Redefining Landscape Norms: Exploring the Influence of Normative Landscaping Patterns in Washington County, Utah

As water supplies in the American West become increasingly strained by growing populations and threats of drought and climate change, water managers and governments are working to maximize water-use efficiency. With well over half of municipal water being used on outdoor irrigation, improved landscape water efficiency has been a clear candidate for conservation messaging. Because social norms play a significant role in what conservation behaviors individuals adopt voluntarily, conservation messaging strategies often try to influence and shift norms in favor of improved behaviors. A clear understanding of the existing norms, demographics, and cultural values of an area is essential to tailoring relevant and effective conservation messages. The purpose of this research was to identify landscape norms in Washington County, Utah and whether residents had perceived a shift in norms over time toward desert-adapted landscapes. We also researched whether social norms played a significant role in the types of landscapes residents preferred. To answer these questions, we surveyed three populations: visitors to a popular, local conservation garden, participants in conservation programs and workshops, and members of a homeowner association. Based on their responses, we found that residents did perceive a shift in landscape norms toward desert landscapes. The vast majority of respondents also indicated approval of homeowners using desert landscaping in their neighborhoods, regardless of their own landscaping decisions. However, little social pressure exists to motivate homeowners to adapt to a specific neighborhood norm. As such, conservation strategies in Washington County should emphasize the approval and growing use of appropriate water-conserving landscape norms. To increase effectiveness, conservation messaging should address the needs of specific demographics. For example, because we found that homeowners with children tend to prefer larger amounts of lawn, conservation messaging needs to demonstrate how child-friendly alternatives to lawn-dominant landscapes can meet the needs of children. In addition to suggestions for improving voluntary behavior changes, we discuss how policies can help to accelerate changes in landscape norms

Organizational Impact of a Toxic Personality

In order to truly calculate the cost of allowing toxic personalities to operate within an organization, leaders must recognize the second and third-order effects that result when these people are left unchecked. This research explored how a toxic personality impacts an organization and focused on the effects of these personalities from two different aspects: the organizational and the individual. The goal was to draw attention to the extent of the impact these personalities can have on an organization\u27s culture, climate, personnel, and overall performance. The repercussions resulting extend far beyond just fiscal aspects; they spread into the psychological and sociological realms, where the price paid by those personnel exposed to the toxic personalities is beyond measure

A Proposal for an Educationally Interactive Exhibit based on a 2069 Lunar Base

The Worcester Auditorium is in complete disrepair and the city has no idea what to do with it. This project required us to create a vision for an educational exhibit in the Worcester Auditorium’s basement. We also had to develop an architectural program which described the educational exhibit for architectural students that may be interested in a contest to actually design the exhibit, sponsored by ShiftBoston. The AIAA Region 1 may also put up some prize money for the architectural student contest entrants. After the vision was complete, we presented it at the AIAA Region 1 YPSE 2012 conference in Baltimore, MD in early November. Also, we presented in a private meeting with other museum and science facility owners from all over Massachusett