Collaborative Research: Understanding lay theories of environmental change and adaptation in southern Appalachia

合作研究：了解阿巴拉契亚南部环境变化和适应的外行理论

基本信息

批准号：
1558929
负责人：
Meredith Welch-Devine
金额：
$ 8.97万
依托单位：
University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2016
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2016-03-15 至 2019-04-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1558929&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research Understanding lay theories

项目摘要

Collaborative Research: Understanding Lay Theories of Environmental Change, Climate Change, and Adaptation in Southern AppalachiaThe research funded by this award will investigate lay observations of environmental change: how people who live in a particular place use their own experiences to understand change in the natural world. The research will be conducted by Dr. Meredith Welch-Devine (University of Georgia) and Dr. Brian J. Burke (Appalachian State University), anthropologists affiliated with the NSF-supported Coweeta Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program in southern Appalachia. Drawing on more than 80 years of data, Coweeta scientists have developed projections of future environmental change in the region and have outlined anticipated effects on local biodiversity and ecosystems. Their scientific findings provide a rich resource for local environmental governance and adaptation planning. In parallel, local non-scientist residents of the same region have gathered their own experiential data on biodiversity and change, transmitting it across generations and developing their own theories of its causes and consequences. Unfortunately, such local theories are rarely studied systematically even though they can be contribute significantly to science and to improved policy making. Place-based theories enhance science findings by connecting broad-scale changes to specific locations and micro-level change processes, as well as to the livelihoods, landscapes, and issues that move people to act. Because lay theories can significantly shape how we as a society respond and adapt to the changes around us, it is important to understand where local knowledge comes from and how it is affected by local history, economy, and culture.The Coweeta region provides an ideal venue for such an investigation because of the availability of comparative scientific data. Also, the region is home to a mix of long-term and newcomer populations with different ways of engaging the natural world. For some residents, nature provides their livelihood, while others have been drawn to the area by its scenic beauty and recreation opportunities. Recognizing that plants and animals are central to people's experiences of their environment, the researchers have chosen to focus on perceptions of biodiversity. They will construct a sample of 90 local residents stratified by how long they and their families have lived in the area (multi-generational residents, one or two generation residents, and newcomers). The researchers will conduct life history and environmental interaction interviews with all members of the sample. An additional 45 residents will be asked to complete comprehensive freelisting exercises to elicit their cognitive models of the natural world, which will be complemented with follow-up interviews focused on changes in the freelisted items. The researchers will also conduct semi-structured interviews with resource managers and environmental policy makers; analyze official documents for differential inclusion of local and scientific knowledge and concerns in policy making; and conduct participant observation at relevant community events. Findings will document how local non-scientists experience and understand the same environmental changes that Coweeta scientists are measuring and recording. Parallel research, funded elsewhere, is being conducted in France, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon; data will be analyzed at the country level and then across the four countries through synthesis workshops. The overall goal is to understand how perceptions of environmental change vary, why they vary, and what the implications are for planning and policy.

协作研究：了解阿巴拉契亚南部的环境变化，气候变化和适应的理论，该奖项资助的研究将调查对环境变化的观察：生活在某个地方的人们如何利用自己的经验来了解自然世界中的变化。这项研究将由梅雷迪思·韦尔奇·德文（Meredith Welch-Devine）博士（佐治亚大学）和布莱恩·J·伯克（Brian J. Coweeta科学家借鉴了80多年的数据，已经开发了该地区未来环境变化的预测，并概述了对当地生物多样性和生态系统的预期影响。他们的科学发现为当地环境治理和适应计划提供了丰富的资源。同时，同一地区的本地非科学家居民收集了自己的有关生物多样性和变化的经验数据，将其传播到世代相传，并开发了自己的原因和后果理论。不幸的是，这种本地理论很少有系统地研究它们，即使它们可以为科学做出重大贡献并改善政策制定。基于地位的理论通过将广泛的变化与特定位置和微观变化过程以及生计，景观和使人们行动的问题联系起来，从而增强了科学发现。由于外行理论可以显着塑造我们作为一个社会的反应和适应周围的变化，因此重要的是要了解当地知识的来源以及它如何受到当地历史，经济和文化的影响。Coweeta地区为这种研究提供了理想的场所，因为比较科学数据的可用性。此外，该地区是长期和新人种群与自然世界的不同方式的所在地。对于某些居民来说，大自然提供了生计，而其他居民则通过其风景优美和娱乐机会吸引了该地区。研究人员认识到动植物对人们对环境的经历至关重要，因此选择着重于生物多样性的看法。他们将根据他们及其家人在该地区居住多长时间（多代居民，一个或两个一代居民和新移民）分层的90个当地居民的样本。研究人员将对样本的所有成员进行生活历史和环境互动访谈。将要求另外45名居民完成全面的自由职业练习，以引起他们对自然世界的认知模型，这将补充着关注自由列出项目变化的后续访谈。研究人员还将对资源经理和环境政策制定者进行半结构化访谈；分析官方文件，以在政策制定中不同地包含本地知识和科学知识和关注点；并在相关社区活动中进行参与者观察。调查结果将记录当地非科学家如何体验和理解Coweta科学家正在测量和记录的相同环境变化。在其他地方资助的平行研究正在法国，津巴布韦和喀麦隆进行；数据将通过综合研讨会在国家一级，然后在四个国家进行分析。总体目标是了解环境变化的看法如何变化，为什么变化以及对计划和政策的影响。