Mindful Wandering: Nature and Global Travel through the Eyes of a Farmgirl Scientist

Mindful Wandering is an inspiring blend of memoir, travelogue, and environmental manifesto. As a translational ecologist, Rebecca Romsdahl is trained to ask critical questions about how we can improve our human relationships with the natural world for a sustainable, resilient future. As a farmgirl, she learned how to observe nature and life through the changing seasons. In this collection of essays spanning two decades, Romsdahl weaves these ideas together as she travels our changing world. From a Minnesota farm to the mountains of Peru and the edge of the Sahara Desert, she explores strategies for sustainability and resilience, and advocates that we (especially those of us privileged enough to travel) must expand our mindful considerations to include all the other inhabitants of this beautiful Earth. Romsdahl practices, and preaches, mindful wandering to reduce her impacts on the natural environment, and to encourage us all to be better global citizens. She implores us, through the eyes of a farmgirl scientist, to ask soul-searching questions: How do we reconnect with the local, seasonal rhythms of life, while learning how to care about the whole Earth as our home? Rebecca J. Romsdahl, PhD, is a translational ecologist, educator, writer, and professor in the Department of Earth System Science & Policy at the University of North Dakota. Her research and teaching examine links between social, ecological, and policy factors when scientists, stakeholders, and decision makers work together to solve environmental problems.https://commons.und.edu/press-books/1019/thumbnail.jp

FUTURE PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM IN NORTH DAKOTA

The purpose of this study was to gauge the impact of agriculture and energy policies on conservation practices through a survey of conservation reserve program (CRP) contract holders in a selected Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota-Burleigh, Kidder, and Stutsman Counties. The survey results showed that 48% of respondents are considering returning CRP acres to annual crop production once the contract expires. The largest influence on post-CRP land use was the market prices for production of annual crops. Respondents also identified lack of knowledge of conservation programs as a large hurdle to participation. This may indicate a need for improved communication from program information sources such as the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, from where most contract holders get their information. These findings also provide interesting insight into the motivation and decision-making process surrounding conservation programs, in particular continued participation in the CRP. By understanding the main motivation and considerations for conservation participation (market prices, cost-sharing opportunities, and expected cost of production), federal conservation programs will be able to maximize conservation efforts, which will benefit landowners and resources alike

Americans Support for Renewable Energy is Disconnected from their Understanding of Powerline Infrastructure as a Mechanism to Mitigate Climate Change

As nations are transitioning to renewable energy sources, they will need to expand and upgrade their energy infrastructure, including high-voltage power lines (HVPL). We have conducted the first nation-wide survey in the last thirty years to assess public attitudes toward HVPL in the USA. The study evaluates perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes toward building new transmission lines, as these relate to renewable energy, place attachment, and environmental impacts. Our results show that Americans do not recognize how new HVPL could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions; instead, respondents favor moving from centralized energy (large power stations and HVPL) to decentralized energy (local power supply and small scale solar panels and wind turbines. Our findings are consistent with studies from Europe in that citizens recognize negative human impacts on the natural world and support renewable energy, however, they have a limited understanding of the role of HVPL infrastructure in mitigating climate change

Political Deliberation and E-Participation in Policy-Making

In her paper, Political Deliberation and E-Participation in Policy-Making, Rebecca J. Romsdahl proposes that the internet has now become a valuable medium for information dissemination and long distance communication; it is also gaining attention as a potential tool for political deliberation. Public participation has been a long-standing tradition in American democracy but most scholars today believe it needs a revival. Some of these scholars believe that e-participation in policy-making could help revitalize political discussion between citizens and government and promote greater participation by disenfranchised groups. Whether this would lead to greater opportunities for true deliberation on political issues and not just add to the prolific exchange of conversation on the internet, however, is a more difficult question. Romsdahl argues that despite the internet\u27s ability to reduce the transaction costs of participation, true deliberation will be more difficult to develop. The internet poses great challenges for the essential components of deliberation, such as ensuring access for all interested individuals, fair and equal involvement for all participants, development of interpersonal trust, and the ability to produce effective dialogue on complex, value-laden issues

FUTURE PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM IN NORTH DAKOTA

The purpose of this study was to gauge the impact of agriculture and energy policies on conservation practices through a survey of conservation reserve program (CRP) contract holders in a selected Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota-Burleigh, Kidder, and Stutsman Counties. The survey results showed that 48% of respondents are considering returning CRP acres to annual crop production once the contract expires. The largest influence on post-CRP land use was the market prices for production of annual crops. Respondents also identified lack of knowledge of conservation programs as a large hurdle to participation. This may indicate a need for improved communication from program information sources such as the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, from where most contract holders get their information. These findings also provide interesting insight into the motivation and decision-making process surrounding conservation programs, in particular continued participation in the CRP. By understanding the main motivation and considerations for conservation participation (market prices, cost-sharing opportunities, and expected cost of production), federal conservation programs will be able to maximize conservation efforts, which will benefit landowners and resources alike