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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Environmental Education
Identifying Priorities To Guide Extension Water Quality Programming In Utah, Clare Entwistle, Sarah Erwin, Stephanie Vaughn
Identifying Priorities To Guide Extension Water Quality Programming In Utah, Clare Entwistle, Sarah Erwin, Stephanie Vaughn
Outcomes and Impact Quarterly
Utah State University Extension water quality faculty conducted a statewide water quality needs assessment to identify priority contaminants and resource gaps. The results found that elevated nutrient levels and sedimentation were the top concerns where additional resources would be beneficial. In addition, insufficient funding for improvements and low public engagement were identified as key challenges in addressing water quality issues. Results revealed current unmet needs with regional variation to inform Extension resource allocation and programming.
Creating Wildfire-Resilient Communities In Utah: Fuel Treatments In The Wildland-Urban Interface, Luke Dutson, Kendall Becker, Katlyn Stemmler, J. Bradley Washa, Larissa L. Yocom Kent, Aish Chandrasekaran, Joseph D. Birch, Scott Hotaling
Creating Wildfire-Resilient Communities In Utah: Fuel Treatments In The Wildland-Urban Interface, Luke Dutson, Kendall Becker, Katlyn Stemmler, J. Bradley Washa, Larissa L. Yocom Kent, Aish Chandrasekaran, Joseph D. Birch, Scott Hotaling
All Current Publications
In the western United States, decades of wildfire suppression and grazing have led to changes in the amount and type of wildland fuels. In many lower montane forests, fuels such as logs, dead trees, and fallen leaves have accumulated. In many sagebrush-dominated rangelands, annual grasses have invaded, and pinyon pine and juniper woodlands have encroached. These areas now threaten to burn at uncharacteristically high fire severity, a metric based on how much vegetation is killed. Climate change and rapid population growth have exacerbated this issue in Utah, increasing the threat wildfire poses to the state’s communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Fuel …
Sagebrush, Wildfire, And Homeowners Associations: Climate Adaptation Opportunities In Summit County, Utah, Rebecca Ivans, Kendall Becker, Wesley Crump, J. Bradley Washa, Lewis Kogan, Scott Hotaling
Sagebrush, Wildfire, And Homeowners Associations: Climate Adaptation Opportunities In Summit County, Utah, Rebecca Ivans, Kendall Becker, Wesley Crump, J. Bradley Washa, Lewis Kogan, Scott Hotaling
All Current Publications
Environmental changes and rapidly expanding suburban developments are amplifying wildfire risk in Utah, including in mixed-sagebrush habitats like those in Morgan, Summit, and Wasatch counties along the Wasatch Back. Wildfire risk to people and structures is especially high in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where homes and buildings intermingle with undeveloped wildlands and natural vegetation that can fuel wildfire. Much of this urban expansion is occurring in the form of large, dispersed developments managed by homeowners associations (HOAs), which often dictate standards for the homes and properties within their purview. Thus, HOAs can play a critical role in supporting wildfire mitigation …
Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems In Southeastern Utah: An Integrated Analysis Of Hydrology, Ecology, And Landscape Change, Colten Lay
All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present
In Southeastern Utah, springs play a critical role in sustaining groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in a semi-arid environment. However, they remain understudied and face growing threats from climate change, land use modifications, and hydrologic alterations. This study addresses knowledge gaps in spring occurrence, hydrologic function, and ecological condition by integrating field surveys, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis across multiple spatial scales. It provides a comprehensive assessment of spring hydrology, water quality, and ecological conditions using field surveys, remote sensing, and GIS analysis to establish a foundational baseline of GDE resources in the region. I applied a multi-scale monitoring approach across the …
Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Wildlife Monitoring Using Bioacoustics, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle
Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Wildlife Monitoring Using Bioacoustics, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle
All Current Publications
Animals use sounds to communicate with each other, just like humans. Humans can listen in on animals by using a bioacoustic monitoring device, a passive device that quietly records surrounding sounds. Bioacoustic monitoring devices blend in with the environment, allowing us to know what types of animals appear when we’re gone. The device collects and stores data and allows us to visualize, analyze, and identify animals from the sounds they make.
Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Using Weather Stations, Jake Sanders, Daniel Findlay, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Rita Hagevik, Kaitlin Campbell
Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Using Weather Stations, Jake Sanders, Daniel Findlay, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Rita Hagevik, Kaitlin Campbell
All Current Publications
This fact sheet provides an overview of how weather stations work and the steps to set up your own weather station. To help monitor the water conditions, wind speeds, and temperatures that can impact your plants, we suggest adding a weather station to your garden area or greenhouse.
Irrigation Companies And The Great Salt Lake: Managing Water In Utah Amidst Climate Change, Chloe Francis, Kendall Becker, Matt Yost, Scott Hotaling
Irrigation Companies And The Great Salt Lake: Managing Water In Utah Amidst Climate Change, Chloe Francis, Kendall Becker, Matt Yost, Scott Hotaling
All Current Publications
The Great Salt Lake, a key ecosystem and major component of Utah’s identity and economy, is threatened by rapidly declining water levels. This problem has caused widespread and ongoing concern from the public, and the Utah Legislature is faced with making water allocation and management decisions to adapt to the state’s growing population and changing environment. One important group in this discussion is irrigation companies. Here, we examine how irrigation companies receive and maintain water rights in Utah, their significant role in water management, and recent legislative efforts to incentivize efficient water use so more water reaches the Great Salt …
Recent Climate Change In Utah, 1870-2023, Scott Hotaling, Kendall Becker
Recent Climate Change In Utah, 1870-2023, Scott Hotaling, Kendall Becker
All Current Publications
Climate change is impacting Utah. Forty-five years of temperature data show that Utah is steadily warming, which, in turn, is driving declines in winter snowpack, shifting the timing and amount of available water, increasing fire risk, and causing ecological change. This fact sheet addresses changes in Utah's temperature, precipitation and snowpack, streamflow, wildfire, and ecology.
Soil Health And Remediation For Urban Gardens In Utah, Melissa Chilinski
Soil Health And Remediation For Urban Gardens In Utah, Melissa Chilinski
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
Urban environments are at an increased risk of soil contamination and poor soil health due to anthropogenic causes. As healthy farmland is developed, new urban farmers and gardeners are often left growing food on unwanted land with unknown histories of previous use. Varied research and methods for obtaining healthy soils can cause new growers to make decisions that negatively impact soil health and fertility, or on the other hand, conflicting information can cause individuals to become unnecessarily fearful of common soil contaminants and their effect on human health. Common soil contaminants, like trace metals (often referred to as heavy metals) …
Pack It Out Utah: Usu Water Quality Extension Leads Utah’S Statewide Trails And Waterways Cleanup, Lauren Houskeeper, Hope Braithwaite
Pack It Out Utah: Usu Water Quality Extension Leads Utah’S Statewide Trails And Waterways Cleanup, Lauren Houskeeper, Hope Braithwaite
Outcomes and Impact Quarterly
Utah’s public lands have experienced a surge in outdoor recreation which has led to an increase in garbage on trails, parks, neighborhoods, and eventually, in our waterways. In response, Utah State University Water Quality Extension initiated an annual statewide cleanup to raise awareness and facilitate the proper disposal of litter. During the cleanup events in 2020 and 2021, over 11,000 pounds of trash were removed from our public lands and waterways.
Characterizing Relational Values To Inform Message-Framing At The Boa Ogoi Historical Site, Cole G. Stocker
Characterizing Relational Values To Inform Message-Framing At The Boa Ogoi Historical Site, Cole G. Stocker
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
In an increasingly polarized political climate–particularly in the U.S.– environmental issues such as climate change and its effects on the environment have become hot-button partisan talking points resulting in further division. This has led to research on ways to communicate science which does not further inflame political tensions, but rather reinforces and validates the audience’s values. Science communication research provides the foundation for my case study, which focuses on characterizing the environmental values and worldviews of land managers residing and working near the Boa Ogoi Historical Site in southern Idaho. The Northwest Band of Shoshone Nation (NWBSN) is in the …
Assessing & Protecting Dark Night Skies In El Morro National Monument, Leslie Kobinsky
Assessing & Protecting Dark Night Skies In El Morro National Monument, Leslie Kobinsky
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
Light pollution is causing the disappearance of dark night skies around the world. In the United States alone, 1/3 of people are unable to see the Milky Way where they live (Ramlagan, 2016). National Park Service sites contain some of the darkest skies in the country. Here at El Morro National Monument, these dark skies are a beautiful and healthy benefit to people in the local community and visitors traveling from afar. El Morro’s current park legislation does not include specific measures of protection for the night sky. This capstone project will create a baseline data set of night sky …
Apathy And Concern Over The Future Habitability Of Earth: An Introductory College Assignment Of Forecasting Co2 In The Earth’S Atmosphere, Benjamin J. Burger
Apathy And Concern Over The Future Habitability Of Earth: An Introductory College Assignment Of Forecasting Co2 In The Earth’S Atmosphere, Benjamin J. Burger
Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence
Non-science, first year regional undergraduate students from rural Utah communities participated in an online introductory geology course and were asked to forecast the rise of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere. The majority of students predicted catastrophic rise to 5,000-ppm sometime over the next 3,100 years, resulting in an atmosphere nearly uninhabitable to human life. However, the level of concern the students exhibited in their answers was not directly proportional with their timing in their forecasted rise of CO2. This study showcases the importance of presenting students with actual data and using data to develop student forecasted models. …
Community Supported Agriculture At Indian Creek Nature Center's Sugar Grove Farm: Sustainable Farming For Iowa, Erin Anzalone
Community Supported Agriculture At Indian Creek Nature Center's Sugar Grove Farm: Sustainable Farming For Iowa, Erin Anzalone
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
Agriculture is the largest revenue source for the state of Iowa and the state’s two priority crops are corn and soybeans. Farming practices that emphasize monoculture production of these crops can reduce biological diversity and habitat for all-important pollinators, and exacerbate runoff and erosion that sends nutrient-rich soil, herbicides, and pesticides into streams and rivers. The industrial agriculture model is lucrative now, but unsustainable for Iowa over the long run. Sugar Grove Farm, a subset of Indian Creek Nature Center (ICNC), plans to grow a variety of food crops on a large-scale, economically sustainable farm, and support low-income households in …