Philip A Loring

The Nature Conservancy · Global Science

This study explores the nature of water security challenges in rural Alaska, using a framework for environmental security that entails four interrelated concepts: availability, access, utility, and stability of water resources. Many researchers and professionals agree that water insecurity is a problem in rural Alaska, although the scale and nature...

Coexistence theory (CT) in community ecology provides a functional perspective on how multiple competing species coexist. Here, I explore CT’s usefulness for understanding conflict and coexistence among human groups with diverse livelihood interests in shared resources such as fisheries. I add three concepts from social science research on coexiste...

Residents of towns and villages in Arctic Alaska live on ‘‘the front line of climate change.’’ Some communities face immediate threats from erosion and flooding associated with thawing permafrost, increasing river flows, and reduced sea ice protection of shorelines. The term climigration, referring to migration caused by climate change, originally...

We draw on our research experiences with municipal workers in Alaska, where the impacts of climate change are already extensive, to examine adaptation and related concepts, such as resilience and vulnerability, which have become widely used in science and policy formulation for addressing climate change despite also being subject to multiple critiq...

Introduction Efforts are underway to transform food systems in light of their contributions to global challenges like climate change. However, food systems are highly complex, involve noteworthy place-based challenges, and there is often debate and disagreement among experts over appropriate technologies or interventions to prioritize. Tracking pro...

In the context of climate change, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, growing food insecurity, and rising inflation, the inequities in the dominant food system and subsequent vulnerabilities are being made ever more visible. Policies and programs that can support social and economic security while responding to intensifying environmental challe...

The concept of regeneration is gaining traction across diverse disciplines, from agriculture and engineering to business and the social sciences. More than just a buzzword, regeneration is emerg­ing as a pivotal boundary object in a paradigm shift that is redefining design principles and transform­ing humanity’s relationship with the environment. T...

In Canada, the task of explaining food prices falls to a handful of grey literature reports that shape media coverage and public understanding and carry significant political and policy influence. We performed an in-depth analysis of fifty-one of these influential reports, including thirty-nine reports by Statistics Canada (including Consumer Price...

In Canada, the task of explaining food prices falls to a handful of grey literature reports that shape media coverage and public understanding and carry significant political and policy influence. We performed an in-depth analysis of 51 of these influential reports, including 39 reports by Statistics Canada (including Consumer Price Index reports a...

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted fisheries at every step of the global seafood supply chain, through such challenges as trade stoppages, lockdowns, and restaurant closures. We performed a scoping review of the literature published during the first two years of the pandemic to examine the challenges of new and unpredictable shocks to fisheries in cou...

Industrialized nations face the imminent need to transform our food systems in service to climate, biodiversity, and humanity, and inroads to such transformation are arguably already being made in pockets of innovation and activism around the world. However, debates rage over the various technologies and values that ought to drive those transformat...

This commentary explores the emergence and potential of PubCasts—abridged and annotated audiobook-style recordings of scholarly work. PubCasts aim to make scholarly work more accessible, engaging, and easily understood by broad audiences. We highlight our motivation for creating PubCasts and discuss our experiences in making and sharing them. We fu...

Regenerative design, in which agricultural practices are organized to work with nutrient cycles and successional processes, is increasingly being explored in food systems research and practice. In this commentary, I explore whether regenerative design concepts can be adapted to marine contexts, given increased global interest in the potential of ma...

This PubCast talks about PubCasts, and lays out why scholars might take up this approach to accessible science communication and knowledge mobilization. This article was published in Science Comunication.

Agricultural water management is important to the development and success of agricultural production. The economies of many rural communities in Saskatchewan, Canada, rely on agricultural production, so agricultural water management and local rural economies are linked. However, the economy is not the only dimension of agricultural water management...

In this paper we explore the potential of academic podcasting to effect positive change within academia and between academia and society. Building on the concept of “epistemic living spaces,” we consider how podcasting can change how we evaluate what is legitimate knowledge and methods for knowledge production, who has access to what privileges and...

Conservation conflicts are pressing social and environmental sustainability issues, and the complex underlying causes and escalating factors of such conflicts can often be difficult to understand. This article synthesizes a breadth of conservation conflict literature to lay out a transdisciplinary framework for diagnosing complex conservation confl...

The PubCast Protocol, a version specially created for ResearchEquals users, was created by Hannah L. Harrison (Dalhousie University) and Philip A. Loring (University of Guelph) to help users conceptualize, record, and produce PubCasts of their own work.

Export-oriented seafood trade faltered during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, alternative seafood networks (ASNs) that distribute seafood through local and direct marketing channels were identified as a “bright spot”. In this paper, we draw on multiple lines of quantitative and qualitative evidence to show that ASNs experien...

Climate change, globalization, and increasing industrial and urban activities threaten the sustainability and viability of small-scale fisheries. How those affected can collectively mobilize their actions, share knowledge, and build their local adaptive capacity will shape how best they respond to these changes. This paper examines the changes expe...

"Urban Harvests" is part of a series of PubCasts (a take on publication podcasts), audio-book style recordings of peer reviewed scientific research, read to you by the authors. You can find more Pubcasts on the Coastal Routes project webpage at www.coastalroutes.org/pubcasts (www.coastalroutes.org). About the paper: In this study, we discuss two wi...

Background: Fish and seafood play an important role in improving food security in Inuit Nunangat. Therefore, this scoping review aims to explore (1) what topics and/or themes have been widely explored in the literature related to barriers and pathways linking fish and seafood to food security; (2) where research, policy, and action gaps exist; and...

This study explores the emerging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on coastal small-scale fishing communities in Cameroon and Liberia, where we conducted qualitative interviews with small-scale fish harvesters, fish processors, traders, and consumers. We found that the implementation of COVID-19 safety and health protocol initiatives impacted the en...

Since interactions and conflicts between polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and people are reportedly increasing across the Arctic, there is a pressing need to better understand how such conflicts can be prevented or their outcomes ameliorated. A great deal of knowledge about what strategies work for both preventing and mitigating human-polar bear confl...

In recent years, interest has increased in regenerative practices as a strategy for transforming food systems and solving major environmental problems such as biodiversity loss and climate change. However, debates persist regarding these practices and how they ought to be defined. This paper presents a framework for exploring the regenerative poten...

Environmental problems are often construed as having straightforward causes, such as human population growth or greed. Yet, the social sciences offer more elaborate theories that allow for a much more accurate and actionable understanding of these causes. A new study puts the explanatory power of some such theories to the test on coral reefs.

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has the potential to play a crucial role in addressing global food insecurity. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of 17 recent Canadian SEAs, conducted for offshore petroleum exploration, exploring the extent of consideration for food security in current SEA practice. Document analysis was used...

In recent years, interest has increased in regenerative practices as a strategy for transforming food systems and solving major environmental problems such as biodiversity loss and climate change. However, debates persist regarding these practices and how they ought to be defined. This paper presents a framework for exploring the regenerative poten...

Today, food security is central to global social policy and sustainable development agendas; yet food security considerations have not yet widely penetrated environmental impact assessment (IA) practice. This paper investigates criteria and approaches to food security assessment that align with Regional Strategic Environment Assessment (RSEA); a fo...

Global food systems have increased in complexity significantly since the mid-twentieth century, through such innovations as mechanization, irrigation, genetic modification, and the globalization of supply chains. While complexification can be an effective problem-solving strategy, over-complexification can cause environmental degradation and lead s...

Never before, perhaps, has there been greater consensus that our food systems need to be radically reimagined and transformed. However, there is also much contention among those working to advance these transformations over the solutions and futures that ought to be pursued. So, while there is great opportunity to enact truly radical actions that r...

Here, we explore how people entangled in natural resource conflicts employ and discuss data. We draw on ethnographic research with two cases of conflict: salmon fisheries in Alaska, USA, and agricultural water management in Saskatchewan, Canada. Both cases illustrate how data, through the scientization of environmental governance, can become a mean...

Global food systems have increased in complexity significantly since the mid-20th century, through such innovations as mechanization, irrigation, genetic modification, and the globalization of supply chains. While complexification can be an effective problem-solving strategy, over-complexification can cause environmental degradation and lead system...

The food–energy–water (FEW) nexus describes interactions among domains that yield gains or trade-offs when analysed together rather than independently. In a project about renewable energy in rural Alaska communities, we applied this concept to examine the implications for sustainability and resilience. The FEW nexus provided a useful framework for...

This article contributes to streams of knowledge related to biocultural diversity, food tourism and the cultural impacts of introduced species. Specifically, it explores the concerns that arise from the promotion of tilapia fish Oreochromis niloticus in Indigenous cuisine along a touristic route in the Amazon region of Ecuador. Although the environ...

This protocol describes the philosophy and method behind recording PubCasts - abrided and annotated recordings of peer-reviewed literature.

This protocol lays out the philosophy and methods behind the writing and production of the Social FISHtancing podcast, produced by Coastal Routes Radio (www.coastalroutes.org/podcasts).

The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus describes interactions among domains that yield gains or tradeoffs when analyzed together rather than independently. In a project about renewable energy in rural Alaska communities, we applied this concept to examine the implications for sustainability and resilience. The FEW nexus provided a useful framework for i...

Export-oriented seafood trade faltered during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, alternative seafood networks (ASNs) that distribute seafood through local and direct marketing channels were identified as a "bright spot." In this paper, we draw on multiple lines of quantitative and qualitative evidence to show that ASNs experien...

Global social and economic changes, alongside climate change, are affecting the operating environment for agriculture, leading to efforts to increase production and yields, typically through the use of agrochemicals like pesticides and fertilizers, expanded irrigation, and changes in seed varieties. Intensification, alongside the expansion of agric...

Agricultural drainage is a complicated and often conflict-ridden natural resource management issue, impacting contested ecosystem services related to the retention of wetlands as well as the productivity of farmland. This research identifies opportunities to transform the conflict over agricultural drainage in Saskatchewan, Canada, towards collabor...

Export-oriented seafood trade faltered during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, alternative seafood networks (ASNs) that distribute seafood through local and direct marketing challenges were identified as a “bright spot”. In this paper, we draw on multiple lines of quantitative and qualitative evidence to show that ASNs experi...

Conservation conflicts are pressing social and environmental sustainability issues, and the complex underlying causes and escalating factors of such conflicts can often be difficult to understand. Appropriate tools are needed for breaking down complex conservation conflicts into their varied, heterogenous parts so their nature and the complex relat...

Commentary On: Oswald, W. W., Foster, D. R., Shuman, B. N., Chilton, E. S., Doucette, D. L., Duranleau, D. L. Conservation implications of limited Native American impacts in pre-contact New England. Nature Sustainability https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0466-0

This research applies the concept of food sovereignty as a framework to explore the impacts of tourism on Indigenous food systems in the Chakra Chocolate and Tourism Route (referred to as the “Chakra Route” in the paper), a tourist destination in the Amazon region of Ecuador that aims to improve the livelihoods of Kichwa people. Using a qualitative...

Conservation conflicts are pressing social and environmental sustainability issues, and the complex underlying causes and escalating factors of such conflicts can often be difficult to understand. Appropriate tools are needed for breaking down complex conservation conflicts into their varied, heterogenous parts so their nature and the complex relat...

Threshold concepts describe the core concepts that people must master if they are to effectively think from within a new discipline or paradigm. Here, I discuss threshold concepts relevant to the science and practice of sustainability, unpacking the persistent challenges and critiques that sustainability has faced over the decades. Sustainability i...

Today, rural fisherfolk confront a number of challenges in making a sustainable and fulfilling living from aquatic environments, including: climatic shifts which lead to a series of changes in the presence and behavior of marine resources, market fluctuation in the price of supplies and materials necessary to carry out variously scaled fishing oper...

Local ecological knowledge (LEK) of resource users is a valuable source of information about environmental trends and conditions. However, many factors influence how people perceive their environment and it may be important to identify sources of variation in LEK when using it to understand ecological change. This study examined variation in LEK ar...

Fish is among the most eaten foods and traded commodities in the world, and small-scale fisheries provide food, jobs, and life satisfaction to billions of people worldwide. Yet, they are rarely recognized for these facts in global-level discussions about food systems and security. In this chapter, we argue that any discussion of food security, glob...

Objective: To identify practices, attitudes, and beliefs associated with intake of traditional foods among Alaska Native women. Design: Cross-sectional study that measured traditional food intake; participation in food-sharing networks; presence of a hunter or fisherman in the home; the preference, healthfulness, and economic value of traditiona...

Complex interactions between water, society, the economy, and the environment necessitate attention to how water issues are framed, and the limitations of a water-centric framework for analyzing or solving problems. We explore this complexity through an example of an existing complex, or wicked, policy problem—the case of agricultural wetland drain...

In this paper we report on research designed to learn about how people prioritize outcomes of the management of marine ecosystems. Using Q methodology, we asked residents to sort outcomes such as food security, trustworthy governance, harvest and recreational opportunities, education, and employment in terms of their importance to community well-be...

Local, lay, and traditional ecological knowledge (LTK) is widely discussed in academic studies of climatic and environmental change. Here, we report on a systematic literature review that examines the role of such factors as gender, age, and scholarly networks in shaping LTK research. We focused on research in the circumpolar North, where LTK resea...

Using thresholds of physical climate variables developed from community observations, together with two large-scale datasets, we have produced local indices directly relevant to the impacts of a reduced sea ice cover on Alaska coastal communities. The indices include the number of ”false freeze-ups” defined by transient exceedances of ice concentra...

Examining the reasons why individuals choose to participate or comply with certain fishing regulations is a key part of successful fisheries management. This paper presents a case study that evaluates fisher perceptions of multiple recreational fishery regulations, including traditionally used methods of bag and size limits and a novel regulation i...

The relationship between stability and change in social-ecological systems has received considerable attention in recent years, including the expectation that significant environmental changes will drive observable consequences for individuals, communities, and populations. Migration, as one example of response to adverse economic or environmental...

Background: Food insecurity is a public health concern. The pillars of food security include food access, availability and utilisation. For some indigenous peoples, the pillars may focus on traditional foods. Objective: To conduct a scoping review on traditional foods and food security in Alaska. Design: Google Scholar and the High North Resea...

It is often remarked that Arctic coastal communities are on the frontlines of the impacts related to the rapidly diminishing ice pack. These impacts can have direct effects on communities, such as reduced access to subsistence hunting species, or increased wave height and coastal erosion. There are also indirect effects driven by external socioecon...

Local communities throughout the world are experiencing extensive social, cultural, economic, environmental, and climatic changes. Rather than passively accepting the effects of such changes, many communities are responding in various ways to take advantage of opportunities and to minimize negative impacts. We review examples from 13 cases around t...

The gap between science and practice is widely recognized as a major concern in the production and application of decision-relevant science. This research analyzed the roles and network connections of scientists, service providers, and decision makers engaged in climate science and adaptation practice in Alaska, where rapid climate change is alread...

Understanding the impacts of recreational fishing on habitats and species, as well as the social and ecological importance of place to anglers, requires information on the spatial distribution of fishing activities. This study documented long-term changes in core fishing areas of a major recreational fishery in Alaska and identified biological, reg...

Total fishing area (km2) and the number of fishing locations for Pacific halibut in Homer, categorized by whether the respondent targets single or multispecies trips for the majority of their charter fishing experience. Data include: respondent identification number (ID), total area (TotalArea.sq.km), number of fishing locations (NumberLocations),...

Total fishing area (km2) and the number of fishing locations for Pacific halibut, lingcod/rockfish, and salmon fishing locations in Sitka, categorized by whether the respondent’s business had one or multiple charter boats. Data include: respondent identification number (ID), species group (Species), total area (TotalArea.sq.km), and number of fishi...

Questions administered to interview respondents. After acquiring informed consent, the interview team asked a series of questions to the participant on charter fishing experience, charter business information, and fishing locations. (DOCX)

Salmon fishing locations in Sitka for 1990–1999, 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015. Locations are displayed by the percentage of respondents who fished during that time period. (TIF)

A folder containing files of Pacific halibut fishing locations in Homer and Sitka for 1990–1999, 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015. Files are in TIFF format to be displayed in ESRI ArcGIS 10.2 or higher. The attribute table for each TIFF file contains a column (PERCENT_RE) identifying the percentage of respondents in that time period fishing that...

Salmon fishing locations in Homer for 1990–1999, 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015. Locations are displayed by the percentage of respondents who fished during that time period. (TIF)

Lingcod and rockfish fishing locations in Homer for 1990–1999, 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015. Locations are displayed by the percentage of respondents who fished during that time period. (TIF)

Lingcod and rockfish fishing locations in Sitka for 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015. Locations for 1990s are not shown due to low sample size (<5 respondents). Locations are displayed by the percentage of respondents who fished during that time period. (TIF)

Total fishing area (km2) and the number of fishing locations for Pacific halibut, rockfish/lingcod, and salmon for the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s in Homer and Sitka. Data include: respondent identification number (ID), species group (Species), decade in which the respondent fished (Decade), total area (TotalArea.sq.km), number of fishing locations (Nu...

A folder containing files of salmon fishing locations in Homer and Sitka for 1990–1999, 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015. Files are in TIFF format to be displayed in ESRI ArcGIS 10.2 or higher. The attribute table for each TIFF file contains a column (PERCENT_RE) identifying the percentage of respondents in that time period fishing that 1.5 x 1....

A folder containing files of lingcod and rockfish fishing locations in Homer and Sitka for 1990–1999, 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015. Files are in TIFF format to be displayed in ESRI ArcGIS 10.2 or higher. The attribute table for each TIFF file contains a column (PERCENT_RE) identifying the percentage of respondents in that time period fishing...

Human well-being depends on the health of ecosystems, but can human well-being also be an indicator of ecosystem health, and perhaps even sustainability? Research shows that ecosystem health and human well-being are often mutually reinforcing, whether in the direction of wellness and sustainability or poverty and degradation. However, while well-be...

Alaska is known for its many fisheries, which support an extensive global marketplace, a thriving tourism industry, and also contribute much to diets of many Alaskans. Yet, some research has suggested that Alaska’s food security has been impacted negatively by the development of export-oriented commercial fisheries and tourism-oriented sport fisher...

Background Alaska is known for its many fisheries, which support an extensive global marketplace, a thriving tourism industry, and also contribute much to diets of many Alaskans. Yet, some research has suggested that Alaska’s food security has been impacted negatively by the development of export-oriented commercial fisheries and tourism-oriented s...