March 2007
Environment News Tips
Sustainability Talks at Chemical Society Meeting
These UC Davis faculty members presented research on topics of environmental sustainability at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago on March 25-29, 2007. More information about conference presentations is available online at <http://acswebcontent.acs.org/nationalmeeting/chicago2007/home.html>
Tom Tomich
Sustainable Development for the Tropics
Food system "sustainability" attains practical meaning in the context of specific places, and the problems and opportunities faced by real people. The tropical rainforest margins -- where farming and ranching are expanding and markets for timber, beef and tree crops drive many choices -- are a revealing setting for sustainability studies, according to Tom Tomich, director of UC Davis' Agricultural Sustainability Institute and the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP). Tomich suggests that integrated natural resource management has proven to be a fruitful approach to the multiple dimensions of sustainability and can be used to identify general patterns and assess tradeoffs among human development, agronomic issues and environmental concerns.
Contact:
Tom Tomich, (530) 752-2379, cell (530) 574-7234,
.
Higher Education for a Sustainable Future
What is new today that
generates so much general interest in sustainability and particular
interest in food systems? Evidence is mounting that human activities
now rank among the most powerful forces shaping the planet, notes Tom
Tomich, director of UC Davis' Agricultural Sustainability Institute
and the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
(SAREP). Tomich will discuss the practical meaning of sustainability
and which institutions and approaches are effective in addressing
sustainability challenges. He also will discuss what capabilities
individuals need to contribute to the search for sustainable
solutions, and what the implications are for higher education.
Contact:
Tom Tomich, (530) 752-2379, cell (530) 574-7234,
.
Sustainable Biofuel Production
While the potential of biofuels as
a renewable energy source has caught the imagination of the nation,
it remains to be seen just how sustainable biofuel production is in
its impact on agriculture and the environment, cautions plant
scientist Steve Kaffka, director of UC Davis' Center for Integrated
Farming. Most estimates imply that soils and farms can sustain
current and, perhaps, even higher crop yields needed for biofuels,
and that it will be possible to recycle the increasing amount of
residues generated by biofuel production. Other estimates suggest
that low-quality land can be brought into production to economically
grow the grains, oilseed crops and perennial grasses that will be
needed for biofuels. Kaffka notes that models for predicting outcomes
are always less complex than the reality they represent and that the
systems modeled are always subject to unanticipated changes. In the
case of agriculture and the environment, such changes may involve the
climate, soil quality, diseases, pests and adverse social or
environmental impacts.
Contact:
Contact: Steve Kaffka, (530) 752-8108,
.
Media contact:
Lyra Halprin, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu
