ABSTRACT
The crux of the sustainability challenge facing humanity in the twenty-first century is the ability to reconcile continued improvement in human welfare around the globe with the capacity of natural systems to support such development. It is this grand challenge that the allied concepts of sustainable development and sustainability attempt to articulate. This challenge has gained significant traction in the scientific community over the last decade as scientists have attempted to formulate research agendas in response to what they view as the problems of sustainability (e.g. Holling 2001; Lubchenco 1998; Mihelcic et al. 2003; NRC 1999; Palmer et al. 2005; Schellnhuber et al. 2004).
