David C. Gosselin, Anne E. Egger, and J. John Taber (eds.): Interdisciplinary Teaching About Earth and the Environment for a Sustainable Future

Bob Quinn and Liz Carlisle. Grain by grain: a quest to revive ancient wheat, rural jobs, and healthy food

Michelle Scobie. Global environmental governance and small states: Architectures and agency in the Caribbean

Sarmistha R. Majumdar. The politics of fracking: regulatory policy and local community responses to environmental concerns

Activating values for encouraging pro-environmental behavior: the role of religious fundamentalism and willingness to sacrifice Abstract A number of theories and hypotheses attempt to understand what influences pro-environmental behaviors. In social psychology, the values–beliefs–norms (VBN) theory is one of the most common approaches used to explain pro-environmental behaviors. But different sets of concepts have often been used in work based on large public opinion surveys. Here, we add to the VBN theory several variables—Christian religious fundamentalism, willingness to sacrifice, trust in scientists, biotechnology beliefs—that have been used in the public opinion literature in a step toward a more integrative theory. A sample of 518 U.S. adults completed an online questionnaire to provide data. Results confirm that, in the USA, biospheric altruism values had substantial indirect effects on pro-environmental behavior via willingness to sacrifice for biodiversity loss. But climate change beliefs and willingness to sacrifice for climate change did not exert direct or indirect effects on pro-environmental behavior. Interestingly, religious fundamentalism increased pro-environmental behavior net of other factors including political ideology, again acting primarily through biospheric altruism values. We hope that our findings encourage steps toward more integrated theory and the testing of more comprehensive models.

Shocks, states, and societal corporatism: a shorter path to sustainability? Abstract Fatalism about the inevitability of disruptive climate change has spread in recent years among environmentally concerned citizens. Slow moving, delayed, and ineffectual campaigns to limit greenhouse gas emissions have persuaded some observers that industrial societies are incapable of enacting and implementing thoroughgoing environmental reforms. This paper tries to counter this pessimism by outlining the circumstances that enabled rapid and far-reaching environmental reforms during the twentieth century. It does so through a comparative historical analysis of radical environmental reforms in Maine, the Great Plains, Cuba, and England. Three circumstances spurred these episodes of radical reform. Disruptive focusing events alarmed people by underlining sharp limits in the resources available to them. In response to the alarm, citizens and elites mobilized across scales to press for change. The changes occurred through corporatist political processes in which practitioners like farmers and real estate developers altered the norms governing environmentally consequential activities in ways beneficial to the environment.

Enhancing the impact of conservation marketing using psychology: a research agenda Abstract Conservation marketing draws upon social marketing and psychology to address the human dimensions of biodiversity loss. Behavioural scientists with expertise in conservation psychology can contribute to the design of research projects in this field that utilize a variety of methodologies (quantitative and qualitative), formal application for approval of methodology and procedure through relevant human and animal research ethics committees, and implementation and evaluation of projects or campaigns that are based on psychological principles of persuasion, attitude, and behavior change with the aim of protecting biodiversity. Interdisciplinary projects utilizing best practice in conservation psychology, community-based social marketing, and conservation marketing are likely to lead to improved outcomes, such as reductions in human consumption patterns and other unsustainable behaviors and increases in community engagement. A closer relationship between conservation psychology and conservation marketing will lead to publications of research in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, offering practical recommendations for conservation practitioners, as well as reaching laypeople. Importantly, communicating successes and failures of different approaches, projects or campaigns will help conservation practitioners, conservation educators, tourism operators, community groups, policy-makers, and other stakeholders make informed decisions and design effective conservation marketing campaigns based on evidence.

Decision support: using machine learning through MATLAB to analyze environmental data Abstract Machine learning is not a tool that is available for use by computer scientists, but one that can and should be used by all researchers in this technological era. Gone are the days of humans solely relying on older techniques for decision support. The age of information we live in is filled with countless pieces of data and we need to use the correct tools to help make sense of it all. Using MATLAB and its machine learning tools is an excellent resource for environmental scientists to conduct deep-dives into their data. We use this software title to demonstrate some of its capabilities to enhance our research projects. Regression learning examines the capability of developing the best linear regression model based upon the selected independent and dependent variables. Clustering analysis displays how data can be grouped by similar characteristics and how distant they are from one another. Classification analysis can predict future outcomes depending upon historical input data, a crucial tool in developing models for impending environmental events. It is suggested that environmental scientists who have not incorporated machine learning into their research to begin to add it to their data analyses.

The Action-oriented Stakeholder Engagement for a Resilient Tomorrow (ASERT) framework: an effective, field-tested approach for engaging stakeholders Abstract The Action-Oriented Stakeholder Engagement for a Resilient Tomorrow (ASERT) framework enables a participatory approach for adaptation actions related to social-ecological resilience to sea level rise. This framework was field-tested in the Hampton Roads region of coastal Southeastern Virginia in 2016. Results show that structured public involvement, through collaborative sessions that couple geospatial and visualization tools with dialogic processes, improves the quality of information co-produced with stakeholders. The four key principles of ASERT—(1) an inclusive process, (2) an emphasis on gaining local knowledge and context, (3) integrated engagement, and (4) an explicit focus on incorporation of change mechanisms—can provide both policymakers and stakeholders with a dialogic approach that can better inform planning efforts to use local resources to build social-ecological resilience.

Are liberal states greener? Political ideology and CO 2 emissions in American states, 1980–2012 Abstract Are liberal states in the USA greener? Based on an analysis of panel data from American states from 1980 to 2012, this paper investigates the particular impact of citizen ideology on per-capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This study contributes to the existing literature through a focus on the role of citizen ideology as a frame shaping pro-environmental behavior at the individual level when the effect of structural factors, like per-capita economic output, fossil-fuel production, and population density, are controlled for. The findings suggest not only that states with more liberal citizen ideology emit less CO2, but also that this effect both precedes and exceeds the influence of policies directly targeting climate change. Finally, this paper suggests that a change in popular perception of the environment and climate change as an American matter, as opposed to an ideological alignment issue, can lead to further decreases in CO2 emissions due to changes in citizens’ preferences and behaviors.