stoke anti-Muslim rhetoric that seems to be getting louder around the world?

Fluri: My biggest frustration with the international aid and development community has been this tendency to blame Islam. Islam isn鈥檛 the problem. Women have more rights in Islam than they do in Afghan cultural practice. If the Taliban were following Islam, women would have many more rights, especially around education. Muhammad鈥檚 first wife, Khadijah, who he had his only surviving children with, worked outside the home. She was his (Muhammad鈥檚) employer. There are so many examples of women, if you go back to the early days of Islam, who were involved in shaping the faith. Khadijah was the first convert to Islam, and Muhammad鈥檚 wife Aisha led men in battle and was the author of many hadiths (words and deeds attributed to the prophet Muhammad written by his closest interlocutors). Women were involved in the early formations of Islam.

Question: Do the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan and other feminist groups like it still exist, or have they had to flee the country?

Fluri: They鈥檙e still in operation, but it鈥檚 always been a mostly underground movement鈥攖hey believe in secularism and women鈥檚 rights鈥攁nd now it鈥檚 even deeper underground. They鈥檙e doing work similar to work they were doing in the 鈥�90s: documenting, trying to get more international attention to the plight of women and running secret schools. In Afghanistan, their names have been dragged through the mud 100 times over, so they really do have to be incredibly careful. I would argue that鈥檚 why they have started other organizations in other names, because it allows them to continue to do the work without having such intense surveillance and them constantly being in danger of arrest.

Girls attend school in an outdoor classroom in Bamozai, Paktya Province, Afghanistan, in 2007. The Taliban now bans girls 12 and older from attending state-run schools and has banned young women from receiving higher education. (Photo: Capt. John Severns/U.S. Air Force)

I never published on this, because it鈥檚 not something they would be happy with, but I would argue RAWA has lot more influence in society than we even know about. Women have been educated in RAWA schools; they鈥檝e started their own NGOs and different activist groups with RAWA support. The feminist philosophies of RAWA have kind of grown legs and created additional organizations. A lot of women who were very high-profile activists in Afghanistan have fled or sought asylum, but some have gone back. They鈥檙e working with colleagues or family members to continue to do that work, even though it鈥檚 incredibly difficult now.

A man I worked with for years, who worked as a driver for me and research assistant, I鈥檓 still trying to help his family and him seek asylum. He鈥檚 saying, 鈥楳y daughters have no future here.鈥� It鈥檚 interesting how a number of men are also starting to be like, 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 a good place for my daughters.鈥�

Question: Is there anything people in, say, Colorado can do to help Afghan women and girls?

Fluri: Honestly, what I would say is reach out in your community to find out where Afghans who are refugees, who are trying to figure out how to make America work for them, are living. Help them make their way, which is incredibly difficult. It鈥檚 such a different culture from the U.S. and people sometimes have an idealistic vision of the U.S. The reality of trying to make ends meet can be so hard for them. So, I would say reach out to your nearest refugee center. I know does a lot of work with refugees, and so does  and . Even just the local housing and human services does a lot of work to help resettle refugees.

Reaching out to volunteer, such as taking people to appointments, little things like that make such a huge difference. A lot of women who came don鈥檛 speak English, don鈥檛 drive, so their lives are more isolated here than they were in Afghanistan. When you don鈥檛 speak the language or know how to ride a bus in a new place, it can be really daunting just to figure out how to make it work for you and your family. The important thing is to look for organizations that are working with Afghans on their own terms and are not trying to tell people what鈥檚 best for them. Afghans know what鈥檚 best for them.

Top image: Women in traditional burqas walk past Hazrat Ali Mazar Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. (Photo: )

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Growing number of war-weary Ukrainians would reluctantly give up territory to save lives, suggests recent survey

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is trying his best to shake up the dynamics of the Russia-Ukraine war. He recently  in which he replaced no fewer than nine ministers, including his foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Announcing the changes, Zelensky said he wanted his government to be 鈥渕ore active鈥� in pressing for aid from its western allies.

These cabinet changes came as Ukraine pressed ahead with its  in Russia. Zelensky has said that holding some Russian territory will give Kyiv leverage for future territorial exchange negotiations with Russia.

And, while criticism of Zelensky鈥檚 gamble  as Ukraine鈥檚 position in the Donbas in the east of the country has deteriorated, seeing Ukrainian soldiers turn the table on Russia has undeniably given Ukrainians a morale boost.

John O'Loughlin, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder professor of geography, is a political geographer especially interested in the spatial and territorial aspects of conflict. He and co-researchers Kristin M. Bakke and Gerard recently conducted telephone surveys of 2,200 adults in government-controlled areas of Ukraine.

Ukrainians needed this. As the war has endured and its costs mounted, .

We have tracked Ukrainian sentiment for years. In June and July 2024, in cooperation with the Kyiv International Institute for Sociology (), we conducted a telephone public opinion survey of 2,200 respondents representative of the adult population of government-controlled areas of Ukraine. This was to follow up on a survey from Oct. 2022.

We should treat . But our survey findings suggest people are worried about war weariness among their fellow Ukrainians. It also suggests that there is growing, if reluctant, support for negotiations and territorial concessions.

Open to compromise

Attitudes among Ukrainians toward territorial concessions have also started to shift鈥攂ut only slightly. Most people have opposed giving up land since 2014, but  provides evidence of growing recognition, now shared by one-third of Ukrainians, that territorial concessions may be necessary.

In June-July 2024 we repeated a question we asked in Oct. 2022 on territorial concessions, shown in the figure below. 鈥淎ll choices about what to do during this current Russian aggression have significant, but different, costs. Knowing this, which of the following four choices should the Ukraine government take at this time?鈥�

The biggest change was this: in 2022, 71% of respondents supported the proposition to 鈥渃ontinue opposing Russian aggression until all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, is liberated," but in 2024 the support for that option had dropped to 51%.

In 2022, just 11% agreed with 鈥渢rying to reach an immediate ceasefire by both sides with conditions and starting intensive negotiations." In 2024, that share had increased to 31%.

But there are differences in how people look at these choices. Much depends on whether they have been displaced (though whether they lost family members or friends does not seem to make a difference), whether they worry about war fatigue among their fellow Ukrainians, and whether they are optimistic or pessimistic about western support.

There is more at stake in this war than territory鈥攏ot least, saving lives, ensuring Ukraine鈥檚 sovereignty, and protecting the country鈥檚 future security. KIIS鈥檚 own recent research has shown that in a , people鈥檚 views on the importance of preserving territorial integrity might depend on how any possible deal might safeguard other things they care about.

For two and a half years, the brutal war has affected everyday , and many (43%) believe that the war will last at least another year. Most of the respondents in our survey had not been physically injured in Russian violence (12% had), but about half had witnessed Russian violence, and most had lost a close family member or friend (62%). About one-third had been displaced from their homes.

Consistent with an increasing number of reports, the survey shows growing recognition of war fatigue. Rather than asking directly about whether respondents felt this themselves, we asked whether they worried about it among fellow Ukrainians. The results were revealing: 58% worry 鈥渁 lot鈥� and 28% worry 鈥渁 little," whereas only 10% report that they do not worry about war fatigue.

People in Ukraine mark the second anniversary of the beginning of the war in February. (Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

While there are signs of war weariness among Ukraine鈥檚 western allies, our surveys show that Ukrainians are still broadly optimistic about continued western support, though less so than in October 2022. About 19% believe western support will grow (down from 29% in 2022), while 35% believe it will stay the same (41% in 2022). Almost a quarter (24%) believe it will continue but at a lower level than now (up from 16% in 2022), and 13% believe it is unlikely to continue (up from 3% in 2022).

Life or death

Research from early on in the war showed that Ukrainians strongly preferred strategies that preserved the country鈥檚 political autonomy and restored the entirety . This would hold, 鈥渆ven if making concessions would reduce projected civilian and military deaths, or the risk of a nuclear strike over the next three months."

As the authors of the study pointed out: 鈥淩ussian control of the government in Kyiv or of territories in the east would put the lives of many Ukrainians at risk, as it is well documented that Russia has committed widespread human rights violations in temporarily occupied territories.鈥�

Given the war鈥檚 accumulating death toll, in our 2024 survey we designed a simple framing experiment that can give us an indication of whether considerations about loss of life may shape people鈥檚 views on negotiations. We asked half of the respondents, randomly selected, if they would accept that 鈥淯kraine concede some of its territories to end the war鈥�. About 24% said yes.

For the other half, we asked if they would accept that 鈥淯kraine concede some of its territories to save lives and end the war." In that case, 34% said yes. So, if鈥攔ightly or wrongly鈥攖erritorial concessions are associated with saving lives, it increases support for them.

But when asked directly in the 2024 survey if they agreed with the statement 鈥淩ussia should be allowed to control the territory it has occupied since 2022," 90% disagreed. So, while there is still majority鈥攊f diminished鈥攕upport for fighting to restore full territorial integrity, there is growing support for negotiations.

What we also know from our surveys is that there is very little evidence that Russia鈥檚 territorial annexations will ever have any legitimacy among Ukrainians.

John O'Loughlin is a professor in the Department of Geography at the . His co-authors are , a professor of political science and international relations at University College London, and , a professor of government and international affairs at Virginia Tech.

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Recent research by 麻豆免费版下载Boulder geographer Emily Yeh studies the difference between consent and coercion in 鈥榲oluntary鈥� resettlement of pastoralists in Tibet鈥檚 Nagchu region

The difference between voluntary and involuntary participation may seem clear, but a study from the Tibet Autonomous Region shows the distinction between the two can, in fact, be murky.

In recent years, the Tibet Autonomous Region government has been relocating residents from high-altitude areas to distant, lower-altitude settlements. Officials characterize this resettlement program as 鈥渧oluntary.鈥� However, they also report that 100 percent of targeted residents have agreed to move. So, how voluntary is it, really?

Researchers at the 麻豆免费版下载 explore this and other questions in a published in The China Quarterly. Using official documents and interviews, co-authors Yonten Nyima and Emily Yeh offer a rare look inside this politically sensitive area.

麻豆免费版下载Boulder researcher Emily Yeh found complex distinctions between "consent" and "coercion" when studying the resettlement of Tibetan pastoralists.

Yeh is a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder professor of geography and Nyima, now an independent scholar, earned a doctorate in geography at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder.

鈥淚n this case, it鈥檚 not like thugs show up and chase people away鈥攊t鈥檚 a much more subtle process,鈥� says Yeh. 鈥淲e wanted to explore: Does the division between coercion and consent even make sense in such complicated and power-laden situations? What is consent, actually? What is coercion, actually? And when you start to dig into it, it gets blurry and complicated.鈥�

The resettlement program

The Tibet Autonomous Region is a 471,700-square-mile area of Central Asia governed by the People鈥檚 Republic of China. For the study, the researchers focused on a specific region called Nagchu, which has an average elevation of more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Nearly 80 percent of Nagchu鈥檚 residents are pastoralists, or nomads who herd yaks, sheep and goats as their primary livelihood.

In 2017, the government launched the 鈥渆xtremely high-altitude ecological resettlement鈥� program to relocate many of Nagchu鈥檚 pastoralists to lower elevations. The government gave many reasons for the resettlement, such as protecting the environment, alleviating poverty and strengthening national unity, among others. Their stated reasons, however, do not tell the full story and are in some ways misleading, according to the researchers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 part of a broad trend toward resettlement because of a very entrenched idea in policymaker circles that rural is backwards and Tibetan areas are backwards and underdeveloped,鈥� says Yeh. 鈥淎nd the fastest way to get them developed is to move them to the city.鈥�

Many of the targeted pastoralists in Nagchu did not want to move, for a variety of reasons. They felt heartbroken at the prospect of leaving their homeland, where their ancestors had lived and to which they have a strong spiritual connection, Yeh says. They didn鈥檛 want to part ways with their livestock or their herding livelihoods, which was a major part of their identities. They also worried about finding new jobs and making ends meet in their new homes.

Thought work

But, eventually, they all signed documents agreeing to do so anyway. How and why did they change their minds?

Officials used a three-step process, known as 鈥渢hought work,鈥� to convince all of the targeted Nagchu pastoralists to move, the researchers find. This process started with incentives before progressing to warnings and intense pressure. In this way, officials manufactured consent, the researchers write.

First, government officials determined the pastoralists鈥� willingness to move, typically via surveys or meetings. At this stage of the thought work, they presented resettlement as an attractive and voluntary option. Officials also tried to glean the herders鈥� reasons for not wanting to move so they could figure out how best to persuade them.

From here, they moved onto the second step of the thought work, which involved educating and guiding the pastoralists toward resettlement, per the researchers. During this phase, officials tried to alleviate the pastoralists鈥� concerns and elaborated on the benefits of resettlement, such as better access to medical facilities, schools and other social services.

They also took some of the poorest pastoralists on in-person tours of the resettlement locations and arranged meetings with earlier resettlers to hear stories of their 鈥渉appy life鈥� after resettlement, as one government official told the researchers. Officials also held multiple public meetings to pressure pastoralists into agreeing to move.

If all of this were still not enough to convince the herders to resettle, officials moved on to the third and final stage of the thought work. They visited individual households for multiple one-on-one meetings that involved incentives and warnings. One overarching theme of these conversations was that the government knows best and that pastoralists do not understand what is in their best interests, the researchers write.

鈥業t鈥檚 never that simple鈥�

Over time, all of the targeted pastoralists agreed to move. But many acknowledged they felt they had no choice.

 

The assumption that voluntary means you are a free subject who can do whatever you like with no constraints on your choices鈥t鈥檚 never that simple鈥�."

 

鈥淚 would have preferred not to sign if I could refuse 鈥� [but] it was really a matter of whether [I] wanted to go against the state, a matter of those with power and those without power,鈥� one pastoralist told the researchers. 鈥淥fficials would not leave me alone until I signed.鈥�

Under such conditions, the researchers write, there is no clear distinction between voluntary and involuntary or coercion and consent.

鈥淭he assumption that voluntary means you are a free subject who can do whatever you like with no constraints on your choices 鈥� it鈥檚 never that simple,鈥� Yeh adds. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really disentangle consent and coercion, especially not in contexts of highly uneven power relations such as this one. We鈥檙e trying to show that labelling something as voluntary or involuntary hides a lot of things that are actually happening.鈥�

More broadly, the project鈥攁nd its nuanced findings鈥攊s a reflection of geography鈥檚 interdisciplinary nature. The field encompasses far more than making maps or memorizing place names, says Yeh.

鈥淔undamentally, geography is not about where places are, but how those places become what they are physically, culturally, socially and politically,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚n geography, we look at the relationship between the social and the spatial and between humans and the environment.鈥�

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An online beginning Tibetan language course offered at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder allows learners worldwide to access contemporary resources for a less-frequently taught language

A new 麻豆免费版下载 online language class is aiming to preserve an endangered language and create access to an important aspect of culture and identity.

is the result of a collaboration between the Anderson Language and Technology Center (ALTEC) and the Center for Asian Studies (CAS), and the work of Tenzin Tsepak, a teaching professor of Tibetan in the CAS, and Maggie Rosenau, an ALTEC lecturer of German and learning design expert.

Drawing on Rosenau鈥檚 experience creating open educational resources and Tsepak鈥檚 expertise in Tibetan and Himalayan studies, the collaborators began designing the free online course in 2021. A significant goal was to create a Tibetan language course highlighting the language鈥檚 rich history and cultural significance, as well as addressing issues of accessibility and quality educational resources.

鈥淢ost of the resources out there and pedagogical tools for Tibetan that we have now are very traditional, like old-school textbooks and audio recordings that have not been updated for decades,鈥� Tsepak says. 鈥淭here is certainly nothing really digitally interactive out there for Tibetan language learners.

Tenzin Tsepak contributed expertise in Tibetan and Himalayan studies to developing the online Beginning Tibetan language class.

鈥淎nd these traditional materials focus mostly on reading and producing one-to-one written translation, not other skills like conversational listening and personal, verbal expression. So now, with this course, we have really interactive materials for students. Learners now have an online tool to better engage with the language. This is very new for Tibetan.鈥� 

Contemporary resources for language learning

Studying endangered and less-commonly taught languages is important for both understanding how languages grow and develop and for preserving the native languages of those who speak them. Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, enabling access to the Tibetan language has been an important way to protect and preserve Tibetan culture and identity. 

鈥淭here are wonderful organizations, institutions and individual educators out there offering important cultural history and language resources,鈥� Rosenau says. 鈥淲e have included and credited some of these in the course build鈥攍ike the Tibetan and Himalayan Library, which is a collection hosted by the University of Virginia Library; the Tibet Film Festival in Switzerland; and the Tibetan Equality Project out of the New York/New Jersey area.

鈥淏ut during my initial research to understand what is available for learners, what really stood out was a gap in contemporary multi-modality we could fill. So, this became a priority within the scaffolding, and I asked a lot of Tsepak for this project. His family even generously contributed to many of our listening dialogue activities. And I have to give a big shout-out and thank you to Tsepak鈥檚 spring 2023 first- and second-year students, who contributed blog posts to the unit dedicated to traditional holidays and festivals.鈥�

Creating the Beginning Tibetan course was one of the goals supported by a 2020-2023 Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant was awarded to Tim Oakes, a professor in the Department of Geography, and Danielle Rocheleau Salaz, executive director of CAS, in partnership with ALTEC and Director Susanna P脿mies, as well as the departments of anthropology, geography and religious studies.

The grant provides funds to plan, develop and carry out programs to strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign languages. It also supports the Tibet Himalaya Initiative, an interdisciplinary hub for research, teaching and public engagement on Tibet and the Himalayas. The center also offers scholarship opportunities for Tibetan and Nepali summer language study and supports Directed Independent Language Study in Tibetan and Nepali through ALTEC.

A worldwide resource

The Beginning Tibetan course is self-paced and includes modules on Tibetan sounds and basic grammar, greetings and introductions, communities, weather, clothing, foods, hospitality, travel, directions, festivals, holidays and customs. It also includes a broad collection of resources including dictionaries, archives, maps, short films, a podcast, social justice organizations and music.

Maggie Rosenau is a learning design expert who will give an online faculty workshop Nov. 7 about the H5P learning platform.

鈥淭raditional textbooks focus just on grammar and maybe a few cultural elements that logically connect to vocabulary,鈥� Tsepak says. 鈥淏ut now, I feel like this new course is like a mandala, you know? We have basically everything circling around this package鈥攊nteractive learning that is really modern and engaging. And there are amazing, authentic images, contemporary culture, representations of the Tibetan diaspora, music, local Tibetan restaurants in Boulder, trans and queer representation and non-binary language elements. Our goal is to better engage our students and make the process of language learning much more fun and inclusive.鈥�

One of the course鈥檚 innovative technological features is H5P, integrated on the Canvas learning platform, which helps make the content interactive by providing instant and automatic feedback to users, an essential aspect of effective language learning. Also, as an open-source tool, the H5P content can easily be shared, reused and adapted by others, making it a cost-free resource for interactive online learning.

鈥淏uilding in Canvas and (open educational resources) for language learning is my love language,鈥� Rosenau says. 鈥淚鈥檓 especially excited about all the H5P elements built into this resource. My hope is that instructors of Tibetan around the globe will use these materials by integrating the vocab cards, audio recordings and interactive grammar activities into their own educational platforms.鈥�

ALTEC will host an with Rosenau on H5P at 1 p.m. Nov. 7, as well as a roundtable discussion focusing on less commonly taught languages and language acquisition next spring.

Rosenau and Tsepak鈥檚 collaborative project offers learners worldwide the opportunity to delve into the Tibetan language and culture and underscores the importance of making less commonly taught languages accessible and available. The is free and can serve as a supplement to other Tibetan courses or as a stand-alone course.  

While the course is not comprehensive, it is a valuable first step in providing more contemporary resources for Tibetan language learning. 鈥淚t is just a start,鈥� says Tsepak, 鈥渁nd if we have the opportunity to expand the project, then we would love that.鈥�

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Christopher Picard of 麻豆免费版下载Boulder is one of 21 students nationwide to win support from United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation

Christopher Picard, a graduate student in geography at the 麻豆免费版下载, is one of 21 students nationwide to win scholarships this year from the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), the foundation announced recently. 

The USGIF鈥檚 , who are studying geospatial intelligence and related fields, will receive a total of $125,000, raised from donations.

Ronda Schrenk, USGIF CEO, expressed her gratitude for the funding: 鈥淭he support our community has shown for the scholarship program this year has been truly inspiring for us at the Foundation. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the organizational and individual donors who have enabled USGIF to maintain and expand this crucial program.鈥�

Picard, who is pursuing a master's degree in geography from 麻豆免费版下载Boulder, is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, where he received a BA in environmental Earth sciences. 

Chris Picard

While an undergraduate, Picard had an internship at the U.S. National Ice Center, where he was introduced to remote sensing of the cryosphere and learned about the importance of geospatial research to national security. 

That experience led Picard to apply remote sensing and other computational techniques to the study of current and future changes in Earth's high-latitude regions.

Picard said he was honored to win a 2023 graduate scholarship. 鈥淚 want to thank the USGIF for supporting young geospatial researchers, as this financial assistance and connection to a broader community is massively impactful for students entering the field,鈥� he said, adding: 

鈥淔inancially, this scholarship is significant to me because it will provide important funding that will help support me during my graduate studies. In addition to financial assistance, I am looking forward to engaging with this new community in graduate school and during my career.鈥�

The 21 awardees were selected by USGIF鈥檚 scholarship committee, a group of volunteers from the geospatial intelligence community who are dedicated to supporting the next generation of researchers. The recipients represent diverse academic backgrounds and personal experiences that are crucial to advancing the field, the foundation said. 

The 2023 cohort鈥檚 expertise covers a broad range of geospatial intelligence enterprises, including:

• Developing a deep-learning model to detect building damage after a natural disaster
• Mapping sentiments and understanding bias in armed-conflict data
• Monitoring sea ice in the Arctic region for national security purposes
• Advancing landmine detection with remote-sensing and machine-learning techniques

While the awardees are studying at universities across the country, representing 20 different schools, they all share a driving desire to use geospatial intelligence to address critical national security concerns, solve complex global issues and serve their communities, the foundation said.

USGIF has awarded more than $1.7 million to students dedicated to advancing the geospatial intelligence tradecraft since the program started in 2004. Past awardees have gone on to serve as leaders at geospatial intelligence government agencies and companies, innovate at startups and small businesses and become professors.

鈥淭he impact of past USGIF scholarship awardees 鈥� never ceases to amaze me,鈥� said USGIF Director of Education and Professional Development Christine Devine. 鈥淲atching them grow into leaders in the field and start to impact the world as they initially described in their applications is what the whole scholarship program is about.鈥�

In addition to sponsorship from organizations, USGIF receives donations from individual geospatial intelligence community members committed to growing the future of the field.

Schrenk highlighted the significance of the scholarship program, stating: 鈥淏y means of the scholarship program, USGIF can provide support to the most exceptional students aspiring to enter the geospatial intelligence field. This year, we received an unprecedented number of applications, and I am confident that the recipients will bring immeasurable value to our community.鈥�

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Katherine Clifford, a recent PhD and scientist at the Western Water Assessment, named to American Association of Geographers 鈥楨levate the Discipline鈥� cohort

Katherine (Katie) Clifford, a researcher at the 麻豆免费版下载, is among 15 geographers to be designated as 鈥減ublic scholars鈥� in the realm of climate and society.

The American Association of Geographers (AAG) this month announced the first cohort in its new 鈥淓levate the Discipline鈥� program, which will train and showcase geographers in action鈥攊n the media, as voices for public policies and in advocating for change鈥攐n this year鈥檚 theme of climate and society. 

The newly selected participants in 11 states and the West Indies 鈥渞epresent the rich and diverse range of practice within the discipline, including hydroclimatology, political ecology, climate and health, disaster geography, geoinformatics, soil science and more,鈥� the AAG stated.

At the top of the page: Katie Clifford leads a discussion in a climate-adaptation workshop in Wyoming recently. Photo courtesy of Katie Clifford. Above: Katie Clifford

Clifford, who earned her PhD in geography at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder in 2019, is lead social scientist at Western Water Assessment, a research program funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that is under the auspices of the university. It supports 鈥渆ngaged science鈥� to tackle real-world climate adaptation issues across Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. 

With a strong background in environment-society geography, Clifford is known for her research illuminating the regulatory challenges and uneven consequences of climate hazards and effects.

Clifford鈥檚 work focuses on how frontline communities are uniquely affected by climate hazards, and her findings help diagnose policy loopholes and develop equitable and just adaptation strategies in partnership with communities, the AAG stated.

Her research has explored how the U.S. Clean Air Act has in many ways failed to adapt to increasing dust storms, which often leave Western communities with unsafe air quality. She also is currently working with rural, low income, Latinx and tribal communities on issues of extreme heat, flooding, wildfire and drought.

Clifford said she is honored to be selected 鈥渁longside so many talented geographers and know this will make me a better engaged researcher. This fellowship shows that the field of geography invests in and values scholars who are doing work that is actionable and impactful for pressing societal and environmental issues鈥攕omething that not all disciplines have embraced.鈥� 

She added, 鈥淭his is why I chose to be a geographer: We tackle real-world issues, with a holistic approach that embraces complexity, engage with multiple scales and center questions of equity and justice. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues we face today, and this fellowship harnesses geography鈥檚 strengths to make important contributions to policy and practice.鈥�

Fifteen geographers were selected through a competitive process. The program will train them over the next several months in leadership, media skills and policy strategies, and thereafter will promote their work in public discourse.

 

This is why I chose to be a geographer: We tackle real-world issues, with a holistic approach that embraces complexity, engage with multiple scales and center questions of equity and justice."

 

鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to support the work of these scientists as they engage in community-oriented, justice-based work on climate change,鈥� said Rebecca Lave, AAG鈥檚 2023-24 president and a professor of geography at Indiana University Bloomington, where her specialties include critical physical geography and the political economy of stream restoration. 

鈥淲e want to open up avenues to value and protect geographers鈥� opportunity to do public and engaged scholarship.鈥�

The program will be launched this month, with frequent virtual meetings culminating in a week-long intensive training onsite at AAG headquarters in Washington, D.C. Thereafter, AAG will work with the participants and their institutions to continue promoting their public scholarship.

鈥淕eography is essential to understanding and solving the world鈥檚 most pressing issues,鈥� said Gary Langham, AAG executive director. 鈥淲e created Elevate the Discipline to help geographers raise the profile of their work, showing how instrumental our discipline is to addressing climate change and critical social issues.鈥�

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Fulbright Global Scholar Awards will enable Tim Oakes of geography and Brian Valente-Quinn of French to spend up to a year in travel, study, research and teaching

Tim Oakes and Brian Valente-Quinn have won Fulbright Global Scholar Awards for 2023-24, allowing them to spend up to a year abroad to pursue their studies, develop ongoing research projects and teach courses at other institutions.

The Fulbright Global Scholar Award allows U.S. academics and professionals to engage in multi-country, trans-regional projects. The Fulbright Scholar Program, funded by the U.S. State Department, is designed to 鈥渆xpand and strengthen the relationships between the people of the United States and citizens of the rest of the world.鈥� 

Brian Valente-Quinn is a specialist of Francophone African theater and literature. His research focuses on the interplay of theatrical performance with contemporary societal issues such as decoloniality, immigration, diversity, and the various threats of extremism found across a range of national contexts.

Oakes, a professor in the 麻豆免费版下载鈥檚 Geography Department, will be developing his research project: 鈥淭he hinterlands of global China: infrastructures of life beyond the urban.鈥� He describes the project as a continuation and extension of his previous project, 鈥�,鈥� which has been ongoing since 2018. 

China Made focuses on Chinese investments in infrastructure development, both in China and Southeast Asia. Oakes is project lead but works with researchers all over the globe throughout Canada, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Oakes鈥� research centers around 鈥渦rbanization, most recently new towns and new cities in areas that were most recently rural farmland in China.鈥� Since 2020, Oakes has been unable to continue his research in China because of that country鈥檚 COVID-19 restrictions, so he will expand to surrounding countries for his Fulbright research.

Tim Oakes is an expert in his field. He focuses on social and cultural transformation in contemporary China and, in particular, the uses and reinventions of local culture as a resource for economic development and governance objectives.

Oakes will travel to Oslo, Norway, to work with fellow researchers, then go to Singapore to continue 鈥渓aying the foundations of the project and getting it started,鈥� Oakes said. He is particularly interested in 鈥渄igital infrastructures that China has been building in recent years, and how those projects impact the surrounding areas where they are made,鈥� Oakes said.

Valente-Quinn, a professor in CU鈥檚 French and Italian Department, will pursue his research in Francophone African literature and culture to address 鈥渜uestions of immigration and decoloniality in contemporary France and West Africa,鈥� Valente-Quinn said. His research focus is Francophone theater and performance in West Africa.

鈥淎fter spending years researching in Senegal, my proposal to Fulbright was that I want to take a more transnational perspective and broaden my research to countries like Mali, Burkina Faso and C么te d鈥橧voire.鈥� 

鈥淚 am interested in the question of extremism, and how these theater makers define extremism and bring the public together to address the threat of extremism in their own countries and in a global context. This is a current topic in Francophone Africa鈥攏ot only because of terrorist threats in France鈥攂ut because of extremist movements and rulership in some West African countries,鈥� Valente-Quinn said.

He will teach a graduate seminar in Francophone African theater and performance, and another on theories of performance in Abidjan, C么te d鈥橧voire, at the Universit茅 F茅lix Houphou毛t-Boigny. 

Both professors said they are excited and honored to be awarded the Fulbright, and hope to use the next academic year to broaden the scope of their research, teach in new universities and collaborate with fellow researchers to continue building their projects.

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麻豆免费版下载Boulder scientist鈥檚 40-year census research finds that climate change has tripled tree mortality and forestalled regeneration

Criticizing the Biden administration鈥檚 $3.5 trillion Inflation Reduction Act, a U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia singled out funding to plant and protect trees.

鈥淭hey continue to try to fool you that they are helping you out. But they鈥檙e not. Because a lot of money, it鈥檚 going to trees,鈥� GOP candidate Herschel Walker said while stumping at a fundraiser. 鈥淲e got enough trees鈥攄on鈥檛 we have enough trees around here?鈥�

A 2015 study in Nature estimated there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. Whether or not that鈥檚 鈥渆nough,鈥� the survey also found that 鈥渢he global number of trees has fallen by approximately 46% since the start of human civilization.鈥�

Top of page: 1875 City of Boulder Reservoir, photographer J.B. Sturtevant (鈥淩ocky Mountain Joe鈥�), courtesy of the Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder Public Library. Above: Tom Veblen, distinguished professor emeritus of geography, in approximately the same spot as the 1875 photo. Photo By Glenn Asakawa.

And according to a 麻豆免费版下载 scientist who has been monitoring the health and number of trees in the Colorado high country for more than four decades, climate-driven changes in temperature and drought have not only tripled tree mortality rates in the past two decades, but also significantly undermined tree regeneration rates. 

And that matters.

鈥淚f we are losing forest cover, we are going to lose a variety of ecosystem services,鈥� says Tom Veblen, Distinguished Professor emeritus of geography, who has been tracking changes in thousands of trees on Niwot Ridge west of Boulder since 1982. 

Declining tree cover results in damage to watersheds as debris flow and flooding increase, and in the loss of habitat for certain species. Perhaps most destructive, the loss of 鈥渁bove-ground biomass鈥� removes a vital source of carbon storage, which further fuels climate change. 

鈥淚n most simulation models of ecosystem impacts of climate change . . . the trees grow back after fire. But we鈥檙e not seeing that as documented for montane forests in Colorado,鈥� Veblen says. That results in 鈥渙ne of those nasty, somewhat unexpected positive-feedback loops that speeds up climate change because there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Even a politician in Georgia will potentially be affected by that.鈥�

Veblen came to 麻豆免费版下载Boulder in 1981 after six years of research in Chile and New Zealand, which taught him the value of establishing plots where trees could be observed long-term. 

鈥淚 knew from my research experience in the Southern Hemisphere that I wanted to put in permanent forest plots, which are essential for understanding long-term changes in tree populations,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here is no substitute for that.鈥�

With money from a short-lived program funded by the state of Colorado, he and his students established 40 鈥渓ong-term monitoring plots,鈥� marked 8,000 trees on Niwot Ridge and have been monitoring them ever since. 

鈥淭he proposal . . . was to assess the influence of climate variability on tree demography and population changes, mortality, and the establishment of new seedling recruitment (new trees),鈥� Veblen says. A second goal was to study the effects of 19th-century fires on lower elevation ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests.

One of the key findings from Veblen鈥檚 research: While tree mortality rates remained low and stable until 1994, they have tripled since then, even in higher elevation Englemann spruce and lodgepole pine forests. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not at all surprising . . . given increasing temperatures and increasing drought,鈥� Veblen says, noting that researchers have reached the same conclusions at locations across the western United States.

Meanwhile, new trees are not filling in the gaps.

Former 麻豆免费版下载Boulder graduate student Robert Andrus, now a postdoctoral researcher at Washington State University, harvested about 1,000 juvenile trees to determine their establishment dates and found that new trees grew in 鈥減ulses of single years, cooler, moister years, based on late spring and summer weather conditions,鈥� Veblen says. 

But the occurrence of such years has plummeted by two-thirds in the latter half of the seven-decade record Andrus examined. 

鈥淲ithout cool, moist years, we鈥檙e not getting establishment鈥� of new seedlings, including after fires, Veblen says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an indicator of what is likely to continue with warming temperatures.鈥�

Even lodgepole pines, famous for colonizing burned areas鈥攖he tree鈥檚 cones open after exposure to fire鈥攁re failing to regenerate in some places. In areas torched by severe fires in 2002 in the Routt and White River national forests that have been repeatedly sampled over a 15-year period, there are only sparse and patchy seedlings of this fire-adapted species, which usually take root within a year or two. 

 

If we want to have forests after fires, we need to not rely on natural regeneration. We need to invest heavily in artificial regeneration."

Those trends have convinced Veblen and other researchers and forest managers that Western forests need a helping hand from humanity, particularly after destructive wildfires. 

鈥淚f we want to have forests after fires, we need to not rely on natural regeneration. We need to invest heavily in artificial regeneration,鈥� the cultivation and planting of seedlings in strategic areas, Veblen says.

Andrus agrees. 鈥淲e have bark beetle outbreaks and wildfires that cause very obvious mortality of trees in Colorado. But we鈥檙e showing that even in the areas that people go hiking in and where the forest looks healthy, mortality is increasing due to heat and dry conditions alone,鈥� adding:

鈥淚t鈥檚 an early warning sign of climate change.鈥�

Veblen and the fire management community broadly agree that 鈥渓iving with fire鈥� is increasingly challenging, as shown by modeling projections that say, 鈥淓xceptional fire seasons like 2020 will become more likely, and wildfire activity under future extremes is predicted to exceed anything yet witnessed.鈥�  

In Wildland Urban Interface areas, so-called 鈥渞ed zones鈥� that are abundant throughout the West, Veblen has recommendations: Property owners must still establish 鈥渄efensible spaces.鈥� Building codes should be used to require less-flammable building materials. 鈥淔uels reduction鈥� through a combination of tree cutting and prescribed fires should be prioritized near settled areas to give firefighters a foothold. 

However, Veblen says, in more remote areas, mechanical thinning alone is not effective and not practical. Instead, he says, managers are increasingly emphasizing the value of letting wildfires do the work of reducing fuels and buffering against future fire potential.  

鈥淎gencies previously tended to strongly emphasize mechanical thinning to reduce fuels, but under the kind of extreme weather conditions that promoted the 2020 East Troublesome fire, no practical amount of fuel management can fully protect homes and communities,鈥� he says.

Instead, he鈥檇 like to see resources currently dedicated to remote-area fuels reduction be redirected into seedling cultivation and planting in selected, suitable areas.

鈥淲e are not going to be able to prevent large, severe fires, so we need to be much more strategic in investing our resources to avoid or delay some of the worst outcomes of climate change,鈥� he says. 

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