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Increasing complexity of riverine management is driving the need for more participatory approaches in which a wide range of stakeholders inform management actions. The foundational conditions of successful stakeholder engagement in participatory riverine management include the stakeholders’ familiarity with, trustworthiness of, shared vision with, and perceived competence of agencies involved in riverine management. We employ an embedded experimental mixed-methods approach to gain insight into two key stakeholder group’s (agricultural producers and non-farm households) perceptions of foundational conditions of successful stakeholder engagement in participatory riverine management in watersheds of two geographically and regulatorily disparate states. Overall, ratings for familiarity were often contrary to ratings of other three conditions. Contrary to previous research our findings suggest that familiarity does not necessarily lead to stakeholder perceived trustworthiness, shared vision, and competence of those involved in riverine management. These findings are important for participatory processes; for example, trust and shared vision without familiarity may inhibit the active involvement of diverse stakeholders in participatory processes that is needed for improving management of complex riverine systems. Our findings suggest agencies and groups involved in riverine management prioritize developing stronger relationships with agricultural producers to improve on these foundational conditions. Agencies and groups involved in riverine management rated low on familiarity should consider campaigns to increase stakeholders’ familiarity with them to leverage the generally high ratings on the other three foundational conditions. Future research should explore these contrary findings and their relationships to active involvement in participatory riverine management.

Incorporating stakeholder engagement into environmental management may help in the pursuit of novel approaches for addressing complex water resource problems. However, evidence about how and under ...

Drought-related decision-making and policy should go beyond numeric hydrometeorological data to incorporate information on how drought affects people, livelihoods, and ecosystems. The effects of drought are nested within environmental and human systems, and relevant data may not exist in readily accessible form. For example, drought may reduce forage growth, compounded by both late-season freezes and management decisions. An effort to gather crowdsourced drought observations in Missouri in 2018 yielded a much higher number of observations than did previous related efforts. Here we examine 1) the interests, circumstances, history, and recruitment messaging that coincided to produce a high number of reports in a short time; 2) whether and how information from volunteer observers was useful to state decision-makers and to U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) authors; and 3) potential for complementary use of stakeholder and citizen science reports in assessing trustworthiness of volunteer-provided information. State officials and the Cattlemen’s Association made requests for reports, clearly linked to improving the accuracy of the USDM and the related financial benefit. Well-timed requests provided a focus for people’s energy and a reason to invest their time. State officials made use of the dense spatial coverage that observers provided. USDM authors were very cautious about a surge of reports coinciding closely with financial incentives linked to the Livestock Forage Disaster program. An after-the-fact comparison between stakeholder reports and parallel citizen science reports suggests that the two could be complementary, with potential for developing protocols to facilitate real-time use.

Drought contingency planning is an increasingly common tool in the ranchers’ climate adaptation toolboxes, but its effect on drought response has not yet been evaluated. We use cognitive models of protective action decision making and planning to explore the effects of having a drought plan on the use of drought early warning information and drought response (and timing). Results of a cross-sectional, probability-based survey of livestock producers affected by a 2016 flash-drought are used to describe the characteristics of operations with drought plans and provide evidence of whether having a plan predicts drought information use and response. While larger operations are more likely than others to have plans for drought, having a drought plan appears to play a unique role in ranchers’ use of information and decision making regardless of operation size. Findings suggest that encouraging the use of drought contingency planning may improve ranchers’ adaptive capacity. Increased use of planning may also increase the effectiveness of communicating risk and early warning information, by making such information more actionable by decision makers.

Background: A high percentage of the richest households in Bangladesh lack soap at their handwashing places, a problem that is typically considered to be one of the poor. Objective: We investigated toilet sharing practices, locations of water sources, and relevant sociodemographic factors associated with the observed handwashing places that lack soap in the richest (ninth wealth decile) households in Bangladesh. Methods: We used data from the 2017-18 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). Logistic regression technique was used to investigate how toilet sharing practices, water source locations, and different sociodemographic factors were associated with observed handwashing places without soap. Results: We found that 25.8% of the richest households were observed to have no soap at their handwashing places. Of these households, those that shared their toilets with another household were 4.6 times (95% CI 3.15-6.60) more likely to observe handwashing places without soap as compared with those that did not share their toilets. Further, the richest households were 4.2 times (95% CI 2.38-7.33) more likely to observe handwashing places without soap if they collected water from their own yard or plot, and 7.1 times (95% CI 3.61-13.97) more likely to observe handwashing places without soap if they collected water from elsewhere in comparison to the reference group that collected water from their own dwelling. Conclusion: Sharing toilet with other households and location of main water source are associated with handwashing places without observed soap in the richest households in Bangladesh. These results can inform discussions of water availability and soap-handwashing-related policy and program development.

In this paper we present the results of a field experiment on encouraging farmers' application for agri-environmental schemes, specifically the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) that is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the state level. We sent different versions of a recruitment/enrollment letter to agricultural producers in 36 Nebraska counties with historically very low levels of CSP enrollment. We found that the letters doubled the uptake rates as compared to the control (no letter) population. Personalized letters with a handwritten phrase appealing to people's empathetic tendencies toward environmental conservation – an empathy nudge – had the largest impact. When the same nudge was photocopied, it performed statistically significantly worse than handwritten and somewhat (statistically insignificant) worse than a standard letter. The experimental results suggest that the USDA can double the application rate at a cost of only $58–116 per farm. If the money spent on sending letters were instead directed toward increasing financial incentives, it would be cost-equivalent to adding 2.5–5 cents per acre per year to CSP payments. During the time of the experiment, the CSP payments in the state were on average $6.8/acre for rangeland and $24/acre for cropland per year, and extra 2.5–5 cents per acre per year is unlikely to affect the decision of a farmer to apply. As such, from an agri-environmental policy perspective, using personalized letters is highly cost effective.

In Great Plains rangelands, drought is a recurring disturbance. Ranchers in this region expect to encounter drought but may not be adequately prepared for it. Efforts to encourage drought preparedness would benefit from a better understanding of the conditions under which managers make decisions to minimize the impacts of drought. We tested the direct and moderating roles of the drought hazard and the social-ecological context on drought impacts and response. This study was conducted with ranchers in western and central South Dakota and Nebraska following the drought that began in 2012. We surveyed ranchers regarding the effects of the drought and their responses and used multimodel analysis to explore the relationships among measures of drought preparedness, drought response, and drought impacts. Drought severity was the primary predictor of all impacts, but specific types of impacts were varied depending on the operation’s enterprise mix, resources, and management. The socioecological characteristics of the ranch system predicted drought response actions taken, by either providing the necessary resources and capacity to take action or creating sensitivity in the system that required action to be taken. We conclude with recommendations for learning from current drought experiences in order to better adapt to future drought events.

Grasslands are imperiled due to land conversion, fragmentation, woody encroachment, population growth, and global warming. What remains of intact grasslands are vital for the ecosystem services they provide. Wildlife species native to the North American Great Plains evolved in response to very specific and differing habitats. Without variation in vegetation structure and composition (heterogeneity) the number of species that can thrive is minimized, as are the interconnected ecosystem services. Landowners’ assistance in the maintenance of grassland ecosystems is essential because Great Plains grasslands are primarily privately managed. Thus, increasing heterogeneity on working rangelands is a partial solution to balancing the needs of wildlife with that of cattle production. This study tested a predictive model of factors influencing attitudes toward heterogeneous and landscape-scale ranch management. An online survey was sent to ranchers within prescribed-burn and grazing groups in the Great Plains. Predictors of landscape-scale management were spirituality, stewardship, social descriptive norms, consideration of future consequences, and participation in grassland activities. The lone predictor of attitudes toward heterogeneous grassland management was consideration of future consequences. Even though the survey targeted groups that were more likely to be higher in heterogeneous attitudes, a vast majority are still following the “manage to the middle” paradigm. It appears these ranchers are unaware of the benefits of a heterogeneous landscape and the compatibility of its associated management techniques with their cattle production goals. To improve the adoption of techniques that promote vegetation heterogeneity, more resources should be devoted to demonstrating how these practices benefit ranchers’ cattle business alongside the larger landscape.

Groundwater use often has external effects on both the environment and future groundwater benefits, leading to overwithdrawal. Ostrom’s research on common property resources (CPRs) and related literature indicates that CPR management may improve if users have more information about the groundwater system, more opportunities for communication, and empowerment to regulate. In this paper, we conduct a computer laboratory experiment involving 180 students to evaluate the role of these components of engagement in reducing irrigation withdrawals from an aquifer. Our treatments, which consisted of different levels of information, communication, and empowerment, resulted in decreases in groundwater extraction and increases in irrigation profits over nine-year extraction horizons. Enhanced information and communication also increased the fraction of subjects who voted for and complied with collective action in the form of quotas on pumping levels.

This paper investigates the role of property rights in environmental decisions and choices regarding the distribution of income in a downstream water pollution problem. The results confirm that who owns the property rights is a significant determinant of these decisions. More specifically, under certain conditions a property rights owner who suffers the consequences of negative externalities acts, on average, more environmentally friendly than a property rights owner who causes such negative externality. Similarly, when it comes to the distribution of income, the property rights owners who cause negative externalities allocate on average a larger share of the income to themselves.

Comparing Female and Male Response to Financial Incentives and Empathy Nudging in an Environmental Context

This article presents a guide for understanding the purposes and appropriate uses of different measures of conservation behavior. While applicable across natural resource management contexts, we primarily draw upon agricultural conservation research to illustrate our points. Farmers are often of interest to researchers, program managers, extension professionals, and non-governmental environmental organizations due to the significant impact of agricultural production practices on environmental resources. Practitioners are often interested in producer behaviors when they are planning or evaluating a project, developing or evaluating policy, or developing and testing theory. Within those bounds, we identify when it is most useful to assess an actual behavior (self-reported or observed) or behavioral intention (willingness or intent to pay/accept, support/participate in a policy or program, or engage in a conservation practice), and present examples of how they have been used in the past. We close with three recommendations for those conducting research related to agricultural producer behaviors: 1) research should be theoretically grounded, even when the purpose isn’t to develop theory; 2) great care should be used when selecting behavior measures, dependent upon the purpose of the research, and 3) composite measures should be used when possible and appropriate.

A Theoretical Foundation for Empathy Conservation: Toward Avoiding the Tragedy of the Commons

Improperly discarded cigarette butts are a substantial environmental problem. This study explored factors influencing cigarette butt discarding behavior on a public beach on Jekyll Island, Georgia, USA. A mixed-mode design utilized quantitative and qualitative data to study improper cigarette butt disposal. We surveyed smokers regarding their place attachment, environmental attitudes, environmental awareness, and habit as predictors of improper cigarette butt disposal. Environmental attitudes, environmental awareness, and habits were significant predictors of improper cigarette butt disposal behavior. A qualitative inquiry further explored the phenomenon of cigarette butt disposal from the smokers’ perspectives. Interviews illustrated that “improper disposers” experienced themes involving uncertainty that cigarette butts are litter, a lack of knowledge, problems with cigarette butt receptacles currently in place, the requirement of a conscious choice about how and where to discard a butt, and statements that contradicted the behavior observed. Themes that emerged from interviews with “proper disposers” included cigarette butts are clearly litter, awareness of social constructs that disapprove of smokers and their behavior, awareness of the cumulative effects of cigarette butts on the beach, minimal obstacles to discarding properly, and feelings of personal responsibility. Implications of the study results are discussed.

Background: A large percentage of the wealthiest households in Bangladesh lack soap at their handwashing places, which is typically considered a problem of the poor. We sought to investigate toilet-sharing and water source along with sociodemographic characteristics as factors associated with the handwashing places missing soap in the wealthiest households of Bangladesh. Methods: Data for the study came from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) of 17300 nationally representative households. One thousand seven hundred fifty-seven (10.2%) of the households categorized in the ninth wealth decile reporting on handwashing places with or without soap were used for analysis. We used both exploratory and logistic regression analyses accounting for survey design and adjusted for sex, age, place of residence, and region to investigate how selected factors were associated with observed handwashing places without soap. Findings: We found that 40.7% (95% CI: 0.36–0.46) of the wealthiest households were observed to have no soap in their handwashing places. Of these households, those who shared their toilets with another household were 6.4 times (95% CI: 4.41–9.16; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap as compared with those who did not share their toilets. If they shared their toilet with more than nine households, they were 10.1 times (95% CI: 4.65–21.82; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap than those who did not share their toilets. Also, the wealthiest households were 4 times (95% CI: 2.22–7.25; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap if they collected water from their own yard, and 4.7 times (95% CI: 2.38–9.35; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing placed with soap if they collected water from other dwellings in comparison to the reference group that collected water from their own dwelling. Water-fetching time was not statistically significant in our analysis. Interpretation: Bangladesh has the largest number of households having handwashing places without soap in South Asian countries. Factors like toilet-sharing and water source location along with sociodemographic characteristics can explain this “no soap” observation. Cross-examined and self-reported data along with observed data on handwashing and sanitation practice–related questions are essential to understand a household’s actual soap-keeping and usage. Our study demonstrates how data from household-specific health programs can be used to inform all-inclusive hygiene initiatives coupled with sanitation policies to improve public health.

The traditional policy approaches to encourage conservation, including offering monetary incentives and direct regulation, may lead to unintended consequences which may undermine their effectiveness. In this paper we experimentally test the effectiveness of complementing financial nudging/incentives with nudging for empathy. Our framed experiment models a situation in which an upstream farmer influences the water quality downstream by choosing the level of conservation. Financial nudging is represented by a crop insurance subsidy conditional on conservation compliance (consistent with the 2014 Farm Bill policy). Empathy nudging is represented by a downstream water user sending a message to the upstream farmer encouraging the latter to “walk-in-the-shoes”/take the perspective of the former. We found that empathy nudging can counteract the elimination of financial incentives. However, it is less effective than financial nudging. Empathy nudging coupled with financial incentives has a synergic effect and conservation increased significantly compared to using one of the nudges alone. Furthermore, the combination of empathy and financial nudging was particularly effective in low (initial) conservation cases. We argue that policy makers and the public should encourage empathy conservation and that the environmental policy narrative should appeal to empathy and call for farmers to “join the cause” for conservation and environmental protection.

Low-frequency traffic noise that leads to acoustic masking of vocalizations may cause birds to alter the frequencies or other components of their vocalizations in order to be heard by conspecifics and others. Altering parts of a vocalization may result in poorer vocal performance or the message contained in the vocalization being received incorrectly. During the winters of 2011–2012 and 2012–2013, we recorded and measured the ‘chick-a-dee’ call of Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and the ‘po-ta-to-chip’ call of American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) to determine whether components of the calls produced in areas of high traffic noise and low traffic noise differed in any way. We found that both chickadee and goldfinch calls had higher minimum frequencies in areas with high traffic-noise than in low traffic-noise areas. The maximum frequencies showed no differences in either species' calls. This suggests that chickadees and goldfinches alter the part of their calls that are acoustically masked by traffic noise in effort to better transmit the vocalization. These differences suggest that increasing anthropogenic noise may influence avian communication and that noise management should be included in conservation planning.

This paper further tests dual interest theory and the metaeconomics approach to environmental choice, recognizing a possible role for empathy–sympathy (the basis for an internalized, shared other-interest) in tempering and conditioning the more fundamental tendency to pursue self-interest. To test, we focus on rivers flowing through agricultural areas carrying sediments, chemicals, and fertilizers which are making their way into downstream rivers and lakes. We conduct a framed laboratory experiment modeling this problem: farmers decide on the usage of conservation technology to lessen impacts on the water quality (i.e. on the commons, the capacity to absorb these wastes) in downstream areas, which is more costly than the alternative intensive technology. The results confirm our hypotheses, demonstrating that Upstream Farmers who practice conservation are tempering profit maximization with empathy-based, environmentally conscious behavior. Such behavior better serves the farmers’ own-interest, and also helps Downstream Water Users. Environmental economics models need to explicitly include empathy–sympathy and the moral–ethical context it produces, providing a more scientific basis for conservation policy and programs.

This study examined the effect of agriculture faculty training in and practice of methodologies to explicitly teach critical thinking skills related to course content and subsequent change in student critical thinking disposition. Twelve instructors in 14 agriculture courses underwent a year–long program of instruction in effective critical thinking development. Students completed the University of Florida– Engagement, Maturity, and Innovativeness assessment (UF–EMI) at the beginning and the end of the semester. Pair–wise comparisons showed significant increases in all three critical thinking dispositions (i.e., engagement, cognitive maturity, and innovativeness). In addition, a step–wise regression on the data gathered at the end of the semester showed that grade point average was positively related to all three critical thinking dispositions and being in one's first year of college was negatively related to each dimension. The 300 course level was negatively related to innovativeness and engagement. Being in the second and third year of college were also negatively related to engagement. This study supports the notion that instructors can influence students’ critical thinking disposition within the limited time of a college semester.

Although higher education understands the need to develop critical thinkers, it has not lived up to the task consistently. Students are graduating deficient in these skills, unprepared to think critically once in the workforce. Limited development of cognitive processing skills leads to less effective leaders. Various definitions of critical thinking are examined to develop a general construct to guide the discussion as critical thinking is linked to constructivism, leadership, and education. Most pedagogy is content‐based built on deep knowledge. Successful critical thinking pedagogy is moving away from this paradigm, teaching students to think complexly. Some of the challenges faced by higher education moving to a critical thinking curricula are discussed, and recommendations are offered for improving outcomes.

More than ever before, people are reevaluating their lives and work as they search for deeper meaning. This “self-actualization” has only superficially appeared in leadership theory and research. This essay will discuss why adult development and higher levels of critical thinking in leadership is essential to effective leadership. The authors hypothesize that a “cultivated” aspect of leadership is currently lacking in leadership theory and research and is essential to leader and follower development. Additionally, the authors envision that impending organizations will necessitate more leaders with the ability to facilitate follower growth and development along these constructs.

Literature was reviewed to investigate the extent of teleworking in public organizations and to identify management strategies to encourage telework utilization. The benefits of teleworking are contrasted with its challenges. Concepts grounded in Expectancy Theory, Leonard, Beauvais and Scholl’s (1999) Meta-theory of Work Motivation, and to a lesser extent McClelland’s Needs Trichotomy (Mc Clelland, 1966) are integrated to provide support for high performance telework management strategies. These strategies include developing an inventory of diverse team skills and competencies, promoting cognitive diversity, utilizing a collaborative management style, promoting trust and unity, facilitating the use of collaborative technology, introducing interdependence to tasks, and implementing a fair reward system. Finally, conclusions with implications for management and suggestions for future research are offered.

Environmental plans provide an effective medium to examine the gaps between environmental planning education and practice. Although many studies have focused on the theories and procedures of environmental planning, few studies have directly addressed the education gaps in environmental planning practices. This paper provides a measurable approach to identify the environmental education gaps by evaluating environmen tal plan quality based on a set of indicators. The descriptive results indicate that major environmental education gaps exist in many region-wide, global-wide, long-term, cumulative, and strategically critical environmental elements. The regression results further highlight the factors that can reduce the gaps in environmental planning education. This study finally provides a framework of environmental planning education core courses to bridge the educational gaps.

Groundwater beneath the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant (NOP) is contaminated with the explosive hexahydro-1,3, 5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX). The current pump and treat facility is preventing offsite migration but does not offer a shortterm solution. Our objective was to quantify the effectiveness of permanganate to degrade RDX in situ. This was accomplished by performing laboratory treatability experiments, aquifer characterization, and a pilot-scale in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) demonstration. Treatability experiments confirmed that permanganate could mineralize RDX in the presence of NOP aquifer solids. The pilot-scale ISCO demonstration was performed using an extraction-injection well configuration to create a curtain of permanganate between two injection wells. RDX destruction was then quantified as the RDX-permanganate plume migrated downgradient through a monitoring well field. Electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) was used to identify the subsurface distribution of permanganate after injection. Results showed that RDX concentrations temporally decreased in wells closest to the injection wells by 70% to 80%. Observed degradation rates (0.12 and 0.087/d) were lower than those observed under laboratory batch conditions at 11.5 °C (0.20/d) and resulted from lower than projected permanganate concentrations. Both ERI and spatial electrical conductivity measurements verified that permanganate distribution was not uniform throughout the 6.1-m (20 feet) well screens and that groundwater sampling captured both treated and nontreated groundwater during pumping. Although heterogeneous flow paths precluded a uniform permanganate distribution, pilot-scale results provided proof-of-concept that permanganate can degrade RDX in situ and support permanganate as a possible remedial treatment for RDX-contaminated groundwater.

Future decision makers in natural resource fields will be required to make judgments on issues that lack clear solutions and with information complicated by ethical challenges. Therefore, natural resource, environmental, and agricultural professionals must possess the ability to think critically about the consequences of policy, economic systems, and individual human behaviors on the environment. To ensure that future professionals can examine competing claims, university students must develop critical thinking skills that allow them to examine ethical issues surrounding the environment. We review literature on critical thinking specifically in regard to necessary components to creating critical thinking opportunities in the classroom. We then discuss special considerations for teaching critical thinking in the context of natural resource and agriculture ethics education.

Summary The stratification of channel sediments and their vertical hydraulic conductivity (Kv) are important hydrologic information in the analysis of stream‐aquifer interactions. This paper describes the use of direct-push technology to generate electrical conductivity (EC) logs and collect continuous sediment cores beneath river channels. The techniques were applied to nine study sites along a 130 km reach of the Platte River in southeast Nebraska. EC logs for the channel surface down to as much as 24 m below the channel surface indicate that the channel sediments in the western part of the reach consist predominantly of sand and gravel; low-Kv silt‐clay layers occur in the rest of the reach. These silt‐clay layers are either interbedded with sand and gravel or occur as a major unit within the channel sediments. As a result, the values of Kv, determined from the sediment cores, can vary by four to five orders of magnitude in the same vertical profile of channel sediments at a number of sites. The river channel is not lined by a low-Kv layer at the surface. Instead, the Kv values for the top part of channel sediments were consistently greater than Kv values for sediments in deeper parts. They show a decreasing tendency with the depth. This paper also analyzes the effect of low-Kv layers within channel sediments on streamflow depletion induced by groundwater pumping. Simulation results suggest that the effectiveness of low-Kv layers on the calculation of streamflow depletion depends on their depth, thickness, vertical permeability, the length along the channel, and the width within the channel, as well as the extension into the aquifer on both sides of the river. A low-Kv layer present at the channel surface seems to be the most effective hydrologic feature in reducing the hydrologic connection of stream‐aquifer. a 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The direct-push (DP) approach for characterization of the shallow unconsolidated sub-surface is a rapidly developing methodology that deploys hydrogeological, geotechnical, and geophysical tools in the sub-surface. It offers significant advantages as compared to techniques using traditional drilling and permanent piezometers, but requires real-time on-site decisions. Selection of the number of tests, sequence, location, and depth makes the planning stage crucial for successful and effective field studies. Whereas the analysis of various DP-based hydrogeological, geotechnical, and geophysical methods is well presented in the literature, recommendations for planning DP field applications are scarce. We illustrate applications of DP-based techniques (electrical conductivity profiling of the aquifer, groundwater sampling, slug testing, and soil core extraction) for evaluation of aquifer-lake interactions in a remote and poorly accessible area of the Nebraska Sand Hills with numerous saline lakes. In addition to the background data on hydrostratigraphy and groundwater salinity, we report an approach to combining and optimizing the DP techniques, including the work sequence, depth limitations, data quantity, and scheduling. The data and insights gained will be useful in designing characterization programs in other sand dune-lake environments.

Literature was reviewed to investigate the forces that are driving telework arrangements, the perceived benefits and drawbacks from teleworking, and the extent to which teleworking arrangements are utilized in the United States in both the private and public sectors. Results of a qualitative case analysis are presented, comparing the experiences of managers in both a large profit-seeking travel management corporation headquartered in a large Midwestern city in the United States and a large state governmental agency headquartered within 50 miles of that city. Organizational similarities and differences are identified in the skills and competencies which are considered key in managing teleworkers, unique challenges to supervising teleworkers, and approaches used by managers to develop self-reliance and the capacity for teamwork in teleworkers. Finally, conclusions regarding key telework manager skills and strategies which may be effective for organizations offering telework arrangements to employees are presented along with suggestions for future research.

Profiles of ground water pesticide concentrations beneath the Nebraska Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) describe the effect of 20 yr of pesticide usage on ground water in the central Platte Valley of Nebraska. During the 6-yr (1991-1996) study, 14 pesticides and their transformation products were detected in 7848 ground water samples from the unconfined water table aquifer. Triazine and acetamide herbicides applied on the site and their transformation products had the highest frequencies of detection. Atrazine [6-chloro-N-ethyl-N'-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,-diamine] concentrations decreased with depth and ground water age determined with 3H/3He dating techniques. Assuming equivalent atrazine input during the past 20 yr, the measured average changes in concentration with depth (age) suggest an estimated half-life of >10 yr. Hydrolysis of atrazine and deethylatrazine (DEA; 2-chloro-4-amino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) to hydroxyatrazine [6-hydroxy-N-ethyl-N'-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine] appeared to be the major degradation route. Aqueous hydroxyatrazine concentrations are governed by sorption on the saturated sediments. Atrazine was detected in the confined Ogallala aquifer in ultra-trace concentrations (0.003 microg L(-1)); however, the possibility of introduction during reverse circulation drilling of these deep wells cannot be eliminated. In fall 1997 sampling, metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl) acetamide] was detected in 57% of the 230 samples. Metolachlor oxanilic acid [(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl) amino]oxo-acetic acid] was detected in most samples. In ground water profiles, concentrations of metolachlor ethane sulfonic acid [2-[(ethyl-6-methylphenyl)(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)amino]-2-oxo-ethanesulfonic acid] exceeded those of deethylatrazine. Alachlor [2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-(methoxymethyl)acetamide] was detected in

"To address increasing conflicts between surface water and groundwater users, the state of Nebraska has adopted a more localized and integrated approach in managing water resources. Integrated approaches offer promise in better managing connected water resources within the state; however, little review of the potential benefits and/or challenges of these actions has been conducted. This case study uses both qualitative and quantitative data collection efforts to take an in-depth look at how this new and innovative management system is working through the eyes of stakeholders living and working in the basin. Data collection reveals that overall the current water management system is working relatively well, even though it is still in its infancy. However, the system could be further improved by ensuring all that stakeholder interests are represented, providing increased opportunities to participate, and continuing to work toward more holistic and proactive water management."

Experimental economics research shows that gender can often explain some of the variation in individual behavior in experiments. This is especially true for contextualized games (corruption, environmental protection) in which participants’ behavior is guided by homegrown values and predispositions. We examine the gender differences in environmental behavior and the sharing of payoffs between a farmer and a water user under two alternative property rights assignments (farmer/polluter vs. water user/victim) and three methods of feedback (inducing empathy vs. imposing fine vs. no feedback). We found mixed evidence of gender differences concerning the choice of levels of pollution. Overall, albeit not always statistically significant, it seems that females are sharing with their group members more than males. Specifically, the results suggest that females are often more empathetic than males when they are in a position of a victim (water user). In a position of a polluter (farmer), in contrast, females and males are almost equally empathetic. Overall imposing monetary fines is counterproductive and decreases environmentally friendly behavior (however it does not significantly affect sharing), while empathy nudging increases sharing behavior (however it does not significantly affect environmentally friendly behavior). Empathy nudging is more effective for females than for males. Imposing fines, however, has no significant gender effect for either conservation or sharing behavior. Our findings provide another argument for increased gender equality based on environmentally sustainable economic development and thus propose a push by national governments as well as international organizations to increase the economic role of women.

Cooperative, natural grocery stores set themselves apart in many ways from the corporate, for-profit stores that are often seen as more mainstream in the United States. Created through local grassroots efforts, such cooperatives tend to support environmental efforts like local, sustainable and organic agriculture, and to offer environmentally friendly foods that are low on the food chain and/or contain little embodied energy. A feeling of belonging can be a powerful motivator to shop at the co-op, and even to join the organization. Such in-group experiences serve both to build and maintain relationships and to differentiate the cooperative from other grocery outlets, reinforcing the social preferences toward environmental conscious consumer behavior in such retail outlets. This qualitative study explores one local cooperative grocery store through a symbolic interactionism lens, asking whether and how community is built through shoppers’ verbal interactions with co-op staff. Ethnographic methods are used to highlight and explore shoppers’ interpretation of the “co-op” experience, and how that interpretation is communicated through social interaction. Themes found in the data indicate that both customers and staff see the community cooperative as not only a place to shopbut also as a place to interact with likeminded people, about topics and issues integral to their sense of identity, especially in the area of environmentally conscious consumer behavior.

Common-pool resources and other shared resources frequently suffer from overextraction/overuse and associated negative externalities. In this paper we design a framed laboratory experiment on downstream water pollution to investigate (a) the importance of empathy vs. self-interest framing in determining the behavior of upstreamers regarding the negative externalities, and (b) the potential of downstreamers to influence the choices of upstreamers using non-monetary sanctions and rewards, alleviating the need for intervention by the local governments and regulatory institutions. Our results show that empathy framing has a much more significant impact on individual behavior than self-interest framing. Overall subjects behaved more profit-oriented in the self-interest framing and more egalitarian in the empathy framing. Lastly, negative emotional feedback is a powerful tool for changing behavior of subjects towards more environmentally friendly actions. Interestingly, positive emotional feedback is counterproductive for that. In general our results indicate that explicit emotional feedback, even though not expressed by everyone, works to the same degree as the implicit appeal to emotions through framing.

Leading up to the 2014 Farm Bill, the House of Representatives and the Senate proposed alternative changes to the incentive structure for farmer conservation efforts. While both include crop insurance subsidies, the version proposed by the Senate made such subsidies conditional on conservation efforts. This study uses experimental methods to analyze the efficacy of these two alternative designs in comparison to the previous, 2008 Farm Bill, design and investigates in how far additional nudging for empathy can improve on the efficiency. The results support the contention that solely offering financial incentives, as is the case in the 2014 Farm Bill, leads to crowding-out of intrinsic motivations and hence may be counterproductive. Similarly, nudging for empathy by itself is relatively ineffective. Nudging in conjunction with financial incentives, however, has a statistically and economically significant and positive impact on conservation behavior and may therefore offer a relatively cheap way to improve the efficiency of conservation-related legislative efforts.

Well-managed grasslands provide numerous ecosystem services. Ranchers who employ sustainable grazing practices limit grassland conversion and conserve critical habitats. This phenomenological study explored the grassland management decisions of progressive ranchers in Nebraska. Each individual interviewed for this study is proactive about the state of their grasslands, whether they are motivated by financial or conservation factors. Throughout the evolution of their businesses, these ranchers have taken steps to improve their management techniques and continue to employ new strategies while planning for the long-term productivity of their grasslands. For policy makers and educators seeking to improve grassland management decisions, demonstrating new methods to be economical, promoting stewardship, and allowing for flexible implementation may increase acceptance of recommendations. Because progressive ranchers’ livelihoods are connected to the land, and they are long-term goal oriented, they closely scrutinize, yet are open to advancing grassland management practices that benefit their cash flow, their pastures, their animals, and their families.