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Holding on to Our Stories, Holding on to Our Freedom: Examining Storytelling Within Truelove Seeds
No full text;'/The United States��� seed industry changes from the 1700s to 1800s led to patenting regulations in the 1900s that have transformed the industry into a neoliberal seed economy. As a resistive stance to these changes, seed-saving communities have grown since the 1980s contesting the industry���s impact on farmers��� autonomy and a shift in the diversity of heritage seeds. This dissertation aims to understand storytelling in a Food Justice Organization (FJO) ��� Truelove Seeds. FJOs are grassroots initiatives that advocate for equal access to safe and nutritious food while considering food production chains.
The purpose is to examine the role of storytelling in building and sustaining a network aimed at cultural and biodiversity preservation through two questions: How are seeds present and influential in stories mobilizing collective action? How does Truelove Seeds emerge as a distinct profit-generating enterprise through the choice points that punctuate the organization���s seed stories?
Data for this qualitative study includes social media posts, blog posts, videos, and radio podcast episodes. For analysis, I employ Bruno Latour���s actor-network theory (ANT) ��� a tool for studying networks while including humans and nonhumans; and Luhmann���s social system theory ��� which merges a consideration of the interpretation of nonhuman objects as communication, based on actions they influence. Additionally, Ganz���s public narrative framework helps to locate moments in the data where members are mobilized for action. To interpret, I use narrative thematic and visual analyses, which are significant in helping to preserve the implied experiences and meanings from the data in the form of stories.
Results of this study reveal that seeds anchor connections; friendships; resistance; cross-cultural connections; connections to ancestral history; and foster a sense of belonging. This proves the network���s versatility and affirms the co-existence of human and non-human species. Truelove Seeds engages in the choice to unite under shared values; representing diverse contexts; and inviting participation, which proves a dual-purpose approach to creating stories. This work is aimed at providing useful practices and guidelines for groups or practitioners doing the work of cultural and biodiversity preservation and extends insight into using stories as useful vessels in growing food systems communication scholarship
Advancing Stand Surveys Using Remote Sensing Techniques to Upscale Water Use From Trees to Stand Level
No full textQuantifying sap flux density (Js) and whole tree water use in forests require high replications, are labor intensive, and provide poor predictors at the stand and landscape scale. Currently, the world is experiencing continuous changes in land use, and the environment, which play an integral role in influencing the soil-plant-atmospheric interactions that affect the linkages between forest and water resources. Accurately modeling and predicting the Js and water use of the forest is critical to improving the understanding of those linkages from tree to stand level. The goal of this study is to improve the upscaling of sap flux density to whole tree water use between six forest metrics across two different age pine-dominated forests in the Houston, TX San Jacinto Watershed. Field experiments were conducted in two mixed pine-dominated (naturally regenerated loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and planted shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) forests located in Montgomery, TX from April to November 2022. Pine trees in both sites were equipped with thermal dissipation sap flow sensors (n=31) to estimate sap flux density (Js, kg m^2 day^-1), whole tree water use (L day^-1), and stand transpiration (mm day^-1). The forest metrics diameter at breast height (DBH), leaf area index (LAI), and crown structure for each site were obtained from mobile lidar scanning (MLS). Several regression models were developed through different approaches using 6 tree metrics and explained 65% to 77% of the variance associated with whole tree water use. The results of this study showed that when including mobile lidar with sap flow sensor, prediction models can accurately and efficiently estimate whole tree water use at the individual tree and plot level in two different age pine-dominated forests
Analytical Theory of Optical Grating Eigenmodes and Bound States in the Continuum
No full textThe study of photonic structures and crystals has been dominated by numerical methods such as Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) and FDTD simulations. We present an analytical theory of optical-grating eigenmodes and bound states in the continuum which opens a new powerful approach to the analysis of electromagnetic fields in photonic structures and crystals.
We find explicit analytical formulas for the optical eigenmodes propagating in a lamellar grating for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations. Furthermore, we analytically calculate the mutual transformation of the wave���s spatial harmonics due to diffraction throughout the course of propagation in the grating, as well as the matrices of the eigenmode reflectance and transmittance at the grating boundaries. Finally, we develop a theory for the non-adiabatic transformation of the eigenmodes in inhomogeneous gratings, describing the effects which go beyond the geometrical optics approximation of the eigenmodes. We show that in a transition layer for a thick non-lamellar grating, such effects occur due to mode coupling of just a few lower-band eigenmodes. This approach allows one to find the overall optical response of the non-lamellar gratings fully and efficiently.
We explain the origin of bound states in the continuum (BICs) in a planar grating waveguide, specifically, a mechanism for the formation of degenerate BICs. The mechanism to engender a BIC in the vicinity of the degenerate frequency between two infinite-grating eigenmodes (which we define as a degenerate BIC) is special and could be misinterpreted by numerical methods like RCWA. The degenerate BIC is formed by an anti-phased coherent superposition of two crossing infinite-grating eigenmodes both of which possess a mixed parity and experience parity symmetry breaking as the frequency scans through the degeneracy point. In this case a cutoff from the radiation-loss channel and extremely high-Q narrow resonance is achieved due to the destructive interference of the two crossing eigenmodes. Implementation of such a mechanism can be instructive for designing BICs in other photonic crystals and structures
A Journey to Healing: Women's Empowerment After Mass Killings
Get PDFIn the wake of Rwanda's genocide, a remarkable shift occurred in villages that experienced intense military and army violence. Women, stepping into the void left by conflict, emerged as leaders, reshaping their communities. This brief explains how female leadership spurred significant improvements in welfare, reduced violence, and influenced gender norms. These results provide a compelling case for empowering women in governance and household roles globally
