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The University of Maine

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Articles 31 - 47 of 47

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Strengthening Knowledge Co-Production Capacity: Examining Interest In Community-University Partnerships., Karen Hutchins, Laura Lindenfeld, Jessica Leahy, Linda Silka Sep 2013

Strengthening Knowledge Co-Production Capacity: Examining Interest In Community-University Partnerships., Karen Hutchins, Laura Lindenfeld, Jessica Leahy, Linda Silka

Publications

Building successful, enduring research partnerships is essential for improving links between knowledge and action to address sustainability challenges. Communication research can play a critical role in fostering more effective research partnerships, especially those concerned with knowledge co-production processes. This article focuses on community-university research partnerships and factors that influence participation in the co-production process. We identify specific pathways for improving partnership development through a prospective analytical approach that examines community officials’ interest in partnering with university researchers. Using survey responses from a statewide sample of Maine municipal officials, we conduct a statistical analysis of community-university partnership potential to test a …

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Acceptance And Support Of The Australian Carbon Policy, Stacia J. Dreyer, Iain Walker Sep 2013

Acceptance And Support Of The Australian Carbon Policy, Stacia J. Dreyer, Iain Walker

Publications

In July 2012, the Australian government instituted the Clean Energy Legislative Package. This policy, commonly known as the carbon policy or carbon tax, holds industries responsible for emissions they release through a carbon price. Because this will have an indirect effect on consumer costs, the policy also includes a compensation package for households indirectly impacted. This study, building upon past work in distributive justice, examines the determinants of the policy’s acceptance and support. We proposed perceived fairness and effectiveness of the policy, and endorsement of free-market ideology, would directly predict policy acceptance. We tested this through an on-line survey of …

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"Silos" In The Democratization Of Science., Linda Silka Jul 2013

"Silos" In The Democratization Of Science., Linda Silka

Publications

No abstract provided.

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Sustainability Science: A Call To Collaborative Action, David D. Hart, Kathleen P. Bell Apr 2013

Sustainability Science: A Call To Collaborative Action, David D. Hart, Kathleen P. Bell

Publications

Sustainability science is an emerging field directed at advancing sustainable development. Informed by recent scholarship and institutional experiments, we identify key roles for economists and encourage their greater participation in this research. Our call to collaborative action comes from positive experiences with the Sustainability Solutions Initiative based at the University of Maine, where economists collaborate with other experts and diverse stakeholders on real-world problems involving interactions between natural and human systems. We articulate a mutually beneficial setting where economists’ methods, skills, and norms add value to the problem-focused, interdisciplinary research of sustainability science and where resources, opportunities, and challenges from …

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Oral History, Working Class Culture, And Local, Pauleena M. Macdougall Jan 2013

Oral History, Working Class Culture, And Local, Pauleena M. Macdougall

Publications

Stories of factory closings from many industries throughout the latter part of the twentieth century are common and numerous studies have documented the economic impact of these unfortunate events. In this case study of Brewer, Maine, oral histories with former workers at the primary source of local employment, Eastern Corporation, illuminate the nature of management-worker interactions at the mill. Eastern’s former employee narratives reveal a surprisingly unified perspective regarding the closing of the mill that does not reflect the public narrative put forward by management and business leaders.

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Mapping, Modeling, And The Fragmentation Of Environmental Law., Dave Owen Jan 2013

Mapping, Modeling, And The Fragmentation Of Environmental Law., Dave Owen

Publications

In the past forty years, environmental researchers have achieved major advances in electronic mapping and spatially explicit, computer-based simulation modeling. Those advances have turned quantitative spatial analysis — that is, quantitative analysis of data coded to specific geographic locations — into one of the primary modes of environmental research. Researchers now routinely use spatial analysis to explore environmental trends, diagnose problems, discover causal relationships, predict possible futures, and test policy options. At a more fundamental level, these technologies and an associated field of theory are transforming how researchers conceptualize environmental systems. Advances in spatial analysis have had modest impacts upon …

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Does Green Consumerism Increase The Acceptance Of Wind Power?, Caroline L. Noblet, John Thøgersen Dec 2012

Does Green Consumerism Increase The Acceptance Of Wind Power?, Caroline L. Noblet, John Thøgersen

Publications

In this paper, we discuss what might be termed an action-based learning approach to promoting important pro-environmental actions, such as support for or acceptance of environmental policy. Such an approach involves promoting simple and easy behaviours as entry points for more radical steps towards sustainability, referred to as “catalytic” or “wedge” behaviours. Despite the obvious need for innovative approaches to promote important pro-environmental behaviour, and sound theoretical backing for such concepts, there is a lack of research testing the key propositions of this approach. In a survey study based on a random sample of residents of the state of Maine, …

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Giving Voice To The Future In Sustainability: Retrospective Assessment To Learn Prospective Stakeholder Engagement, Mark W. Anderson, Mario F. Teisl, Caroline L. Noblet Oct 2012

Giving Voice To The Future In Sustainability: Retrospective Assessment To Learn Prospective Stakeholder Engagement, Mark W. Anderson, Mario F. Teisl, Caroline L. Noblet

Publications

There is a broad understanding that intergenerational equity is a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for sustainability. Likewise, there is a growing consensus that sustainability science requires stakeholder engagement to be successful. These two ideas demand some meaningful way of engaging the future as a stakeholder if sustainability is to be operationalized. Rawls' theory of justice provides a model for how this might be accomplished, yet there are both conceptual and practical problems with a Rawlsian approach. We propose using retrospective assessment as a means of learning how to approach future stakeholder engagement in sustainability.

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Articulating Identity In And Through Maine's North Woods, Karen Hutchins, Nathan Stromer Mar 2012

Articulating Identity In And Through Maine's North Woods, Karen Hutchins, Nathan Stromer

Publications

Land-use changes can interrupt relationships to place, threaten community identity, and prompt instability, altering the social and physical context and impacting the present and future state of the social–ecological system. Approaches that map system changes are needed to understand the effects of natural resource decisions and human–nature interactions. In this article, we merge theories of articulation, the event, and symbolic territory into a critical framework to analyze online newspaper article responses and blogs referencing a land-use controversy in the State of Maine, USA. Application of this framework reveals land-use controversies as place-making events that alter contexts and sense of place, …

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Science Communication And Vernal Pool Conservation: A Study Of Local Decision Maker Attitudes In A Knowledge-Action System, Bridie Mcgreavy, Thomas Webler, Aram J K Calhoun Mar 2012

Science Communication And Vernal Pool Conservation: A Study Of Local Decision Maker Attitudes In A Knowledge-Action System, Bridie Mcgreavy, Thomas Webler, Aram J K Calhoun

Publications

designing and implementing boundary management strategies, and highlights the complexities of direct engagement between scientists and policymakers and the implications of that engagement for scientists and their academic institutions. We draw from a case study conducted in Maine to argue that there are contexts in which the need arises for scientists to manage and span the science-policy boundary. The complexities involved in preparing scientists to engage more thoroughly in policy activities and the challenges in garnering institutional support for advancing the participation of scientists in boundary spanning activities are explored.

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Critical Habitat And The Challenge Of Regulating Small Harms., Dave Owen Jan 2012

Critical Habitat And The Challenge Of Regulating Small Harms., Dave Owen

Publications

This Article investigates how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the courts are implementing the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on “adverse modification” of “critical habitat.” That prohibition appears to be one of environmental law’s most ambitious mandates, but its actual meaning and effect are contested. Using a database of over 4,000 “biological opinions,” interviews with agency staff, and a review of judicial decisions considering the adverse modification prohibition, this Article assesses the extent to which the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the courts are relying on the adverse modification …

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Urbanization, Water Quality, And The Regulated Landscape, Dave Owen Apr 2011

Urbanization, Water Quality, And The Regulated Landscape, Dave Owen

Publications

Watershed scientists frequently describe urbanization as a primary cause of water quality degradation, and recent studies conclude that even in lightly-developed watersheds, urbanization often precludes attainment of water quality standards. This article considers legal responses to this pervasive problem. It explains why traditional legal measures have been ineffective, and it evaluates several recent innovations piloted in the northeastern United States and potentially applicable across the nation. Specifically, the innovations involve using impervious cover TMDLs, residual designation authority, and collective permitting. More generally, the innovations involve transferring regulatory focus from end-of-the-pipe to landscape-based controls. I conclude that the innovations, while raising …

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A Call To Action For Conserving Biological Diversity In The Face Of Climate Change, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr., Eric Dinerstein, John Hoekstra, David Lindenmayer Sep 2010

A Call To Action For Conserving Biological Diversity In The Face Of Climate Change, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr., Eric Dinerstein, John Hoekstra, David Lindenmayer

Publications

No abstract provided.

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Community Attitudes Toward Wildlife And Protected Areas In Ethiopia, Mekbeb E. Tessema, Robert J. Lilieholm, Zelealem T. Ashenafi, Nigel Leader-Williams May 2010

Community Attitudes Toward Wildlife And Protected Areas In Ethiopia, Mekbeb E. Tessema, Robert J. Lilieholm, Zelealem T. Ashenafi, Nigel Leader-Williams

Publications

Across Africa, national policies that established protected areas (PAs) typically limited local use of wildlife and other resources. Over time, these policies have raised tensions with rural communities and today threaten to undermine conservation goals. This article examines community–PA relationships at four important sites in Ethiopia—a country of rich tradition with an unusual colonial past. Using focus groups and household surveys, we found that despite local tensions, most respondents held positive views toward wildlife and nearby PAs. Factors influencing positive views included receiving PA benefits, good relations with PA staff, higher education levels, being older, having a large family, diversified …

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Does A Property‐Specific Environmental Health Risk Create A “Neighborhood” Housing Price Stigma? Arsenic In Private Well Water, Kevin Boyle, Nicolai Kuminoff, Congwen Zhang, Michael Devanney, Kathleen Bell Mar 2010

Does A Property‐Specific Environmental Health Risk Create A “Neighborhood” Housing Price Stigma? Arsenic In Private Well Water, Kevin Boyle, Nicolai Kuminoff, Congwen Zhang, Michael Devanney, Kathleen Bell

Publications

This paper examines the impact of arsenic contamination of groundwater on sale prices of residential properties and bare land transactions in two Maine towns, Buxton and Hollis, that rely on private wells to supply their drinking water. Prompted by tests of well water by the state of Maine, media attention focused on the communities in 1993 and 1994 when 14% of private wells were found to have arsenic concentrations exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard of 0.05 mg/L. Households could mitigate the serious health risks associated with arsenic ingestion by purchasing bottled water or by installing a reverse osmosis …

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The Psychology Of Eco-Consumption., Mario F. Teisl, Caroline L. Noblet, Jonathan Rubin Dec 2009

The Psychology Of Eco-Consumption., Mario F. Teisl, Caroline L. Noblet, Jonathan Rubin

Publications

Information programs to promote cellulosic biofuels may not achieve their objectives unless consumers can be induced to care about the information presented to them. The social psychology literature highlights two commonly used models to link psychological variables to environmentally related behaviors: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Norm Activation Theory (NAT). Other studies have compared the strength of these models or have adapted these models by adding additional variables, but few have compared across the alternative variable combinations noted in the literature. That is, most studies have added one or two psychological variables to the NAT or TPB …

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Resource Use, Dependence And Vulnerability: Community-Resource Linkages On Alaska’S Tongass National Forest, Mekbeb E. Tessema, Robert J. Lilieholm, L. E. Kruger Jan 2009

Resource Use, Dependence And Vulnerability: Community-Resource Linkages On Alaska’S Tongass National Forest, Mekbeb E. Tessema, Robert J. Lilieholm, L. E. Kruger

Publications

Understanding how rural communities use and depend upon local natural resources is a critical factor in developing policies to sustain the long-term viability of human and natural systems. Such “community-resource” linkages are particularly important in Alaska, where rural communities – many of them comprised of indigenous Alaskan Natives – are highly dependent upon local resources found on public lands. Alaskan communities utilize forests in many ways. To better understand these coupled “social-ecological” systems, we combined socio-economic data from the 2000 U.S. Census with timber permit data from the USDA Forest Service to describe communities and their use of forest resources. …

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