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    Science, perception and scale: an interdisciplinary analysis of environmental change and community adaptive capaciy

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    Author
    Grunblatt, Jesse E.
    Chair
    Wipfli, Mark
    Adams, Barbara
    Committee
    Carothers, Courtney
    Monahan, John
    Keyword
    climatic changes
    Alaska
    public opinion
    communication in science
    mass media and the environment
    environmental management
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11122/11271
    Abstract
    The discrepancy between science-based assessments of climate change and public acknowledgement of climate change has been extensively documented at a national level. The relationship of science-based assessments and public awareness of environmental change at the local community level is less studied. An understanding of how science-based information informs local perception is important to ensure that science communication effectively supports community decision making. This dissertation explores the gap between science-based assessments and local perception of environmental change within a framework of adaptive capacity. The research is divided into three interrelated studies that provide: 1) an assessment of community perception of local environmental change, 2) a local study that illustrates science-based assessment and reporting, and 3) an evaluation of the role news media plays in communicating science to the public. The first study implemented a survey of residents on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula to evaluate individual perception of environmental change as well as attitudes regarding climate change and natural resource management. Differences in perception of local environmental change were identified among respondents as well as shared perceptions. The use of property regulation to protect the Kenai River was identified as a divisive issue; however, there was a shared concern regarding the condition of local salmon populations. A second science-based ecological study was developed that examined those issues and linked conservation of riparian vegetation to juvenile salmon rearing habitat. This study examined the diet of stream-rearing juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and determined that the proportion of invertebrates which enter the stream from riparian habitats varied based on vegetation type for three streams in the Kenai watershed. The third study investigated how news media play a role in the interpretation of technical, science-based reporting for the public. It demonstrated that local news media provide a unique opportunity to promote communication of science-based information to their audiences by providing content that is familiar and relevant, offering a variety of topical framings, developing authoritative or trusted voices, and providing frequent exposure to content.
    Description
    Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2020
    Table of Contents
    Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1 Background -- 1.1.1 Science Communication -- 1.1.2 Vulnerability, Resilience, and Adaptive Capacity -- 1.1.3 Adaptive Capacity Framework -- 1.1.4 Social Models of Risk Perception -- 1.1.5 Cognitive Models of Risk Perception -- 1.1.6 Research Overview -- 1.1.7 Socio-Cognitive Model -- 1.1.8 Global Warming, Climate Change, and Environmental Change -- 1.2 Methods -- 1.2.1 Research Approach -- 1.2.2 Organization of the Dissertation -- 1.3 Literature Cited. Chapter 2: Role of Perception in Determining Adaptive Capacity: Communities Adapting to Environmental Change -- 2.1 Abstract -- 2.2 Introduction -- 2.3 Background -- 2.4 Study Area -- 2.5 Methods/Results -- 2.5.1 Construction of Environmental Change Perception Scales -- 2.5.2 Demographics -- 2.5.3 Climate/Environmental Change Attitudes -- 2.5.4 Binary Logistic Model -- 2.5.5 Cultural Consensus Model -- 2.6 Discussion -- 2.6.1 Perception and Variability -- 2.6.2 Perception and Attitudes -- 2.6.3 Perception, Adaptive Capacity, and Communication -- 2.7 Conclusions -- 2.8 Acknowledgements -- 2.9 Literature Cited. Chapter 3: Invertebrate Prey Contributions to Juvenile Coho Salmon Diet from Riparian Habitats along Three Alaska Streams: Implications for Environmental Change -- 3.1 Abstract -- 3.2 Introduction -- 3.3 Materials and Methods -- 3.3.1 Study Area -- 3.3.2 Characterizing Vegetation Type -- 3.3.3 Juvenile Salmon Sampling -- 3.4 Results -- 3.4.1 Vegetation Type -- 3.4.2 Invertebrate Contributions to Juvenile Salmon Diet -- 3.5 Discussion -- 3.6 Acknowledgements -- 3.7 Literature Cited. Chapter 4: Role of Local Media in Promoting Science Communication -- 4.1 Abstract -- 4.2 Introduction -- 4.3 Background -- 4.4 Methods -- 4.5 Results -- 4.5.1 Content -- 4.5.2 Voice -- 4.5.3 Sentiment -- 4.6 Discussion -- 4.7 Acknowledgements -- 4.8 Literature Cited. Chapter 5: Conclusions -- 5.1 Overview -- 5.2 Discussion -- 5.3 Limitations of Research -- 5.4 Future Research -- 5.5 Literature Cited. Chapter 6: Appendix: UAA IRB.
    Date
    2020-05
    Type
    Dissertation
    Collections
    Biological Sciences

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