Place and Environment Commons^™

Building Wellbeing Through Nature And Adventure For Justice-Involved Youth, Lewis Kogan, Meagan Ricks, Janna Coulter, Miranda Margetts, Lori Butterfield, Ben Ukoh-Eke

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Justice-involved youth often experience elevated levels of stress, mental health challenges, and reduced access to positive developmental opportunities. A nature- and adventure-based youth development program designed to strengthen resilience, self-efficacy, nature-connectedness, and well-being among justice-involved youth was piloted in 2025 to address these challenges. Pilot findings indicated improvements in resilience, self-efficacy, hopefulness, and connectedness to nature.

Amplifying Community Voices In Climate Policy: Attitudes On Climate Change And Decarbonization In Cache County, Cristina Chirvasa, Rivkah Haubner, Stacia Ryder

Transforming Communities

Climate change is altering global ecosystems and imperiling human health, but knowledge of these impacts does not always translate into adaptation and mitigation action. Many solutions fall under decarbonization, or the reduction and capture of atmospheric carbon. These actions are increasingly developed at more localized, sub-state levels. Thus, understanding the attitudes of Cache County, Utah, residents, including students and faculty at Utah State University, toward different decarbonization techniques will be important to building successful climate action plans and policies. Here, as part of a large-scale collaborative group of different on-campus departments and community partners, we held focus groups to examine …

Using A Social-Ecological-Technological Systems Approach For Assessing Vulnerabilities Downstream Of Dams, Michael J. Englert

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Dam failure is rare, but when it occurs the consequences can extend far beyond the structure of the dam itself. This project assessed vulnerabilities downstream of Utah’s 189 state-regulated, high-hazard dams using a Social-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS) approach. The purpose of the project was to look beyond engineering and structural risk alone and identify the people, protected ecosystems, critical infrastructure, and land cover types located within mapped dam inundation zones.

Potential inundation zone maps were obtained from the Utah Division of Water Rights Dam Safety Section. They were processed using ArcGIS Pro and integrated with publicly available nationwide geospatial datasets to …

Developing A New Uas Method For Estimating Heat Exposure On Western Us Trails, Jared Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Heat exposure and the risks to human health that stem from it have been studied extensively in the context of urban and occupational settings. Less studied however, is the effect of heat exposure in a recreational setting such as on hiking trails. What makes this fact more surprising is that recreation, especially in the Western US, is extremely popular, with national parks such as Zion and Arches bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. With millions of recreationists exposed to the hazard of heat every year, it is critical that recreationists are made aware of the dangers they …

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.

Listening To Facilitate Change: Youth And Indigenous Voices Call For Critical Environmental Justice At Great Salt Lake, Sarah Woodbury, Christina Morgan

Transforming Communities

As Great Salt Lake faces rapid ecological decline, nearby communities face serious environmental injustices. Yet, despite threats ranging from toxic dust to migration inequality, state actions have been insufficient to maintain recommended water levels and ecological health at the lake. Our critical commentary uses the lens of critical environmental justice to consider human values connected to the lake. We briefly describe current advocacy efforts for the lake including a 2023 gathering and resultant panel at the 2024 Community Engagement Conference in Moab, Utah. Ultimately, we argue that braiding together multiple types of knowledge encourages the growth of new approaches to …

Understanding Socio-Environmental Concerns About Bear Lake: Findings From A Community-Engaged Teaching Study, Stacia Ryder, Alexander Theophilus, Charlotte Emelia Williams, Elizabeth Brunner, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Zubair Barkat, Nowrin Fatema, Jordan Rowley

Transforming Communities

In the western U.S., climate change is exacerbating already difficult situations in many lake systems, including Bear Lake, which spans the Idaho-Utah border and faces several environmental issues and a new wave of recreational development. In this research note, we discuss preliminary findings from community-engaged research aimed at assessing different concerns that scientists, residents, and community organizations have for Bear Lake and the surrounding communities. To do so, this project connects student research across three courses. Data collected through archival and interview research provides important insights into the socio-environmental concerns related to 1) ecological threats, 2) water management, quality, and …

Cultivating Community And Commerce: A Summary Of The Statewide Social And Economic Impacts Of Utah Farmers Markets, Jaclyn Pace, Bryn Watkins, Roslynn Mccann, Steven Price

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Data collected from six markets throughout the market seasons between 2023 and 2024 highlights the transformative impact of Utah’s farmers’ markets on the state’s economy, health, and sense of community. According to market patrons, Utah’s farmers' markets are vital economic and social hubs supporting local agriculture, small businesses, and community well-being.

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

Orange County Parks Trail Use Designation Pilot Project, Christopher Monz, Noah Creany

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

This report provides an analysis and summary of the survey research findings from the Orange County (OC) Parks Trail Use Designation Pilot Project conducted during the summer of 2021. Repeat ecological monitoring flights were completed in May 2022 and the analysis and findings of the ecological effects of the Trail Use Designation Pilot Project will be delivered in a forthcoming addendum to this report.

Cultivating Agrobiodiversity In The U.S.: Barriers And Bridges At Multiple Scales, Kaitlyn A. Spangler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The diversity of crops grown in the United States (U.S.) is declining, causing agricultural landscapes to become more and more simplified. This trend is concerning for the loss of important plant, insect, and animal species, as well as the pollution and degradation of our environment. Through three separate but related studies, this dissertation addresses the need to increase the diversity of these agricultural landscapes in the U.S., particularly through diversifying the type and number of crops grown. The first study uses multiple, openly accessible datasets related to agricultural land use and policies to document and visualize change over recent decades. …

Framing Climate Change In Local Context: Newspaper Coverage Of Climate Change In Three Mountain Towns In The Intermountain West Compared To National Coverage, Tyler J. Spradlin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Past research has focused on how journalists cover and frame the issue of climate change or global warming in mainly nationally circulated newspapers. This study compares and contrasts the framing of climate change between two nationally circulated newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, and three intermountain west community newspapers, Jackson Hole News & Guide in Jackson Hole, WY, Summit Daily in Summit County, CO, and Park Record in Park City, UT. This research incorporates the five generic frames, responsibility, conflict, human-interest, economic consequences, and morality frames defined by Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) …

“You Shouldn’T Worry Walking A Block And A Half To Your Car”: Perceptions Of Crime And Community Norms In The Bakken Oil Play, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Michael Fedder, Julie Yingling

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The Bakken oil play experienced substantial population growth from oil and gas development over the last decade, resulting in disruption to social norms at the community level. We surveyed residents in a county in Montana and a county in North Dakota about their perceptions of crime resulting from the most recent boom, finding that residents perceived high levels of various types of crimes resulting from the boom and that many also changed their daily behavior out of fear of such crime. In addition, we asked about current perceptions of community norms and find evidence that perceived levels of helping and …

Justice And The River: Community Connections To An Impaired Urban River In Salt Lake City, Taya L. Carothers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Local communities have the right to participate in decision-making about environmental resources near where they live. Local governments have tried to gather feedback from communities to help improve the decisions they make, but have not always done a good job getting feedback from minority or urban communities. This dissertation provides one step toward obtaining this kind of public input in a majority minority community surrounding the Jordan River in Salt Lake City. Children and adults participated in this research. I present findings from two surveys, from work with children, and from adult interviews to understand how this community relates to …

Why Do They Do That? Understanding Factors Influencing Visitor Spatial Behavior In Parks And Protected Areas, Abigail M. Sisneros-Kidd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Visitors to parks and protected areas within the United States and worldwide often visit these areas with a particular destination in mind, such as seeing Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone National Park or standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park. These visitor use destinations, and the pathways leading to them, such as trails and roadways, see high levels of use, and as a result, impacts to soil, vegetation, air, water, soundscapes, and night skies that result from this use. The field of recreation ecology studies these impacts to park and protected area resources resulting …

"We Didn't Move Here To Move To Aspen": Community Making And Community Development In An Emerging Rural Amenity Destination, Jessica Ulrich-Schad

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Residents of high amenity rural areas in the U.S. are grappling with the community-level impacts of their small towns increasingly becoming destinations for in-migrants, seasonal residents, and tourists. This case study of an emerging destination uses alterity theory to examine how amenity migration affects residents' community making and subsequently their community development efforts. Residents tend to see their community as divided into two social groups based upon opposed stances towards development; one resistant to any form of change and the other open. The 'Keepers' are seen as stuck in their ways and closed to any form of development while the …

Utah’S Watershed Restoration Initiative: Restoring Watersheds At A Landscape Scale, Alan G. Clark, Tyler W. Thompson, Jason L. Vernon, Alison Whittakker

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Abstract: The Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI) is a partnership-based program, administered by the Utah Department of Natural Resources, which seeks to improve the functional capacity of high priority watersheds throughout the state. Since its inception in 2006, the WRI partnership has completed nearly 1,500 projects to restore and rehabilitate over 526,091 ha in Utah watersheds. The WRI program is unique to the west, in that it transcends jurisdictional boundaries, and local, state, and federal management authority to focus finite resources on completing high priority conservation projects. We surveyed selected WRI selected participants in 2015 to determine what factors they …

Academic-Community Partnerships Effectiveness Evaluated Beyond The Ivory Walls, Rosemary M. Caron, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Catherine C. Lafferty

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has furthered our understanding of the working principles required for academic-community partnerships to address persistent public health problems. However, little is known about how effective these partnerships have been in eliminating or reducing community-based public health issues. To contribute to the literature in this area, the authors conducted a survey of U.S. schools and programs in public health and community groups working with these academic partners to: (1) identify the most common local public health issues addressed; (2) examine the characteristics of the partnership and the actual or perceived benefits and challenges for each partner; (3) …

The Digital Distribution Of Public Health News Surrounding The Human Papillomavirus Vaccination: A Longitudinal Infodemiology Study, L. Meghan Mahoney, Tang Tang, Kai Ji, Jessica Ulrich-Schad

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Background: New media changes the dissemination of public health information and misinformation. During a guest appearance on the Today Show, US Representative Michele Bachmann claimed that human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines could cause “mental retardation”. Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore how new media influences the type of public health information users access, as well as the impact to these platforms after a major controversy. Specifically, this study aims to examine the similarities and differences in the dissemination of news articles related to the HPV vaccination between Google News and Twitter, as well as how the content of …

Charting A Future Course For Development: Natural Resources, Conservation, And Community Character In Coastal Alaska, Thomas G. Safford, Megan Henly, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Keith Perkins

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Dramatic social changes are occurring across rural America as traditional natural resource-based industries such as fishing and forestry decline, and amenity-driven development attracts new residents and visitors. These changes are altering not only the economies and cultural identities of rural communities, but also entire regions where seemingly similar towns respond to these social and economic shifts in distinct ways. Using survey data from 1,541 residents of Southeast Alaska, we examine individual views regarding the role of fishing, forestry, and tourism in this region’s economic future. We also assess beliefs about the importance of conserving natural resources and the preservation of …

Body Of Knowledge For Health Administration Education: Teaching Epidemiology In The Age Of Health Care Reform, Rosemary M. Caron, Edmond A. Hooker, Jessica Ulrich-Schad

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

As we embark on reforming the U.S. healthcare system, population-based healthcare is becoming even more important, and epidemiology is the basic science we will use to evaluate our effectiveness. Although recent research has shown that most undergraduate and graduate programs in health administration teach epidemiology courses in their curricula, the goals, objectives, and final content for such a course remain inconsistent across the programs. There are limited guiding principles (e.g., accreditation and certification criteria) on what health administration programs should expect of students studying epidemiology. To assess the similarities and differences in epidemiological content taught at the undergraduate and graduate …

You’Re The Expert! A Participatory Approach Tonitrate Pollution Research In Central Montana, A. Armstrong, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Participatory approaches to water resources research are intended to promote sustainable behaviors and management of complex problems. The goal of this research is to improve BMP adoption through producer participation in the research process.

Reducinggroundwater Nitrate In The Judith River Watershed: A Participatory Approach To Achieveeffective Management For Improved Water Quality, S. Ewing, A. Sigler, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, C. Jones, G. Weissmann

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Rising levels of nitrate in groundwater threaten human health and downstream ecosystems. In the Judith River Watershed, Montana, groundwater nitrate concentrations frequently exceed 10 mg L-­‐1, and may be increasing due to agricultural practices on thin soils overlying shallow, unconfined aquifers with short groundwater residence :mes. Previous extension and research ac:vi:es in the watershed have provided key data and established working relationships with local stakeholders, but adoption rates of water quality best management practices (BMPs) have been low. With this project, we undertake a participatory approach that engages agricultural producers and stakeholders to:

Seeing The Forest For The Trees: Managing Social Conflict And Forest Restoration, Steven E. Daniels, Jens Emborg, Greg B. Walker

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This paper examines the role that social conflict is likely to play in forest restoration projects. A definition of conflict as “perceived goal interference among interdependent parties” serves as a point of departure for the discussion, and the nature of forest restoration conflict is systematically examined by focusing on each aspect of the definition: perceptions, goal interference, the parties, and their interdependence. Agencies undertaking restoration projects are encouraged to adopt a discourse orientation, wherein they recognize that 1) their public involvement efforts are creating a discourse that can incorporate a wide array of values and voices and 2) groups may …

Examining The Compatibility Between Forestry Incentive Programs In The Us And The Practice Of Sustainable Forest Management, Steven E. Daniels, Michael A. Kilgore, Michael G. Jacobsen, John L. Greene, Thomas J. Straka

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This research explores the intersection between the various federal and state forestry incentive programs and the adoption of sustainable forestry practices on non-industrial private forest (NIPF) lands in the US. The qualitative research reported here draws upon a series of eight focus groups of NIPF landowners (two each in Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina). Despite minor regional variations, the dominant theme that emerged is that these landowners’ purchase and management decisions are motivated by the “trilogy” of forest continuity, benefit to the owner, and doing the “right thing.” This trilogy is quite consistent with notions of sustainable forestry, but …

Distanciation And The Recontextualization Of Space: Finding One’S Way In A Small Western Community, Lisa Gabbert

English Faculty Publications

In the 1990s, the city of McCall, Idaho, and the surrounding region implemented the Rural Addressing System. The system assigned a name to every street and a number to every house and erected visible signage for both. Although a seemingly minor bureaucratic operation, the Rural Addressing System is a concrete example of Anthony Giddens's concept of space distanciation, and as such, it is a significant component of modernity and globalization. By investigating the impact of the Rural Addressing System on this region—particularly on the ways in which people give directions and think about space there—this article sheds light on how …

From The Forest To The River: Citizens' Views Of Stakeholder Engagement, Gregg B. Walker, Susan L. Senecah, Steven E. Daniels

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Since the early 1990s collaboration and consensus processes have become associated with success in the environmental policy and natural resource policy arenas. Interest in collaboration and consensus processes have emerged, in part, out of a frustration with more conventional efforts used to involve stakeholders, to work though conflicts, and to make decisions in the environmental and natural resource policy arenas. Collaboration and consensus processes, when designed well and applied appropriately, provide opportunities for meaningful stakeholder engagement. This essay features aspects of two government-led or agency-based (Koontz et al. 2004; Moore and Koontz 2003) planning efforts that consider collaboration and citizens/stakeholder …

Review Of: "Anatomy Of A Conflict: Identity, Knowledge, And Emotion In Old Growth Forests", Steven E. Daniels

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

I am very glad this book was written, and equally pleased to have read it. But having done so, I am not sure I would buy it. I will use this review to explore the seeming contradiction between my enthusiasm and ambivalence. The book focuses on the regional conflict over the management of federally-managed forests in the Pacific Northwest Region of the United States. The controversy played out predominantly from 1988–1996, and the book reports the results of research undertaken from 1992–1996. The research is ethnographic, with the major data drawn from participant observation of events and from a series …

Racial And Ethnic Differences In Rural And Urban Migration, Lisa L. Knapp

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Most past research on migration has focused on young adults or recent retirees since these are the two groups most likely to migrate. Very little research has looked at the factors that affect the migration of people in the middle stages of life. The purpose of this research is to identify those factors, and determine if there are differences between whites, blacks, and Hispanics.

The data utilized for this research were from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 79, a study funded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that has been ongoing since 1979. Migration was defined as the movement …

When Talk Is Not Cheap: Substantive Penance And Expressions Of Intent In Rebuilding Cooperation, William P. Bottom, Kevin Gibson, Steven E. Daniels, J. Keith Murnighan

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Interpersonal relationships can be fragile. The mere perception of opportunistic behavior can lead to a breakdown in cooperation. Once damaged, the question then arises as to whether and how cooperation might be restored. Noncooperative game theory raises serious doubts about the possibilities, although interactional justice and impression management research have shown that verbal explanations can dampen reactions to aversive behavior. Philosophical, anthropological, and ethological research all suggest that genuine forgiveness may require something more tangible and substantive than an explanation. Thus, the current experiment investigated the effects of explanations and varying forms of substantive amends on the restoration of mutual …