Migration of members of ethnic groups has a tremendous impact on the host society, especially when the stream of migrants represents a a sizable portion of the population.  As the majority population has emigrated from formerly manufacturing cities, international migrants have taken their place.  Central Maine has become a destination for African refugees, first Somalies, then people fleeing from other war-torn areas.  The impact has been fascinating to watch.  Lewiston, Maine was already a bi-cultural city with Yankees and Franco Americans.

Sacred space is at the cultural core of societies.  What we define as sacred speaks volumes about the values and social relationships which are most dear.  Places in the natural environment, such as the Black Hills of South Dakota are sacred to one culture, but used by others in ways that do not show respect for the sacredness of the place.  We assume that Stonehenge was a sacred place to the socieity which built it, but now it is treated as a sacred space in ways that are meant to respect the past.

Many protected areas in the United States abut land held by religious organizations.  This project seeks to investigate the impact of this spatial relationship has on the protected nature of land in and around the National Parks and Forests.

Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are the primary tool for describing the human Earth system—the sources of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) and short-lived species (SLS) emissions as well as land use and land cover and the system experiencing impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Earth system models (ESMs) are the primary scientific tools for examining the climate, biogeophysical, and biogeochemical impacts of changes to the radiative properties of the Earth’s atmosphere.