GGG PhD Candidate Lauren Mabe Receives NSF

GGG PhD Candidate Lauren Mabe and her advisor, Associate Professor Ned Spang were awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences (HEGS) program award for their project "Circular Ecologies: Production and Politics in Sustainable Waste Regimes". This research uses the case of Senate Bill (SB) 1383 in California to study the political, economic, and social factors associated transitions towards a circular economy of organic waste and agriculture. The project studies these factors at 3 different scales, (1) a statewide spatialized Material Flow Analysis (MFA) of organic waste and compost, (2) a qualitative analysis of the political-economic factors that control these flows in the Bay Area region, and (3) identifying the relational and more-than-human dimensions of waste labor on an interpersonal level. By using and interdisciplinary approach that combines political-ecological theory with advanced quantitative methodology, the project furthers the development of Spatial-Material Flow Analysis (S-MFA) as well as revitalizes the theory of metabolic rift in the field of geography.