Publications

Chris Gillespie, a scientist, academic, and community member, has published papers and been featured in articles for his work in the agricultural and public policy sectors.

Scientific Research

Intermediate Soil Acidification Induces Highest Nitrous Oxide Emissions

Keywords: STEM workforce, climate-smart agriculture, microbial abundance, gene fragments, polymerase chain reaction

Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Shift Community Composition of N-Cycling Microbes and Suppress Soil N2O Emission

Multi-Amplicon Nitrogen Cycling Gene Standard: An Innovative Approach for Quantifying N-Transforming Soil Microbes in Terrestrial Ecosystems

Keywords: nitrous oxide, nitrogen fertilizer, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant roots, denitrifier communities, microbial diversity

Keywords: greenhouse gas, agriculture, emission factor, denitrification, microbes

The Response of Soil pH and Exchangeable Al to Alum and Lime Amendments

Keywords: exchangeable aluminum, aluminum saturation, buffer index, dissolved organic carbon, soil organic matter

Closely Related Winter Wheat Cultivar Performance in U.S. Great Plains Acid Soils

Keywords: acidic soils, exchangeable aluminum, winter wheat, aluminum tolerant, genotype

Temporal Changes of Manure Chemical Compositions and Environmental Awareness in the Southern Great Plains

Keywords: anaerobic digestion lagoon systems, dairy manure, feedlot manure, fertilizer industry, poultry litter, swine manure, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Public Policy

A Matter Of Trust: Helping The Bioeconomy Reach Its Full Potential With Translational Governance

Building Equity in the NC Food System Through Community Practice

Putting Redlines In The Green: Economic Revitalization Through Innovative Neighborhood Markets

What Do Bitter Greens Mean to the Public?

Regulations for the Bioeconomy

How A Defunct Policy Is Still Impacting 11 Million People 90 Years Later

I Don’t Make the Rules, I Comment on Them

Why choose a science-based approach?

Science relies on a rigorous, data-driven methodology to comprehend and utilize information about the natural and social world. By employing science-based approaches, individuals and organizations can make more effective and well-informed decisions.

The language used to develop science-based approaches is not common in daily life, so we have compiled this glossary to ease and enhance your understanding of these publications.

Glossary

What is…

An Article vs. A Report vs. A Memorandum

An article is a nonfictional document that aims to educate, inform, or vividly illustrate a topic through purposeful writing, thought-provoking insights, and a unique perspective in order to engage and captivate an audience.

A report is a nonfiction document or statement that presents and/or summarizes the factual information pertaining to a specific event, topic, or issue.

A memorandum, also known as a briefing note, is a written message that uses clear and simple language to inform a group of people about a particular issue, solution, or event.

Environmental Compliance

Environmental compliance ensures that an organization's operations meet environmental laws and regulations to minimize harm to the environment and ecosystems.

Federal Rulemaking

Federal Rulemaking is the policy-making process for Executive and Independent Federal agencies. Agencies use this process to develop and issue Rules, known as regulations.

The process is governed by laws, including but not limited to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. Chapter 5), Congressional Review Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, and Regulatory Flexibility Act. It can lead to a new Rule, an amendment to an existing Rule, or the repeal of an existing Rule. Executive Orders such as 12866, 13563, and 13579 also establish principles and guidance for the rulemaking process.

Place-Based Discrimination

Place-based discrimination is compounded upon socio-economic and socio-ecological factors that work in tandem to worsen the material conditions of the target group or population. For example, the racist practice of divesting in neighborhoods wholesale on the basis of race results in further destitution. This would be a systematically or explicitly racist practice. The racist practice jeopardizes the target group’s access to fair housing, employment, criminal justice, and healthcare. Over time, this can manifest into a physical location that is systemically denied access to fair housing or employment simply due to place-based discrimination.

Redlining

In the early 20th century, Black communities across the U.S. were subjected to economic constraint and social segregation through housing policies that mandated segregation. Black communities were systematically excluded from the housing benefits offered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC). The HOLC served as the basis of the National Housing Act of 1934 which ratified the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Housing policy discrimination was further exacerbated by the FHA refusing to insure mortgages near and within Black neighborhoods (redlining). While the systematic practice of redlining ended in 1968 under The Fair Housing Act of 1968, systemically, redlining continues to socially truncate and economically impair Black taxpayers in 2022. Although redlined policies were predominately used against Black communities, today, formerly redlined communities are 72% non-Black. For this reason, “The Redlined Black America Fund” attempts to aim policy efforts directly at addressing the historic discrimination against Black taxpayers by providing tax credits to the families of Black Americans disenfranchised by redlining.

Systematic vs. Systemic

A systematic process usually refers to a methodological plan or calculated procedure, while a systemic process is related to or associated with a system. In terms of racism, systematic racism is direct and explicit racism (i.e., denying loans based on race), while systemic racism refers to outcomes related to explicitly racist procedures (i.e., non-redlined neighborhoods being 8 times more likely to receive loans than redlined neighborhoods in 2022). Due to low implementation of anti-racist policies, strongholds that maintain white supremacy and identity-based privilege persist through systemic racism.