im ingesting datasets from sources using ingest recipes, and am interested in making each source the root directory in the UI, as opposed to PROD. for instance, browsepath should be "/hive/my_dataset" instead of "PROD/hive/my_dataset" Is implementing a transformer to change the browse path the easiest way or is there a even more simple solution.

Yes adding a transformer is the way to go. For removing the “env” from the browse path, you can add a “browse aspect” to the MCE that will override the default browse path