Payments for Ecosystem Services
My current work focuses on payments for ecosystem services programs, including projects in Washington State and Costa Rica.
Project Beef
Working with the City of Vancouver and Farmland Advantage, our team analyzed policy options and developed recommendations for both groups to work towards sustainable beef production and consumption.
Chapman, M., LaValle, A., Furey, G., & Chan, K. M. A. (2017). Sustainability beyond city limits: can “greener” beef lighten a city’s Ecological Footprint? Sustainability Science, 1–14. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0423-7 [read online]
Cultural Ecosystem Services and Environmental Values
I have worked for the last several years in Washington State’s Puget Sound region with local partners the Puget Sound Institute and the Snohomish Conservation District to better understand the ways that different groups value and relate to the environment.
Chan, K. M. A., Chapman, M., Chen, C., Enelow, N., Hesselgrave, T., & Klain, S. C. (2015). The Values of Place: Recreation and Cultural Ecosystem Services in Puget Sound. (K. Biedenweg, Ed.) eopugetsound.org. Vancouver, BC.
I joined an ICES working group to develop criteria for culturally significant areas (see Gee et al below). And am currently working on the concept of relational values (see Chan et al below).
Gee, K., Kannen, A., Adlam, R., Brooks, C., Chapman, M., Cormier, R., et al. (2017). Identifying culturally significant areas for marine spatial planning. Ocean & Coastal Management, 136, 139–147. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.11.026
Chan, K. M. A., Balvanera, P., Benessaiah, K., Chapman, M., Díaz, S., Gómez-Baggethun, E., et al. (2016). Opinion: Why protect nature? Rethinking values and the environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(6), 1462–1465. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1525002113
Linking People and Rivers: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Pesticide Use among Farmers in Colombia
2011-2012
For the completion of my Master’s Thesis, I conducted a yearlong investigation into the use of pesticides by smallholder potato farmers in Colombia and the impacts of these pesticides on the aquatic ecosystem. Through interviews and ecotoxicological water quality tests, I analyzed the influences on farmer’s decisions around pesticide use and the effects of these decisions on the local river.
Once Upon a Time in Volcán, Costa Rica: Integrating Values into Watershed Management and Poverty Alleviation
2004-2006
In my four months in the community of Volcán, Costa Rica, I learned of the struggles the community faced. My time in Volcán led to photo exhibits, a workshop discussing the issues and a poster at the undergraduate research symposium. I also wrote and published a paper outlining the steps needed to overcome their struggles.