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1. A multi-dimensional measure of pro-environmental behavior for use across populations with varying levels of environmental involvement in the United States

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274083  

   Mateer, Timothy J. ; Melton, Theresa N. ; Miller, Zachary D. ; Lawhon, Ben ; Agans, Jennifer P. ; Taff, B. Derrick ( October 2022 , PLOS ONE)

   Trujillo, Carlos Andres (Ed.)

   Researchers continue to explore ways to understand and promote pro-environmental behavior (PEB) amongst various populations. Despite this shared goal, much debate exists on the operationalization and the dimensionality of PEB and how it is measured. This piecemeal approach to measurement has limited the ability to draw conclusions across studies. We address limitations associated with previous measures of PEB by developing a multi-dimensional scale that is validated across both a general population of individuals residing in the United States as well as a group of individuals associated with a pro-environmental organization. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and reliability estimation were conducted for the developed measure across these two populations. Measurement invariance testing was also utilized to assess the psychometric stability of the scale across the two groups. Results indicated an 11 item scale was best fitting with two sub-scales: private and public behaviors. Implications for research and practice are discussed. 

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2. Hands-On, Virtual, Environmental Science Modules: Using Stable Carbon Isotopes as Forensic Tools for Students to Understand Environmental Chemistry From Their Homes

   https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/12036  

   Stein, Rebekah A. ; Munson, Jenna ; Sheldon, Nathan D. ( January 2022 , Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education)
3. Inter-individual physiological variation in responses to environmental variation and environmental change: Integrating across traits and time

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.110577  

   Tanner, Richelle L. ; Dowd, W. Wesley ( December 2019 , Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology)
4. Addressing Environmental Change through Emergent Integrated Environmental Observatories: A Case Study in the Czech Republic

   https://doi.org/10.3390/environments7030019  

   Acosta, Manuel ; Ač, Alexander ; Pavelka, Marian ; Havránková, Kateřina ; Loescher, Henry W. ; Butler, James H. ; Janouš, Dalibor ; Marek, Michal V. ( March 2020 , Environments)

   A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that we have entered the Anthropocene Epoch. Many assert that society has exceeded sustainable ecological planetary boundaries and that altered biogeophysical processes are no longer reversible to natural rates of ecosystem functioning. To properly and successfully address societal needs for the future, more holistic and complex methods need to be applied at various spatial and temporal scales. The increasingly interconnected nature of human and natural environments—from individuals to large megacities and entire continents and from cells through ecosystems to the biosphere as a whole (e.g., as seen in the carbon cycle)—demand new and often interdisciplinary and international approaches to address emerging global challenges. With that perspective in mind, the Czech Republic’s National Climate Program was established in 1991 with the aim to understand the impact of global environmental change on society. The National Climate Program was updated in 2017 to formulate a new Climate Protection Policy. Here, we outline the multifaceted problems that climate change poses for the Czech Republic, as well as a new scientific infrastructure and approaches directed to better understanding the effects of climate change on our ecosystems, water resources, urban environment, agriculture, human health, and general economy. 

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5. Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Increasing Diversity and Community Participation to Achieve Environmental and Social Justice

   https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2020.0148  

   Montoya, Lupita D. ; Mendoza, Lorelay M. ; Prouty, Christine ; Trotz, Maya ; Verbyla, Matthew E. ( November 2020 , Environmental Engineering Science)

   null (Ed.)

   Communities of color are disproportionately burdened by environmental pollution and by obstacles to influence policies that impact environmental health. Black, Hispanic, and Native American students and faculty are also largely underrepresented in environmental engineering programs in the United States. Nearly 80 participants of a workshop at the 2019 Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Research and Education Conference developed recommendations for reversing these trends. Workshop participants identified factors for success in academia, which included adopting a broader definition for the impact of research and teaching. Participants also supported the use of community-based participatory research and classroom action research methods in engineering programs for recruiting, retaining, and supporting the transition of underrepresented students into professional and academic careers. However, institutions must also evolve to recognize the academic value of community-based work to enable faculty, especially underrepresented minority faculty, who use it effectively, to succeed in tenure promotions. Workshop discussions elucidated potential causal relationships between factors that influence the co-creation of research related to academic skills, community skills, mutual trust, and shared knowledge. Based on the discussions from this workshop, we propose a pathway for increasing diversity and community participation in the environmental engineering discipline by exposing students to community-based participatory methods, establishing action research groups for faculty, broadening the definition of research impact to improve tenure promotion experiences for minority faculty, and using a mixed methods approach to evaluate its impact. 

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