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Three of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships analyzed community perspectives on carbon capture and storage (CCS) through focus groups and interviews in five communities. These perspectives were analyzed in the context of each community’s history and its social and economic characteristics. The results were considered for their insights into specific concerns within each region, as well as to assess inter-region commonalities. In all cases, factors such as past experience with government, existing low socioeconomic status, desire for compensation, and/or perceived benefit to the community were of greater concern than the concern about the risks of the technology itself. This paper discusses the findings from the joint review of the focus groups and the potential lessons for application to CCS deployment.

Beaked whales are fascinating but mysterious creatures that live far from shore and are difficult for scientists to study. To learn more about these elusive whales, scientists have turned to studying stable isotopes in their tissues. By analyzing these chemical clues, researchers have discovered that some beaked whales live in one area their entire lives. This information can help scientists find and study beaked whales in the wild and contribute to conservation efforts. [Extracted from the article]

This paper presents a unique application of dynamic systems modelling (using STELLA Research 7 for Windows) to address land fragmentation due to recreational, agricultural and urban pressures on rural lands in Texas (USA). An innovative aspect of the modelling undertaken here is factoring social and cultural impacts into decision-making, such as the cultural relationships of farmers and ranchers with the land (the agricultural land ethic). This approach offers planners and policy-makers a powerful tool for visualising, understanding and managing development and recreational pressures on the cultural heritage and sustainability of rural Texas. It provides a rich avenue of research for tourism scholars interested in bringing human dimensions to natural systems. Implications of the role and importance of the 'family farm' in individual, state and national heritage and identity are presented in the form of research questions.

Six books examine a number of ecological communication issues. The books discusses concerns associated between society and the environment, and how they are accommodated into various social functions. Several cultural, political and ethical issues related to environmental movements are also analyzed. Moreover, the books focus on how environmental communication could be utilized to support rhetorical functions.

This essay uses mythic criticism to examine missed opportunities for identifying with landowners in ways that would enhance the constructive management of environmental disputes. It focuses on the communicative implications of a policy for managing endangered species that fails to consider existing cultural practices, then offers an alternative mythic understanding of the American (U.S.) West that is drawn from the discourse of its central characters. After reviewing the historical context leading to a conflict over the golden-cheeked warbler habitat, we explore the meaning system discovered in landowners' discourse. Interviews conducted with ranchers who have been required to sell or limit their land-management options to make room for a wildlife refuge display the problematic relationship between public discourse and public policy. Finally, we argue that by encouraging the inclusion of communities that have been directly influenced, yet not consulted when environmental policy is formulated, decision-makers can reinvent a meaningful space for public discourse and avoid relying on the cult of expertise when deciding how best to manage commonly held resources.

An analysis of the attitudes of agricultural workers in Texas toward farm equipment injuries, using personal interviews and questionnaires, reveals that farmers are not aware of their vulnerability to injuries although they expressed pride in the risks they take. Their ideas on farming will help start a campaign that imparts safety messages without changing the farmers' self-image. A successful campaign should portray the need for injury prevention measures in farming techniques and should be based on the beliefs and values of the farmers.

Demonstrates the value of studying organizational myths through dramatistic analysis of public relations materials. Uses rhetorical theory to critique the symbolic realities created by myth. Applies dramatistic criticism to Grand Teton National Park's interpretive literature to disclose organizational myths that permeate its public relations efforts. (MS)

Explores rhetorical strategies that construct institutional authority by analyzing discourse from a Senate subcommittee hearing. Argues that, although domination is basic to human organization, all structures are vulnerable to strategic alteration through effective participation. (MS)