Exploring the role of emotional intelligence in behavior-based safety coaching

INTRODUCTION: Safety coaching is an applied behavior analysis technique that involves interpersonal interaction to understand and manipulate environmental conditions that are directing (i.e., antecedent to) and motivating (i.e., consequences of) safety-related behavior. A safety coach must be skilled in interacting with others so as to understand their perspectives, communicate a point clearly, and be persuasive with behavior-based feedback. METHOD: This article discusses the evidence-based "ability model" of emotional intelligence and its relevance to the interpersonal aspect of the safety coaching process. RESULTS: Emotional intelligence has potential for improving safety-related efforts and other aspects of individuals' work and personal lives. Safety researchers and practitioners are therefore encouraged to gain an understanding of emotional intelligence and conduct and support research applying this construct toward injury prevention.     

Ethical Consumption, Values Convergence/Divergence and Community Development

Ethical consumption is on the rise, however little is known about the degree and the implications of the sometime conflicting sets of values held by the broad category of consumers who report consuming ethically. This paper explores convergence and divergence of ethical consumption values through a study of organic, fair trade, and local food consumers in Colorado. Using survey and focus group results, we first examine demographic and attitudinal correlates of ethical consumption. We then report evidence that while many organic, fair trade, and local food consumers converge around similar values, some Colorado consumers support only local food, while opposing the consumption of organic and fair trade products. Next, we investigate how ethical consumers who converge and diverge frame their commitment to consuming ethically. The discussion and conclusion suggest that community development planners of projects that focus on ethical consumption will need to successfully traverse issues stemming from convergence and divergence to enjoy long-term sustained success.     

Taxing Meat: Taking Responsibility for One’s Contribution to Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic use in animal farming is one of the main drivers of antibiotic resistance both in animals and in humans. In this paper we propose that one feasible and fair way to address this problem is to tax animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics. We argue that such tax is supported both by (a) deontological arguments, which are based on the duty individuals have to compensate society for the antibiotic resistance to which they are contributing through consumption of animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics; and (b) a cost-benefit analysis of taxing such animal products and of using revenue from the tax to fund alternatives to use of antibiotics in animal farming. Finally, we argue that such a tax would be fair because individuals who consume animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics can be held morally responsible, i.e. blameworthy, for their contribution to antibiotic resistance, in spite of the fact that each individual contribution is imperceptible.     

Coastal flooding,climate change and environmental justice: identifying obstacles and incentives for adaptation in two metropolitan Boston Massachusetts communities

We explored the possible future impacts of increased coastal flooding due to sea level rise and the potential adaptation responses of two urban, environmental justice communities in the metropolitan Boston area of Massachusetts. East Boston is predominantly a residential area with some industrial and commercial activities, particularly along the coastal fringe. Everett, a city to the north of Boston, has a diversified industrial and commercial base. While these two communities have similar socioeconomic characteristics, they differ substantially in the extent to which residents would be impacted by increased coastal flooding. In East Boston, a large portion of residents would be flooded, while in Everett, it is the commercial/industrial districts that are primarily vulnerable. Through a series of workshops with residents in each community, we found that the target populations do not have an adaptation perspective or knowledge of any resources that could assist them in this challenge. Furthermore, they do not feel included in the planning processes within their communities. However, a common incentive for both communities was an intense commitment to their communities and an eagerness to learn more and become actively engaged in decisions regarding climate change adaptation. The lessons that can be applied to other studies include 1) images are powerful tools in communicating concepts, 2) understanding existing cultural knowledge and values in adaptation planning is essential to the planning process and 3) engaging local residents at the beginning of the process can create important educational opportunities and develop trust and consensus that is necessary for moving from concept to implementation.     

The Researcher's Notebook: Mission and scope

Order and simplification are the first steps toward the mastery of a subject—the actual enemy is the unknown.

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Simulating soil organic matter with CQESTR (v. 2.0): Model description and validation against long-term experiments across North America

Soil carbon (C) models are important tools for examining complex interactions between climate, crop and soil management practices, and to evaluate the long-term effects of management practices on C-storage potential in soils. CQESTR is a process-based carbon balance model that relates crop residue additions and crop and soil management to soil organic matter (SOM) accretion or loss. This model was developed for national use in U.S and calibrated initially in the Pacific Northwest. Our objectives were: (i) to revise the model, making it more applicable for wider geographic areas including potential international application, by modifying the thermal effect and incorporating soil texture and drainage effects, and (ii) to recalibrate and validate it for an extended range of soil properties and climate conditions. The current version of CQESTR (v. 2.0) is presented with the algorithms necessary to simulate SOM at field scale. Input data for SOM calculation include crop rotation, aboveground and belowground biomass additions, tillage, weather, and the nitrogen content of crop residues and any organic amendments. The model was validated with long-term data from across North America. Regression analysis of 306 pairs of predicted and measured SOM data under diverse climate, soil texture and drainage classes, and agronomic practices at 13 agricultural sites having a range of SOM (7.3–57.9 g SOM kg⁻¹), resulted in a linear relationship with an r² of 0.95 (P < 0.0001) and a 95% confidence interval of 4.3 g SOM kg⁻¹. Using the same data the version 1.0 of CQESTR had an r² of 0.71 with a 95% confidence interval of 5.5 g SOM kg⁻¹. The model can be used as a tool to predict and evaluate SOM changes from various management practices and offers the potential to estimate C accretion required for C credits.     

Simulating dynamic and mixed-severity fire regimes: A process-based fire extension for LANDIS-II

Fire regimes result from reciprocal interactions between vegetation and fire that may be further affected by other disturbances, including climate, landform, and terrain. In this paper, we describe fire and fuel extensions for the forest landscape simulation model, LANDIS-II, that allow dynamic interactions among fire, vegetation, climate, and landscape structure, and incorporate realistic fire characteristics (shapes, distributions, and effects) that can vary within and between fire events. We demonstrate the capabilities of the new extensions using two case study examples with very different ecosystem characteristics: a boreal forest system from central Labrador, Canada, and a mixed conifer system from the Sierra Nevada Mountains (California, USA). In Labrador, comparison between the more complex dynamic fire extension and a classic fire simulator based on a simple fire size distribution showed little difference in terms of mean fire rotation and potential severity, but cumulative burn patterns created by the dynamic fire extension were more heterogeneous due to feedback between fuel types and fire behavior. Simulations in the Sierra Nevada indicated that burn patterns were responsive to topographic features, fuel types, and an extreme weather scenario, although the magnitude of responses depended on elevation. In both study areas, simulated fire size and resulting fire rotation intervals were moderately sensitive to parameters controlling the curvilinear response between fire spread and weather, as well as to the assumptions underlying the correlation between weather conditions and fire duration. Potential fire severity was more variable within the Sierra Nevada landscape and also was more sensitive to the correlation between weather conditions and fire duration. The fire modeling approach described here should be applicable to questions related to climate change and disturbance interactions, particularly within locations characterized by steep topography, where temporally or spatially dynamic vegetation significantly influences spread rates, where fire severity is variable, and where multiple disturbance types of varying severities are common.     

Global Urban Growth and the Geography of Water Availability,Quality, and Delivery

Globally, urban growth will add 1.5 billion people to cities by 2030, making the difficult task of urban water provisions even more challenging. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework of urban water provision as composed of three axes: water availability, water quality, and water delivery. For each axis, we calculate quantitative proxy measures for all cities with more than 50,000 residents, and then briefly discuss the strategies cities are using in response if they are deficient on one of the axes. We show that 523 million people are in cities where water availability may be an issue, 890 million people are in cities where water quality may be an issue, and 1.3 billion people are in cities where water delivery may be an issue. Tapping into groundwater is a widespread response, regardless of the management challenge, with many cities unsustainably using this resource. The strategies used by cities deficient on the water delivery axis are different than for cities deficient on the water quantity or water quality axis, as lack of financial resources pushes cities toward a different and potentially less effective set of strategies.     

Habitat modification affects recruitment of abalone in central New Zealand

The habitat experienced during early life-history stages can determine the number and quality of individuals that recruit to adult populations. In a field experiment, biogenic habitat complexity was manipulated (presence or absence of foliose macroalgae) at two depths (2–3 m and 5–6 m) and the habitat-dependent effects on recruitment of the black foot abalone (Haliotis iris) were examined at three field sites along the south coast of Wellington, New Zealand (41°20′S, 174°47′E), between July and November 2005. Recruit density (<5 weeks post-settlement) was measured on cobbles covered with crustose coralline algae. Habitats of low complexity (barrens treatments) had consistently greater densities of recruits than habitats of high complexity (algae treatments). However, recruits in algae habitats were larger, and for deep habitats, there was greater survival in algae habitats compared with barrens habitats. While depth had no significant effect on early recruit (<2 weeks post-settlement) density, late recruit (<5 weeks post-settlement) density was greater in shallow habitats, and so it seems recruit survival was greater in shallow habitats. In this experiment, algal habitat complexity had strong effects on early recruit abundance, but habitat-dependent variations in recruit growth and survival may modify initial patterns of abundance and determine recruitment to adult abalone populations.