ENVS News
USU Names Linda Nagel as Dean for Quinney College of Natural Resources
Linda Nagel will be joining Utah State University as dean of the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources in August.
Deseret News: Why a dry Chilean lagoon matters to the future of the Great Salt Lake
Lake Aculeo, located in Chile, can serve as a cautionary tale, according to Will Munger, a Ph.D. student in ENVS.
UPR's UnDisciplined: what will happen to Utah's 'greatest snow' when there's no more snow?
Utah's title of "greatest snow" is at risk due to climate change. Listen to Jordan Smith and Patrick Belmont discuss this issue on UPR's UnDisciplined.
USU Moab Researcher Looking Into Previous Park Visitation Research to See How It Compares to Now
In 1990-1991, USU Moab professor Wayne Freimund participated in a research project at Arches National Park dealing with visitor management; and now he will be reexamining that research to see how their thinking and findings from the past compare to the re...
Change of Scenery: New Research Outlines How Recreation Will Shift with Climate Change in the West
New research from the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism works to define what, specifically, the changing climate will mean for the future of outdoor recreation in the West.
Work from Peter Howe Featured in UN Report
Peter Howe’s research was cited this week in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. This years’ IPCC report focuses on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability related to climate change.
Hot on the Presses: Capturing an Audience During High Heat Emergencies
It's hard to get heard on social media, even when the message is a warning from the National Weather Service about excessive heat. New research explores strategies for better dissemination of weather-emergency messaging.
View from The End: Tainter interviewed on Breaking Down: Collapse podcast
Cache Valley-based podcasters, USU alumni, and ‘anti-alarmists’ Kory and Kellan tapped Dr. Joseph Tainter for his expertise on the collapse of society (spoiler alert—no zombies. It’s tied to fossil fuels, ecosystem sustainability and the complexity of soc...
Can't Solve Today's Problems With Yesterday's Solutions
New research from the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism explains why a recreation-ecosystem perspective is necessary to resolve current issues in recreation management and presents a new...
Crabtree Wins Hyperion High Performance Computing Innovation Award
Boundary-pushing research led by Stefani Crabtree and a team of researchers that used high-performance computer (HPC) modeling to map ancient pedestrian routes is the recipient of the High Performance Computing Innovations Excellence Award.
Tourism's Footprint: USU Moab Researcher Looking Into Carbon Footprint of Tourism to Arches
Using anonymous mobile device data, USU Researcher Wayne Freimund hopes to determine the carbon footprint of tourism to Utah’s Arches National Park. Through this project, he’ll be able calculate average miles per trip to the park, and from that determine ...
A Picture Worth a Thousand Words: Identifying Landscape Preferences Using Social Media Algorithms
USU researchers explored the utility of using a system that automatically classifies content from social media photographs to identify preferred outdoor landscapes.
USU's Chris Luecke to Leave Post as Natural Resources Dean
Chris Luecke, dean of Utah State University’s S. J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR), announced he will step down from his leadership post, effective July 2022.
Dr. Roslynn McCann, a 2021 Green Business Honoree.
Utah Business and Rocky Mountain Power honor Utah companies and individuals who are making strides toward the state's environmental sustainability. Dr. Roslynn McCann was one of this year's honorees.
Crucial FEWSION Episode 9: Net Primary Production – From A Pixel to the Planet
In Episode 9 of Crucial FEWSION we hear about the latest research on how Humans Appropriate that Net Primary Production, called HANPP for short, from researchers Christopher Lant, Suman Paudel, Kaeli Mueller, and Gustavo Ovando Montejo.
Steep But Not Deep: New Research Chronicles how Utah Ski Resorts are Adapting to Climate Change
New research chronicles how Utah ski resort managers are exploring new ways to do business as climate change continues to affect the ski season.
The Road More Traveled: Predicting Trail Choices based on OHV Drivers' Motivations
Off-highway vehicle recreation attracts a variety of people with diverse motivations for participating. Newly published research shows that those motivations influence routes they choose.
Banishing bias: New tool offers fairer research metrics across disciplines, genders and experience
Stefani Crabtree, assistant professor of social-environmental modeling in USU’s Department of Environment and Society, and colleagues have developed a tool to assess research performance more fairly; one that they hope will level the playing field.
New Report Advocates for Integrated Earth Systems Science Initiative at NSF, with Input from USU Professor Courtney Flint
To better understand the complex interactions between the natural world and society, the National Science Foundation needs a next-generation Earth systems science initiative, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, ...
Rising Temperatures Reshape When and How Much People Get Outdoors on Public Lands
By mid-century, once dominant winter sports may slowly be replaced by activities less dependent on perfect winter conditions—less skiing and more winter mountain biking, for instance—according to recently released research about changing patterns of recre...
When the Going Gets Tough: NSF Grant Awarded to Build Resilient Communities
Utah State University researchers Courtney Flint (right) and Jessica Schad (left) are participating in a new $15M National Science Foundation-funded project to help communities and ecosystems become more resilient when they face complex challenges like dr...
Stone Age Foodies: Comparing Ancient and Modern Food Choices with Isotopes
New research from Stefani Crabtree shows that modern subsistence diets, and the diets of ancient people, were much broader than what most people eat today.
Redlining, Housing Segregation and Environmental Pollution in the Pioneer Park Neighborhood (and Beyond)
NR honors student Emma Jones, and ENVS faculty, Dr. Mariya Shcheglovitova worked with public historians at the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement to write a blog post highlighting their research on redlining, housing segregation, and env...
Life Paths to Leading Systems-Level Change: Higher Education's Pitfalls and Potential
Dr. Rosylyn McCann recently published research focusing on the inadequacies of universities in preparing individuals for engaging in systems-level change. Click to read the article in the journal, Sustainability and Climate Change.
Ancient Superhighways: Mapping Prehistoric Travel Routes Using Archeological Modeling
The research team created avatar programming for early human travelers and gave them the realistic goal of staying alive. These modeled humans were drawn to water and other landmarks, while the calorie outputs of their efforts were measured.
Recognizing QCNR Undergraduates in Research 2021
We would like to recognize and congratulate our outstanding QCNR undergraduate students who are actively engaged in research.
Charles Romesburg,1938 - 2021
Dr. Charles Romesburg passed away on April 18, 2021, at the age of 83. He is, and will be, missed.
QCNR 2021 Awards Recipients
Congratulations to all the recipients of S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR) Awards for 2021!
QCNR 2021 Spring News Roundup
Catch up with what our faculty and staff have been doing at the Quinney College of Natural Resources over the past 6 months.
Six Feet Apart at Arches: Observing Social Distancing at a Busy National Park
While COVID-19 brewed over the summer of 2020, venues like schools, sports stadiums and theme parks shuttered their doors. Going stir-crazy at home, people desperate for fresh air and exercise headed outside to parks and protected areas for a change of sc...
'Wildfires In The West' With Paul Rogers And Larissa Yocom On Wednesday's Access Utah
Listen to the UPR interview with Larissa Yocom and Paul Rogers concerning wildfires in the west.
Celebrating the History of Women in the QCNR
This video, created by undergraduate students in our college, takes a look into the history of women in the Quinney College of Natural Resources.
In Memoriam of Nat Frazer 1949-2020
We were all saddened to learn that Nat Frazer, Dean of the Quinney College from 2006 to 2011, passed away from complications of Hodgkins Disease this past Monday.
Fees drive away low-income families from outdoor places like Bridal Veil Falls, researchers say
A developer eyeing Bridal Veil Falls for a new tram and private drug rehab lodge says he wants to make the iconic Utah County site more accessible to the public, with a “reasonable” fee. But those who research outdoor recreation have found any fee, no mat...
USU Doctoral Student Named Dark Sky Defender for Work in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
With a push to conserve natural resources, one that is often overlooked or taken for granted is a resource that can be enjoyed after every sunset. For Utah State University Environment and Society doctoral student Iree Wheeler, it was something she worked...
How Do You Know When Society Is About to Fall Apart?
Joseph Tainter is interviewed by the NY Times about the current COVID-19 pandemic and how it ties in with some of his early career research.
The Utah High School Clean Air Poster Contest
Roslynn Brain and Edwin Stafford involved over 800 youth in a Utah High School Clean Air Poster Contest. PBS featured this project earlier this year. Currently, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts is displaying some of this work on a billboard located along 300 ...
Octopus’s garden under the blade: Boosting biodiversity increases willingness to pay for offshore wind in the United States
Low carbon energy infrastructure has been controversial for economic, social and environmental reasons: relatively high capital costs compared to fossil fuels; dissatisfaction with who owns the infrastructure; visual impacts; and habitat harm.
Easy to Love, Hard to Manage
National parks are easy to love, but they are harder to take care of.
All Summer Long: Heat Waves and COVID-19
Extreme heat is a growing hazard to public health, causing greater mortality than other hazards like floods, tornadoes and hurricanes in the United States. Yet in 2020, the risks of extreme heat may be magnified even more by the impacts of the coronavirus...
QCNR Supports an Inclusive and Racially Just Society in Cache Valley and Beyond
The S.J. and Jesse E. Quinney College of Natural Resources Dean’s Office affirms the message by USU President Noelle Cockett and the University’s “commitment to inclusion and respect in our Aggie family and in those communities we reach every day.”
Two College of Natural Resources Professors Recognized by the Society for Range Management
Two longtime members of Utah State University’s Department of Environment and Society were honored recently by the Society for Range Management (SRM) for their career achievements in rangeland science and management.
