Browsing by Author "Betsill, Michele M., committee member"

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Open Access
Factors contributing to the adaptive capacity of South Platte River Basin water providers and implications for regional vulnerability
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Runyon, Amber N., author; Ojima, Dennis, advisor; Arabi, Mazdak, committee member; Betsill, Michele M., committee member; Boone, Randall B., committee member; McNeeley, Shannon, committee member
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Open Access
Interactions of arctic clouds, radiation, and sea ice in present-day and future climates
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Burt, Melissa Ann, author; Randall, David A., advisor; Kreidenweis, Sonia M., committee member; Kummerow, Christian D., committee member; Betsill, Michele M., committee member
The Arctic climate system involves complex interactions among the atmosphere, land surface, and the sea-ice-covered Arctic Ocean. Observed changes in the Arctic have emerged and projected climate trends are of significant concern. Surface warming over the last few decades is nearly double that of the entire Earth. Reduced sea-ice extent and volume, changes to ecosystems, and melting permafrost are some examples of noticeable changes in the region. This work is aimed at improving our understanding of how Arctic clouds interact with, and influence, the surface budget, how clouds influence the distribution of sea ice, and the role of downwelling longwave radiation (DLR) in climate change. In the first half of this study, we explore the roles of sea-ice thickness and downwelling longwave radiation in Arctic amplification. As the Arctic sea ice thins and ultimately disappears in a warming climate, its insulating power decreases. This causes the surface air temperature to approach the temperature of the relatively warm ocean water below the ice. The resulting increases in air temperature, water vapor and cloudiness lead to an increase in the surface downwelling longwave radiation, which enables a further thinning of the ice. This positive ice-insulation feedback operates mainly in the autumn and winter. A climate-change simulation with the Community Earth System Model shows that, averaged over the year, the increase in Arctic DLR is three times stronger than the increase in Arctic absorbed solar radiation at the surface. The warming of the surface air over the Arctic Ocean during fall and winter creates a strong thermal contrast with the colder surrounding continents. Sea-level pressure falls over the Arctic Ocean and the high-latitude circulation reorganizes into a shallow "winter monsoon." The resulting increase in surface wind speed promotes stronger surface evaporation and higher humidity over portions of the Arctic Ocean, thus reinforcing the ice-insulation feedback. In the second half of this study, we explore the effects of super-parameterization on the Arctic climate by evaluating a number of key atmospheric characteristics that strongly influence the regional and global climate. One aspect in particular that we examine is the occurrence of Arctic weather states. Observations show that during winter the Arctic exhibits two preferred and persistent states — a radiatively clear and an opaquely cloudy state. These distinct regimes are influenced by the phase of the clouds and affect the surface radiative fluxes. We explore the radiative and microphysical effects of these Arctic clouds and the influence on these regimes in two present-day climate simulations. We compare simulations performed with the Community Earth System Model, and its super-parameterized counterpart (SP-CESM). We find that the SP-CESM is able to better reproduce both of the preferred winter states, compared to CESM, and has an overall more realistic representation of the Arctic climate.
Open Access
Responsible exits and social outcomes of conservation philanthropy
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Le Cornu, Elodie, author; Gruby, Rebecca L., advisor; Betsill, Michele M., committee member; Lavoie, Anna, committee member; Basurto, Xavier, committee member
Environmental philanthropy is witnessing unprecedented growth. In recent years, several foundations have invested billions of dollars to solve environmental issues such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and sustainable resource management (Betsill et al., 2021; Mufson, 2021; Greenfield, 2021). Ocean philanthropy has seen a particularly significant increase, with ocean conservation funding more than doubling over the past decade, exceeding USD 1 billion in 2022 (CEA, 2023). Within this landscape, small-scale fisheries are estimated to receive $10-$23 million annually (Rare, 2016). While philanthropic funding has contributed to significant progress in conservation, there is growing scrutiny regarding its efficiency, legitimacy, and the concentration of power in the hands of a few billionaires influencing public policies. This dissertation answers the growing calls for opening the black box of philanthropy (Rogers, 2015; Goss, 2016; Skocpol, 2016; Betsill et al., 2021; Gruby et al., 2021). Specifically, a critical aspect of conservation philanthropy that remains unexplored is the process of exiting and the consequences for grantees and communities. The impetus for the three manuscripts that make up this dissertation is the Packard Foundation's exit from the Western Pacific region after twenty years of funding marine conservation. Through a multi-scalar approach, this dissertation explores responsible exits and the social outcomes of conservation philanthropy. Case studies across global, regional/national, and local governance scales contribute a comprehensive analysis that is theoretically informed and empirically grounded of the way foundations navigate exits and the social outcomes of the projects they fund. This dissertation moves beyond the binary critiques of foundations as "good" or "bad" and takes a solution-oriented approach while also engaging in critical and reflexive research. This dissertation is grounded in two important fields: environmental governance and environmental philanthropy. I argue for greater shared learning between these two fields to advance conservation philanthropy's understanding and practice. Specifically, environmental philanthropy can benefit from the existing conceptual frameworks, empirical research and methodologies of environmental governance, while environmental governance should recognize philanthropic foundations as influential actors that need more research attention. Foundations often lack a clear framework to guide their exit strategies in a responsible way, sometimes leading to poorly executed exits which can leave grantees and the work they do struggling to sustain conservation efforts. The second chapter fills that gap by developing an exit typology and a set of best practices, offering guidance for funders who navigate exits. The key takeaway of this chapter is that exits should not be an afterthought but an integral part of the decision-making process, ideally planning from the very start to ensure long-term sustainability. But how are exits experienced on the receiving end? Chapter three explores the exit viewpoints of ocean conservation practitioners, including grantees, who experienced the Packard Foundation exit in Fiji and Palau. This Chapter reveals that viewpoints were diverse (i.e., optimistic, pessimistic, ambivalent, and apathetic) and shaped by a combination of rationales. While optimistic viewpoints were mostly linked to Packard implementing exit best practices that relate to the principles and administration and management categories of the responsible exit framework (Chapter 2), pessimistic viewpoints were linked to challenges related to the sustainability category of the framework, which are more systemic in nature. This Chapter reasserts that exit best practices are key to conducting a responsible exit and that some of these practices must be addressed by foundations at both the field and individual organizational levels. The fourth Chapter examines how philanthropic funding affects communities. This Chapter examines the social outcomes of conservation philanthropy through the case study of a Packard-funded small-scale fisheries project in Palau. Using Photovoice, a participatory research method that centers the voices and experiences of fishers, this Chapter reveals a mix of positive and negative outcomes. A key takeaway is the importance of strong community engagement in the design and implementation of philanthropic-supported conservation projects. Growing critiques of current models of giving must be taken seriously. Changes are needed to ensure that philanthropy operates in a responsible and just manner for both people and the environment by being more transparent, inclusive, and accountable to the communities it directly supports. This dissertation informs these conversations with an empirical analysis that centers the perspectives of grantees and communities affected by philanthropic-funded projects.
Open Access
The influence of cloud radiative effects on hydrologic sensitivity and variability
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Naegele, Alexandra Claire, author; Randall, David A., advisor; Betsill, Michele M., committee member; Rasmussen, Kristen L., committee member; van den Heever, Susan C., committee member
The global-mean precipitation change in response to CO2-forced warming, normalized by global-mean surface warming, is referred to as the hydrologic sensitivity. It is estimated at 1-3% K-1, much lower than the rate of increasing atmospheric moisture availability. Here, we study the role of cloud radiative effects (CREs) in constraining the hydrologic sensitivity. Often, the change in clear-sky atmospheric radiative cooling (ARC) is used to constrain the change in precipitation, but this constraint is incomplete. CMIP5 model data are analyzed to show that although the all-sky ARC increases at a lower rate than the clear-sky ARC, the smaller change in ARC due to CREs is balanced by the change in the surface sensible heat flux. Together, the change in the all-sky ARC with the change in the surface sensible heat flux provide a more accurate and complete energetic constraint on hydrologic sensitivity than by using the clear-sky radiative cooling alone. Idealized aquaplanet simulations using SP-CAM are analyzed to assess the temperature dependence of the hydrologic cycle and the large-scale circulation responses to CREs. We examine the response of the hydrologic cycle and the large-scale circulation to CREs at a range of sea surface temperatures (SSTs), including a cool (280 K) SST that is representative of the mid-latitudes; typically, the extratropics have been less studied than the tropics in similar idealized simulations. We use simulations with uniform SSTs to test the hypothesis that CREs enhance precipitation variability at cool temperatures, and reduce precipitation variability at warm temperatures. In these simulations, our hypothesis is confirmed. In less idealized simulations with a more realistic SST pattern, the influence of CREs on precipitation variability is obscured by other circulation changes. Can the hydrologic response to CREs be explained by the large-scale circulation response to CREs? Using the same idealized simulations, the vertical velocity —used here as an indicator of the circulation response to CREs—is compared to precipitation. We find that the influence of CREs on vertical velocity variability is very similar to the influence of CREs on precipitation variability.