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The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of firefighter sleep quality across department shift schedules.Sleep quality was assessed using a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in a sample of 109 male career firefighters from six fire departments in three Southwestern US states. The three shift schedules studied were 24on/48off, 48on/96off, and Kelly.Seventy-three percent of firefighters report poor sleep quality. The 24on/48off shift schedule is associated with the best sleep quality and Kelly is associated with the worst sleep quality. Firefighters working second jobs report significantly poorer sleep quality than those who do not.Shift schedules that disrupt normal circadian rhythms more result in poorer sleep quality, which can lead to less effective emergency response and increased risk to firefighter health and safety.

Incorporating people’s values into forest management plans is an important component of sustainable forestry practice. Q methodology was used to identify perspectives on sustainable management of a community-owned forest reserve in a village in Puebla, Mexico. The study demonstrates the value of Q methodology in characterizing the views of citizens toward the forest and accommodating these views in a sustainable forest management plan. The plan we developed based on our research enjoyed widespread community support and far outdistanced its support of two alternative plans developed by outsiders. Our plan reflected the village’s strong preference for non-consumptive uses with regulated timber harvesting to sustain the ecological health of the forest and to provide short-term economic benefits.

Interdisciplinary environmental degree programs (environmental studies/science(s) and similar programs) in higher education in the U.S.A. are both diverse and dynamic in their curriculum designs. Though these characteristics afford flexibility and adaptability, they are also seen as weaknesses that can undermine programs’ perceived legitimacy both within and beyond their host institutions. The lack of a clear identity, definition of core competencies, and prescriptions for interdisciplinary pedagogy can create confusion among program stakeholders and skepticism among institutional administrators. To learn more about how interdisciplinary environmental curricula vary across the U.S.A., a national survey was conducted of program administrators to investigate their programs and identify their views of what an ideal curriculum would entail. The study demonstrates that consensus exists on field identity: an applied, interdisciplinary focus on the interface of coupled human-natural systems with a normative commitment to sustainability. The study also reveals that three ideal curricular models are espoused by these administrators: Systems Science, Policy and Governance, and Adaptive Management. Program attributes related to these models are also reported. We conclude the article with a brief description of how the three models are related to developing an interdisciplinary environmental workforce, describe the potential next steps for extending the study, and express our optimism that a consensus can be forged on core competencies guidelines and model-specific recommendations for curricular content related to three broad knowledge areas and two skill sets.

The National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) and other constituencies have advocated the development of core competency guidelines for environmental educational programs for many ...

PurposeThis study is the first of a five‐phase research project sponsored by the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD), an organization of environmental program managers operating under the umbrella of the National Council for Science and the Environment. The purpose of the project is to determine if a consensus on core competencies for environmental program graduates is achievable, and if so, to make recommendations for consideration by program managers.Design/methodology/approachQ methodology was used to discern the perspectives of program managers at 42 CEDD member institutions on environmental curriculum design. An online survey preceded the Q sort exercise to elicit managers' curricular views and program characteristics. Survey responses were analyzed to select statements for the Q‐sorting exercise and categorized according to emergent themes. Multiple regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between perspectives (factor loadings) and host institution Carnegie classifications.FindingsThree distinct, but not opposing, perspectives were identified from the initial Q‐factor rotation, which suggests the possibility of agreement on core competencies. The perspectives differ in their views of: curriculum orientation (professional training versus liberal arts), curriculum breadth versus depth, and flexible versus fixed core competencies. Host institution classification (Carnegie) is a small but significant predictor for two of the three perspectives. A second Q‐factor rotation reveals a consensus perspective that accommodates most respondents and aligns well with principles of sustainability, thus suggesting that sustainability may serve as a guiding paradigm for defining areas of core competence.Originality/valueNo national study of program managers' views of curriculum design and the identification of core competencies has been conducted in the USA.

Problem statement: Environmental science programs vary widely in their curricula and pedagogical approaches. In part, this is due to the lack of a unified agreement on field identity. However, program differences are also the product of variable program histories. Approach: This essay described the founding and subsequent history of the Environmental Science Graduate Program at Oklahoma State University, its oldest and largest interdisciplinary program. An evaluation of this history was conducted to discern what lessons could be learned that may prove valuable to the establishment and operation of interdisciplinary programs elsewhere. Results: The 31-year history of OSU’s environmental science graduate program can be described as occurring in six evolutionary stages-from the circumstances that created the opportunity for its establishment as a program located in the graduate college, through slow growth, rapid expansion and maturation, uncertainty and institutional change, retrenchment and revitalization, and finally, relocation within the college of arts and sciences. Each new stage was triggered primarily by decisions of university administration and to a lesser extent by a change in program leadership. Conclusion: The lessons learned from our analysis of this history suggests that the success of interdisciplinary programs hinges on energetic, dedicated and risk-taking program directors; political and financial support from higher administration; support of affiliated faculty; cooperation with, or at least tolerance from, traditional departments; and creation of a sense of community and shared purpose among faculty, students, alumni, employers and donors.

Problem statement: Interdisciplinary environmental education and research at American colleges and universities have been criticized for ambiguous focus, insufficient integration and lack of rigor. Part of the reason for a clearly articulated conceptualization of the field is the failure to reach a consensus among those in the environmental profession and academic community on an overarching paradigm of environmental education and research. Approach: This essay argued for situating interdisciplinary environmental education and research on the principles of sustainability. Results: We believe that sustainable solutions to the complex problems facing us at the interface of society and nature cannot be found using unidisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches. Instead, what is needed is an interdisciplinary synthesis across a wide range of natural sciences, social sciences, applied sciences and the humanities. The appropriate mix of these depends on the particular problem being addressed. Conclusion: By focusing on human quality of life, the health of systems that supply the resources needed for quality of life improvements and the regulation of capital flows between and among these systems, we can devised an educational and research agenda that more efficiently meets the needs of today’s generations and those that follow.

Advancing sustainability at the sub-national level: the potential and limitations of planning, edited by Eran Feitelson (Urban Planning and Environment Series), Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing Limite...

Partnerships and co-operative environmental management are increasing worldwide as is the call for scientific input in the public process of ecosystem management. In Hawaii, private landowners, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies have formed watershed partnerships to conserve and better manage upland forested watersheds. In this paper, findings of an international workshop convened in Hawaii to explore the strengths of approaches used to assess stakeholder values of environmental resources and foster consensus in the public process of ecosystem management are presented. Authors draw upon field experience in projects throughout Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US mainland to derive a set of lessons learned that can be applied to Hawaiian and other watershed partnerships in an effort to promote consensus and sustainable ecosystem management. Interdisciplinary science-based models can serve as effective tools to identify areas of potential consensus in the process of ecosystem management. Effective integration of scientific input in co-operative ecosystem management depends on the role of science, the stakeholders and decision-makers involved, and the common language utilized to compare tradeoffs. Trust is essential to consensus building and the integration of scientific input must be transparent and inclusive of public feedback. Consideration of all relevant stakeholders and the actual benefits and costs of management activities to each stakeholder is essential. Perceptions and intuitive responses of people can be as influential as analytical processes in decision-making and must be addressed. Deliberative, dynamic and iterative decision-making processes all influence the level of stakeholder achievement of consensus. In Hawaii, application of lessons learned can promote more informed and democratic decision processes, quality scientific analysis that is relevant, and legitimacy and public acceptance of ecosystem management.

Environmental policy formulation is a difficult business under the best of circumstances. In many cases, policymaking is complicated by factual uncertainty about the likely outcomes of policy intervention and by persistent value conflicts over desired policy ends and goals. This is nowhere more true than in formulating policy to manage adverse impacts to a watershed caused by natural and human activities. In the case of the Illinois River watershed in eastern Oklahoma, controversy over whether and how economic activities in the watershed should be regulated has effectively stifled meaningful policy reforms for three decades. As part of a test of a novel watershed management policymaking protocol funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency, a Q methodological study of stakeholders' perspectives on impact concerns and impact management preferences was conducted to diagnose the conflicts that have pre-empted policy initiatives for so long. We found that the conflicts that exist are not bipolar,...

Current research in the Illinois River Basin is designed to develop and test a policy formulation protocol that will foster watershed management policy that is fully legitimated (i.e., policy that is technically effective, economically efficient, administratively implementable, politically feasible, and socially acceptable). This paper describes the results of the initial baseline impact assessment that includes physical, biological, economic, legal, and social systems as well as the development of a watershed management decision support system that is used to integrate technical information and analyses, and to facilitate policy maker and stakeholder negotiation workshops. Numerically modeled and visually simulated environmental impacts serve as the basis for developing alternative policy maker scenarios for prospective watershed management policies. These scenarios, which will be subjected to stakeholder review and negotiation, will undergo iterative review and amendment by policy makers and stakeholder groups to produce a recommended watershed management policy that satisfies all five substantive legitimation criteria. Preliminary results from the baseline social impact assessment indicate that fully legitimated policy is indeed obtainable.

The Roundtable on Environment and Sustainability was convened to provide academics and others with a collaborative forum in which to pursue their commitment to providing students with the tools needed to craft holistic strategies for meeting sustainability challenges. In the first effort of its kind, the Roundtable is developing a framework for designing, recognizing, and assessing academic programs that prepare students to engage in the holistic, adaptive management of the interactions of the systems at the human-environment interface needed to support both stewardship of the natural environment and long-term improvement in the quality of life for human individuals and communities. The Roundtable tentatively has identified as pedagogically optimal at least eight supradisciplinary skills, fourteen supradisciplinary perspectives on sustainability challenges, and twelve supradisciplinary contexts for applying the two. Revealing the complexity of the set of interactions among human and environmental systems is the most important pedagogical touchstone of the Roundtable’s approach. This revealed complexity is partly a function of the conceptual resolution of the interacting systems into sets of subsystems, and has at least five dimensions. Viewing sustainability challenges from the supradisciplinary perspectives helps students to acquire a holistic understanding of the set of interactions among systems crucial to meeting those challenges.

This project inquired into the judgments and beliefs of people living near DOE reservations and facilities at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, Tennessee about bioremediation of subsurface contamination. The purpose of the investigation was to identify strategies based on these judgments and beliefs for enhancing public support of bioremediation. Several methods were used to collect and analyze data including content analysis of transcripts of face-to-face personal interviews, factor analysis of subjective perspectives using Q methodology, and statistical analysis of results from a large-sample randomized telephone survey. Content analysis of interview transcripts identified themes about public perceptions and constructions of contamination risk, risk management, and risk managers. This analysis revealed that those who have no employment relationship at the sites and are not engaged in technical professions are most concerned about contamination risks. We also found that most interviewees are unfamiliar with subsurface contamination risks and how they can be reduced, believe they have little control over exposure, are frustrated with the lack of progress in remediation, are concerned about a lack of commitment of DOE to full remediation, and distrust site managers to act in the public interest. Concern is also expressed over frequent site management turnover,more » excessive secrecy, ineffective and biased communication, perceived attempts to talk the public into accepting risk, and apparent lack of concern about community welfare. In the telephone survey, we asked respondents who were aware of site contamination about their perceptions of risk from exposure to subsurface contamination. Response analysis revealed that most people believe that they are at significant risk from subsurface contamination but they acknowledge that more education is needed to calibrate risk perceptions against scientific risk assessments. Most rate their personal control over exposure as low. Slightly more than half believe that risk reduction should be balanced against cost. We also found that distrust of DOE and its contractors exists, primarily due to the perception that site managers do not share public values; hence, the public is generally unwilling to defer to DOE in its decision-making. The concomitant belief of inefficacy confounds distrust by generating frustration that DOE does not care. Moreover, the public is split with respect to trust of each other, primarily because of the belief that citizens lack technical competence. With respect to bioremediation support, we found that more than 40% of the public has no opinion. However, of those who do, 3 of 4 are favorably disposed – particularly among those who believe that risk is lower and who are more trusting of site management. We presented survey respondents with four alternative participation strategies based on the results of the Q analysis and asked their judgments of each. The public prefers strategies that shifts power to them. The least empowered strategy (feedback) was supported by 46%; support grew as public power increased, reaching 66% support for independently facilitated deliberation. More DOE distrust generates more support for high power strategies. We offer the following recommendations to enhance public acceptance. First, and perhaps most importantly, site managers should pursue robust trust-building efforts to gain public confidence in DOE risk management that meets public expectations. Public trust decreases risk perception, which increases public willingness to defer to site managers’ discretion in decision-making, which in turn increases public acceptance of the decisions that result. Second, site managers should address public concerns about bioremediation such as its effectiveness in reducing risk, performance compared to other remediation alternatives, costs compared against benefits, time required to start and complete remediation, level of risk that is currently posed by contamination, and scope of application. Third, more should be done to involve the public in bioremediation decision-making. We recommend a two-stage process: independent facilitated deliberation to build trust and address concerns about the motives and competence of site managers, followed by consultation to maintain that trust. Both stages should be inclusive, transparent, and respectful. Participation objectives and roles of participants should be well specified by the participants. A record of discussion should be published that codifies the concerns raised and how they were addressed, which will facilitate progress by averting the need to reconsider the same issues repeatedly. It is most important that the processes convince the public that its participation influences decision outcomes and that participants genuinely (informed and voluntarily) consent to risk exposure.« less

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment are operationally different but share the common purpose of supporting decisions about reducing threats to human welfare. Both analysis methods also involve a complex mixture of science and value judgments reflecting epistemological as well as moral and esthetic values. The inability of risk assessment and LCA to be "value free" has been a source of considerable controversy in both communities. Recognition of the contingent and social nature of human interpretation of the risks and environmental impacts created by public and private decisions has led to an increased appreciation of the importance of involving interested and affected parties in risk characterization. Comparison of the value-based nature of LCA and risk assessment demonstrates the need for participation in LCA. Although the need for participation by affected parties in decision-making processes is gaining acceptance, there is little agreement as to how participation should be structured. Risk assessment and LCA have a shared need for research examining the design and analysis of participation processes appropriate to a given decision context. A proposed framework recommends participation strategies designed to enhance the effectiveness of policy-driven analyses such as risk assessment and LCA based on the level of trust that interested and affected parties have for other policy participants.