Projects

Current Projects

Hawksbill Turtle Conservation and Salvadoran Community Decision-making

Student Researchers: Mike Liles,

Mike Liles is conducting Participatory Research in the Bahía de Jiquilisco-Xiriualtique Biosphere Reserve in El Salvador. His research explores implications of climate change on sea turtle biology and habitat; cultural, economic and environmental significance of turtles; and develops increased collaboration between local communities and sea turtle egg hatcheries.

The 3 three adult hawksbill turtles that we attached with satellite transmitters in El Salvador (Ataco, Isabela, and Pajarito) are the first adult hawksbills ever to be tagged in the eastern Pacific. We are working within a network called ICAPO, to which belong many other North, Central and South American countries.

To view current Hawksbill Turtle information visit El Salvador's Hawksbill Turtle site.

Community-Based Planning around Whooping Cranes

Funded by US Fish & Wildlife Service

Student Researchers: Leigh Bernacchi, Chara Ragland,

The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) has been endangered since its population was hunted to a low of 14 individuals in the 1940s. Since then, whooping crane recovery has been an ongoing process in the Coastal Bend region of Texas that surrounds their winter grounds. Bernacchi and Ragland interviewed, surveyed and hosted a meeting for these stakeholders to express their ideas about whooping crane recovery. The project was funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for the management of endangered species.

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Balancing Freshwater Needs in a Changing Environment

Funded by National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative

Student Researchers: Chara Ragland, Paulami Banerjee,

We are conducting research in the Guadalupe-San Antonio and Mission-Aransas Estuaries in the Texas Coastal Bend to address the needs of estuaries and the growing communities that depend on them.  We hope to develop shared systems of learning among the local stakeholders and scientists, and to integrate that learning into a system dynamics model of the estuaries.  The project is a collaboration between the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve and the University of Texas.  To view more information about the project, visit the website. 

This project is supported by the National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative, a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of New Hampshire.

Collaborative Research: Smart Grid: An Analysis of How Socio-Political Contexts Shape Energy Technology Development and Policy

Funded by National Science Foundation

Student Researchers: Adrienne Strubb,

This project is guided by four research questions that relate to the societal challenges of transitioning toward more sustainable energy systems.  To address these research questions, the project involves a suite of research methods including policy review and analysis, focus groups, interviews, and media analysis.  The four research questions are: (1) What are the parameters of the emerging political and policy debates surrounding Smart Grid? (2) How do diverse stakeholders in different regions articulate their visions of Smart Grid development and deployment? (3) What are the major deployment challenges of introducing Smart Grid technologies? and (4) How can theoretical perspectives on socio-technical transitions and energy deployment be refined and expanded to more effectively integrate complex empirical details of emerging sustainable technology systems?

To address these research questions, three research teams led by Tarla Rai Peterson (PI at TAMU), Jennie Stephens (PI at Clark U), and Elizabeth Wilson (PI at U of Minnesota), will be collaborating, with each team taking on primary responsibility for a specific research methodology.  Within this collaborative project, the online media analysis and focus group development will be led by PI Peterson, and assisted by PhD student Strubb here at TAMU.

New Media & Climate Change: 350.org

Student Researchers: Chara Ragland, Mike Liles, Leigh Bernacchi, Andrea Feldpausch-Parker, Damon Hall, Israel Parker,

We are continuing to document the use of new media as a means of mobilizing public action by following the 350.org, which is scaling up Step It Up's model to a global level.

Endangered Species and Public Participation

Student Researchers: Anna Munoz,

The Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program (EARIP) is a collaborative, stakeholder-driven process that seeks to develop a plan to recover 8 federally-listed threatened or endangered species while allowing continued water use and development for the Edwards Aquifer in Texas. Collaboration may serve as an alternative means for addressing the political and biological uncertainty of climate change in the context of the ESA through joint fact-finding and learning, ongoing discussion, and adaptive management.

Past Projects

The Yellowstone River Cultural Inventory

Funded by US Corps of Engineers and the Yellowstone River Conservation District Council

Student Researchers: Cristi Horton, Damon Hall,

Funded by the US Corps of Engineers and sponsored by the Yellowstone River Conservation District Council, the Yellowstone River Cultural Inventory (2006) documented and catalogued the diversity of perspectives and opinions held by 313 riverfront residents along the longest undammed river in the U.S. concerning the management of this shared resource. Of specific interest were individuals' perspectives on: 1) erosion and bank stabilization; 2) riparian areas; and 3) the value of managing with regard to the ecological "health" of the river system. The reports are intended to assist river managers in: making decisions in a more culturally-sensitive manner; building constructive links between local communities and agencies; and demonstrating the value of socio-cultural data in complementing biological assessments for comprehensive natural resource studies.

New Media & Climate Change: Step It Up 2007

Student Researchers: Cristi Horton, Anna Munoz, Leigh Bernacchi, Andrea Feldpausch-Parker, Damon Hall, Jodie Minion, Israel Parker,

We worked extensively on an analysis of the Step It Up 2007 campaign. One result of our analysis was the book Social movement to address climate change: Local steps for global action, 2009. Edited by Danielle Endres, Leah Sprain, and Tarla Rai Peterson, forward by Bill McKibben, Cambria Press.

Tarla Rai also co-edited a special issue of Environmental Communication, titled Discursive Constructions of Climate Change: Practices of Encoding and Decoding.

Landowner Participation in Endangered Ocelot Conservation

Funded by Environmental Defense Fund

Student Researchers: Leigh Bernacchi, Andrea Feldpausch-Parker,

Texas landowners were asked to participate in a variety of conservation incentive programs to improve habitat for the endangered local cat species, Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis).We interviewed landowners and land managers in Southeastern Texas to review the progress, efficacy and quality of Environmental Defense Fund's project. A report was published in 2009.

Diffusion of Emerging Energy Technologies within State Contexts

Funded by National Science Foundation

Student Researchers: Chara Ragland, Andrea Feldpausch-Parker, Damon Hall,

Emerging energy technologies are deployed into systems that are comprised of both technical and socio-political dimensions. These systems may either facilitate or hinder deployment of emerging energy technologies. We hypothesize that interactions among law, economics, politics, and social norms have more influence over deployment of new energy technologies than either resource availability or energy needs alone ( SPEED). This project identifies and evaluates significant relationships between the socio-political dimension of state energy technology systems and stakeholder perceptions of risks and benefits associated with wind-based electricity generation and carbon capture and storage (CCS). We examine how state-level policies and stakeholder perceptions may influence deployment of wind energy and CCS projects in four states-Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Texas. The project is a collaborative partnership between researchers at Clark University, University of Minnesota, and Texas A&M University.

Our objectives are to: (1) Identify the dominant socio-political influences on energy technology decisions at the state-level; (2) use early diffusion history of wind technology to identify variables important for development and future deployment of large-scale wind and CCS; (3) Compare and contrast the relative importance and the interactions of socio-political factors across different states, (4) Characterize the complex interactions among the many socio-political variables that have potential to influence energy technology deployment (5) Contribute to transition management theory by integrating relevant concepts drawn from literature in technology diffusion, state-differences, and risk perception; (6) Contribute to the policy discourse related to energy technology deployment and how policy can facilitate a societal response to climate change.

November 7 and 8, 2009, the research team met on the Texas A & M campus to train in QSR International's NVivo 8 software and refine the codebook for use in the media analysis. Click here for photos of the training.

Carbon Capture and Storage with the Southwest Partnership

Funded by US Department of Energy

Student Researchers: Leigh Bernacchi, Andrea Feldpausch-Parker, Damon Hall,

As part of the Southwest Partnership, in collaboration with Conoco Philips, Aneth Labs, New Mexico Tech University, University of Utah and many others, we are engaged in a long-term project for capturing carbon from existing energy sources and plants, collecting carbon gases there at the transfer of energy point, and returning it to deep caverns in the earth to be stored safely. This technology relies on existing infrastructure from the energy sector to decrease the amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. The aim of this research is two-fold: enhance oil recovery and reduce climate change impacts caused by carbon. Our research group is responsible for public outreach and education. We are producing a film and have collected focus group data throughout the Southwest Partnership's designated region