Ecology
Sustainability
Avocados Become a Global Commodity
Using a telecoupling framework revolving around international trade, this project examines the avocado-producing landscape of Michoacán, Mexico to understand the ecological and social impacts of the increasing demand for avocados across the world. This research integrates land change modeling with ecosystem services and socioeconomic analysis to gain insights on how to make the avocado supply chain more sustainable. Prof. Arima, Prof. Young, and Audrey Denvir (PhD student, Geography) lead this project.
Human-Environment Interactions
Hurricane Magnitude and Impacts in the Caribbean Basin
The 2017 North Atlantic hurricane season induced record-breaking economic losses and caused hundreds of fatalities, and for many represents a presage of what the future holds under warmer tropical sea surface temperatures. ESHI group members Prof. Ramos-Scharrón and Prof. Arima have been leading efforts to document the hydrologic and geomorphic magnitude of those events within the Caribbean Basin. This work relies on the assistance of both graduate and undergraduate students at UT including: Danielle Ruffe (Masters Student, Geography), Caroline Garnett (BA, Geography), Abby Guidry (BA, Env. Sciences-Geography), and Briella Vest (BS, Chemistry and Sustainability). Ongoing work is documenting tropical cyclone flooding, sediment mobilization, and fluvial geomorphology signatures.
