Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station

Marrying Natural and Social Sciences for Mother Earth’s Sake Jack Liu

No one says marriage is easy -- but an international group of 16 natural scientists and social scientists, including three from Michigan State University, are saying that the wedding of natural sciences and social sciences is called for.

For the first time, a paper published in the Sept. 14 edition of the journal Science synthesizes complex characteristics when humans and natural systems couple up, using six case studies from around the world. To understand the complex world and to enable good science to transform to good policy, specialization must ease up, according to the paper "Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems."

"In the past, natural scientists such as ecologists often excluded humans from considerations, while social scientists usually ignored the impact of natural systems on the humans, although humans and natural systems interact with each other as coupled systems," said Jianguo “Jack” Liu, lead author of the paper and Rachel Carson Chair in Ecological Sustainability at the MSU Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability. Liu is an MAES scientist. "As the world is becoming increasingly connected in various ways, there is an urgent need to integrate natural sciences and social sciences to understand global challenges and develop feasible policies for effective solutions to complex problems."

The case studies represent both urban and rural areas; both developed and developing countries; and various ecological, socioeconomic, political, cultural and geographic settings. They provide excellent information for comparing and contrasting complex aspects of systems on five continents -- Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

All of the example systems are faced with pressing environmental and human challenges. In Kenya, forests give way to croplands, cropland soil degradation causes more poverty, and more poverty leads to more deforestation. In China, tourism, residents and pandas vie for real estate. In Washington state's Puget Sound, single-family housing crowds rich bird habitats; in Wisconsin’s Northern Highland Lake District, recreation affects sensitive fish habitats. In tropical Altamira, Brazil, crop changes and recent deforestation take a toll. And in Vattenriket, Sweden, land use choices made several hundred years ago continue to have impact on a wetland of international importance.

The case studies look not only at landscape patterns, wildlife habitat and biodiversity but also at socioeconomics, policies, governance and social networks. They examine complex ecological and socioeconomic patterns and processes over time and across space. They analyze and look to understand why policy often didn’t produce the expected outcome.

For example, in Wisconsin, where indigenous populations compete with recreation, smelt was introduced as a food source for game fish such as walleye. The plan backfired when the smelt gobbled the young walleye, decimating the population.

"Everyone wants to preserve parts of the past but not the same parts, so people have different visions of the future," said Steve Carpenter, a co-author of the paper and Stephen Alfred Forbes Professor of Zoology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "These differences drive the politics of change in the region. Our research uses the Northern Highland of Wisconsin to understand key aspects of change in a region where ecosystems and society are closely connected."

The study of the Wolong Nature Reserve in southwestern China, which is one of the largest homes to the endangered giant panda, found that policies to conserve panda habitat had unexpected effects on people and panda habitat. For example, a natural forest conservation program to prevent illegal forest harvesting spurred many new households to form by splitting existing households into smaller ones because the government’s incentives were provided on a household basis. Generally speaking, more households demand more land for housing and more energy for heating and cooking, and smaller households are less efficient in resource use per person than larger households.

All the studies show that the path from cause to effect is often not a straight line and that, in some cases, effects take decades to emerge. Modern life has raised the stakes, Liu said. The global neighborhood is more crowded.

"Even 50 years ago, the world population was only 40 percent of today’s population, humans used fewer resources and didn’t have as much environmental impact as today," Liu said. “Now resources are getting more and more limited. The number of households is increasing much faster than population size, and the demands for resources and consumption are skyrocketing.

"A lot of things are getting closer to the threshold. If you have a little bit more, the whole system may collapse."

Tom Dietz "Government agencies have recognized for a number of years the need for researchers who can cross the boundaries between the social and natural sciences because they have to confront real-world problems where the ecological and social systems interact," said Thomas Dietz, paper co-author and MSU assistant vice president for environmental research and director of the MSU Environmental Science and Policy Program. "Some approaches, like those we review in this study, are focused on local systems. Others, like many studies of climate change, compare nations or look at the global system. We need all these approaches."

Bill Taylor "The future of a sustainable environment demands that scientists and policy-makers understand the coupling of human and natural systems," said William Taylor, another paper co-author and chairperson of the MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. "Without such understanding and systems thinking, we are doomed to degrading environments, reduced biodiversity, social instability and an overall decline in the quality of life. I am optimistic that the approach of coupling human and natural systems will provide the road map for enhancing our abilities to develop the needed governance systems to ensure a socially and ecologically sustainable future."

Other members of the research team are: Marina Alberti, University of Washington at Seattle; Carl Folke, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Stockholm University, Sweden; Alice Pell, Cornell University; Peter Deadman, University of Waterloo, Canada; Timothy Kratz and William Provencher, University of Wisconsin at Madison; Jane Lubchenco, Oregon State University; Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University; Zhiyun Ouyang, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Charles Redman, Arizona State University; and Stephen Schneider, Stanford University.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, MSU (the Michigan Agricultural Experimental Station, the Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, the University Distinguished Professorship and the Environmental Research Initiative), the Swedish Research Council for the Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning, and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research.

MSU Receives $3.5 Million Kellogg Grant to Develop Pasture-Based Animal Program

A "field-to-fork" approach to farming may ultimately offer consumers greater access to environmentally friendly food choices while enhancing the vitality of rural communities.

A 3-year $3.5 million development grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will allow MSU to establish a pasture-based dairy facility at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) in Hickory Corners, Mich., and develop supply chains and markets for pasture-based dairy products. The dairy facility will be a focal point for research, education and outreach programs that provide farmers with information on dairy management options for moderate-sized to small operations that focus on sustainability from production through consumption.

cow The funds, granted through the foundation's food systems and rural development programming area, will be used to establish a pasture-based dairy facility and composting program at KBS that will be a key component of the MSU initiative in sustainable agriculture and food systems. The grant will provide partial funding to hire two new faculty members in animal grazing ecology and human ecology in rural development. The grant also will provide seed funding for research, outreach and education programs focused on ecological and environmental aspects of animal production, rural community development, and the processing, distribution and marketing of pasture-based dairy products.

"To ensure the vitality of rural communities, it is important that we create better market opportunities for small and mid-sized farms," said Mike Hamm, MAES scientist who holds the C.S. Mott Chair for Sustainable Food Systems. "These farms are the backbone of communities -- as food providers, purchasers of local goods and services, employers, taxpayers and stewards of the landscape. Expanding production options that improve the viability of these farms will help strengthen healthy rural economies and communities."

The project team hopes to strengthen distribution networks and demand for locally grown animal products raised on pasture. Developing markets based on the place and method of production will help small and medium-scale farms in Michigan to maintain an added-value advantage for which consumers are willing to pay a premium.

"This program will provide a unique opportunity to evaluate how an animal production system operates in the context of other aspects of the landscape -- agricultural, managed and natural," said Kay Gross, university distinguished professor and director of the Kellogg Biological Station. "KBS is well-suited for this type of work because of the strong programs in ecology and sustainable row-crop agriculture that we have here."

The conventional dairy operation currently operated at KBS will be converted to a pasture-based program over the next 2 years. A 120-cow milking herd will be maintained on an intensively managed rotational grazing system and on a replicated plot-based pasture system. A portion of the milk produced at KBS will be used for production of cheese at the MSU Dairy Plant.

"The development of a pasture-based dairy at KBS allows us to expand our portfolio of production alternatives for farmers and to develop new research and outreach programs that fit with interests and needs of diverse farm stakeholders," said Karen Plaut, chairperson of the MSU Department of Animal Science.

In addition to the development of a pasturing program at KBS, the initiative will support connections to farm-based and high school-based satellite sites across Michigan focusing on sustainable crop and animal production. Education and outreach programs will extend to MSU undergraduate and veterinary medicine curricula, as well as to primary and secondary school programs, farmers, consumers and public officials.

University Research Corridor Creates 68,803 Michigan Jobs

Urging lawmakers to "invest in what works for Michigan," University Research Corridor (URC) presidents have released an independent analysis showing the state’s three research universities helped create 68,803 Michigan jobs and produced $12.8 billion of net economic benefit in 2006.

"This report documents how Michigan’s URC universities have become a vital economic engine for the state," said Patrick Anderson, principal and CEO of Anderson Economic Group (AEG), who led the 4-month effort. "These institutions attract enormous amounts of research dollars, produce highly trained graduates that attract employers around the country and are some of the largest employers in the state. At a time when Michigan’s economy is suffering, it is important to note this is one sector where we have truly world-class institutions."

In an independent assessment of the economic role of the three URC institutions -- Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University -- the Anderson group found the URC:

Makes a tremendous economic impact on the state. The $12.8 billion net economic impact represents the additional earnings to state residents caused by the operation of the three institutions. These new earnings to Michigan residents stem from expenditures by the URC universities on non-payroll items (such as supplies and equipment) and expenditures by URC employees, students and alumni. The study employed a conservative methodology that estimates only the additional earnings to state residents caused by the presence of the universities. The authors assumed most URC students would have attended another college and that many URC employees would find another job in Michigan if the URC universities were not in the state. The AEG report counts only new spending caused by the URC universities in the state as "net benefit."
Is a major employer. The URC employs 46,398 full-time equivalent employees (one of the state’s four largest employers) and spends $6.5 billion on operations such as payroll, facilities and supplies. The $6.5 billion amounts to 2 percent of all the economic activity in the state as a proportion of Michigan’s gross state product.
Educates hundreds of thousands of students each year. The URC enrolls 133,331 students per year, an enrollment total that far exceeds those of competing clusters in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Illinois and Pennsylvania that the AEG examined for comparison purposes.
Produces graduates who are highly valued in Michigan’s emerging knowledge economy. URC schools produce 54 percent of the state’s science and engineering degrees; 100 percent of the M.D., D.O., veterinary and nursing Ph.D. degrees; most dentistry degrees; and nearly half of all other healthcare-related degrees.
Produces a cadre of educated alumni who live, work and pay taxes in Michigan. The URC institutions have 556,338 living graduates in the state, 7.3 percent of the state’s adult population. More than 60 percent of all URC alumni remain in Michigan; the other 40 percent are spread throughout the rest of the world.
Gives graduates an outstanding education that translates into earning power totaling more than $25 billion per year, or 13.4 percent of all wage and salary income in the state.

The study found the research universities accounted for 94 percent of federal academic research dollars brought into Michigan; all three are among the top 75 of more than 600 U.S. research universities.

"This report details how research universities create jobs," said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. "Investing more in research universities fuels the growth of Michigan’s knowledge-based economy."

The report measures the URC universities against six comparable clusters in regions known as knowledge economy leaders:

Boston’s 128 Corridor: Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University.
Silicon Valley/Northern California: Stanford University, the University of California-Berkley and UC-San Francisco.
The Research Triangle: the University of North Carolina, Duke University and N.C. State University.
Chicago/Illinois: the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Southern California: UCLA, the University of Southern California and UC-San Diego.
Pennsylvania: Penn State University (all campuses), the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

In 2004, Michigan’s research and development spending of $1.3 billion exceeded that of Harvard, MIT and Tufts as well as North Carolina’s Research Triangle universities and the Pennsylvania cluster, beating all the national competitors except the two California clusters.

By 2005, however, North Carolina’s Research Triangle surpassed Michigan’s URC as North Carolina continued to boost its investments in higher education and research.

The report found that Michigan’s research and development expenditures have produced significant commercial benefits, as indicated by licensing revenue. In terms of revenue received per dollar of expenditure, the AEG concluded the URC performs better than four of the six comparison university clusters.

The full report is available online.

MAES Scientist Edits New Journal on Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining

Bruce Dale As societies around the globe look to reduce their dependence on petroleum-based fuels, plants and other biobased materials are being viewed as the raw materials for fuels, chemicals and other products. But making the change to products made from renewable resources will require new skills, knowledge and research.

"The movement toward a bioeconomy presents great opportunities for forward-thinking institutions to become catalysts for beneficial change and reap the related benefits," said Bruce Dale, MAES chemical engineering and materials science researcher and Office of Biobased Technologies associate director. "But given the breadth of the issues involved -- agronomy, public policy, microbiology and chemical engineering, to name just a few -- and the depth of expertise required along with that breadth, it may be difficult for many institutions to successfully navigate the bioeconomy transition."

To help a wide variety of institutions understand and better manage the bioeconomy transition, a new journal, Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining (BioFPR), has been launched with Dale as editor.

"This is not another technical journal," Dale explained. "Many good technical journals already exist in related fields. BioFPR will provide reviews by recognized experts across the breadth of related issues, perspective pieces and many other services to help move the bioeconomy forward."

BioFPR bills itself as the definitive source of information on sustainable products, fuels and energy. Each issue will present a mix of news, patent intelligence and feature articles, as well as peer-reviewed articles.

The journal is published by the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. BioFPR subscription information and selected free content are available online.

MAES Researchers Honored by ASPB

One current and one former MAES plant biologist were among 53 scientists named to the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) inaugural class of fellows at the society’s 2007 annual meeting in Chicago.

Ken Keegstra, MAES scientist, university distinguished professor of plant biology and of biochemistry and molecular biology, and executive director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, is a renowned plant biologist and an expert in plant cell wall biochemistry. He has extensive management and scientific experience, having served for 14 years as director of the U.S. Department of Energy-funded Plant Research Laboratory (DOE-PRL) at MSU and for 15 years as chairperson and professor in the Botany Department at UW-Madison.

Jan Zeevaart, former MAES scientist, university distinguished professor emeritus of plant biology and one of the founders of the DOE-PRL, is an expert on the mechanisms by which plant hormones mediate the effects of the environment on plant processes. In 2000, Zeevaart received the Stephen Hales Prize from the ASPB for his noteworthy contributions to the field. Zeevaart is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Dutch Academy.

The ASPB fellow award is granted in recognition of distinguished and long-term contributions to plant biology and service to the society by members in research, education, mentoring, outreach, and professional and public service. Current ASPB members who have contributed to the society for at least 10 years are eligible for nomination.

Founded in 1924, the ASPB (formerly known as the American Society of Plant Physiologists) has a membership of approximately 5,000 plant scientists from the United States and more than 50 other countries. The ASPB publishes Plant Cell and Plant Physiology.

Entrepreneurs Can Learn to Grow a Business at Nov. 2 Conference

Like acorns aspiring to grow into oak trees, new businesses require a nurturing environment. Entrepreneurs and would-be business owners can find that environment during "Growing Your Business, a conference set for Nov. 2 sponsored by the MSU Product Center.

The conference will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the MSU Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. It will include concurrent sessions, a panel discussion and a keynote address by Barry Moltz, author of the book You Need to be a Little Crazy: the Truth About Starting and Growing Your Business.

Concurrent sessions will focus on topics around marketing, food, business and the bioeconomy. Marketing-related sessions include an overview of major market trends facing the agrifood system, new product development and marketing ideas, and using the MarketMaker system to find customers.

Bioeconomy topics include cellulosic ethanol, on-farm alternative energy systems and a look at the future of the bioeconomy with Steve Pueppke, director of both the MSU Office of Biobased Technologies and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.

Business topics will offer resources for entrepreneurs, a business survival toolkit and a discussion about the importance of entrepreneurial networks with Dan Wyant, president and CEO of the Edward Lowe Foundation.

Food entrepreneurs can explore the basics of food processing, packaging and recipe commercialization, and they can hear a panel of experts discuss special considerations for processing meat, dairy and fruit/vegetable products.

The conference will be capped by a panel discussion of the entrepreneurial future for Michigan’s food, agriculture and natural resources moderated by Chris Peterson, MAES scientist and director of the MSU Product Center, who also holds the Nowlin Chair for Consumer-Responsive Agriculture.

Panel members will be David Hollister, the president and CEO of the Prima Civitas Foundation, a regional community and economic development collaborative based in Lansing; Tim Young, president and chef of Food for Thought, a northern Michigan-based organic foods company that uses organic and wild-harvested agricultural products that it grows or purchases from local farmers; and Dick VandeVusse, president of Ag Solutions, Inc., a Gladstone-based biodiesel manufacturing company.

The registration fee is $95 for the first person from a business and $80 for each additional registrant from the same business. After Oct. 15, the fee is $125 per person (no discount for added attendees from the same company).

To learn more, call the Product Center at 517-432-4608 or visit the conference Web page.

MSU Receives National Sustainability Award

Michigan State University has received a national leadership award in recognition of its efforts to promote sustainability on campus.

At its annual meeting, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) gave MSU the Campus Sustainability Leadership Award for schools with enrollment of more than 7,500 students.

Terry Link, director of the MSU Office of Campus Sustainability, said the university’s growing commitment to sustainability is what helped it earn the prestigious award.

"We have adopted environmental stewardship as a major component of our campus vision," Link said. "For example, we have committed to 2 percent annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through our participation in the Chicago Climate Exchange."

The Chicago Climate Exchange is North America’s only, and the world’s first, greenhouse gas emission registry, reduction and trading system for all six greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride.

Other examples of the university’s commitment to sustainability include:

A commitment to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for new buildings. Those standards are nationally accepted benchmarks for design, construction and operation of so-called "green" buildings.
The lowest electrical consumption per square foot among Big Ten universities.
MSU’s wide variety of academic programs and research initiatives related to sustainability. In addition, five times more courses on sustainability were offered this year than in 2000, and a new sustainability specialization is now being drafted.

Link added that MSU received the award because it looks at more than just environmental issues in sustainability.

"Sustainability is about relationships and responsibilities such as humans to the natural world and to each other across the human family with a due consideration for the generations that follow," Link said. "Our highly regarded sustainability reports have taken great care at trying to be mindful of those relationships and balancing them with a long-term view."

MSU was selected from more than 20 applicants for the award.

"We had a very competitive pool of applicants this year, so winning one of these awards is a major achievement," said Tom Kimmerer, executive director of the AASHE.