If you find yourself in a longleaf pine savanna, remember to look down. Although this habitat is named for the dominant tree species, most of the biodiversity is in the understory. In one square meter on the ground – which is probably smaller than the hood of your car – there can be more than…
Tag: research spotlight
Meet Social Science Scholar Alyssa Burns
As part of my SSS project, I am producing a White Paper on both the need for counseling and the lack of access to services available to domestic violence survivors. The White Paper will be given to my representatives, Rick Scott, Marco Rubio and Greg Stuebe. I made contact with Representative Stuebe’s office, who expressed…
Dissertation Spotlight: Educational Choice and Economic Activity
Fiscal policy rules for the funding of higher education impact single household decisions on post-secondary higher education. This subsequently affects economic output, growth, and income distribution. The researcher hones in on the angle of macroeconomics to examine possible effects for a large-scale look at the economy. There is a link between economic growth and the…
Research Spotlight: Opportunities and Challenges of Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Urban Applications
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly known as ‘drones’, are emerging technology with extensive applications in various domains and industries. The unique ability of UAS to collect imagery at user-defined spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions offers new possibilities for urban applications that require rapid mapping, assessment, or management. Recognizing a new frontier of urban applications emerging…
Research Spotlight: Mariculture in Australia
As the global population grows and people (on average) become wealthier, there is a greater demand for animal-based foods. However, expanding food production from terrestrial agriculture and wild fisheries to meet this rising demand faces resource limitations, such as limited freshwater supplies, and negative environmental impacts including biodiversity loss, deforestation, and increased greenhouse gas emissions….
Research Spotlight: Public Purchasing in the European Union
Currently, public purchasing by European entities accounts for approximately 14% of GDP. Within the European Union (EU) and larger European Economic Area (EEA), numerous performance measures are used to assess public procurement processes across countries. The goal of these performance measures, in part, is to understand how efficient and effective certain processes—and thus certain countries—are…
Research Spotlight: District-Level Life Expectancy in Germany
Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important and direct measures of a population’s health and well-being. Inequality in life expectancy across societal groups is a key indicator of deeper social and economic inequalities. Information about differences in life expectancy across places is especially useful for policy makers who need to direct health…
Time to dial down the rhetoric and address Tallahassee’s very real problems
This article originally appeared in The Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee’s public and private leaders need to go to their respective yoga mats and take a deep breath. The vitriol, indignation and anger dogging current public discourse over city policy is doing little to instill confidence among its citizenry. It also distracts community leaders from long overdue conversations…
Research Spotlight: Gentrification in Saint Paul, Minnesota
I am a PhD candidate in Geography at FSU. My research has taken a journey on its own. At Syracuse University, where I completed my Masters in Geography, my work was situated in the South Asian context, in rural South India to be exact. In my Masters work, I was studying the impact of corporate…
In The Heights Celebrates First-Gen Americans
This article originally appeared in The Independent Institute. The unexpected and broad-based protests erupting in Cuba are a poignant reminder of the lost liberty experienced by people under authoritarian regimes. The opposite could be said for the movie In The Heights, the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical. If the dissent on Cuba’s streets show…
Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions 