Ethical considerations when conservation research involves people

Social science is becoming increasingly important in conservation, with more studies involving methodologies that collect data from and about people. Conservation science is a normative and applied discipline designed to support and inform management and practice. Poor research practice risks harming participants and, researchers, and can leave negative legacies. Often, those at the forefront of field-based research are early-career researchers, many of whom enter their first research experience ill-prepared for the ethical conundrums they may face. We draw on our own experiences as early-career researchers to illuminate how ethical challenges arise during conservation research that involves human participants. Specifically, we considered ethical review procedures, conflicts of values, and power relations, and devised broad recommendations on how to navigate ethical challenges when they arise during research. In particular, we recommend researchers apply reflexivity (i.e., thinking that allows researchers to recognize the effect researchers have on the research) to help navigate ethical challenges and encourage greater engagement with ethical review processes and the development of ethical guidelines for conservation research that involves human participants. Such guidelines must be accompanied by the integration of rigorous ethical training into conservation education. We believe our experiences are not uncommon and can be avoided and hope to spark discussion to contribute to a more socially just conservation.     

The costs and benefits of working with one's spouse: A two‐sample examination of spousal support,work–family conflict,and emotional exhaustion in work‐linked relationships

Although the prevalence of employees working within the same workplace or occupation with their spouse has increased, relatively little research has examined their experiences. On the basis of the boundary and conservation of resources (COR) theories, we argue that higher levels of work–family role integration among work‐linked couples will lead to higher levels of spousal support resources and lower levels of work–family conflict. This will, in turn, lead to lower emotional exhaustion among employees in a work‐linked relationship. Among two samples of employees in a variety of occupations, we found that being in a work‐linked relationship was associated with both higher spousal instrumental support as well as different forms of work–family conflict. The interaction between spousal support and work–family conflict was associated with emotional exhaustion. We discuss the implications of these findings for boundary and COR theories in terms of movement of resources across work–family boundaries and resource relevance in the strain process. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Near-miss management systems: A methodological comparison

A close relationship between near-miss events and major accidents has been demonstrated in major hazard facilities: a near-miss and an accident have often common causes. A near-miss could be defined as a hazardous condition where the event sequence could lead to an accident if it had not been interrupted. An effective Near-miss Management System (NMS) aims to quickly recognize signals from the operational fields in order to apply prevention strategies. As a standard reference model has not yet been developed, the NMS design represents a complex issue. The present paper proposes a critical comparison between two methodologies which could be applied for a near-miss event assessment: a matrix and an index based method. The purpose is to evaluate potentiality and pitfalls of their application as their global efficiency could influence the whole performance of the whole NMS design. An application in a test case of a chemical plant is proposed: results obtained have proved useful in supporting safety management in an effective design of a NMS.     

Total mercury content found in edible tissues of top predator fish from the Gulf of California,Mexico

Fish at the top of the food chain bioaccumulate and biomagnify toxic metals including mercury (Hg), at a higher rate than nonpredatory fish. However, although some top predator fish species are important in the human diet, the risks for consumers in Mexico are difficult to evaluate due to the scarce baseline information available. In the present article, data on the total mercury (THg) concentrations found in edible tissues of different species of sharks, rays, large pelagic fishes and groupers from the Gulf of California are presented and compared with national and international health guidelines. During 2003 and 2004, 73 shark dorsal tissue samples, 52 ray samples, 66 large pelagic fish samples and 16 grouper samples were collected at different sites along the Gulf of California. Samples were digested in a microwave system and analyzed by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Thirty samples (14%) showed concentrations of Hg above the national statutory limit of 1?mg?kg^?1, from which 25 samples were sharks and 3 were large pelagic fishes. A positive correlation was found between the natural log of THg [ln(THg)] and total length (TL cm) in species of sharks, rays and groupers. The Teacapán estuary in Sinaloa was detected as a possible source of Hg into the Gulf of California due to historic mining in the watershed. Mean Hg concentrations exceeded the regulatory limit of 1?mg?kg^?1 in the following highly commercial shark species: smooth hammerhead, pelagic thrasher, pacific sharpnose shark, dusky shark, scalloped hammerhead, and whitenose shark, in that order. It is recommended that preventive food advisories be issued with respect to these species until further investigations are conducted.