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Riding the Social Science Wave to Study Human Dimensions of Coastal Water Quality in New England
Citation:
Canfield, Katherine, K. Mulvaney, N. Merrill, M. Mazzotta, S. Atkinson, S. Balogh, J. Bousquin, E. Burman, R. Furey, E. Mclean, A. Piscopo, M. Reilly, A. Rudman, J. Sawyer, AND J. Twichell. Riding the Social Science Wave to Study Human Dimensions of Coastal Water Quality in New England. IN: CERF's Up! Quarterly Bulletin, Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation, Port Republic, MD, (June 2023):2-4, (2023).
Impact/Purpose:
Humans play a significant role in shaping the environment, but their perspectives and interactions with each other are often not included in environmental science research. Environmental social scientists provide scientific evidence to document the economics, perspectives, and impacts of humans on their environments and each other. This article provides an overview of the social science research related to water quality that has been going on from 2015-2022 at ACESD. It introduces the diverse methods used to look at human dimensions of water quality including equity, public engagement, value of water quality, and adoption of technologies. This work provides a more holistic environmental analysis and adds another dimension to existing basic and applied environmental research.
Description:
Located on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division focuses on both the ecological effects and social implications of water quality concerns. Coastal social science studies how humans interact with each other and their environment. Here we pose questions that are important in coastal social science and describe how we used science addressed them. Details of our research and publications are included.
