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Assistant Professor of Ecological Engineering
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Stewart Anthony waller diemont |
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Rainforest in Chiapas, Mexico, where I’ve been working most recently. |
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Research |
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Contact: |
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Office: 421 Baker Lab State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, New York USA
Mail: 402 Baker Lab 1 Forestry Drive Syracuse, NY 13210 USA
Phone: 1-315-470-4707 Fax: 1-315-470-6958 E-mail: sdiemont@esf.edu |
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Sustainability analysis: As an important early stage of my research, I conduct energy analysis (emergy) to measure the sustainability of constructed, restored, and managed ecosystems. Emergy combines environmental and economic metrics of resource use. It is a means by which we can better understand human impact on and interactions with the surrounding environment.
Current Projects Using emergy analysis, I am evaluating the relative sustainability of campus greening in the US. In Latin America, I am evaluating coffee production as it adapts to climate change, and looking at proposed grassroots changes to ranching to make it more holistic.
Natural wastewater treatment: Having worked for many years in developing countries, where water and sanitation conditions are often poor, I am interested in determining appropriate ways to remove pollutants from water. Natural systems, such as wetlands, which have been used by indigenous groups in East Asia for centuries, and have become increasingly used in the West over the past several decades, offer an effective and inexpensive means to treat water.
Current Projects: I have recently begun a constructed wetland project with a central New York organic dairy. Colleagues and I are working to establish design requirements for anaerobic ammonium oxidation to remove nitrogen from dairy washwater. I'm also working with the municipality of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico on ecological engineering treatment for the currently-untreated municipal wastewater.
Agroforestry, conservation, and restoration: Much of my most recent work has been establishing ties between conservation biology, ecosystem restoration, and subsistence production through studies of the traditional ecological knowledge of the Lacandon Maya in southern Mexico. I am studying their agroforestry system to determine how these multiple goals, which are part of their traditional designs, can be part of sustainable designs in Latin and North America. This multiple-goal approach is vital if ecosystem management and agriculture are to be sustainable, particularly where resources are scarce; the approach is a major way in which indigenous knowledge is transferable to Western agriculture. These models can help us to realize change in the face of peak oil and increasing soil degradation. For example, polycropping is one means for reducing pests while increasing soil fertility.
Current Projects:
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