Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableHow Historic Injustice Towards Bald Cypress Trees Contributed to Coastal Vulnerability In The Mississippi River Delta(American Society for Environmental History, 2022 Conference, 2022)In this study we build on recent scholarship which links injustice and vulnerability and extend these framings to the nonhuman world. We examine the environmental history of the lower Mississippi River Delta in relation to the life history of a central nonhuman character – the bald cypress tree (Taxodium distichum). Through this history we identify instances of injustice against bald cypress trees and highlight overlapping injustices with human communities. Our work shows connections between these injustices and link them to the impact on coastal vulnerability. These findings support a design framing which operates from the premise that diminishing justice leads to diminishing resilience. Consequently, we suggest that approaches to design for coastal resilience must seek to ensure just outcomes for humans and nonhumans.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMemorialising Aquatic Extinction: The Transformative Potential of Multispecies Grief(Blue Extinction Symposium, Sheffield Animal Studies Research Centre (ShARC), The University of Sheffield, 2022)The climate-driven extinction of giant kelp forests (Macrocystis pyrifera) on Tasmania’s east coast may be imminent. Tasmania is a “global warming hotspot.” Waters along its east coast are warming at a significantly higher rate than the global average. For many aquatic species living there, existential damage has already begun. The warming water has killed 95% of Tasmania’s giant kelp forests during the last 80 years. These forests are ‘ecosystem engineers which provide hone for many species. Their decline results in the devastating loss of habitat for many endemic species that are thus facing extinction. In this project, we aim to identify approaches to witnessing, grieving, and memorialising their loss. To do this, we examine material, cultural, and scientific traces of past aquatic extinctions and endangerments in Tasmania. We begin with Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis). Colonial settlers hunted these whales for their fat, which lit city streets as far away as London and drove Hobart’s economic establishment. This hunting led to the near extinction of these whales in less than 100 years. We also discuss the semi aquatic Lake Pedder earthworm (Hypolimnus pedderensis) and the freshwater fish Pedder galaxias (Galaxias pedderensis). In 1972, the Tasmanian government constructed a hydroelectric facility which extinguished the entirety of the earthworm species in one event by flooding their only habitat. The same event caused the Pedder galaxias to become extinct in the wild. Similarly, habitat damage from oyster and scallop dredging overwhelmed the smooth handfish (Sympterichthys unipennis), which has not been seen since 1802 and was officially declared extinct in 2020. We discuss our findings in application to the disappearing kelp forests and consider ways to grieve their potential extinction. We speculate that such grieving species might support transformative struggles in several political areas. This narrative positions the giant kelp ecosystems at the ‘front line’ of climate change and considers what can be learned from their experience.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableForests, Flowers, and Flames: Exploring the Potential of Commercial Beekeeping to Support Forest Stewardship in Tasmania(The Second International Environmental Humanities Conference: “Critical Animal and Plant Studies,” co-organized by the Environmental Humanities Center and the Department of English Language and Literature at Cappadocia University, Turkey, 2022)Commercial honeybee cultivation in Tasmania poses opportunities to support stronger stewardship of forest ecosystems. Ecologists have conducted a small number of studies to determine the negative impacts of exotic honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) on native Tasmanian ecosystems, which produced mixed results. However, researchers have not examined the potential for the honey industry to foster a positive role in forest stewardship. In this study, we identify opportunities for commercial beekeepers to incorporate forest stewardship practices in their work. We follow a Tasmanian beekeeper for three weeks during key honey flows and observe several examples of unwitting forest stewardship, which managers could leverage to enhance forest protection. We point out that commercial beekeepers often advocate preservation of old-growth forest, because of its supply of the endemic Leatherwood tree (Eucryphia lucida) - a species which contributes up to 70% of the state’s honey production. In recent years, climate shifts have exacerbated the severity of bushfires and caused unprecedented burning in rainforest ecosystems, posing further threats to Leatherwood supply. We observe an example of a beekeeper inadvertently assisting with bushfire response, in which a disused forestry track maintained for apiary access enabled firefighters to intercept and extinguish a rainforest fire. We note that apiarists possess a unique lens into seasonal ecosystem variations and shifts and show ow this information is embedded in the honey collected by foraging honeybees. These examples show the potential to improve forest protection through collaboration between beekeepers and forest managers.
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ItemMore-than-human Infrastructure for Just Resilience: Learning from, Working with, and Designing for Bald Cypress Trees (Taxodium distichum) in the Mississippi River Delta(White Horse Press, 2021-09-01)Humans design infrastructure for human needs, with limited regard for the needs of nonhumans such as animals and plants. Humans also often fail to recognise nonhuman lifeforms such as trees as fellow engineers designers, or architects, even though the contribution of trees to ecosystem services is well established and their right to justice ought to be recognised. Studies have shown that flood-control infrastructure near the Mississippi River inadvertently left Southern Louisiana more vulnerable to coastal threats. We examine this characteristic outcome and identify infrastructural injustices in multispecies communities. Based on theories in philosophy and design supported by historical analyses, we defend the proposals to extend 1) the understanding of resilience to include more-than-human communities; and 2) the notion of justice to include non-human stakeholders. The reframing in more-than-human terms is already under way in a variety of disciplines. However, these efforts rarely extend into considerations of practical design and have attracted criticism for insufficient engagement with historical processes and the accumulations of power and responsibility. To illustrate these injustices, we trace the history of bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) in the Mississippi River Delta and show how infrastructure impacted the trees. This analysis demonstrates that designs that do not consider the needs of vulnerable stakeholders can cause harm in multispecies communities. In response, we propose that humans can work to improve infrastructural resilience by including humans and nonhumans as collaborators.