The Rights of Nature (RoN) movement became official with the New Orleans Statement in 2017, giving ecosystems the right to be an entity with legal protection to flourish and regenerate. To prepare for engagement with individuals in the Salish Sea region and then pass a RoN ballot initiative, we researched Indigenous Tribes in Canada and the USA with closely aligned values to the initiative. Tribes most willing to engage with the initiative are large in size, close inproximity to the Salish Sea region, have collaborated with governments in the past, and have values parallel to the RoN movement.

The Global Rights of Nature Initiative Project summarizes aspects of Rights of Nature initiatives around the world. The research team compiled 35 Rights of Nature initiatives and examined various aspects of the initiatives like the language of the initiatives, the motivations for the initiatives, and the lasting impacts of the initiatives.The team then performed frequency analyses on the data obtained. The deliverables of the analyses included bar graphs, pie charts, and word clouds. The data was also summarized through a storymap, timeline, and report. This work was performed for the Community Rights of San Juan Islands.

With the use of Yale climate data we are determining if there are differences in climate opinions between mountainous regions in the US. We are determining whether or not there are differences that correlate with economic, climatic, or other demographic data. Our methods will include the use of a literature review and GIS analysis to visualize our findings.

The Maasai Mara in southwestern Kenya is a species-rich ecosystem. Rapid agricultural expansion and additional pressures of climate variability are threatening social-ecological dynamics in the region. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust mobile veterinary units, in collaboration with the Mara Elephant Project, have collected injury and treatment data for African Elephants in the Maasai Mara. This presentation showcases our analysis of spatio temporal patterns of where injuries are most treated within the ecosystem and if injuries have increased over time. Additionally, our project assesses how many of these injuries were caused by human-elephant conflict and if injuries vary with age or gender.

The Mara Elephant Project is a collaborative organization tracking elephant populations in the Mau and Loita Forests in Kenya. Using Hansen Global Forest Change data, we assessed the forest cover and forest health in these two regions by monitoring forest loss and gain over the last 20 years. Story Maps and geospatial analyses show the overlap of elephant activity, logging, charcoal industries, and forest cover changes. We summarize changes in forest cover from 2000to 2019 and explore differences in health and deforestation trends between the Loita and Mau forests.