Science & Technology in NYC, Fall 2012

From the POV of downstate stakeholders (i.e. New York City and surrounding residents):

New York City is home to more than 9 million urban dwellers, as well as countless businesses that thrive on the one billion plus gallons of clean drinking water traveling from Upstate New York to New York City each day. The quality of our drinking water is among the best in the world, and keeping it that way requires a lot of management, which is why it is important to ensure the protection of the upstate watersheds. If this doesn’t continue to happen, the city will be forced to build a filtration plant to filter the incoming water supply, which is estimated to cost upwards of $10 billion to construct and $100 million annually to operate, which would undoubtedly be reflected in our taxes, as well as in a water rate increase of approximately 30%, burning an even deeper hole in New Yorkers’ pockets.

According to plaNYC, New York is currently implementing the Watershed Protection Program, which is “a unique strategy that combines protection, land acquisition, and environmentally-sustainable economic development to maintain the high quality of our water supply”. According to plaNYC, this program will also work with local stakeholders in the form of loans to local businesses to support tourism, hospitality, manufacturing and other areas, as well as rehabilitating residential and community septic systems around the watersheds.

Another huge part of this watershed maintenance and protection initiative has to do with protecting New York’s water supply from hydrofracking. Since some of our watershed lay above to Marcellus Shale, numerous gas companies are trying to get permission from local authorities to extract this natural gas. However, this will undoubtedly be harmful to our water supply and if this were to take place, a filtration system would definitely be necessary, which is another reason the state vehemently opposes natural gas fracturing on our watershed land.

Although this maintenance program may be costly and somewhat of a burden to upstate residents in terms of land use and development, the pros far outweigh the cons, and especially costs of building a filtration system, which is the only plausible alternative for now. It is important to maintain the quality of our drinking water that billions of New Yorkers are used to and depend on everyday and try to offset potential filtration costs as much as possible.

“PlaNYC 2030 – The Plan – Water Supply.” PlaNYC 2030 – The Plan – Water Supply. N.p., n.d. <http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/theplan/watersupply.shtml>.

Government agencies such as USEPA, New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), NYS Department of Health, and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation are concerned about the quality of both filtered and unfiltered water that flows to the homes of millions living in the area. They have two options. The agencies can spend a large sum of money to focus on maintaining unfiltered water. Officials would have to continually test for decreases in water quality. Once the water quality dips, they will have to build filtration systems to filter the lower quality water. The other option is to save money and allow water to be unfiltered and distributed to the masses of New York. The latter is what most wish to achieve. According to The Earth Institute at the Columbia University, despite New York being the largest unfiltered system in the United States, New York is also known for its “clean and delicious” drinking water. They explain that the NYC watershed consists of 19 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes. 90% of the water is provided by the Catskill and Delaware watersheds. 10% of NYC’s drinking water is provided by the Croton water system. It is understandable that New York City’s water must be clean. However, filtering water may not be the way to go. New York’s water is treated with chlorine to kill germs, fluoride to prevent cavities, orthophosphate to inhibit lead contamination from pipes, and sodium hydroxide to lessen acidity. This occurs on top of the necessary requirements that must be fulfilled according to the STWR. The DEP conducts over 900 daily and 330,000 annual tests on drinking water throughout the city. In addition they run 230,000 test in the watershed. This is all for the sake of guaranteeing that NYC water meets the quality standards. There was some controversy regarding the Croton water’s purity as far as 1908. It is also true that Croton watershed had to be shut down for various points in time. However, as a result of this lower quality water, in 2007, the Croton water filtration plant had undergone construction estimating a cost of 2.8 billion dollars. The water in New York is clean. We have spent large sums of money to clean the mere 10% of lower quality water. 90% of our water is considered world-renown for its positive cleanliness and taste. However, the cost for the filtration of Catskill and Delaware watersheds is huge, estimating 8 to 12 billion dollars to construct the plant and a further 350 million dollars to operate it. Government agencies stand by their view to relie on unfiltered water in NYC.

Cho, Renee. “Maintaining the Superiority of NYC’s Drinking Water.” State of the Planet. The Earth Institute Columbia University, 29 July 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/07/29/maintaining-the-superiority-of-nyc%E2%80%99s-drinking-water/>.

1. Do you believe that superstorm Sandy will actually bring political change on global warming and saving the environment?

2. What area in New York represents the best example of a Rambunctious Garden?

3. If you had to choose one area in the United States to conserve what would it be?

4. From the seven different goals you listed at the end of your book,  which goal do you think New Yorkers should concentrate on most?

What do you think of Hurricane Sandy and what can the city do in terms of the ecosystem in order to prevent such devastation?

In all your travels, where have you seen the most perfect description of a rambunctious garden?

What can we do in our neighborhoods to promote and possibly establish a rambunctious garden?

The final chapter of your book lists seven goals in conservation, which do you think should have priority and which are less important?

1. Do you believe Pleistocene rewilding is a good idea for conservationists who would like to return for a baseline even given the possible consequences?
2. What is your opinion of what should be done based on the different options written in the book?
3. You make the zebra mussel sound like it is a problem naturally being solved but it is still a big problem for the people and species living there. Do you really think it shouldn’t be removed?
4. What opinion and criticisms of your book have you come across that you have found noteworthy?

1. Where did your interest in ecology stem from? When did you first realize this was something you were passionate about?
2.  What was your favorite part or experience when writing your book, Rambunctious Garden?
3. You mentioned that the idea of pristine wilderness has long been the  “holy grail” of conservation ecology. Naturally, the introduction of unorthodox notions, such as the ones you mentioned in your book, are likely to evoke criticism. Do you feel that a more novel approach to conservationism is becoming more welcomed, or is there still a lot of hesitation?
4.  Ten years from now, what is your ideal ecological vision for urban areas such as NYC?
5. What do you suggest students, who are not necessarily pursuing a career in ecology or the like, do to work with rather than against our environment?

1. How will you further market and implement your concept of Rambunctious Gardens? Are there other advocates of this idea that work with you?

2. Of all of the innovative conservation techniques you mentioned in the book such as assisted migration and designer ecosystems which one do you think is the most feasible?

3. How did you get into conservation and the science behind it? What originally sparked your interest?

4.  What are the main arguments of your critics, and how do you deal with the criticism you receive?

5. After reading your book, it seems clear that you are against baseline conservation techniques. How do you try to change the minds of those conservationists? Do they understand and embrace your point of view?

1)Do you think your rambunctious garden is possible globally or just in first world countries?

2) If there is a global initiative to manage the conservationist movements, who do you think should manage it? (Governments, private sector, a separate international board)

3) Have you had any thoughts about using new movements in technology to help the environment?

4) What has been the biggest argument against your approach to a rambunctious garden and what are your counterarguments?

1. What inspired you to go into the conservation field?

2. What would you say is your greatest professional accomplishment or experience?

3. What do you think is the best way to go about informing and educating people about conservation and climate change?

4. What do you think would be a good indicator that the new style of conservation is taking over?

1. What impacts have you book had on the conservation community?
2. Has your opinion on invasive species changed since publishing your book?
3. What role do you think government has on the environment?
4. How has the conservation population taken your book? Are there any solutions that you feel Rambunctious Garden played a key role in?
5. Why did you write Rambunctious Garden?

1. What are some examples of efforts that you have made to help the environment?

2. Where did your idea of a “Rambunctious Garden” come from?

3. What example, if any, would you give of a place that is effectively conserving its ecosystem?

4. What changes do people have to make in their mindset in order for your idea of a “Rambunctious Garden” to thrive?

5. According to you, what is the order of importance for the seven goals of conservation?

1. How do you think the publication of this book changed the view of rambunctious gardening?

2. Have you received any criticisms on the book or ideas from the book that have swayed your opinion?

3. Given Hurricane Sandy arrived on the east coast of USA, how do you think urban ecosystem is changed and how should conservation efforts be changed in accordance?

4. Other than your own backyard, what is the best example of a rambunctious garden in your opinion?

5. How do you think the urban ecosystem will change if everyone starts to implement rambunctious gardening? In the book, you mentioned a lot of benefits of this method. Is there any negatives to rambunctious gardening that you can see in the future if it becomes popular?

1. You’ve probably received a wide array of responses after publishing your book… What would you say the general reaction like, and how did it match/differ from your expectations?
2. After reviews from critics and readers, are there messages in your book that you would like to clarify? Is there anything you think people are misunderstanding about your arguments or inflating (or deflating) disproportionately?
3. Which chapter of your book, or idea in the book, is your favorite? Why do you feel passionately about this particular one?
4. How quickly/slowly do you feel traditional conservationist stances are changing at this point? Have you been able to see any impact for which this particular book is responsible? Do you feel these recent changes/lack of change are un/satisfying?

1. Where do you see more of these rambunctious gardens being built? I feel like New York did a great job on the High Line Park. How can we replicate that elsewhere?

2. Has your views differed from before you wrote the book to after your wrote the book? Did you change your stance since?

3. You mentioned protecting charismatic megafauna as one of your goals. But how does protecting larger species fair for competing species? How do we place one species over another?

4. How do we maximize the utility of plants and undiscovered plant species in an urban area or apply it to an urban area?

5. What value do you see pleistocene rewilding in an urban setting? Can there be a harmony and synergy in their coexistence?

1. You stated that “Rambunctious Gardens” are your goals for urban areas. How likely do you feel that this particular goal can be achieved even if the residents are not helpful? Do you believe that such an idea is possible in this time and age?

2. Which method mentioned in your book do you think would be the best way to go about restoring ecosystem?

3. How well do you think New York City is at conserving the environment? Do you think that further efforts would drastically improve the ecosystem?

4. Has writing your book impacted your perspective of the ecosystem? Did writing your book help you understand our environment to a better degree?

1. Why do you think this idea of Pleistocene rewilding came about when it does not even seem like a plausible idea?

2. Do you think that big businesses would be willing to create conservation plots since many  companies spend extra money just to keep their surrounding “green plots” to look a certain way?

3. I agree that focusing conservation efforts on big parks like Yellowstone and the Amazon is futile, but do you believe that we still need to conserve or “fence” off some of these areas?

4. The Duwamish RIver seems like a model conservation/industrial river, but are there other rivers or areas that can do the same?

1. How do you think conservationism is changing? Do you think ecologists are still focused on the “pristine wilderness” idea?

2. How well do you think NYC represents a rambunctious garden?

3. How do you think the conservation of state parks should be run?

4. What are some effective ways to conserve nature?

5. Do you find that the definition of nature is changing?

1. Now that your book has been released, in your opinion, have topics mentioned in your book such as “rewilding” and “assisted migration” seen an increase in popularity and acceptance?

2. Given the hurricane that just basically destroyed lower Manhattan, New Jersey, and Long Island, do you think humans or natural disasters have more of an impact on urban ecology?

3. Where would you rank New York City on a scale of the greenest cities in the world?

4. If New York City isn’t high on the list of the most greenest cities, how would you get it there?

1.  You seem to be very practical in your approach to conservation, so would you agree that the function of an ecosystem is more important than its composition?

2. Are you willing to accept the consequences (extinctions, loss of larger species, aesthetic beauty etc.) that come with abandoning the traditional approach to conservation?

3. If we embrace the idea of cultivating rambunctious gardens, does that give us licenses continue human encroachment on wildlife? Or is the rambunctious garden simply a solution meant for conservation in places where human disturbance is reeking havoc?

4.  Even if the idea of a Rambunctious Garden was implemented fully, isn’t there a limit to the amount of species these fragmented wildernesses can support within a city? If so, wouldn’t the cost of advocating and implementing the idea be of better use if geared towards a more all-encompassing approach?

5. You mentioned that some of your peers are slowly coming to negative conclusions in their attempt to achieve pristine wilderness by reverting to the baseline. How feasible is it that such attitudes will become published and supported in the near future? Especially since the government is already heavily invested in the more traditional approaches to conservation.

1. Is there one goal that you would say is most important for New York City or do you think that all of the goals should be represented in different natural spaces throughout the city?
2. How would you feel if people were to completely abandon the idea of conservation and begin building in previously preserved areas, only allowing nature to exist in the form of a rambunctious garden?
3. You pointed out the flaws in many conservation efforts. Is there one example of a conservation effort that you most agreed with?
4. Since publishing your book, have you learned about any new efforts relating to conservation everywhere that you consider noteworthy?

1) I know it sounds a little sci-fi but if humans end up killing themselves with nuclear wars or whatever what do you think will end up happening to nature? Will nature just take over or will the radiation be too much for nature and destroy it?

2) If money wasn’t a problem which of the two policies that you brought up in the book (Rewilding or Designer Ecosystems) do you think would better the environment?

3) At what point do you think (if this point exists) should we stop caring about a certain type of invasive species and just let it do what it wants?

4) Is “The Rambunctious Garden” your favorite topic in Urban Ecology or are there other topics that interest you more? And if this isn’t your favorite topic then why’d you write about “The Rambunctious Garden”?

1. Did any of the criticism you received about the book make you question and reconsider your ideas and what you wrote about?
2. What do you believe is the best way to go about conservation in New York City?
3. What place do you believe is the best example, or closest to your idea of a rambunctious garden?
4. In fifty years from now, how do you imagine the world to be? Do you believe the people can really work to save and conserve the environment, or will we just continue to destroy and harm the environment?

1. What event in your life influenced you to become so passionate in urban ecology and the environment? What assisted you in formulating this idea of a rambunctious garden?

2. In your last chapter, entitled “A Menu of Goals,” you listed 7 goals that can assist us in saving the environment, which ones do you think are most important and why?

3. What specific examples can you give us as to how you have changed your life to revolve around this idea of a “rambunctious garden”?

4. Have you ever encountered a certain place or area that allowed you to say to yourself that this is the quintessential example of a “rambunctious garden”?

1) Is there/what is your favorite example of rambunctious gardening?

2) How do you feel about ethically questionable actions to preserving ecosystems? (Such as spreading rat poison on an island)

3) What is your stance on invasive species that have clear, detrimental effects on ecosystems/the environment?

4) Do you think that the size of a city/urban area makes it harder to implement the idea of conservation everywhere?

1. What do you think is the most effective way to conserve urban environment in New York City?
2. In the last chapter of the book you listed seven different goals, are there particular ones that you think New Yorkers should mostly focus on?
3. What’s the difference between how European and American scientists conserve their ecosystem?
4. How do you think conservation will evolve for the next few decades? And do you think the trend toward conservation will be more positive or negative?

1. There are many different types of strategies and tools that people are using to help “conserve” the environment. Do you think that there are any types of conservation efforts that are actually poor, ineffective ways of helping/protecting nature in urban areas?

2. What conservation efforts do you think people in highly urbanized areas should practice?

3. How did you come up with the seven goals for conservation for your last chapter? Do you think there are now even more important goals that people should be focusing on?

4. How closely related do you think the relationship between natural disasters (e.g. droughts, hurricanes, etc) and changes in the environment (e.g. climate) is?

5. In your book, you discuss a lot about the past history of environmental changes and successions and influences. What kind of ecological changes do you think will take place within the next 100 years? Do you think they will be good changes or bad changes for nature?

1. How do you think New York City is doing in terms of creating its own rambunctious garden? And are you participating in your own version of a rambunctious garden?
2. Out of the seven goals that you have listed in the last chapter of your book, which would you consider the most important? How would you order them, one being the most important, and seven being the least?
3. You have listed many great advantages of creating a rambunctious garden. Let’s say you were on the side of the traditional conservationists. What would your arguments against the rambunctious garden be?
4. Do you see New York City to be slowly evolving its methods of conservation to the rambunctious garden method? Or do you see it stay in its own views of traditional conservation?

1. What do you think of the conservation efforts being made in New York City? How would you improve or change them?

2. Given the natural catastrophes (earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes) in the last few years, do you think that conservationists need to alter their efforts in any way?

3. Other than writing the book, how else are you actively promoting your idea of conservation and trying to change peoples’ ideas on what nature is and should be?

4. Is there any new research or development that makes you want to change what you have written in your book?

1. Has the advocacy and support of “rambunctious gardens” impacted your life significantly, and if so, in what way?

2. Conservationists often do whatever they can to save resources they use in their daily life. This would include paper, water, etc. What do you do to conserve?

3. Of the seven ultimate goals you listed and argued for, which one in particular is the most important to you? Which one is the most feasible?

4. Was ecology a field you always wanted to pursue, or was it something that you stumbled upon and loved?

5. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be and why?

1. How did you coin the term, “rambunctious garden”?
2. Is there anything significant (i.e. reviews, critiques, counterarguments) that has occurred since the publication of your book that makes you want to alter what you wrote?
3. If you could give people only one piece of advice on conservation (specifically in urban areas like NYC), what would it be and why?
4. Of all the places you visited to conduct research for your book, which one would you say exhibited the most exemplary conservationism? Would it be applicable in other places as well?

1.  How do you entwine the ideas of a “rambunctious garden” into your daily life?
2. Did any criticisms/critiques change your thoughts about your novel? If not , were there any that stood out to you?
3. Out of the seven goals you listed in the last chapter “A Menu of New Goals,” which do you believe is the most important (why)? Do you think that they are all connected together?
4. What influenced you to write Rambunctious Garden? How did you become interested in urban ecology/ the environment?

1. What do you think is the biggest obstacle being faced by conservationists today?

2. When did you decide you wanted to devote your life to nature and conservationism?

3. Of all the places you mentioned visiting in your book, which did you have the most personal connection with?

4. Have you seen any change in the mindset of conservationists since the publication of your book?

5. How do you, in your own daily life, make an effort to conserve and protect the environment?

1. Where in the country you see a great number of rambunctious gardens? High Line Park was a fortunate accident in New York City. How exactly can we replicate that result elsewhere in the city?
2. In your book you offered many ways of approaching conservation. Which method do you think would be the best and most efficient? Which one is your favorite?
3. What do you think is the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the ecosystems of the Northeastern region? Do you think authority should restore it to a pre-Sandy baseline or create a completely new ecosystem?
4. Where do you think New York City stands on the effort of conservation?
5. In the present time, which force do you think has more impact on conversation? Human or nature?

1) How did you coin the term the “rambunctious garden”? Why did you choose the adjective “rambunctious”?

2) In your novel you detail going to various places i.e. Mammoth Hot Springs, Bialowieza Primeval Forest etc. At the time did you have the intention to write a novel based on your findings ? If you did not what inspired you to write your novel?

3) Since your first stages of writing the novel, were there any chapters or information that you added or deleted before it was published?

4) What is the general reception towards the idea of a “rambunctious garden” do other conservationists or ecologists believe that it is a feasible approach? What are their counter arguments, if any?

1. How do your daily activities incorporate your ideas of a rambunctious garden or the seven goals listed in the last chapter?

2. In class, we went over some of the worst invasive species in history. While you definitely have a positive view on invasive species, why did you choose not to give more information on destructive invasive species like the zebra mussel?

3. What are your thoughts on the High Lines in New York City? What would you like to see in the High Lines in the future?

4. Is there anything in the book you would like to add or change? Why or why not?

5. What topic are you currently studying on or working on?

1. In the future, do you plan on perhaps revisiting the studies you discussed in your book and seeing what progress has been made or how these ecosystems have changed?

2. At the beginning of your book, you mention you attended Audobon camp, is this the moment you realized your fascination with the natural environment? How did you become particularly interested in urban ecology?

3. Is there one ecosystem you visited as part of your book that demonstrates your idea of conservation the best?

4. As urban dwellers, is there any advice you have for us as to how we should recognize, care for and appreciate the nature that is in our city?

1. In the next 15-20 years, how do you see conservation ecology changing? Where do you see think these changes will be begin and/or be most prevalent?

2. What would be your ideal approach to the conservation of New York City’s urban ecology and wildlife specifically? Do you think we are headed in the right direction with the various initiatives the city has taken on?

3. Of the seven goals you listed in your final chapter, which do you find to be most important? How would you prioritize them, whether by importance or feasibility?

4. The topics of a few of your chapters to me seemed very radical and controversial. Realistically, do you think Pleistocene rewilding or designer ecosystems will ever become accepted in the ecological community, or ever become common practice?

1. How do you think the field of ecology will evolve over the next century?
2. What areas of study are you currently focusing on?
3. What do you think is the best way to go about changing the ordinary person’s mindset about nature?
4. Of the seven goals you specified in the last chapter, which is the most important to you?
5. How do ecologists, the government, and private interest groups work together to achieve ecological goals?

1. Which goal, listed in the final chapter, would you suggest aspiring to or focusing on?

2. What kind of feedback have you gotten from other people in your field in regard to Rambunctious Garden?

3. Of all the places you’ve visited, which did you find to be the best example of what you consider a rambunctious garden? Was it the most native, natural, or untouched region?

4. Which conservation techniques do you believe are most effective for urban ecosystems specifically?