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By Kasey Markel

The preservation of our environment is an ethical imperative and one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. By necessity, much of the battle to protect the environment will be waged at the level of policy. However, the track record of environmental legislation shows much room for improvement, a development that will only be reliably achieved when it becomes common practice to rigorously evaluate the effects of all policies with scientifically rigorous studies, prospectively as part of the planning process and retrospectively after widespread implementation. Environmental scientists are uniquely positioned by virtue of their biological expertise, scientific training, and statistical skills to take an active role in this evaluation process.

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By Amanda Murphy.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracture stimulation, is a very recognisable, very divisive topic. It is common to have a strong opinion about fracking, be it for or against it. Indeed, for most, fracking is something for others to solve. But while we empathise with the impact of such industrial development, we seldom suggest fracking in our backyard.

The North Sea dominates the United Kingdom’s (UK) energy supply. However, with North Sea oil and gas fields in decline, controversial fracking technology may be the best option to fill the gap in domestic energy demand. Exploration sites earmarked for hydraulic fracture stimulation are in relatively rural areas of the North West, Yorkshire and East Midlands, but shale oil and gas development should be considered in more urban areas. London and the South East overlie the prospective Weald and Wessex sedimentary basins and development here would be close to consumers in an area with a strong history of monitoring, industrial brownfields sites and existing road and power infrastructure. Perhaps it is time to consider fracking in our London backyard.

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“In these cases, what seems to be crucial is the connection between efforts to reduce inequality and to adopt technologies in sectors such as water and waste management, which are absolutely crucial for Climate Change policies. In terms of policy, it appears that ‘socially just’ is very close to ‘environmentally sustainable.’”

By Nicolás Valenzuela-Levi

Public interest on income inequality increased during the last decade. Among scholars, one of the aspects that has been researched is how does income distribution affect innovation and technology adoption. On the one side, hopes for long term economic development highlight the need to understand what drives innovation. On the other side, inequalities are fuelling social unrest and public debate on what is the fair distribution of opportunities and benefits in our societies. Consequently, the question about the link between income inequality and innovation is becoming more and more attractive.

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The Special Issue 2017 is dedicated to the tensions between science, technology, policy and inequality. Inside we have articles by four wonderful authors covering gender, income inequality, solar panels, universal basic income, network technologies and much more. Look no further for a glimpse into the ongoing negotiation between society and science.  

The Special Issue contains:

Women and Solar Home Systems in Rural Bihar, India by Shivi Chandna
A Look at the Attrition of Women in STEM by Sumana Sharma
Book Review: Utopia for Realists by Karen Stroobants
Income Inequality and the Internet of Things by Nicolás Valenzuela-Levi

With Editor’s Note by Victoria Plutshack

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Bees

“Bees and other wild pollinators are fascinating, beautiful, and vital to our food production. They have pollinated our crops for millennia; now it’s time for us to return the favour.” – Dave Goulson, DEFRA

by Erin Cullen

Pollination is the process of pollen being transferred to the female reproductive organs of a plant and fertilisation taking place. Pollinators (which include honeybees) are vital to the process of pollination in flowering plants. Therefore pollinators provide vital ecosystem services which include food production as well as being important for biodiversity and conservation. With the need for food production to increase, now is an important time for pollinator security. However, their numbers are in decline. This piece will consider the legislation in place to protect pollinators both at a UK and international level, and examine the evidence collected by scientists to determine its efficacy. Although government commitment to biodiversity is strong in the UK, patchy legislation means that this commitment may not translate into protection for pollinators.

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