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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Sciences

Bottom-Up Adaptive Management And Stakeholder Participation For Clean Water And Healthy Soils In A Complex Social-Ecological System, Sarah Coleman Jan 2018

Bottom-Up Adaptive Management And Stakeholder Participation For Clean Water And Healthy Soils In A Complex Social-Ecological System, Sarah Coleman

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Protection of water resources in a changing climate depends on bottom-up stewardship and adaptive management. From the ground up, a vital component is maintaining soil ecosystem services that regulate water, recycle nutrients, sequester carbon, provide food, and other benefits. Interacting spatial, social, and physical factors determine agricultural and stormwater management, and their impact on water. This dissertation explores these dimensions within a complex social-ecological system. The first chapter evaluates a participatory process to elicit solutions to complex environmental problems across science, policy, and practice. The second chapter studies on-farm soil assessment and its role in informing management decisions and supporting …


Crowdsourced Delphis: Designing Solutions To Complex Environmental Problems With Broad Stakeholder Participation, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia Jul 2017

Crowdsourced Delphis: Designing Solutions To Complex Environmental Problems With Broad Stakeholder Participation, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

There is a well-established need for increased stakeholder participation in the generation of adaptive management approaches and specific solutions to complex environmental problems. However, integrating participant feedback into current science, research, and decision-making processes is challenging. This paper presents a novel approach that marries a rigorous Delphi method, borrowed from policy and organizational sciences, with contemporary “crowdsourcing” to address the complex problems of water pollution exacerbated by climate change in the Lake Champlain Basin. In an online Delphi forum that occurred over a six-week period during the Spring of 2014, fifty-three participants proposed and commented on adaptive solutions to address …


Crowdsourced Delphis: Designing Solutions To Complex Environmental Problems With Broad Stakeholder Participation, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia Jul 2017

Crowdsourced Delphis: Designing Solutions To Complex Environmental Problems With Broad Stakeholder Participation, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

There is a well-established need for increased stakeholder participation in the generation of adaptive management approaches and specific solutions to complex environmental problems. However, integrating participant feedback into current science, research, and decision-making processes is challenging. This paper presents a novel approach that marries a rigorous Delphi method, borrowed from policy and organizational sciences, with contemporary “crowdsourcing” to address the complex problems of water pollution exacerbated by climate change in the Lake Champlain Basin. In an online Delphi forum that occurred over a six-week period during the Spring of 2014, fifty-three participants proposed and commented on adaptive solutions to address …


Master's Project: Guiding Recreation At Travertine Hot Springs: An Environmental Assessment And Photo Monitoring Protocol, Julia Runcie Jan 2017

Master's Project: Guiding Recreation At Travertine Hot Springs: An Environmental Assessment And Photo Monitoring Protocol, Julia Runcie

Rubenstein School Masters Project Publications

In a remote corner of eastern California, natural hot springs deposit tawny ribbons of travertine limestone within a mosaic of sagebrush steppe, pinyon-juniper woodland, and alkali meadows. Known as Travertine Hot Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern, these 160 acres host tens of thousands of visitors each year. Trampled vegetation, illegal campfire rings, and two and a half miles of meandering informal paths attest to the heavy use the area sustains. In partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and the Bridgeport Indian Colony, I designed a trail system, a blueprint for interpretive signage, and a suite of infrastructural enhancements …