Uncovering the Socio-Physical Drivers of Terrestrial Nitrogen (N) Cycling

Critical Ecology Team: Dr. Suzanne Pierre, Kunal Palawat, Amy Sahud

External Collaborators: N/A

Description: This project seeks to determine how scientific studies categorize and describe the "drivers" (i.e. human activities and related environmental changes) of increasing reactive N pools and fluxes. We argue that the way scientists describe these drivers is limited to the immediate/proximate perturbations (e.g. "fossil fuel burning") without accounting for the social processes regulating those drivers (e.g. rate of new oil and gas drilling on indigenous land relative to annual fossil fuel emissions). We are conducting a meta-analysis of the literature to showcase how this analytical bias obscures the deep critical analysis and social responsibility for N pollution.

Stage: Data collection and analysis; Seeking Funding