Doctoral Dissertation Research: Nutrient Pollution, Riverine Mud Investment, and Environmental Governance

博士论文研究：养分污染、河道泥浆投资与环境治理

• 批准号: 2017729
• 负责人: Andrea Ballestero
• 金额: $ 2.52万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-01-15 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2017729&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Nutrient; Pollution

The incorporation of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous into agricultural fertilizing practices over the last century has enabled a dramatic increase in both the scale and efficiency of agricultural production. An additional consequence, however, has been an increase in the pressure placed upon local ecosystems to absorb the excess leaching of such nutrients from agricultural fields. This phenomenon, referred to as nutrient pollution, has notably been found to significantly threaten the health of critical freshwater supplies as excess nutrients can encourage the growth of harmful algae blooms which release harmful toxins to both human and nonhuman populations. As a result, there has been recent scientific and legal investment in riverine mud located on the periphery of industrial farmlands, which mediate the transference of nutrients from fields to waterways in critical, albeit little understood ways. This project, which supports the training of a graduate student in anthropology in the methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, investigates how scientific and legal framings of riverine mud create a new tool for confronting the problem of nutrient pollution and the consequences of such a tool for local and national health and governance.Through participant observation, interviews, focus groups, ethnographic film elicitation, archival research, and the creation of a regional-specific historical database of the social and environmental significance of riverine mud, the investigators will examine the practical, scientific, and bureaucratic work carried out by state-funded scientists and policy makers to transform riverine mud into a valuable resource for environmental governance. Following such practices across scientific field sites in farmlands near major freshwater supplies, laboratories where nutrient pollution is studied, and offices where nutrient pollution policy is created, this research aims to clarify the technical complexities of environmental governance practices more broadly. Additionally, by focusing on the specific material of riverine mud and its relation to the problem of the nutrient pollution governance practices, this research aims to better understand how specific material and historical concerns inflect contemporary state efforts to govern in ways which are both environmentally sustainable and economically viable.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

上个世纪，氮、磷等营养物质融入农业施肥实践，使得农业生产规模和效率大幅提高。然而，另一个后果是当地生态系统吸收农田过量沥滤的此类营养物质的压力增加。这种被称为营养物污染的现象已被发现严重威胁关键淡水供应的健康，因为过量的营养物会促进有害藻类的生长，从而向人类和非人类群体释放有害毒素。因此，最近对位于工业农田外围的河流泥浆进行了科学和合法的投资，这些泥浆以关键但鲜为人知的方式介导了养分从田地到水道的转移。该项目支持对人类学研究生进行实证、科学数据收集和分析方法的培训，研究河流泥浆的科学和法律框架如何创造一种新的工具来应对营养物污染问题，以及这种工具对地方和国家健康和治理的后果。通过参与观察、访谈、焦点小组、民族志电影启发、档案研究以及创建特定于区域的历史 通过建立河泥社会和环境意义数据库，调查人员将研究国家资助的科学家和政策制定者为将河泥转化为环境治理的宝贵资源而开展的实际、科学和官僚工作。本研究遵循主要淡水供应源附近农田的科学现场、研究营养物污染的实验室以及制定营养物污染政策的办公室的此类实践，旨在更广泛地阐明环境治理实践的技术复杂性。此外，通过关注河流泥浆的具体物质及其与营养物污染治理实践问题的关系，本研究旨在更好地了解具体的物质和历史问题如何影响当代国家以环境可持续和经济可行的方式进行治理的努力。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。