Hemp Growing

Based on observations and data on the group, I suggest here that marijuana use is explained much more an analysis of cultural differences than through an previous criminological and sociological theories.This chapter is where I reiterated the main findings of the study. I reflected on what I learned, interesting and/or unexpected findings, and suggest what this study means for the discipline more broadly. Furthermore, given the recent changes in marijuana laws such as those enacted in Washington state and Colorado, this study has implications far beyond academia. Colorado amendment 64 and Washington State initiative 502 recently legalized the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana by adults 21 years and older. It could help to illustrate the motivations and reasons why people use drugs, and it can help to expand upon the meanings of drug use to individuals and people associated with drug cultures. My personal policy recommendations are legalization and taxation as the majority of problems associated with cannabis stem from societal reaction, and not the substance itself.Cannabis is the generic name for an adaptive and highly successful annual found growing throughout the temperate and tropical zones of the worlds. Cannabis is considered a part of its own botanical group Cannabacea, in which only it and the hop belong . Historically there has been debate about whether or not the plant is polytypic or monotypic . For the purpose of this study, we will treat Indica and Sativa as two distinct species as these are the generic names found in cannabis lingo today. However, doubts remain about the polytypic side of the argument, indoor vertical garden systems as the plant has been found capable of adjusting itself to the environment. It has been found that seeds taken from the European Cannabis Sativa plant and cultivated in India come to display some of the characteristics of the Cannabis Indica plant in just a few generations, and vice versa .

Likewise, there are no known physiological barriers to reproduction . However, physical and geographical barriers may have lead to divergent gene pools prior to human intervention . Scientific debate aside, the reason the study will treat the plant as polytypic is because growers and smokers frequently differentiate the two when discussing their potential effect. Indicas tend to be milder sedative effect, frequently referred to as a body high. Sativa on the other hand, for many, produces a more upbeat stimulating effect for the user. Many strains are hybrids that combine the two. Growers frequently combine the two to counter act the sedative negative effects of Indica and the overly paranoid and stimulating effects of Sativa. The main psychoactive component in cannabis is Tetrahydrocannabinol , although, there exist approximately 85 cannabinoids . In 1992, it was found that much the same way the brain creates opiate like substances called endorphins, the human body produces a cannabinoid like substance called an anandamide. Research shows that THC locks on to the same cell receptors as an anandamide . The endocannabinoid system is the site of much research into the medical uses of cannabis, and, like much of the rest of the human body, is not fully understood. Many researchers go so far as to claim that the fact that the human brain and body has specific cannabis receptors to claim that nature intended for humans to use the substance. Others, however, contend the substance hijacks the endocannabinoid system and disorients its users. This system is being found to be involved in an increasing numbers of pathological conditions such as neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive disorders and disorders of cancer .

Consequently, increasing research is being focused on how to influence this system. Cannabis is unique in its hallucinogenic properties. Plants that contain psychoactive compounds are archetypally separated into two categories. The first category, psychotropic drugs operate by affecting the central nervous system. The second, psychotomimetic, affect the mind, altering perception and reality. The cannabis plant and its cannabinoids fit neither classification properly , although some scholars contend it is of the latter . Most psychotomimetic drugs are alkaloids. However, cannabis is a non-nitrogenous substance that is unique to the plant itself. The fact that the cannabis plant operates upon the endocannabinoid system makes it non-lethal at any dose . Unlike, opiate derivatives, coca derivatives and alcohol, the cannabis plant acts upon receptors that do not control life support functions of the body or the brain such as breathing or the beating of the heart. Thus, no dosage of cannabis can cause death. It is estimated that an average individual would have to smoke approximately 800 joints to die from cannabis use, and the corresponding death would likely be the result of carbon monoxide poison rather than the THC or cannabinoids themselves. Alternative routes of administration would not produce death. The majority of the THC is synthesized in and found in the resin of the plant . The plant is frequently smoked with the bud resin and seeds intact, yet the resin can be separated from the plant and made into a highly concentrated version mixture termed hashish or hash oil. Both male and female plants produce the resin that contains the majority of the psychoactive cannabinoid THC. This resin is produced in much vaster amounts in the female plant than the male. Production of this resin in the female plants continues to increase until the female reaches maturity and it ceases brusquely. Modern marijuana growers frequently isolate male Cannabis plants from females to produce a more powerful, abundant and psychoactive resin.

The function of the resin in the cannabis plant is the speculation of heavy debate. Some scholars suggest the intoxicating resin operates to disorient would be prey. This theory seems unlikely as insects, humans, and other animals are frequently drawn to the plant. Likewise, the fact that THC is not present until the plant flowers makes this theory all the more unlikely. Others however, suggest the hallucinogenic effect of the plant was an evolutionary adaptation to induce human beings to spread the plant throughout the world, much the same way nectar producing plants induces the bumblebee to crosspollinate plants on its behalf . Origins of the Plant Since the plant predates written human history, the exact origin of the cannabis plant is unknown. The plant flourished widely in both Asia and Africa with most scholars contending the plant originated in the temperate zone of Central Asia . Such an area provided the perfect climate for the evolution of Cannabis as the winds provided a vehicle for pollination. Furthermore, the winds may have aided its distributions to surrounding areas. The fact that Cannabis plant was one of the first plants to be cultivated by humankind further complicates its origins as present-day areas of wild growth may have resulted from prehistoric cultivation and trade. What is certain is that the discovery of cannabis occurred early on in human history. For millennia, cannabis has been used for everything from clothing to paper to rope to food. Furthermore, it is logical to assume the hallucinogenic properties of the plant were discovered early on in its history. Humans were nomadic living off the land and would eat and experiment with all types of substances. It would not have taken long for humans to discover its mind bending and medicinal properties and turn it into, as many cultures did, a religious and spiritual sacrament. Although we conceptualize hallucinogenic plants and substances in a general negative light in today’s society, primitive man may have had a very different relationship with such an experience. It is plausible to assume the superstitious nature early humans may have lead them to believe it was a magical plant that had the ability to alter the very nature of reality itself . Although it is arguable whether or not the plant has the ability to alter reality, it certainly appears to alter people’s perception of reality, thereby altering an individual’s understanding reality itself. As various post-modern social constructivist scholars have pointed out, the reality we experience is as much a product of ourselves as it is anything external to us. The view of cannabis as a magical plant would likely have become a staple of religious practice and its medicinal value would have been learned not long after. Indeed, many cannabis users I have had the pleasure of speaking to argued that the plant itself, altering reality spurred human creativity and imagination, and was the reason human thought and human consciousness took such leaps and bounds approximately 12,000 years ago, plant drying rack although no scientific evidence suggest such an assertion. Stoner culture is actually abound with these types of theories. The first written records and archeological evidence suggest that the cannabis plant was being cultivated at the dawn of Chinese civilization.

The first semi-scientific investigation of the cannabis plant is attributed to the Chinese Emperor, and father of Chinese medicine, Shen Nung of the third millennium B.C.E. Shen Nung is credited with the testing of plants for the medicinal quality. It is rumored he turned green and died of self-administered accidental poisoning unrelated to cannabis. Shen Nung Pen Ts’ao Ching text was the first Chinese pharmacopeia . The Pen Ts’ao Ching recommended the use of cannabis to treat a wide range of ailments from gout to malaria. It has traditionally been documented in China’s pharmacopeia.The use of Cannabis spread west out of China to the Indian sub-content carried by traders. The ritual use of cannabis in religious practice in India spans back thousands of years and is a recurring theme in India’s history . Legend has it that the plant was created when the gods stirred the heavenly oceans with the peak of Mount Mandara. From the stirring, a drop of nectar fell to the earth and the cannabis plant sprouted. Other legends suggest that the God Shiva brought cannabis down from the Himalayas for the pleasure of mankind . In many traditions of Hinduism, Shiva is one of the five primary forms of God. Shiva takes on many forms, as he is frequently depicted as an omniscient Yogi that lives an ascetic life as well as a slayer of demon. However, above all, if frequently thought of as the destroyer of worlds. Shiva destroys the world to create a better one . Shiva is According to folklore, the god Shiva went into the fields and laid under a cannabis plant for shade. Then, being hungry, he ate some of it and it became his favorite food . Indian cannabis was originally reserved for Brahmin priests and Hindu holy men. Such men of creed and conviction believed cannabis took them closer to enlightenment and the gods. Likewise, cannabis was recommended as an aid in ritualistic Tantric sexual yoga. Cannabis was not considered an aphrodisiac, yet it was believed that cannabis had the ability to lift one into a higher state of consciousness that could enhance sexuality and sexual union. Gross described the Indians practice of smoking cannabis as, a symbolic ritual in which the sadhu4 absorb the substance and essence in order to become one with Him. For centuries it is believed that Cannabis was the plant used in the creation of Soma, a plant mentioned several hundred times in hymns and chants in the Rig Veda . Many claimed soma helped to spur the development of the Hindu religion. Modern scholars however, contend the actual substance was ephedra sinica or the fly agaric mushroom . Considering cannabis’ prevalence in Hindu religious practice, and the religious practice of so many cultures throughout the world, I suggest such a hypothesis needs reexamination. Furthermore, ritualistic cannabis use is still practiced in India in a form of a drink called Bhang. Moreover, some Shiva followers in South India still claim that the Vedic soma was the same as their current soma Bhang drink. Bhang is a tea made of cannabis leaves, milk, sugar and other assorted herbs and spices. The steps used in the preparation of Bhang are the essentially the same steps used in the preparation of the ancient soma. Cannabis in current context is commonly referred to as “sattvik nasha” translated as “peaceful intoxication” . Although highly contentious and open to debate, many scholars have suggested that Judaism, and as a consequence, the practice of the major three monotheistic religions , all have connections with cannabis. According to several scholars, Sula Benet being the most prominent, cannabis was an ingredient in the Holy anointing oil mentioned in the bible and other sacred Hebrew texts.

If this pattern is indeed driven by space use intensity, there are many possible explanations— for instance, perhaps these species, in an attempt to avoid cannabis farms, end up concentrated in smaller areas. The results for deer are at least partially consistent with other studies that indicate they generally have a neutral occupancy response to human presence and footprint, but have an increased intensity of use response . Another potential emerging pattern is the possible behavioral flexibility of some mesopredator/omnivore species, lending limited support to our alternative hypothesis that omnivores would display greater variation in space use responses. While less consistent across all omnivores than the pattern with herbivores and ground birds above, gray fox, striped skunk, and raccoons all displayed different potential ability to use the space on and nearby cannabis farms. Fox occupancy probability decreased with distance to cannabis, implying a potential attraction to cannabis farms. Raccoon and striped skunk detection probability decreased with distance to cannabis, implying that they may have a higher space use intensity near to cannabis farms. This is consistent with other studies that demonstrate that these species are often behaviorally flexible and able to coexist in human-dominated spaces . This association with mesopredator use of human spaces is also often explained via mesopredator release, when larger predators avoid an area of disturbance and thereby open a niche for smaller predators . What is interesting is that in this case, however, our alternative hypothesis that carnivores would avoid farms was not supported, and predators largely did not respond to cannabis. Bear and coyote occupancy and detection did not respond to cannabis, 4×8 botanicare tray and although puma did not have enough detections to include in the single species models, one was photographed in the middle of one of our study farms.

Bobcat detection probability did increase with distance from cannabis farm but did not have a meaningful occupancy response. In fact, all four of these large predators were photographed at least once in the middle of a cannabis farm . Also interesting is that there was not a clear pattern of response for small mammal species that might be prey for the mesopredators. Unlike our alternative hypothesis that predicted a general attraction for all small mammals to cannabis farms, tree squirrels and ground squirrels had opposing responses. Tree squirrel occupancy increased with detection from cannabis farms, indicating avoidance, while ground squirrel occupancy decreased. For ground squirrels, our models suggest that while they are frequently found near cannabis farms, their space use intensity may be lower closer to farms. Again, there may be multiple reasons for this, but one possibility is that cannabis farms are being developed on ideal ground squirrel habitat, and while the squirrels have not yet relocated away from the farms, they are not as active on these sites due to the disturbance associated with the farms. Alternatively, cannabis farms may be creating new habitat for ground squirrels by clearing vegetation and irrigating the land, and the lower detection may simply reflect lower population densities as fewer individuals have discovered the new sites. It would be interesting to see whether these patterns change over time.This study has many limitations that are important to acknowledge. First, cannabis production comes in many forms in different locations, and this study does not represent all of them. This study is most applicable for small-scale and mixed light outdoor cannabis cultivation occurring on private lands in legacy production regions of the rural Western US. It is very likely that larger farms would have a greater impact on wildlife than those included in this study, or that farms developed in areas with existing agriculture might have less, or different kinds of effects.

Because cannabis production is often unique from other forms of agriculture, these types of observational studies are valuable and merit repeating in different contexts. Next, we recognize we are applying occupancy modeling for a purpose that it was not directly designed for, and in doing so, we are violating multiple assumptions of the model. The use of occupancy modeling to assess space use relationships is increasingly common in wildlife studies , and we have done our best to account for the violation of assumptions in our modeling approach. Ultimately, we have confidence in our results. For example, we included domestic dogs because their space use patterns are already well understood on the landscape. That the models reflect our understanding of reality on the ground for this domestic species gives us confidence in the results for the unknown wild species. One major limitation of our approach to interpreting detection as a combination of detectability and space use intensity is that the two are not entirely separable. We have included covariates that we believe address one aspect more than the other, but there could be unaccounted for detectability variables that confound our interpretation of space use intensity. More caution should therefore be taken when interpreting the detection results compared to the occupancy results. Future studies might be able to help disentangle some of these effects by examining temporal activity patterns of wildlife in addition to space use intensity. Finally, these data are all observational, and therefore cannot address specific mechanisms by which cannabis may affect local wildlife. Future studies isolating potential mechanisms of deterrence and attraction would help elucidate some of the species-specific behaviors documented in this study . Understanding the pathways by which wildlife respond to disturbance is critical for mitigating the impacts of anthropogenic change . It is well understood that wildlife respond to human disturbance in complex ways, which can have individual, population, and community effects .

To piece apart these complex interactions, it can be useful to isolate particular sources of disturbance and their effects on wildlife. Two sources of disturbance that have been identified as major anthropogenic drivers of wildlife behavioral change are light and noise pollution. Artificial light at night is an increasing global phenomenon, with the coverage of outdoor areas illuminated by artificial light increasing by 2.2% per year . This global increase in light can have far ranging consequences across taxa, including by causing animal disorientation, and by disrupting behavior or interactions . Noise pollution has been less studied than light pollution, however, the effects of noise on wildlife are also global, and may have individual, population, and community level impacts including disrupted reproductive signaling or prey vigilance, and added cumulative stress . Controlled experiments provide a powerful tool for exploring causal relationships between disturbance sources, such as light and sound, and wildlife responses . Experiments on noise and light effects are typically focused on individual species or taxa, but field experiments in particular offer an opportunity to study interactive effects of noise and light pollution . However, this approach is largely under-utilized, due to the logistical challenges of implementing such studies . Here, I describe an experimental approach to studying the separate and interactive effects of point source noise and light pollution on multi-taxa wildlife communities. Specifically, my approach applies a comprehensive experimental design to understand the effects of noise and light pollution commonly associated with cannabis farming. Recreational cannabis production in the western United States has been increasing rapidly following state-level legalization . Influenced by its illicit history, outdoor cannabis is often grown in remote and bio-diverse regions with minimal other non-timber agriculture . In these legacy systems, the proximity of cannabis to wilderness areas may lead to unusual disturbance patterns associated with cannabis cultivation where relatively small point source disturbances are surrounded by a matrix of more intact vegetation . Outdoor and mixed light cannabis farming presents a particular concern for environmental impacts because of their use of bright lights and loud equipment such as generators and fans . Observational research indicates that cannabis production is likely to affect wildlife space use . However, current research has not distinguished between sources of disturbance on cannabis farms, which is critical for designing appropriate interventions, including policy, to mitigate the effect of these disturbances. In this study, I designed and implemented an experiment to investigate the individual and combined effects of light and noise from cannabis farms on local wildlife. I was particularly interested in the impact of new developing farms in rural areas. To approach this question, I designed a series of experimental field trials that mimic light and sound disturbance from outdoor, greenhouse, flood table for greenhouse and mixed light cannabis production, and a monitoring array to measure resulting wildlife responses. The preliminary results of this effort to design and trial a comprehensive study of anthropogenic noise and light effects on wildlife are promising. Results to date suggest that this experimental design may be sufficiently rigorous, with enough sampling to quantify relationships and thresholds for different taxonomic groups in their response to experimental light and noise treatments that mimic conditions on cannabis farms. While more data needs to be collected, sorted, and analyzed, the study design detailed here may be sufficient for this study’s objectives and useful for other researchers interested in community responses to disturbance. Preliminary visualizations indicate that there will likely be species- and taxa- specific responses to each disturbance treatment. These results provide an early indication that I may be able to capture fairly fine-scale responses of at least medium-large mammals and flying insects. Current results mainly provide insights on response to light treatments, since there were fewer sound and combined light/sound trials in the first season of data collection. Considering I have not yet implemented more complex modeling to account for seasonal variations or other covariates, it is surprising that there is already an indication of mammalian avoidance and flying insect attraction to light treatments, providing limited support for hypothesized relationships.

Future analysis of these data will involve more complex Generalized Linear Mixed Model approaches, as has been used in other studies on light and noise effects on wildlife . This will allow me to account for seasonal variation or other covariates, examine potential habituation effects over time, and incorporate decibel and light intensity measurements at each site. Its just after 9 p.m. on a cold night in Shreverport Louisiana. A homeless African American man, Fate Winslow, approaches a man on the street and asks him what he is looking for. The man however, is no ordinary individual, the man that Fate approaches is an undercover cop. The cop tells him he wants two bags and promises him a $5 commission. Being homeless and in need of a meal for the night, Fate takes the officers money and returns with two bags of marijuana, after which he is ushered into the backseat of a patrol car. Three months later, Winslow is found guilty of selling a schedule 1 narcotic and is sentenced to life in a hard prison camp without the possibility of parole. Winston’s fate to die behind bars for a miniscule amount of pot is hard to believe, but it is not unique. While it would be comforting to think Fate’s was the only of its kind, unfortunately, this is not the case. As of August 2013, there are approximately 3,278 people serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for non –violent offenses according to the American Civil Liberties Union 2013 report. And, 79% of those individuals are sentenced for non-violent drug offenses . This reality is ever more shocking when considering that 23 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana, and 3 states and the District of Columbia, have legalized cannabis for recreational purposes for individuals over the age of 21. What do we make of this perplexing contradictory view of marijuana as medicine on one hand, and a criminal substance so abhorrent that we need to lock up users and sellers for the rest of their lives on the other?Some revere cannabis as the vehicle to spiritual enlightenment and consciousness , while others consider it to be a direct revelation from God . Many advocates claim marijuana has various health benefits all the way from the treatment of asthma, multiple sclerosis, nausea and glaucoma . Still, others condemned it as the road to perdition . How are we to understand these perplexing, polarizing and seemingly contradictory opinions of a plant that has no acute dangerous effects and which has caused no known overdoses ? People have reported feeling more relaxed and peaceful and that their thoughts were more profound and deeper .

Previous attempts to assess the drivers of cannabis land use or predict the current or future distribution of cannabis production have relied heavily on biophysical and bio-climatic models, using variables such as slope, forest land cover, distance to streams, aspect, canopy cover, and precipitation . These models have demonstrated that compared to other forms of farming, cannabis is generally less influenced or predicted by biophysical variables . This is unsurprising, however, given that social and cultural variables are likely to profoundly shape the spatial distribution of cannabis production. For example, depending on the production style, a cannabis farmer might forgo a less bio-physically ideal production area in order to stay concealed, or to grow near hospitable neighbors or close to other cannabis farmers with whom they can share labor or knowledge. Thus, social variables may be relatively more predictive of cannabis industry dynamics than biophysical variables. Ultimately, bridging social and ecological knowledge may be key to understanding the spatial dynamics of cannabis land use. Integrating a more complete social-ecological context into models of land use presents multiple challenges. First, it requires an in-depth understanding of the system to be modeled. In the case of cannabis agriculture, its illicit history is an impediment to research. Federal restrictions on research funding to study an illicit crop have meant that there are few studies to draw on for characterizing patterns or trends in cannabis production, particularly on private lands . Given the lack of formal research on the fledgling recreational cannabis industry, those who understand the industry best are likely those engaged in it directly. Thus, rolling grow trays interviews of cannabis farmers may be a particularly valuable approach for identifying and understanding potential drivers of cannabis land use.

Interviews come with weaknesses, however; small or biased interview pools may fail to uncover the most important drivers of cannabis land use, or farmers themselves may be unable or unwilling to articulate the drivers that are most relevant to their landscape-scale decision-making. The second major challenge to integrating social and ecological understandings into land use models is that some potential drivers may not readily lend themselves to quantitative analysis. The transformation of qualitative knowledge into quantitative data is an inherent challenge for many interdisciplinary studies that attempt to merge opposing ontologies. For example, translating attitudes or perceptions into numerical data is a longstanding dilemma in quantitative social science where doing so risks losing context and being misunderstood . Nonetheless, integrating environmental modeling with social, economic and political drivers will enhance our understanding of system dynamics . n order to both generate a list of potential land use drivers, and to interpret and contextualize model results, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 14 cannabis farmers in Josephine County in 2019. Farmers had to be over the age of 21, but could be engaged in any type of cannabis production on private land, whether licensed or unlicensed. Interviews were conducted by the same researcher for consistency, while living in Josephine County over a two year period. We interviewed farmers about drivers of cannabis land use, farming practices, influences on production methods, and farmer connection with the land. Although some farmers were also producing cannabis under a hemp license, we focused our questions on the cannabis industry because the hemp industry in Josephine County largely emerged after 2018, which is after the mapped data were collected. 

We initially used known contacts in formal and informal cannabis producer networks, invited voluntary participation, and thereafter used a snowball recruitment method. We continued interviews until we reached saturation , at which point we considered the number of farmers interviewed to be sufficient. Because of the difficulties in attaining a representative sample of all cannabis farmers in the region, these interviews were viewed as generative rather than representative of all producers in the area. Interviews were recorded with permission, alongside hand written notes. Most interviews took place on the cannabis farm, or another location selected by the farmer, and often included a tour of the farm. Interviews typically lasted 2 hours, but ranged between 1 – 8 hrs, depending on the time constraints and preferences of the interviewee. All interviews were conducted under UC Berkeley Human Subjects Protocol CPHS# 2018-11-11619. We summarized interviews, grouped main themes or concepts, and transcribed quotes that represented the key emerging themes. We did not conduct a formal coding process because our purpose was largely generative. We then used these summaries to identify potential quantitative variables for our land use models. One of the most common factors mentioned in farmer interviews was the importance of community, both in terms of their connection to other cannabis farmers as well as to their surrounding neighbors. For example, in the quote above, the farmer was describing how his relationship with his neighbors instilled a sense of both community and responsibility that translated into on-the-ground decisions he made on his farm, such as when or how to use grow lights. The interviewed farmers explained that having a good relationship with neighbors was critical for surviving in the industry, regardless of whether they were licensed or not. In addition, they described that best growing practices were often communicated through social networks, both online and in person, and so they often relied on other cannabis farmers for advice or assistance.

Interviewed farmers explained that cultural norms dictated practices, which in Josephine County are often influenced by legacy production styles and attitudes. Some farmers also mentioned the advantage of being able to help each other with labor when living close to other farmers. In translating this theme into quantitative variables for potential land use drivers, we focused on farmer reliance on other local cannabis producers. We quantified proximity to other cannabis farms by calculating the smallest non-zero distance from each parcel to the nearest cannabis farm both pre- and post-legalization, using the ‘st_nn’ function from the nngeo package for R . This package calculates the k-nearest neighbor distance between features. We calculated a large number of neighbor distances for each parcel, then selected the minimum distance excluding all zero values. We also attempted to estimate neighborhood tolerance for cannabis farming. To do so, we used the density of cannabis within a 1 km radius around each parcel both pre- and post-legalization as our spatial proxy. Cannabis production in Josephine County is clustered at multiple spatial scales and so any distance threshold that represents a localized area might be appropriate, but we chose 1 km because this generally encompasses a local neighborhood. Using the sf package in R, we generated buffers around parcel centroids, intersected them with centroids of cannabis sites, and then converted the count to density by dividing by buffer area. All farmers interviewed expressed personal values related to environmental stewardship. In the context of the quote above, the farmer was comparing his impact from cannabis farming to nearby clear cut logging, and explaining his deep conviction that his style of land use was environmentally sustainable compared to larger industrial and extractive land uses. In the opening quote from the introduction, “Money actually does grow on trees out here, and that’s a blessing,” a different farmer expressed similar sentiments, horticulture trays connecting his farming to both nature and livelihood/profit, while expressing gratitude that the place itself, Josephine County, enabled that relationship. Many of the interviewed farmers explained that their motivations for growing cannabis stemmed from a desire to connect with the land or nature, although only a few had been farmers before cultivating cannabis. Interviewees often mentioned that the ruralness of Josephine County was an attraction because of its biodiversity. Many farmers reported personal connections with and fondness for the wildlife on their production sites. Many also expressed concerns about ecological damage from the cannabis industry. For example, farmers highlighted concerns about pesticide or rodenticide use, trash/plastic waste, animals caught in netting, water pollution , excessive water withdrawals, waterway diversion, imported soils, clearcuts, and paving. Multiple farmers raised concerns that the state or county regulatory process did not support environmental stewardship, and some expressed concerns that following regulations made it more difficult to practice what they saw as sustainable or regenerative farming practices such as intercropping, or crop rotation. The interviewed farmers generally considered themselves as having less impactful growing practices than other cannabis producers in the region, while farmer descriptions and farm visits both demonstrated a wide variety of production practices across all farms. Farmers mentioned the need for more crop research, information-sharing, and stronger norms around acceptable environmental practices.

While this theme did not translate easily into quantifiable spatial proxies, we focused on farmers’ expressed desire to grow in remote areas because of the opportunity to work the land in proximity to wild flora and fauna. We quantified this ruralness using the Human Footprint layer, which combines data on the built environment, population density, night-time lights, crop and pasture lands, roads and railways, and navigable waterways to create an index of direct and indirect human pressures at a 1 km2 resolution. We extracted the mean human impact value for each parcel using the exactextractr package in R . There was a wide range of responses regarding the importance of regulation for farmer decision making. In the quote above, the farmer explained how some aspects of regulation were more impactful to his daily farm management decisions than others as he navigated the licensed industry. Most farmers did not perceive that enforcement influenced their land use decisions, although the farmers navigating the licensed recreational market said that regulations were often their first consideration. One unlicensed farmer compared law enforcement to wildfire risk, explaining both as factors that were constant background risks but ultimately outside of his control. There was widespread confusion and frustration with the regulations around recreational cannabis. Multiple farmers said that they started growing hemp, or had considered growing hemp, to avoid the legal hurdles of recreational cannabis. Others raised questions about what the new recreational market would mean for medical producers. Some interviewees mentioned that a rural location made things easier from an enforcement perspective, particularly in avoiding the Grants Pass area . Even those who were attempting to navigate the legal industry expressed that it was useful to be less closely monitored because of the difficulty in complying with all regulations, the time needed to demonstrate compliance, or fear that they may be breaking rules without knowing it. To translate the preference for distance from law enforcement into a spatial driver, we estimated this both with ruralness as well as the straight line distance from the Grants Pass Sheriff’s office to each parcel using the sf package in R . However, because these measurements were significantly correlated, we ultimately dropped distance to law enforcement as a variable in our models. There were also a number of regulatory designations that cannabis farmers discussed as important when considering where to grow. Water rights were considered critical for legal production but specifics of parcel-level rights were often hard to acquire or interpret. Water rights were not generally discussed by unlicensed farmers, but water access, storage, and application were all considered critical. Because of the mixed response to regulated water use, we assessed water access as part of Parcel Qualities below, rather than in Regulation. The shifting policies in Josephine County around zoning restrictions, particularly for Rural Residential zones, led farmers to identify exclusive farm zoned parcels as the safest and highest quality lands for cannabis production. One farmer also mentioned Farm Resource zoned properties. To translate this into a land use driver, we created a binary variable that assigned a ‘1’ to each parcel that was zoned for either EF or FR zones and a 0 for those that did not. Zoning information was provided by Josephine County . Farmers identified multiple biophysical properties of parcels that factored into decisions about where to produce cannabis. In the quote above, the farmer was expressing confusion as to why some cannabis producers selected parcels that required a large labor input to clear or terrace land to begin farming, when other, more open parcels seemed to him to be a more ideal choice. In addition to open/cleared areas with access to sunlight, some of the other factors mentioned included relatively flat slopes, and medium elevation zones as helpful qualities for production.

The results reported here may also be used to inform program development, adaptation, and implementation in settings with similar regional attributes. Additionally, findings may be consulted for how such a program may be adapted in larger school districts that have RJPs integrated into current disciplinary policies but may incorporate these approaches into protocols for addressing drug-related incidents. This study is also unique in that it employed the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data on student experiences with the RJP program. These methods have been noted as a critical data collection strategy for evaluating RJP programs, but not has been a common practice in other RJP program evaluations. Other studies have examined stakeholder and participant experiences, but mostly within the context of specific program components not for the program in its entirety. Darling-Hammond and colleagues utilized state-wide data from CHKS to assess student experiences with restorative programs overall; however, individual-level experiences were not considered.26Findings from this intermediate evaluation reveal that RAYS is on track to meet the majority of target goals and objectives with respect to the process and outcome measures set by NCSOS prior to the program’s launch. Although harm perceptions remained stable or slightly decreased, most enrollees reported decreased use rates from pretest to posttest. This may have implications for program adaptations and the need for further assessment of harm perceptions via pretests and posttests for the harm reduction classes specifically. Nonetheless, harm perceptions of substances among RAYS students does align with other studies examining youth harm perceptions of AOD use. The implementation of RAYS seemed to also have an impact on resource awareness among enrollees with a majority indicating an increased recognition of services and support at their sites.

Furthermore, hemp drying racks suspension counts for Nevada County sites implementing RAYS decreased substantially from pre- to post-launch of the program. In comparison to schools not implementing the program, RAYS schools have fared better in terms of the counts of overall and drug-related suspensions. Additionally, the majority of enrollees reported having had positive experiences with RAYS, peer advocates, and the various program components. Qualitative data highlighted individual-level perceptions of the program in addition to providing more insight into how student experiences with program components may inform future adaptations.The current study provides a firsthand look into findings from an intermediate evaluation of an RJP program as an alternative to punitive measures to address drug-related disciplinary incidents. Despite limitations with data access and sample size, findings from this report are promising with respect to program impacts on adolescent AOD use behaviors, resource awareness, and shifts in the number of disciplinary incidents. To optimize the effectiveness of the formal evaluation, it is recommended that site-level data on individual disciplinary incidents are obtained versus utilizing publicly available data from the CDE’s repository. Furthermore, more effort is needed to increase the posttest response rate in order to ensure data for the majority of enrollees is properly captured to assess the effectiveness of the program on individual behavioral factors. Additionally, school-wide surveys to assess program awareness and support among school staff and students should also be implemented to measure changes in these variables over time. Future evaluative studies of RJP programs with substance use components should consider the inclusion of a control group to allow for the examination of differences in outcome measures between schools implementing RJP approaches versus those that are not. This would help to better inform whether RJP approaches are indeed an optimal alternative to address adolescent AOD use behaviors and related disciplinary incidents.

Land use change is one of the greatest threats to wildlife worldwide—globally, it can remove and alter habitat, or disrupt wildlife interactions . A major challenge for conservation involves navigating the negative environmental repercussions of land use change alongside the needs for human agriculture and development . This means that studying land use change fundamentally engages the role of humans within ecological systems and processes . Research has increasingly focused on human impacts on surrounding ecosystems, revealing complex interactions and consequences . However, mechanistic understanding, universal rules, or consistent predictions are difficult to define, and more context-based research is needed, especially in systems early in the process of land use transition. To understand why, it is important to start with the recent history of cannabis cultivation in the western US. For decades, cannabis was grown illegally in rural areas of California, Oregon, and Washington as part of the back-to-the-land movement . These were remote areas that allowed counter-culture communities to reinvent themselves, but which also happened to host some of the nation’s highest biodiversity . The industry remained surreptitious and small-scale for many years, while ongoing law enforcement and the US “war on drugs” tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the practice . Then, the ground shifted with recreational legalization. Oregon passed recreational Adult Use cannabis legalization in the fall of 2015, and California followed suit a year later, riding a wave of recreational legalization measures that eventually passed across 19 states in the US. Very rapidly, this policy change initiated land use development for cannabis , first in areas with a history of cultivation, and later, into new regions. This shift in development was accompanied by subtle shifts in motives and philosophy behind cannabis cultivation – as one of the farmers I interviewed for Chapter 2 put it, “The quest for the all mighty dollar got in the way of the spiritual cycle of the plant.” Along with these rapid changes came calls of concern for potential environmental impacts . However, the illicit history of cannabis meant that there was very little existing research on cannabis-environment interactions, and many gaps in baseline data .

To address this brewing conservation crisis, I focused my dissertation on the ecological outcomes of cannabis legalization. I was specifically interested in studying private land cannabis development in rural areas with a history of pre-legalization cultivation . In these regions, legalization has spurred major private land development for cannabis alongside high biodiversity and few other crop based agricultural land uses. The focus on small-scale outdoor private land cannabis cultivation sets my dissertation apart from other studies which have focused on public land production , indoor cultivation , or large scale cannabis development in emerging regions . Each style of cultivation has its own ecological risks and social, economic, and ecological tradeoffs . However, private-land outdoor cannabis production in rural legacy regions provides the best opportunity to study land use consequences for wildlife communities within a social-ecological context. I approach legacy cannabis landscapes as an intertwined social-ecological system . The history and context of cannabis, described in part above, influences the development of cannabis as land use drivers . These drivers in turn shape the ways in which the associated cannabis land use change affects local ecosystems. The ecological impacts can feed back into the land use drivers by way of social attitudes towards nature, or changes in regulation and enforcement. All these interactions are influenced by the shift in overarching policy brought by recreational legalization. Each of my chapters addresses different components in this system, going from a broad to fine scale. My first chapter generates baseline descriptive data on cannabis land use and examines its broad scale overlap with wildlife habitat in southern Oregon . I use publicly available satellite imagery to characterize the development patterns of outdoor and greenhouse cannabis land use in Josephine County, Oregon, during the first year of recreational legalization. I then examine the overlap of cannabis production with potentially sensitive ecological features, including predator distributions and salmonid habitat. This broad overview provides a baseline to understand patterns of cannabis development relative to all available private lands. It also identifies areas where overlap may create potential for wildlife impacts . My second chapter adds depth and context to the baseline data provided in the first chapter, industrial rolling racks by examining the drivers of cannabis land use change before and after legalization . I use interview data with cannabis farmers to generate social and ecological covariates for models of cannabis land use and land use change. I interpret model results using the themes from the interviews and discuss possible conservation implications. The third chapter moves to a finer spatial scale, investigating how the overlap presented in Chapter 1 affects wildlife on and surrounding cannabis farms in southern Oregon . I use wildlife cameras to monitor animal space use and space use intensity as a function of distance to cannabis farms. I also identify general patterns of response by functional groups. Finally, the fourth chapter presents a research design to investigate potential mechanisms for the wildlife responses observed in Chapter 3. I detail the methods for field experiments that measure the effects of light and noise on multi-taxa wildlife responses, mimicking conditions on active cannabis farms in a controlled setting. I present example data from field trials conducted in northern California. Taken together, these chapters present multiple approaches to understanding the ecological outcomes of cannabis legalization. More generally, research on cannabis agriculture can provide insights on the intersections between rapid changes in human land use and wildlife communities, especially at rural-wild land interfaces.

By taking a multi-scalar approach to understanding a unique industry at a critical moment in time, I hope this dissertation sheds light on land use change processes to help promote human-wildlife coexistence in an ever-changing world.Land use change is one of the oldest and most pervasive threats to global biodiversity , yet it often occurs over time spans that obscure pattern , or in tandem with multiple development drivers that are difficult to disentangle . An exception to this is when abrupt changes in law or regulation accelerate development, creating what is known as a “policy-induced rapid land use change frontier” . The acceleration of development at these frontiers enables researchers to assess how land-use change affects biodiversity or ecosystem function over short time periods . One such unique opportunity to study land use change frontiers has emerged recently in the western United States of America with the legalization of cannabis production and use . Over the past decade, 17 states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. have legalized recreational cannabis, or marijuana , and the rate of recreational legalization has increased over that time. This policy change has initiated rapid development of cannabis cultivation, particularly in areas with a history of illicit or medical cannabis farming . Note that because of the complex policy background of cannabis and its quasi-legal status , this expansion occurs across types of cultivation including licensed and unlicensed producers. As with any development frontier, the rapid expansion of recreational cannabis is likely to come with ecological costs. Indeed, cannabis production has sparked considerable conservation concern for its potential effects on water, land, and wildlife . These effects may occur in part through water withdrawals that lower freshwater availability , road construction or use of pesticides that lower freshwater quality , clearing or fencing of undeveloped land that removes or degrades wildlife habitat , toxicants or poaching that directly kill animals and pose particular risk to terrestrial carnivores like the fisher , and human disturbance that alters animal behavioral cues . These five impact pathways likely vary depending on surrounding context, production practices, and license status, but provide a general guideline for potential ecological effects . Much of the existing research on ecological effects of cannabis has focused on illicit production on public lands . However, private land production is quickly becoming a dominant source of cannabis in the western U.S. while illegal public land production in the region either appears to be declining , shifting, or possibly increasing in some areas with increased enforcement . Private land cannabis cultivation appears to generally follow one of two development trajectories . The first pathway consists of many, smaller farms in rural areas with a history of illicit or medical cultivation . The second path is dominated by fewer, larger farms in new areas more conducive to large-scale, industrial farming . Note that although the legacy pathway is characterized by historical growing practices, this form of production can also expand with emerging development frontiers. Research on these development trajectories in California suggests that, although both trajectories are expanding, the legacy pathway may require policy intervention if it is to fully transition to, and persist in, the legal industry .

The carbon footprint of embedded water in Califtornia’s agricultural products has not been thoroughly studied before. However, related topics have been on the table to solve the sustainable development problems. This research tries to find out the energy consumption of the water embedded in the exported agricultural products from Califtornia. It also aims to figure out the nation scale distribution of the carbon footprint that was studied in this research. The results show that the water footprint of the agricultural products is around 22.3 Gm3 and the total carbon footprint is 8.9 million metric tons of CO2. The top three regions that have the highest water and carbon footprint are European Union 27, China, and Japan. We studied the carbon footprint by researching the water footprint of all the agricultural products. Based on the energy usage per unit water sources published by the Califtornia Energy Commission and the global average water footprint of agricultural products from previous work , we calculated the carbon-equivalent of the agricultural products’ carbon footprint. And based on the result that the carbon footprint of the embedded water of agricultural products is only 2% of the total carbon budget with the water footprint contributes to 25% of the total, we believe that Califtornia has performed well in managing the energy in agriculture-water area, but it still has improvement space in the management of the water resource.The carbon footprint is defined as a measurement of the total amount of carbon dioxide emission that is directly and indirectly caused by an activity or is accumulated over the liftetime of a product. Due to its impact on the environmental issues such as global warming, the carbon footprint is the hot topic in the field of environmental science. Virtual water trade refers to the hidden flow of water if food or other agricultural products are traded from one place to another. At the same time, square black flower bucket wholesale virtual water is related to the carbon footprint directly and indirectly.

Some studies have focused on the virtual water trade aiming to conserve water in the production of crops by increasing product export to areas with less water needs . In this effort, the research on virtual water of agricultural products has the potential to reduce economic costs, where water withdrawals may have greater impacts on water-lacking regions than on water-abundant regions. However, few studies have analyzed the internal virtual water flow dynamics of the U.S. on a state or regional scale. And fewer have focused on the associated carbon footprint on a state or regional scale in the U.S. In this study, we calculated the carbon footprint of the exporting agricultural products of Califtornia to their destinations by firstly exploring the products’ water footprint. Previous virtual water quantification studies have identified the U.S. as the leading global virtual water exporter . Thus we hypothesize that Califtornia is the largest virtual water exporting state in the country. Accordingly we also hypothesize that Califtornia is releasing a great amount of carbon dioxide related to the embedded water of agricultural products. And in this research, we focus on the carbon footprint associated with energy cost by the embedded water in agricultural products exported from Califtornia to other regions of the world.Nowadays, carbon emission is a worldwide topic that hinders the development in many various sectors of human lifte. Every year, the United Nations would regulate the carbon budget for most of the countries. How to use the carbon budget efficiently is a mandatory issue to be managed. At the same time, water resources shortage is becoming an urgent problem all over the world, as energy deficiency is an equally critical problem. Califtornia is facing an unprecedented water crisis in history where water treatment is the largest energy use of the state taking up approximately 19 percent of the total annual electricity consumption . It will cost significant financial investment to keep the water supplies sufficient for next several decades. New regulations and court decisions have resulted in the reduction of water delivery from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta .

In some areas of the state, the quantity of underground water and surface water supplies is experiencing rapid decrease . The production of water for agriculture requires an enormous amount of energy. The energy water relationship is particularly inseparable in the Southwestern arid and semi-arid regions of the United States, where significant amounts of energy are used to import water. Califtornia is exceptionally vulnerable because its water sector is the largest energy user in the state, estimated to account for 19 percent of the total electricity consumed annually . Another fact is that the annual water used in growing agricultural products in Califtornia is much greater than the total amount used by the other fields such as commercial and industrial applications . Less known is the amount of water embedded or embodied in agricultural products that are exported to other states and countries. For some certain kinds of agricultural products, Califtornia is dominating the supply of the whole U.S. market, such as almond, grape, strawberry, processed tomato, and lemon .Table 5 shows that the exports of agricultural products have been increasing from 2010-2012. Almond as the most exported agricultural product had a growth of 19%. Almond, walnut, wine, and dairy products are the top four in terms of quantity of export agricultural products. All products summed up increased expert by agricultural products 8%. Agricultural product exports provided Califtornia with economic benefits. However, considerable amount of water was consumed during the process of irrigation.As shown in Figure 4 the trend of agricultural product exports from U.S. has been rapidly growing since year 2000. As one of the largest agriculture state of the U.S., Califtornia is facing an increasingly serious water and energy crisis. Califtornia exports agricultural products to more than 156 countries and agricultural export earnings totaled $16.87 billion in 2011 . A growing population is worsening the effects of multi-year droughts in many regions, threatening Califtornia’s already stressed and fragile water systems. The world population would reach 9.6 billion in 2050 . And the Califtornia population will across 50 million at 2050 , which accounts for a 32.4% increase from now. Therefore the food industry is expected to face the problem of food shortage, and one of the underlying causes of food shortage is the limited irrigation water resource. Furthermore, water supply including transportation, treatment, and dispensing is energy-intensive.

Carbon footprint associated with such energy cost is also expected to be tremendous, thus alarming from an environmental perspective. The total CO2 emission from United States in 2012 is around 1.4 billion tons of carbon . And the carbon budget for Califtornia is presently dominated by 115 MMTCE per year in fossil fuel emissions of CO2 to meet energy and transportation requirement. Recently, it is worth noticing that state legislation requires Califtornia to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and by another 80% below the 1990 levels by 2050. But its growing population and the demand for all forms of energy will make meeting these targets a major challenge.Based on the data of agricultural product export distribution in different destinations and the total water footprint/carbon footprint of each agricultural product, the weighted water footprint for all the exported agricultural products could be computed. The associated carbon footprint from water treatment could be estimated consecutively. Furthermore, the carbon footprint of the agricultural product export to one country is simply the summation of that of each agricultural product. Especially, in an industrial beef production system, it takes on average three years before the animal is slaughThered to produce about 200 kg of boneless beef. The animal consumes nearly 1,300 kg of grains , 7,200 kg of rough ages , 24 cubic meters of water for drinking and 7 cubic meters of water for servicing. This means that to produce one kilogram of boneless beef, we use about 6.5 kg of grain, 36 kg of rough ages, and 155 liters of water . Producing the volume of feed requires about 15,300 liters of water on average. The water footprint of 1 kg of beef thus adds up to 15,500 liters of water.There are several aspects that could have changed the results of this research. Income from agriculture is 50% of Califtornia’s GDP and is twice the amount of income from other industrial sectors. Being water arguably the most critical factor in agriculture, water stress is prevalent in Califtornia. In fact, plastic square flower bucket water footprint in agricultural product exports was 25 Gm3 water in 2011. Califtornia has been suffering from the droughts in recent years as shown in Figure 5. As the climate continues to warm and soil moisture deficits accumulate beyond historical levels, relevant studies suggest that sustaining water supplies in parts of the Califtornia will be a challenge . Import tax is directly proportional to the total price of import products, which in author’s view is biased. Products with low price/value yet high water footprint, such as beef and oranges, give the customer countries advantages over the others. With water being increasingly valuable, adjustments on import tax is needed for water resource management. The water footprint of Califtornia agricultural products estimated in the current study should be further compared to the water footprint of the U.S.. In the study of Mekonen , the total water footprint of agricultural production of USA is 800 Gm3 /yr, much bigger compared to the 25 Gm3 . However, this study focuses on not only the total quantity, but also the water footprint flow by looking at the commerce flow of each product. The import of water footprint of Califtornia should also be researched to provide an accurate understanding of the relationship between economics and environment. Furthermore, study can be expanded to the other state to comprehensively examine the virtual water flow within the entire nation.

Given that the water supply distribution in the States is vastly varied, the evaluation on water footprint flows can serve as a reference for decision making in commerce and economic management. Methodologies and results in this study can serve as preliminary results for further applications. Carbon footprint as the other objects of this study is equally important as water footprint. In a similar way, CO2 emission is becoming an increasingly impactful metric in many sectors of economy, and will be certainly put on the table during decision-making. Water supply in Califtornia is uniquely costly in terms of energy, standing at 19% of the total energy use of which 40% is used in agriculture . Therefore, the energy used in agriculture is 7.6% of the total energy consumption of Califtornia. The precipitation situation of Califtornia fluctuates from year to year, especially from 2011 to 2014, as shown in Figure 5. The Califtornia has been suffering from the worst drought in 50 years. In a drought year, instream water would be largely reduced, which means waster use in agriculture will have to rely more on other energy-intensive water supplies. Consequently, the carbon footprint for agriculture water use will be exacerbated. With year 2011 being a recent peak for precipitation, the results from this study on carbon footprint in agriculture exports, in a sense underestimated the water deficiency and energy consumption. The total carbon footprint calculated by this study for the agricultural products exported is around 9 million metric tons CO2, which is 2.2% of the carbon budget for Califtornia . The difference between the two numbers 2.2% and 7.6%, in the author’s view, is due to primarily the fact that export is only one of the end use for agricultural products. Secondly, the use of global average value for each product’s water footprint likely overlooks some of the features of regional products. In addition, inefficiency in agriculture water use for each type of product is open to exploration. From the CEC report of 2007 , the largest contribution to carbon footprint is from energy for electrical power generation and the fuel for transportation. The results of this study show that water footprint of agricultural product exports is 25% of the total, while the carbon footprint is 2.2% of the carbon budget. Therefore at the current stage, water consumption seems to be a more critical issue than CO2 emission. Nonetheless, what we considered in this research is the carbon footprint from the embedded water, but there are still many water-irrelevant activities that contribute to the total carbon footprint, such as the transportation energy and human labor carbon footprint. Hence, the carbon footprint from the entire process of agricultural production would be higher than that resulting from this research. Another fact is that if more reclaimed water was used in agriculture, lower carbon footprint would be achieved.

Furthermore, Hollands et al and Gregory et al conducted comparative analyses of schools implementing RJP programs and found that at schools with no restorative programs in place, there were higher suspension rates over time. Similarly, when comparing the Nevada County sites to the four schools in the neighboring county, there was a drastic difference in the number of overall and drug-related suspension counts, with Nevada County schools reporting lower numbers. To our knowledge, data on drug-related suspensions has not been examined in previous restorative program evaluations. Therefore, this study provides insight into the potential impacts of an RJP program with substance use components in addressing drug-related disciplinary incidents in particular. As reported, Nevada County sites had slightly higher drug-related suspensions in the 2018-19 academic year, which corresponds with the uptick in the number of relative incidents at the state level . Prior to the launch of RAYS, drug-related suspensions were higher at Nevada County sites in relation to comparable sites; however, similar to the number in overall suspensions, there was a sharp decrease in the academic year following the launch of RAYS in August 2021. In contrast, at the comparable school sites the number of drug-related suspensions nearly doubled during the 2021-22 academic year in relation to 2018- 19. Although these shifts may not be directly related to the implementation of RAYS, they may be indicators of larger program impacts on the discipline landscape at the school level. As is evident by pretest and posttest data, the majority of students who exited RAYS reported decreased use behaviors or frequency of use. As such, these students may no longer be using, or if they are, they are choosing not to use at school where they are most likely to be caught. At the systemic level, plants rack administrators at the Nevada sites may be increasing the number of referrals they are making to RAYS from drug-related incidents.

If so, this may imply an increased awareness of the RAYS program amongst school district and site staff which is crucial for program sustainability and continuous support. This increased awareness may be supported by the high number of school staff and administrator exposures to information presentations conducted by the RAYS program coordinators . Past RJP evaluation studies have cited the negative impacts of punitive measures, particularly the counter intuitive effects they have in increasing the number of disciplinary incidents and repeat offenses. It is evident from Nevada’s suspension data that in the absence of the RJP program, there was a higher number of overall and drug-related suspensions compared to when after RAYS was launched. Furthermore, authors have noted the positive effects RJP programs in improving academic achievement among participant. Although this study did not collect student academic data, it may be interesting to examine the potential impacts of RAYS in increasing academic success as students who are diverted to the program tend to stay in school rather than being sent home. Studies have also found that RJPs decrease the suspension gap between racial/ethnic minorities and non-Hispanic White students. Such gaps were not noted within the Nevada County sites implementing RAYS as the majority of enrollees self-identified as non-Hispanic White, representative of the student body in Nevada County . One of the objectives set by NCSOS was a reduction in drug-related suspensions by 20% by April 2024 . To calculate drug-related suspension rates, the total number of drugrelated suspensions was divided by the cumulative enrollment for the 2018-19 and 2021-22 academic years . Calculations revealed that in 2018-19, 6.03% of all students at the four sites were suspended for a drug-related reason, whereas in 2021-22, 2.17% of students were suspended.

Based on these raw calculations, there was an approximate 64.06% reduction in drug-related suspensions among the entire population at the four sites. This supports the conclusion that RAYS is on track to meet the 20% reduction goal by April 2024 if this decreasing trend continues. This decrease in drug-related suspension rates follows similar patterns with overall suspensions seen in other studies examining the effects of RJPs on disciplinary rates over time. It is crucial to continue tracking drug-related suspensions to assess potential time-dependent effects of the RAYS program across the implementation period.The use of combustible tobacco products has significantly decreased with 2.2% of 8th, 4.2% of 10th, and 7.6% of 12th graders reporting past 30-day cigarette use in 2018. These rates have continued to drop to 0.8%, 1.7%, and 4.0% for each grade level, respectively, in 2022. Nationally, this particular group of adolescents reported a combined past 30-day cigarette use rate of 2.1%. In California, which is known for having some of the strictest anti-tobacco laws in the nation, only 1.2% of this population reported past 30-day cigarette use in 2021. Other combustible forms of tobacco have also been relatively low across the years with the prevalence of large cigars and little cigars/cigarillos remaining below 10% across the years, more recently below 2% for either product. Smokeless tobacco use has also remained on a steady decline with 3.4% of adolescents reporting past 30-day use in 2018 to 2.3% in 2021. Looking at California specifically, only 0.6% of adolescents said that they had used a smokeless tobacco product in the last 30 days in 2021. Nonetheless, previous research has noted that smokeless tobacco use remains high in niche populations, mainly among non-Hispanic White male individuals who reside in rural areas. These devices are used to vaporize nicotine-containing liquids and other chemical compounds, allowing for the inhalation of chemical vapors.

In 2018, 19.2% of school-aged adolescents reported having vaped in the last 30 days, increasing to 22.5% in 2019 followed by a slight decrease to 17.0% in 2022. In California specifically, 8.2% of school-aged adolescents reported past 30-day use of a vape product.7 These high use rates are often attributed to the various flavors available for vape “juices” which may be enticing to school-aged youth. Findings released from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey reported that among the middle and high schoolers who used a vape in the last 30 days, approximately 85% used a flavored product with fruit and candy or sweet flavors being the most popular.10Despite its status as a Schedule I substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, several states across the nation have implemented policies permitting medicinal and/or recreational use of cannabis products. Some states have even gone the extra step of decriminalizing marijuana possession and use in an effort to reform the criminal justice system’s procedures surrounding cannabis. Adolescent cannabis use in particular, which remains illegal for individuals under 21 years of age in California, has seen fluctuations across the years. Overall rates of past 30-day use of marijuana/hashish products among school-aged adolescents in the United States were at 14.6% in 2018, followed by a slight decrease to 11.0% in 2021, and is now at 12.3% as of 2022. 6 Past 30-day marijuana vaping, as a modality, has increased among this population from 5.7% in 2018, to 10.1% in 2021, and current rates standing at 9.6% as of 2022. Marijuana use rates in California, a state that legalized medicinal use in 1996 and recreational use in 2016, have increased among school-aged adolescents. During the 2019-2020 academic year, 31.2% of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in California reported ever-using cannabis products, plant growing trays with 15% reporting past 30-day use. The most commonly used modalities for marijuana use among students in California were smoking at 50.6% among current users, followed by vaping at 32.6%.7Current California Education Code stipulates that all suspensions and expulsions are warranted if a student commits a “violent crime, possesses/uses drugs or weapons, steals, bullies, hazes, behaves obscenely, threatens to cause physical harm, or damages school property”. The decision to suspend or expel a student who has committed a suspendable offense is at the discretion of the principal or district superintendent. Since the 1980’s, most policies and guidelines surrounding discipline in California’s schools have been punitive in nature, with zerotolerance approaches being the norm. However, a shift to more restorative disciplinary methods has been seen in various districts not only in California, but throughout the United States. For drug-related disciplinary policies in particular, California Education Code states that students may be suspended or expelled if they are caught in possession, using, selling, furnishing, or under the influence of any controlled substance under Division 10 of the California Health and Safety Code . Controlled substances listed under this code include any forms of opiates, opium derivatives, hallucinogenic substances , depressants, and other “hard” drugs . The current California Education Code also classifies possession or use of tobacco products or alcohol as a suspendable offense.

Nonetheless, a recent announcement from the California Department of Education instituted new guidelines for what may constitute a suspendable incident. Although policies for drug-related offenses remain in effect, guidelines for suspensions and expulsions for defiance related infractions have shifted. Students in grades K-8 can no longer be suspended for “willful defiance”, defined as being disruptive or acting in a way that defies authority. Research has found that punitive measures to address willful defiance have historically impacted students of color and sexual/gender minorities at disproportionate rates. State officials have emphasized that punitive measures such as suspension should be considered as a last resort, instead diverting students to necessary services and interventions as alternatives to suspension. These policies highlight a major transition from punitive measures which are more exclusionary in nature and tend to isolate students. The “alternative to suspension” approaches currently being proposed seek to improve behavioral and academic outcomes utilizing restorative justice and trauma-informed approaches. They also seek to provide individualized support in lieu of punitive discipline by providing additional academic, behavioral , and social support. The CDE has also encouraged schools to draw from existing mental health support and behavioral intervention strategies , an approach that some schools in California are already implementing. Recent studies have found positive impacts of these restorative practices on behavioral outcomes and suspension and expulsion rates, particularly for students of color – a subgroup of the student population that has been found to be disproportionately impacted by the negative effects of punitive measures. Overall student suspension rates have remained at steady rates across the years. In the 2011-12 academic year, the state-wide suspension rates were at 5.8%, steadily decreased to 3.6% in 2016-17, and were most recently reported at 3.2% as of the 2021-22 academic year. It is important to note that the 2018-19 academic year was the last full year of in-person instruction due to pandemic-related campus closures during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years. As such, suspension and expulsion data provided for the period during campus closures may not be reflective of the actual number of students that may have committed suspendable offenses during this time. Examination of drug-related suspensions in particular does not reveal any notable patterns. Nonetheless, as seen in Figure 1, a slight decrease in the total number of illicit drug related suspensions is evident between the 2014-15 and 2016-17 academic years, with a steady increase in 2017-18. The notable decrease in the 2020-21 academic year is reflective of the school closures and transition to remote learning between March 2020 and Fall 2021, during which the majority of students were not attending school in-person.One strategy for alternative-to-suspension programs is the incorporation of RJP approaches in disciplinary protocols. The philosophies embedded in RJPs are rooted in South Pacific and North American indigenous cultural values which emphasize the importance of community and interpersonal connectedness. Originally implemented in criminal justice systems, they are an alternative to punitive measures found to be successful in reducing repeat offenses and fostering reintegration for the offender. School systems in Australia began implementing RJPs in educational settings in the 1990’s with other nations following shortly thereafter, including the United States. RJP philosophies focus on “wound repair”, recognizing that entire communities are harmed when an individual commits an offense. Major components of RJPs tie in community cohesiveness, harm repair, and reintegration. In contrast to exclusionary discipline , RJPs bring stakeholders together for civil discussions in a “safe space”. Some critical components of RJPs that foster these “safe spaces” include restorative circles/restorative conferences, community-building circles, restorative conversations, and peer-to-peer mediations. 

Overexpressing the biosynthetic and regulatory genes of flavonoids can potentially increase their accumulation in C. sativa, though it is currently challenging to transform and propagate C. sativa plants. To this end, cell suspension and hairy root tissue cultures and heterologous expression systems have been developed for C. sativa, which can be utilized for the production of flavonoids and functional genomics of flavonoid metabolism. Adolescent illicit drug use is a top concern for school systems in the United States as early onset of use can have detrimental effects on academic performance and overall health outcomes. 1 Overall, adolescent alcohol and other drug use rates have steadily declined across the years. In 2011, 14.7% of 8th graders, 31.1% of 10th graders, and 40% of 12th graders reported last 12-month AOD use.2 Most recently in 2021, 10.2% of 8th graders, 18.7% of 10th graders, and 32% of 12th graders reported last 12-month AOD use.2 Despite these decreasing trends, it is crucial that schools and systems working closely with adolescents and pre-pubescent children remain vigilant in their substance use prevention and intervention efforts. The California Department of Education highlights the important role of schools in providing assistance programs for students to prevent or intervene on risky behaviors, like substance use. In an effort to address this, school systems have begun to implement alternative to suspension programs which is reflected in the expansion of restorative intervention programs to address disciplinary incidents. These programs have been found to be effective in reducing the number of incidents, improving school climate, and increasing academic success. Although the implementation of these programs is increasing, evaluative research to assess the effectiveness of such alternatives is limited. Furthermore, few if any of these programs, to our knowledge, provide substance use-specific services, weed drying room such as substance use and drug treatment and counseling, for students who have committed drug-related offenses.

The purpose of this project is to report findings from an intermediate evaluation of Nevada County’s Restorative Accountable Youth Solutions program. This evaluation seeks to assess potential program impacts on student AOD use behaviors, perceptions of AOD use, resource awareness, self-responsibility, and overall and drug related suspension counts at sites implementing the program. The focus will be on alcohol, vapes , and marijuana as the program being evaluated specifically addresses use of these substances in core educational and counseling intervention components. Findings from this evaluative report may be used to inform a formal evaluation of the RAYS program and contribute to limited research on school-based, restorative alternatives to suspension for drug related disciplinary incidents.Trends in alcohol use among adolescents in the United States have followed similar patterns to other substances; however, specific use behaviors, mainly binge drinking, have steadily increased in recent years.6 Among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders at the national level, 8.2%, 18.6%, and 30.2%, respectively, reported past 30-day alcohol use in 2018. 6 When asked about binge drinking behaviors, which the Monitoring the Future survey defines as having 5 or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks, 3.7% of 8th graders, 8.7% of 10th graders, and 13.8% of 12th graders reported binge drinking in 2018. 6 More recently, the rates for binge drinking were at 2.2%, 5.9%, and 12.6% for each respective grade level in 2022.  Nonetheless, the proportion of adolescents who reported past 30-day alcohol use has slightly decreased in recent years, while binge drinking has stabilized. Findings from the 2022 wave of the MTF revealed that 6.0%, 13.6%, and 28.4% of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, respectively, reported past 30-day alcohol use, with similar proportions of these age groups reported for previous MTF survey waves. 

The use of combustible tobacco products has significantly decreased with 2.2% of 8th, 4.2% of 10th, and 7.6% of 12th graders reporting past 30-day cigarette use in 2018. 2 These rates have continued to drop to 0.8%, 1.7%, and 4.0% for each grade level, respectively, in 2022.2 Nationally, this particular group of adolescents reported a combined past 30-day cigarette use rate of 2.1%. 6 In California, which is known for having some of the strictest anti-tobacco laws in the nation, only 1.2% of this population reported past 30-day cigarette use in 2021. Other combustible forms of tobacco have also been relatively low across the years with the prevalence of large cigars and little cigars/cigarillos remaining below 10% across the years, more recently below 2% for either product. Smokeless tobacco use has also remained on a steady decline with 3.4% of adolescents reporting past 30-day use in 2018 to 2.3% in 2021. Looking at California specifically, only 0.6% of adolescents said that they had used a smokeless tobacco product in the last 30 days in 2021. Nonetheless, previous research has noted that smokeless tobacco use remains high in niche populations, mainly among non-Hispanic White male individuals who reside in rural areas. Driving the steady increase in overall tobacco use rates among adolescents are electronic cigarettes . These devices are used to vaporize nicotine-containing liquids and other chemical compounds, allowing for the inhalation of chemical vapors. In 2018, 19.2% of school-aged adolescents reported having vaped in the last 30 days, increasing to 22.5% in 2019 followed by a slight decrease to 17.0% in 2022. In California specifically, 8.2% of school-aged adolescents reported past 30-day use of a vape product. These high use rates are often attributed to the various flavors available for vape “juices” which may be enticing to school-aged youth. Findings released from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey reported that among the middle and high schoolers who used a vape in the last 30 days, approximately 85% used a flavored product with fruit and candy or sweet flavors being the most popular. 

Despite its status as a Schedule I substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, several states across the nation have implemented policies permitting medicinal and/or recreational use of cannabis products. Some states have even gone the extra step of decriminalizing marijuana possession and use in an effort to reform the criminal justice system’s procedures surrounding cannabis. Adolescent cannabis use in particular, which remains illegal for individuals under 21 years of age in California, has seen fluctuations across the years. Overall rates of past 30-day use of marijuana/hashish products among school-aged adolescents in the United States were at 14.6% in 2018, followed by a slight decrease to 11.0% in 2021, and is now at 12.3% as of 2022. 6 Past 30-day marijuana vaping, as a modality, has increased among this population from 5.7% in 2018, to 10.1% in 2021, and current rates standing at 9.6% as of 2022. 6 Marijuana use rates in California, a state that legalized medicinal use in 1996 and recreational use in 2016, have increased among school-aged adolescents. During the 2019-2020 academic year, 31.2% of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in California reported ever-using cannabis products, with 15% reporting past 30-day use. The most commonly used modalities for marijuana use among students in California were smoking at 50.6% among current users, drying rack for weed followed by vaping at 32.6%. Current California Education Code stipulates that all suspensions and expulsions are warranted if a student commits a “violent crime, possesses/uses drugs or weapons, steals, bullies, hazes, behaves obscenely, threatens to cause physical harm, or damages school property”. The decision to suspend or expel a student who has committed a suspendable offense is at the discretion of the principal or district superintendent. Since the 1980’s, most policies and guidelines surrounding discipline in California’s schools have been punitive in nature, with zerotolerance approaches being the norm. However, a shift to more restorative disciplinary methods has been seen in various districts not only in California, but throughout the United States. For drug-related disciplinary policies in particular, California Education Code states that students may be suspended or expelled if they are caught in possession, using, selling, furnishing, or under the influence of any controlled substance under Division 10 of the California Health and Safety Code . Controlled substances listed under this code include any forms of opiates, opium derivatives, hallucinogenic substances , depressants, and other “hard” drugs . The current California Education Code also classifies possession or use of tobacco products or alcohol as a suspendable offense. Nonetheless, a recent announcement from the California Department of Education instituted new guidelines for what may constitute a suspendable incident. Although policies for drug-related offenses remain in effect, guidelines for suspensions and expulsions for defiance related infractions have shifted. Students in grades K-8 can no longer be suspended for “willful defiance”, defined as being disruptive or acting in a way that defies authority. Research has found that punitive measures to address willful defiance have historically impacted students of color and sexual/gender minorities at disproportionate rates. State officials have emphasized that punitive measures such as suspension should be considered as a last resort, instead diverting students to necessary services and interventions as alternatives to suspension. These policies highlight a major transition from punitive measures which are more exclusionary in nature and tend to isolate students. The “alternative to suspension” approaches currently being proposed seek to improve behavioral and academic outcomes utilizing restorative justice and trauma-informed approaches. They also seek to provide individualized support in lieu of punitive discipline by providing additional academic, behavioral , and social support. The CDE has also encouraged schools to draw from existing mental health support and behavioral intervention strategies , an approach that some schools in California are already implementing. Recent studies have found positive impacts of these restorative practices on behavioral outcomes and suspension and expulsion rates, particularly for students of color – a subgroup of the student population that has been found to be disproportionately impacted by the negative effects of punitive measures. 

Overall student suspension rates have remained at steady rates across the years. In the 2011-12 academic year, the state-wide suspension rates were at 5.8%, steadily decreased to 3.6% in 2016-17, and were most recently reported at 3.2% as of the 2021-22 academic year. 19 It is important to note that the 2018-19 academic year was the last full year of in-person instruction due to pandemic-related campus closures during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years. As such, suspension and expulsion data provided for the period during campus closures may not be reflective of the actual number of students that may have committed suspendable offenses during this time. Nonetheless, as seen in Figure 1, a slight decrease in the total number of illicit drug related suspensions is evident between the 2014-15 and 2016-17 academic years, with a steady increase in 2017-18. The notable decrease in the 2020-21 academic year is reflective of the school closures and transition to remote learning between March 2020 and Fall 2021, during which the majority of students were not attending school in-person.One strategy for alternative-to-suspension programs is the incorporation of RJP approaches in disciplinary protocols. The philosophies embedded in RJPs are rooted in South Pacific and North American indigenous cultural values which emphasize the importance of community and interpersonal connectedness. Originally implemented in criminal justice systems, they are an alternative to punitive measures found to be successful in reducing repeat offenses and fostering reintegration for the offender. School systems in Australia began implementing RJPs in educational settings in the 1990’s with other nations following shortly thereafter, including the United States. RJP philosophies focus on “wound repair”, recognizing that entire communities are harmed when an individual commits an offense. Major components of RJPs tie in community cohesiveness, harm repair, and reintegration. In contrast to exclusionary discipline , RJPs bring stakeholders together for civil discussions in a “safe space”. Some critical components of RJPs that foster these “safe spaces” include restorative circles/restorative conferences, community-building circles, restorative conversations, and peer-to-peer mediations. The overarching aims of RJPs are to restore communities and repair any harm done, similar to punitive measures; however, the main difference being a focus on strengthening relationships and reintegration for the offender.Current methods for evaluating RJP programs and their respective components have mainly been implemented to assess impact and effectiveness on variables of interest. These variables include participant behavioral changes, knowledge, shifts in school climate, and impacts on discipline landscapes. Most recently, Acosta and colleagues assessed implementation fidelity of RJP program components and their impacts on school climate, staff involvement and overall engagement utilizing a randomized controlled trial design. Using these variables, investigators made comparisons to schools not implementing RJP programs. Other RCTs have examined differences in discipline rates, mainly suspension and expulsion rates, between nonRJP and RJP schools. 

Mushrooms are added to traditional dishes including banosh and kulesha. The main components of banosh and kulesha are corn flour and polonynska bryndza . Both traditional dishes serve as a base to add either berries or mushrooms, depending on the holiday. Forest mushroom soup is also a very common first course and has long been a part of the Hutsul, traditional diet. During specific Christian holidays, fasting is a practice and “it is important for people to stock with dried mushrooms.” [Katya .] Mushroom hunting is embedded in Ukrainian culture overall but even more so in the Carpathian forests, where these mushrooms grow. The role of polonynas in Hutsul landscape is intertwined with traditional foods, specifically in the making of sheep’s cheese . Polonynska bryndza is made during the summer months and obtained from milk of local Carpathian sheep or cows. The process of making bryndza is at least a 600-year-old tradition, and is deeply intertwined with traditional food and landscape, specifically high meadows, called polonynas . This tradition, passed down from generation to generation, preserves ecocultural memories tied to plant and lichen species found in polonynas as well the process of making polonynska bryndza. As noted in the introduction, the decline of polonynas is linked to cattle population decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when keeping cattle became economically difficult and expensive. Due to this decline, it is synergistically changing the landscape and its floral diversity, leading to overgrowth. Without grazers and active tending of the land, this biocultural reservoir faces loss. The decline of livestock numbers and polonyna pasture use is directly related to intergenerational decline of interest and low economic competitiveness, curing cannabis as well as the time constraints on working populations . This has rippled down to demographic shifts and work migration seen Hutsulshchyna.

Migration was observed in many of the villages visited, where residents migrate seasonally to work in Poland, Russia or Western Europe with predominant sectors being seasonal agricultural work, construction, and service . Government subsidies to uphold Hutsul pastoral traditions are nonexistent in Ukraine. One recent positive development in 2020 that works to preserve bryndza, and by proxy, polonynas, is the European Union’s incorporation of bryndza as a geographical indicator. The EU states use a system of protected geographical indicators, which include names that are applied to products made within a specific area . It is the ecological processes within the landscape, climate, and soil that ensures the tradition, and its perpetuation of local economy within the region and unique taste. This is the first product in Ukraine with this geographical indication mark, ensuring its authenticity, promotion on the economic market, and guaranteeing its quality. Traditional foods in Hutsulshchyna are tethered to the landscape and the various habitats that species are found. Many berry species provide critical nutrition in the form of food, as well as medicinal, economic, and ecological importance. Bilberry and raspberry are considered the most culturally important plants. Mushrooms, such as penny bun and chanterelles, are highly sought after and a critical food source, especially during the winter religious season. Polonynas, as a critical and culturally significant habitat in Hutsulshchyna, are concretely linked to the traditional food of bryndza, as well as many other culturally important plants ; their survivals interlinked. The significance of the EU’s incorporation of bryndza as a geographical indicator provides a layer of resilience in maintaining these practices and thus ensuring food sovereignty. Attributes of socio-ecological resilience include adaptive capacity, which consists of both short-term, immediate responses and long-term, culturally valued responses . TEK, formed through ecocultural memories, is an active reflex of acknowledging rootedness to place through language, practice, and local ecologies, ultimately sustaining the adaptive capacity of Hutsul communities to survive world wars, food shortages, shifting borders, long-lasting impacts of colonialism as well as current environmental challenges.

Ecocultural memories thread together to form a dynamic knowledge base called TEK, which provides a continual opportunity for knowledge sharing within communities. It can be seen as a time-tested, repeated, readjusted knowledge base resulting in resilience. Coping strategies include gathering a diversity of foods from a diversity of habitats, mitigating the possibility of food scarcity by redistributing reliance on any one habitat type or food source. Another coping strategy includes modifying and continually adapting harvesting of where, when, and how of culturally important species are gathered, dependent on disturbances and climatic changes. Adaptive strategies include an economy of gathering which provides a diversified way of supplementing income and personal needs, while providing trade between communities. Additionally, fallback foods used in the early 20th century are still used today, with uses transforming from medicine or seasoning to food, under times of stress. Fallback foods provide a built-in coping capacity to overcome future adversities. It is the integration of coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies that provide the pathway to maintaining traditional foods in the region, which explicitly connect people to place through religious holidays, meal sharing, and customs. Food sovereignty is an emergent characteristic of community-driven, sustainably maintained ecosystems that provide culturally relevant sustenance, nurturing both community and landscape. Lab-on-a-chip systems are used to perform personalized health diagnostic tests away from the lab. Implementation of bio-assay automation reduces the cost of medical personnel and diminishes the incidence of human errors. Point-of-care diagnostic platforms are required to have low cost, low power use, be reliably automated, and free of sophisticated detection technologies. POC platforms have already been realized in the form of lateral flow immunoassays and paper fluidic colorimetric assays. Unfortunately, the aforementioned POC devices are based on capillary flow, and therefore do not work well when more complex multi-step bio-assays are performed. In these cases, some other fluid propulsion mechanisms instead of capillary flow are required.

There are many POC devices that rely on active propulsion techniques, like centrifugal propulsion, electrowetting, and magnetic beads. These tests typically entail increased fabrication and material cost, complex automation schemes, and sophisticated hardware. In this work, we developed two distinct approaches for the realization of an inexpensive automated colorimetric immunoassay with multiple wash steps: A fused deposition modeling -printed frame was used and a disposable fluidic chip that includes an elastomeric dome and fluidic channels fabricated using SLA, was printed, where the fluidic movement was facilitated by servomotors pushing on the elastomeric dome, and propelling the reagents or wash from the domed reservoirs through fluidic channels to the test chamber, or an FDM-printed non-disposable frame was used, with servomotors connected to standard inexpensive and readily-available disposable plastic syringes filled with wash and reagents to automate the steps of the assay. Draining of the test chamber was performed with a syringe attached to a servomotor, where negative pressure was created by the pulling on the syringe plunger. All automation was controlled by a program uploaded to the Arduino-based electronic board of the platform via a computer. The test results of the colorimetric bio-assay can be assessed by eye or with a smart phone for quantitative measurement, and e-mailed or texted to a hospital or doctor’s office. In this work, cannabis dryer we created a proof-of-principle platform that utilized elements of both approaches and , as outlined above. We used plastic syringes for most of the platform reagent reservoirs, including drainage and waste. The wash reservoir consisted of an SLA-printed elastomeric dome. Thus, the feasibility of both approaches was tested at the same time. The automated platform demonstrated in the presented work proved the viability of both approaches: Construction of an automated bio-assay platform using syringes only, or a printed dome-based bio-assay platform. To our knowledge, this study constitutes the first demonstration of an SLA-based dome bio-assay platform and a syringe-based automated bio-assay platform. The concepts developed in the present work build on prior research that utilized FDM to fabricate a fluidic chip with embedded microchannels. Fluid leakage was a recurring issue in the design, due to the layer-by-layer deposition nature of FDM. Our present fabrication approach utilizes syringes and photocurable resin cross linked using SLA, thus mitigating the problem of fluid leakage. The present platform employs FDM printing for the fabrication of parts that are not in contact with fluids, such as the non-disposal platform frame and the gear/rack mechanisms. Additionally, the prior fluidic platform design used molded silicone domes that needed to be sealed to the body of 3D printed fluidic chip. Our present fabrication route avoids the need to seal the domes to the plastic chip by 3D-printing the integrated dome. The proposed approach is useful in making POC bio-assays more widespread.

For example, a hospital in rural India with an FDM printer could be sent a stereolithography file to print a frame. The Arduino electronic board and other parts, such as servomotors, can be easily acquired. All the parts and materials to produce our automated platform cost less than $100, while all disposable materials, including syringes, tubing, and reagents, cost around $5 per test. If an exclusively syringe-based platform is utilized, the only disposable parts needed are plastic syringes. The syringes would be filled with a prescribed volume of reagents, and the required program uploaded to the Arduino board. This approach provides the most flexibility to perform a wide range of bio-assays on the spot, as it does not require all the reagents in typical pre-packaged volumes. This simplifies assay logistics, including that of cold storage of reagents. We expect that our proposed recipes and programs will be readily available for download by non-profit organizations and reagent makers. There is a growing interest in manufacturing functional parts inexpensively with high-aspect-ratio geometry and complex topologies. Additive manufacturing , including various types of 3D printing, is an increasingly popular form of fabrication. The AM process requires a part to be designed using a CAD program, such as SolidWorks, followed by the extrapolation of the structural information into an STL file. The STL file partitions the CAD drawing into a series of volumetric pixels, which are digitally sliced into layers along the Z direction. These layers are physically deposited onto a substrate in layer-by-layer manner, using various AM methods, including FDM and SLA. FDM and SLA accommodate a variety of material choices, including elastomeric materials, allowing for the fabrication of flexible parts such as the dome-based elastic pumps presented in this work. In this work, we conducted a brief review of microfluidic device fabrication methods, and emphasized recent developments in additive manufacturing. We followed this review with a description of the fabrication processes selected for our bio-assay platform. Lastly, we detailed an outline of our experimental procedures, and described the experimental results of a malaria bio-assay performed on our automated platform.The first traditional microfluidic devices were fabricated using glass and silicon, utilizing mostly a toolbox of lithographic techniques employed in the semiconductor industry. Equipment selection was subsequently further developed to include femtosecond lasers to fabricate glass microfluidic chips, and the selection of materials employed for fluidic chips was also expanded to include such materials as “liquid Teflon” and environmentally-sensitive materials such as hydrogels. With the advent of soft lithography and 3D printing, there was a push to develop inexpensive and reliable microfluidic platforms with bio-compatible plastics and resins, demonstrated by the recent fabrication trends outlined below.Soft lithography is based on a three-step process where microfabrication techniques are first used to produce a reusable mold, which is then filled with a curable epoxy Polydimethylsiloxane and subsequently separated from the mold after an appropriate curing time. The molded part is typically attached to a glass substrate using plasma treatment. The soft lithography approach allows for the usage of more expensive high-precision clean room lithographic techniques to produce a mold. Once the mold is produced, it can be used multiple times to fabricate identical fluidic chips, dramatically reducing the cost of individual fluidic microdevices. The soft lithography approach has allowed for much more widespread adoption of lab-on-a-chip devices, and for the production of intricate parts such as elastomeric valves. For example, the PDMS valves used by the Quake group have facilitated the implementation of large-scale microfluidic bioreactors for drug discovery and other applications. However, when the device is assembled from separately produced parts, the manufacturability is restricted, due to cumbersome alignment, bonding, and assembly. 3D printing presents an approach where a complete microfluidic device is produced without post-processing alignment and assembly steps.

Coping mechanisms include modifying subsistence activity patterns in gathering culturally important species and incorporating a diversity of species use at varying intensities across habitats. Adaptive strategies include the integration of fallback foods still used today as well as a local economy of gathering. The use of traditional foods is an expression of regional, socio-ecological resilience. Traditional foods are an integral part of Hutsul community life, as seen in culture and ritual, stewardship of landscapes, gathering practices, economies, nesting TEK in place. The Carpathian Mountains span several countries including the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, and Ukraine. Containing Europe’s largest remaining old growth forest ecosystems outside of Russia, the Carpathians are a biodiversity hotspot, harboring one-third of all European vascular plant species. Considered the “Amazon of Europe”, this region is one of Europe’s last fully undeveloped landscapes, a rich refuge for large carnivores and a principal source of subsistence to 16 million people . The Carpathian region in Ukraine covers 3.5% of Ukraine’s area and 10.3% of total area of the Carpathian Mountains . The flora species composition of the Carpathian alpine forest provides key indicators of ecosystem health in response to climate change . As an ancient corridor and refuge for humans, the cultural landscape mirrors the breadth and depth of the biological landscape. Beginning over 2,000 years ago, many tribes have established cultural roots in this region . In Ukraine, there are various Indigenous, ethnographic groups, ranging from the Tatars in Crimea, who are currently facing intensified persecution due to Russian occupation , to the highlanders in the eastern Carpathian Mountains: including Hutsuls in Hutsulshchyna , Boykos,cannabis growing equipment in the Bystrytsia Solotvynska River Basin, and Lemkos, in the Low and Middle Beskyd Mountains .

Archaeological evidence points to human existence in the region dating back to 100,000 years before present . This study is centered in the cultural, historical center of Hutsulshchyna, which translates to “Land of Hutsuls”, a mountainous area of the Carpathian Mountains in southeastern Ukraine and northern Romania . This territory covers three administrative regions in Ukraine as well as a portion in northern Romania. At a landscape scale, Hutsuls, traditional pastoral highlanders of the Ukrainian Carpathians, have maintained alpine grasslands through mountain shepherding of cows and sheep . Currently, there is a continuing threat of cultural loss of this practice due to low economic competitiveness and increasing disinterest among younger generations . Maintenance of these alpine grasslands is declining quickly with newer pressures including tourism infrastructure and emigration of younger generations to cities. This recent decline of grazing on secondary grasslands has led to reforestation of previously cleared areas . However, mountain shepherding and other traditional ecological practices, such as gathering of NTFP , like wild edible plants and mushrooms, although threatened, have survived. NTFPs, typically refer to substances, materials or non-woody species that provide economic value to rural communities . Forests and a multitude of other habitats , tolokas , and alpine areas) bordering various village settlements provide an integral zone of nourishment through the gathering of wild and cultivated species. Flowers, birch sap, resin, honey, mushrooms, and berries gathered in these diverse habitats form an essential part of the social fabric and political economy of Ukrainian culture , particularly in forest-dependent Hutsul communities. In the Ukrainian Carpathians, 59-91% of the population lives in rural areas ; this broad range is due to the socioeconomic inequality between rural and urban areas in the region .

The interdependence between nature and need is explicit. While most houses have electricity, most water is taken from nearby wells and rivers and most villages have no sewage system . People trek to natural mineral water springs, which is an old spiritual tradition. There are over 800 natural mineral sources in this region . Communities are self-sufficient in terms of their nutritional needs, relying on a diversity of habitats nearby. Food is grown, gathered, and stored . Many households in this region rely on subsistence-based agriculture with homes surrounded by chickens, pigs, cows, goats, and additional income derived from family members going abroad for work. Low salaries demand multiple avenues of revenue from subsistence farming, gathering, and selling of culturally important wild species, as well as opening one’s home to tourist stays . For centuries, local Hutsul people have creatively and effectively managed culturally important species in the Carpathian Mountains maintaining their productivity and availability, thus creating a socioeconomic safety net to sustain them in times of scarcity. As Ukraine continues to face political crisis , financial insecurity, food scarcity and increasingly expensive medical care, trade and direct consumption of NWFPs in local diets has increased in the Carpathian region . According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 80% of developing countries rely on NWFPs for nutrition and health purposes . NTFPs, like wild plants and mushrooms, contribute to a growing local economy, diversify diets, present possibilities for genetic research and development in new domesticated crops, and provide a lens for understanding cultural identity. Hutsulshchyna has been a place of extensive ethnographic work starting in the early 1800s and continuing well into the 1930s, when this region was under various colonial regimes .

In the last five years, a group of authors have centered their ethnobotanical research in Bukovina, the southeastern corner of Hutsulschyna with several studies focusing on Hutsul ethnobotany . Their methodologies generally consist of qualitative interviewing followed by quantitative analyses including detailed use report and calculations of the Jaccard Similarity Index to cross-culturally compare ethnobotanical uses on either side of the border. Their studies suggest that the establishment of the border between Ukraine and Romania in 1940 and the resulting impacts of Soviet policies in Ukraine contribute to differences in ethnobotanical use and knowledge transmission between Hutsuls in North Bukovina and Hutsuls in South Bukovina . Additionally, other studies analyze differences between wild and cultivated species’ use between Romanians and Hutsuls in Bukovina as well as the revitalization of ethnobotanical practices in religious holidays of Hutsuls in Northern Bukovina and Ukrainians in Roztochya, western Ukraine . The most recent study infers that Hutsuls in Northern Bukovina exhibit greater reliance and dependence on forest habitats than Hutsuls in Southern Bukovina . The splitting of Hutsulshchyna between Ukraine and Romania in 1940 and the resulting socio-political policies implemented on each side of the border guide the narrative of these studies; differences seen in species uses, range of species as well as ethnobotanical knowledge transmission are attributed to this border creation. This study builds upon previous studies to focus in the cultural, historical Hutsul center and explore the role of ethnobotanical knowledge in supporting the various coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies present within Hutsul communities. The methodologies employed in the case study were derived from extensive field seasons between 2017-2019 , employing historic and ethnographic literature reviews, participant observation , community-based participatoryaction research , and a translational approach . As discussed in Chapter 1, a translational approach was an integral part of this collaborative project, employing five key dimensions to resilience building including 1) communication and engagement, 2) policy, 3) education, 4) knowledge creation, and 5) personal actions. The main goal behind the translational approach is to produce policies based on transparent co-production of knowledge by all stakeholders impacted by those same policies . This chapter will be co-published by Hutsul scientists, Mariia Pasailiuk and Oleh Pohribnyi, facilitating dissemination of knowledge on their terms, and serving as published affirmation of the importance of Hutsul ethnobotany in regional economic development and environmental policymaking. During the first field season , the first author met both the second and third authors, Hutsul scientists Mariia Pasailiuk and Oleh Pohribnyi, to begin this collaborative research project. The development of the research presented here is generated from an attempt understand the synergistic social, economic, and eco-cultural spheres that inform Hutsul community livelihoods. By publishing this research, we show the deep interconnectedness between Hutsul communities and their own landscapes,cannabis drying trays while voicing Hutsul community members’ perspectives on regional environmental challenges. Connections and relationships with community members and colleagues were made four months prior to interviewing to facilitate in-depth participation in the research process. There were distinct considerations made when thinking about how this publication could harm and benefit communities. To address these issues, community members are not named here, unless explicit permission was granted. Oral consent was obtained prior to each interview.

However, since there is no official ethical review process regarding the protection of human participants in Ukraine, the first author obtained a local ethical review and approval of the project from the Verkhovyna National Nature Park in Ukraine . The local ethical review of the project was translated into English and then approved by the Institutional Review Board Committee at the University of California, Davis. In the first field season, between December 2017 and August 2018, the first author conducted in-depth interviews of 40 Hutsul elders, herbalists, and knowledge holders through snowball sampling in eight different villages, including Hutsul foresters, rangers, and scientists at two national parks surrounding wild species use including names, habitats found, gathering methods, ethnobotanical uses, ways of preparation. Interviews were conducted in Ukrainian, and participants responded in Hutsul and Ukrainian. All interviewees were over the age of 18 , with an average age of 53, with interviews ranging from 30 minutes to four hours. Key knowledge holders were interviewed multiple times to clarify plant names and plant uses with the aid of photographs and specimens. The first field season provided data for calculations to derive various ethnobotanical indices , frequency of citation per species , cultural importance index , number of uses per species , relative frequency of citation index , fidelity level per species for wild species and commonly cultivated plants, with a focus on the cultural importance index . During the second field season all authors participated in follow-up interviews and participant observation to further clarify TEK surrounding species use, including names, habitats and more specifically interview elders about species gathered during times of scarcity. The first round of interviews captured current species use, gathering practices and ecology, while the second round of interviews focused on species relied on in times of scarcity and emerging environmental challenges. A discussion emerges from the two rounds of interviews between species currently used and those relied upon during times of scarcity. As part of our methodology, we also conducted an extensive ethnographic literature review comparing our findings on a species-by-species basis with noted fallback foods identified in past and current studies . Throughout both field seasons , key elders and knowledge holders were interviewed multiple times to clarify plant names and plant uses with the aid of photographs and voucher specimens. Alignment of common names with botanical names, and plant identification of voucher specimens was confirmed and cross-referenced with botanists and scientists at the Hutsulshchyna National Nature Park as well as with botanist Roman Lysiuk, from Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University. Taxonomic texts from the Hutsulshchyna National Nature Park library were also used to identify species including plants, mushrooms, and lichen. Additionally, throughout both field seasons, guided by elders and specialists, I participated in trips throughout the gathering season to the Chornohora Mountain range and local areas to better understand gathering practices in the region. Lastly, I organized a total of five informal group discussions with local women regarding plant use and environmental change seen in the region. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and translated into English and data were organized in R, and the ethnobotany R packaged developed by Cory Whitney was used to calculate quantitative ethnobotanical indices . Quantitative indices, based on in-depth and multiple semi-structured interviews, assess passive knowledge and “participant consensus,” the degree of agreement among interviewees . In this study, we focus on species’ cultural importance derived from the cultural importance index , which is the sum of use reports divided by the number of participants to account for the diversity of uses for each species . The diversity of uses noted include food , medicine and other . Contextdriven components, like habitat, are valuable in understanding species’ impact on the day-to-day lives of people. A community ecology approach was incorporated in the analysis, by noting species’ presence or absence , in various habitat types including roadside, pasture, toloka, meadow, woodland, forest, field, polonyna, alpine area, garden. Each of these habitats encompasses a range and gradient of human interaction or human structuring as seen in Table 3.1.

In terms of development of the phenological calendar at a regional park level, this serves as an accessible one-pager to ground the importance and prevalence of gathering culturally important species. Lastly, implementation of the pine ecocultural restoration project is still to come. The clear, actionable results of this research are still to be seen in many ways. These small, incremental, translational steps in the short-term, will hopefully make progress in successful outcomes in the long-term .The translational approach to interdisciplinary ecological research provides a fairly novel, yet necessary and integrated call to intentionally include diverse voices in the decision-making processes that govern policy making. Given the abundance of socially linked environmental problems governing our global climate, it is urgent that ecologists consider the direct policy impacts of their research. Research shows that integrating strategies typically seen in the social sciences are effective in bridging the gap between research and decision-making entities . Training future translational ecologists in practical competencies including areas such as mediation, conflict management, project management, ethics, as well as nurturing personal attributes including empathy, leadership, and a commitment to valuing multiple world views, epistemologies, non-formal knowledge, and experience. Translational ecologists, in many instances, are asked to invest their time in crossing boundaries of understanding, distinct fields,ebb and flow flood table and personal comfort zones, in order to participate in a collaborative decision-making as a result of a translational process. In reflecting on various dimensions present in the translational approach and in my own dissertation research process, I provide concrete examples of challenges encountered and direct actions taken to address those challenges.

In addition, I present insights into necessary areas of growth and development, as I continue along my journey in research and education. There continues to be a great need for translational researchers who can collaboratively create research objectives and methodologies that are contextually driven and culturally relevant in order to drive thoughtful decision making and proposed solutions to environmental problems. The diverse ecosystems nestled in the Carpathian Mountains are biodiversity hotspots with forests and grasslands harboring over 200 endemic plant species. Considered the “Amazon of Europe”, this mountain region is one of Europe’s last fully undeveloped landscapes; it serves as a rich refuge for large carnivores and principle source of subsistence to 16 million people . The Carpathian region in Ukraine covers 3.5% of Ukraine’s area and 10.3% of total area of the Carpathian Mountains . The flora species composition of the Carpathian alpine forest provides a key indicator of ecosystem health in response to climate change . As an ancient corridor and refuge for humans, the cultural landscape mirrors the breadth and depth of the biological landscape. Beginning over 2,000 years ago, many tribes have established cultural roots in this region . Ukraine is home to Indigenous, ethnographic groups ranging from various highlanders in the eastern Carpathian Mountains including Hutsuls in Hutsulshchyna , Boykos, in the Bystrytsia Solotvynska River Basin, Lemkos, in the Low and Middle Beskyd Mountains as well as Tatars in Crimea . Archaelogical evidence points to human existence in the region dating back to 100,000 years . This ethnobotanical study is centered in the cultural, historical center of Hutsulshchyna, which translates to “Land of Hutsuls”, a mountainous area of the Carpathian Mountains in the southwestern Ukraine and northern Romania . This territory covers three administrative regions in Ukraine as well as a portion in northern Romania.

At a landscape scale, for centuries, Hutsuls, traditional pastoral highlands of the Ukrainian Carpathians, have maintained alpine grasslands through mountain shepherding. Currently, there is a continuing threat of cultural loss of this shepherding practice due to its low economic competitiveness as well as increasing disinterest among younger generations . Maintenance of polonynas is declining quickly as newer pressures such as tourism infrastructure and emigration of younger generations to cities rise. The recent decline of grazing on secondary grasslands has led to reforestation of previously cleared areas . However, mountain shepherding and other traditional ecological practices, such as gathering of NTFP , like wild edible plants and mushrooms, have continued to thrive despite these pressures. NTFPs, typically refer to substances, materials or non-timber species that provide economic value to rural communities . Forests and a multitude of other habitats bordering various village settlements provide an integral zone of nourishment through the gathering of wild and cultivated species . Flowers, birch sap, resin, honey, mushrooms, and berries, gathered in these diverse habitats, form an essential part of the social fabric and political economy of Ukrainian culture , and in forest-dependent Hutsul communities. Lived and experienced by local and Indigenous communities worldwide, TEK is cultural, spiritual, intergenerational, dynamic, place-based, environmental wisdom for survival and interconnection that is revisited, reinterpreted, and re-evaluated consistently . TEK, the scientific method brought to life through culture, plays a significant role in meeting community needs, while adapting to environmental changes and societal needs. In this region, TEK have all been impacted by deforestation and ecosystem degradation caused by various factors such as illegal logging, climate change, and ski tourism .

As Ukraine continues to face political crisis, financial insecurity, food scarcity, and increasingly expensive medical care, trade and direct consumption of NTFPs in local diets has increased in the Carpathian region . According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 80% of developing countries rely on NTFPs for nutrition and health purposes . NTFPs contribute to a growing local economy, diversify diets, present possibilities for genetic research and development in new domesticated crops, and provide a lens for understanding cultural identity. For centuries, local Hutsul people have creatively and effectively managed species, maintaining their productivity and availability, thus creating a socioeconomic safety net to sustain them in times of scarcity. Hutsulshchyna has been a place of extensive ethnographic work starting in the early 1800s and continuing well into the 1930s, whereby this region was under various colonial regimes . In the last 5 years, a group of authors have centered their ethnobotanical research in Bukovina, the southeastern corner of Hutsulschyna with several studies focusing on Hutsul ethnobotany . Their methodologies generally consist of qualitative interviewing followed by quantitative analyses including detailed use report and calculations of the Jaccard Similarity Index to cross-culturally compare ethnobotanical uses on either side of the border. Their studies suggest that the establishment of the border between Ukraine and Romania in 1940 and the resulting impacts of Soviet policies in Ukraine contribute to differences seen in ethnobotanical use and knowledge transmission between Hutsuls in North Bukovina and Hutsuls in South Bukovina . Additionally, other studies analyze differences between wild and cultivated species’ use between Romanians and Hutsuls in Bukovina as well as the revitalization of ethnobotanical practices in religious holidays of Hutsuls in Northern Bukovina and Ukrainians in Roztochya, western Ukraine . The most recent study infers that Hutsuls in Northern Bukovina exhibit greater reliance and dependence on forest habitats than Hutsuls in Southern Bukovina . The splitting of Hutsulshchyna between Ukraine and Romania in 1940 and the resulting socio-political policies implemented on each side of the border guide the narrative of these studies; differences seen in species uses, range of species as well as ethnobotanical knowledge transmission are attributed to this border creation. What does traditional ecological knowledge which supports ethnobotanical use look like in the center of Hutsulshchyna? How is TEK adapting to regional challenges? This study elucidates today’s current traditional ecological knowledge in the Carpathian Mountains, underpinning the practices of gathering wild and cultivated species use ,hydroponic drain table radiating out from the historical, cultural center of Hutsulshchyna, Verkhovyna, in Ukraine. Building upon previous studies, this study incorporates both the ethnobotanical, quantitative analyses as well as collaborative, qualitative methodologies . By exploring how TEK supports gathering practices surrounding use, factors including accessibility to habitat and availability of species arise; current ecosystem, climatic and cultural changes are impacting these factors. The results of this study are interpreted through the lenses of quantitative ethnobotanical indices , qualitative methods , and TEK . The answers to all these questions provide a starting point to centering TEK within a broader context of conservation policy, acknowledging the critical relationships between forest-dependent communities and their neighboring habitats.

The study area of focus within Hutsulshchyna has experienced numerous battles including Tartar hordes , the Polish regime , the Austrian-Hungarian Empire , Poland , and the Soviet Union . During the interwar period between World War I and World War II, Hutsulshchyna was split between Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia . In 1940, Hutsulshchyna was split between the Soviet Union and Romania. In 1991, when Ukraine became independent, Hutsulshchyna was then split between Ukraine and Romania. The Hutsulshchyna region holds a lot of appeal for Ukrainian, Polish and European tourists today due to its natural beauty – rolling hills dot a landscape of coniferous pine forests, grazed land, gardens, mountains, polonynas , and rivers. For Hutsuls living in the region, many households manage subsistence agriculture, beekeeping, and cattle operations, with additional income derived from family members going abroad to earn income. Low salaries demand multiple avenues of revenue from subsistence farming, gathering of wild foods, selling valuable wild plants, and opening one’s home to tourist stays . This area is characterized by its high elevation and small villages that dot the valleys between the peaks. Vekhovyna , the center of this study, lies at 607 meters above sea level and has a cold and temperate climate . Characteristic of this region are the valley microclimates, fog, and significant amount of rainfall. Daily average air temperatures can range from 16.9 degrees Celsius, with July being the hottest month to -5.1 degrees Celsius with January being the coldest month. Precipitation can vary from 38 mm to 109 mm . Hutsuls are associated with Ukrainians and Ruthenians , yet they consider themselves a freestanding ethnicity. Political boundaries running through the territory have had minimal effect on Hutsul unity or identity since it is the mountains that form the natural boundary among states, not the artificial lines drawn through them . Lifeway overrides these century-old claims to land, and peoples as seen through shepherding, farming, use and knowledge of plants, embroidery, song, storytelling, and language. Hutsul, considered a unique dialect is endangered due to various socio-economic pressures , and in many instances is indistinguishable from Contemporary Standard Ukrainian . Even from village to village which can be distant across mountain ranges there are notable linguistic differences, as an old saying goes, “in every cottage a different tongue” . The same can be said with local Hutsul plant names and uses as well as place names. I conducted my field research over the course of two field seasons . My methodologies are both quantitative and qualitative in nature. To understand the documented regional ethnobotanical knowledge, I conducted historic and ethnographic literature reviews, as well as visited local museums including Didova Apteka, The Hutsulshchyna Museum, and The Ivan Franko Museum. Two qualitative methods guide this research: 1) participant observation in which I, as a researcher, took part in daily activities, interactions, and events, including gathering trips and 2) community-based participatory action research , in which I worked collaboratively with community members on the framing and formation of this study. During the first field season, between December 2017 and August 2018, I conducted in-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews , using ethnographic interview methods with 40 people including elders, herbalists, villagers, farmers, and knowledge holders through snowball sampling in eight different villages. Interview participants also included foresters, rangers, and scientists at two national parks . Interviewees ranged in age from 25 to 93 years old, with an average age of 53. Interviews were conducted in Ukrainian, and participants responded in Hutsul and Ukrainian. Interviews typically ranged from one hour to four hours, focused on topics of species use , gathering practices, species history and species ecology. I typically brought a camera, audio recorder, notebook, and a travel plant press to each interview. Each participant was asked for consent before recording or photographing occurred. Most interviews occurred at homes, places of work, or at places of gathering. An IRB consent was completed and filed for the length of the study and the project followed the ethical guidelines outlined in the International Society of Ethnobiology .