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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Exploring The Role Of Communication In Relational Outcomes In A High School Setting, Paul S. Butler Dec 2023

Exploring The Role Of Communication In Relational Outcomes In A High School Setting, Paul S. Butler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An action research study in a high school setting applies the Organization-Public Relationships (O-PR) theoretical frame to a short-term communications initiative designed to elicit measurable engagement in the initiative and increased parent feelings of commitment and trust in their relationship with the school. A survey administered before the initiative yields actionable data on communication needs and preferences, levels of satisfaction, and parent feelings of commitment and trust. Survey data gathered after the communication initiative is used to determine changes in levels of satisfaction, commitment and trust. Among the findings are verified and consistent indications of secondary engagement in the communication …


"Smells Fishy": Exploring Sense Of Place Salience In Community Rejection Of Closed Net-Pen Aquaculture In Frenchman Bay, Maine, Gabriella Gurney Aug 2023

"Smells Fishy": Exploring Sense Of Place Salience In Community Rejection Of Closed Net-Pen Aquaculture In Frenchman Bay, Maine, Gabriella Gurney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The global population is rising, and with it, demand for protein, particularly seafood. Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic species such as finfish, shellfish, and kelp, has been proposed as an alternative to wild-catch fisheries, of which 75% are overfished or at capacity. In Maine, aquaculture is growing, but often faces mixed community response when new or expanded projects are proposed. In the summer of 2020, a large-scale closed net-pen farm for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) was proposed for Frenchman Bay, Maine. Community reaction was instantaneous and overwhelmingly negative. The strong, unified response from residents in the towns of …


Searching For A Solution To Political Polarization In The U.S. Through A Feminist Ethics Of Care, Marissa Smith Aug 2022

Searching For A Solution To Political Polarization In The U.S. Through A Feminist Ethics Of Care, Marissa Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American politics have seen growing polarization in the past few years (Serrano-Contreras et al., 2020; Wojcieszak & Warner, 2020). Polarization is generally defined as “the distance between opposing political views” (Serrano-Contreras et al., 2020, p. 65). With focus on college students, this thesis considers ways to bridge the political divide in the United States and to promote generative engagement with differences across the political spectrum. The specific research questions this study explored were: 1) How do Ethics of Care principles and practices appear in and impact conversations on politically-charged topics among college students? and 2) How does participating in a …


Fostering Climate Change Resilience: A Socio-Ecological Forest Systems Approach, Alyssa R. Soucy Aug 2020

Fostering Climate Change Resilience: A Socio-Ecological Forest Systems Approach, Alyssa R. Soucy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As climate change continues to impact socio-ecological systems, those that rely on natural resources are highly sensitive to climatic changes. Maine’s forest industry provides for the economic and social well-being of many residents and is especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. Changes in growing season length and timing, forest health threats imposed by insects and pathogens, extreme weather events, shifting forest composition, and changes in natural disturbance severity and frequency have already begun, and are projected to continue, to impact forest systems in the Northeastern U.S. While climate change presents a threat to forest systems, opportunities also arise due to …


Using Engaged Rhetorical Methods To Understand And Inform Collaborative Decision Making About Dams And Restoration In The Penobscot River Watershed, Tyler Quiring Apr 2020

Using Engaged Rhetorical Methods To Understand And Inform Collaborative Decision Making About Dams And Restoration In The Penobscot River Watershed, Tyler Quiring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How do we understand what to do with rivers and dams? How might rhetoric, the ancient study of persuasion, inform and shape this understanding as it relates to river restoration practices? Ecological approaches to rhetoric provide ways for engaging in decision making about dams and river restoration. In this dissertation I present three projects that bring media discourse analysis, reciprocal case study, and cross-cultural digital rhetoric to sites of collaborative decision making about dams and rivers in the Penobscot River watershed (Maine, USA). In this place, the prominent Penobscot River Restoration reconfigured several hydroelectric dams to improve fish passage and …


Gain Vs. Loss And Near Vs. Far Spatial Distance Message Framing And Support For Aquaculture Among U.S. Seafood Consumers, Sandaruwan P. Kumara Aug 2018

Gain Vs. Loss And Near Vs. Far Spatial Distance Message Framing And Support For Aquaculture Among U.S. Seafood Consumers, Sandaruwan P. Kumara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the U.S., the aquaculture industry receives differential support from various publics due to the health and environmental concerns of seafood consumers. Since consumer communication plays a significant role in policy support, understanding how messages about aquaculture should be framed is important. This study investigated the influence of gain vs. loss and near vs. far spatial distance framing on support for aquaculture among seafood consumers in the U.S. The study used a 2*2 experimental design to vary gain/loss and near/far framing among 1052 U.S. residents from all 50 states. An online questionnaire, distributed by the survey firm GfK, was employed …


Looking At Innovation Dialogically: Teaching Communication And (Social) Change In The Innovation Engineering Program At The University Of Maine, Mark J. Congdon Jr. May 2018

Looking At Innovation Dialogically: Teaching Communication And (Social) Change In The Innovation Engineering Program At The University Of Maine, Mark J. Congdon Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions face two concurrent demands: preparing students for the job-market, while also developing informed and engaged citizens (Frey & Palmer, 2014; Gould, 2003). How universities reconcile these demands varies. The Innovation Engineering program (IE) at the University of Maine strives to both, “change the world by enabling innovation” (concern for social issues) and educate entrepreneurs (students) whose innovations reach markets quicker and at a decreased risk (capitalist orientation) (Hall, 2013; Kelly, 2014). The program uses a systems approach to innovation by teaching tools and methods for creating, communicating, and commercializing meaningfully unique ideas. Processes and contexts are important …


How Do We Collaborate? A Look Into Maine's Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network, Abby Jane Roche Aug 2017

How Do We Collaborate? A Look Into Maine's Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network, Abby Jane Roche

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a society we realize that the dynamic needs of science and society are often complex and interdependent and that there is a need to work with and across diverse expertise and practices in order to create the development of new methods and to provide innovative solutions to socially relevant work. Thus, we call collaborative research efforts into action. Maine’s Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET) is such an endeavor, as it is a collaborative effort traversing a nexus of complex, dynamic challenges in Maine, including issues related to socio-economic shifts, climate change, and declining capture fisheries. While SEANET’s plan to …


Communicating Who Knows What In Sustainability Science: Investigating The Role Of Epistemology In Science Communication And Engagement, Brianne M. Suldovsky May 2016

Communicating Who Knows What In Sustainability Science: Investigating The Role Of Epistemology In Science Communication And Engagement, Brianne M. Suldovsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complex socio-ecological problems we face today often require that researchers collaborate with individuals and organizations outside of their own disciplines and, oftentimes, outside of academia entirely. This sustainability science model encourages university researchers to engage in participatory models of engagement, where nonscientific publics and scientists working outside of academe are invited to co-produce knowledge and, through collaboration, arrive at solutions for sustainability. Despite the popularity of participatory models of engagement in sustainability science, very little research has examined sustainability science researchers’ perceptions of epistemic authority in conjunction with their engagement behavior. This kind of work is important given that …