I am applying to an interdisciplinary PhD program and am really interested in studying how ecosystem services can help in the area of poverty alleviation. I have nothing totally concrete yet as far as what I want to really dedicate my time to, and am wondering if others have any insight into the biggest open questions in the field?
A couple of ideas I've thought of are 1. what factors really make a project "work" and not work, such as when foreign investment dollars are withdrawn? 2. How to get wetlands included in CA's cap and trade law for C sequestration since new studies show that temperate wetlands specifically sequester even more C than previously thought (maybe than forests? It was work by Bill Mitsch who is pretty well respected - he pioneered ecological engineering). 3. There's a cool new project run through Rice University's SSPEED Center that is setting up a "design a computer-based platform to allow the buying and selling of ecological services on the Texas Coast. " which is really interesting because it's being done outside of a sort of legal mandate to do so (such as CA's cap and trade law). I don't have a question related to this yet, but am meeting with some of the folks involved next month. Anyway... would love to hear thoughts by others. I will be reading more and more papers in this field, but again, any insight is much appreciated! Wendee Wendee Nicole, M.S. Wildlife Ecology ~ Freelance Writer * Photographer * Bohemian Web: [ http://www.wendeenicole.com ] Blog: [ http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com ] Twitter: twitter.com/bohemianone Email: [email protected] Write about science & the environment for magazines ~ Online Classes start Aug 3 & Sep 14, 2013
