Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Linking place-based science to people through spatial narratives of coastal stewardship

  • Published:
Journal of Coastal Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Stressor gradients and spatial narratives of the St. Louis River Estuary, a joint Minnesota and Wisconsin Sea Grant study, connected aquatic science research with spatially-explicit stories of local resource issues and place-based geo-quests to enhance spatial awareness and stewardship of the estuary. The goal of this paper is to report and reflect on an integrated study that combined environmental humanities and technology with aquatic science in a spatial context. Our study was organized into three objectives around research, outreach, and evaluation. First, we summarized anthropogenic stressors within high resolution watersheds and linked the watershed stress estimates to aquatic habitats within the estuary. Second, we designed tools to deliver place-based environmental science and technology to targeted users to increase awareness, learning, and the potential for long-term stewardship. And third, we evaluated the responses of targeted end users to their interaction with the project’s integrated science and innovative delivery methods. Finally, central to all three objectives, we created a dynamic website to facilitate regional to national coastal outreach and education goals. We found significant correlations between the stressor index and the water quality and biotic data, along with variability attributed to landscape elements. Connecting this science with the place-based experiences we collected is expected to expand the scope and reach of state, bi-national and non-governmental outreach programs. The project also has direct applications to classroom science education. Developing this integrated project contributed to our shared knowledge of environmental and cultural aspects of the estuary for place-based education, and offers several lessons for future work of this nature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig 4
Fig 5
Fig 6
Fig 7
Fig 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ameel J, Ruzycki E, Owen CJ, Axler R (1998) Analytical chemistry and quality assurance procedures for natural water, wastewater, and sediment samples (revised 2012). Natural Resources Research Institute, Duluth, NRRI/TR-98/28

    Google Scholar 

  • AMS (2014) Earth system science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education: A policy statement of the American Meteorological Society. https://www.ametsoc.org/POLICY/2014Earth_STEM_Education.html. Accessed 26 Feb 2015

  • Apitz SE (2012) Conceptualizing the role of sediment in sustaining ecosystem services: sediment-ecosystem regional assessment (SEcoRA). Sci Total Environ 415:9–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ardoin NM, Schuh JS, Gould RK (2012) Exploring the dimensions of place: a confirmatory factor analysis of data from three ecoregional sites. Environ Educ Res 18(5):583–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ASTE (2015) ASTE Position Statement on Technology in Science Teacher Education. http://theaste.org/about/aste-position-statement-on-technology-in-science-teacher-education/. Accessed 26 Feb 2015

  • Bartsch WM (2012) Relationship between water quality and anthropogenic landscape stressors in the St. Louis River watershed and estuary. M.S. Dissertation, Water Resources Science, University of Minnesota-Duluth. 77p

  • Bartsch WM, Axler R, Host G (2015) Evaluating a Great Lakes scale landscape stressor index to assess water quality in the St. Louis River Area of Concern. J Great Lakes Res 41:99–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berndt ME, Bavin TK (2012) Methylmercury and dissolved organic carbon relationships in a wetland-rich watershed impacted by elevated sulfate from mining. Environ Pollut 161:321–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bodenhamer DJ, Corrigan J, Harris TM (2010) The spatial humanities: GIS and the future of humanities scholarship. Indiana University, Bloomington

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdaghs M, Johnston CA, Regal Rr (2006) Properties and performance of the Floristic Quality Index in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Wetlands 26(3):718–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown G, Raymond C (2007) The relationship between place attachment and landscape values: toward mapping place attachment. Appl Geogr 27(2):89–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown TN, Host GE, Johnson LB (2011) Lake Superior Sediment Assessment. NRRI/TR-2011/35, Natural Resources Research Institute, U. of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55811, 1–32

  • Brown G, Raymond CM, Corcoran J (2015) Mapping and measuring place attachment. Appl Geogr 57:42–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chawla L (1999) Life paths into effective environmental action. J Environ Educ 31(1):15–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danz N, Regal R, Niemi G, Brady V, Hollenhorst T, Johnson L, Host G, Hanowski J, Johnston C, Brown T, Kingston J, Kelly J (2005) Environmentally stratified sampling design for the development of Great Lakes environmental indicators. Environ Monit Assess 102:41–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danz N, Niemi G, Regal R, Hollenhorst T, Johnson L, Hanowski J, Axler R, Ciborowski J, Hrabik T, Brady V, Kelly J, Morrice J, Brazner J, Howe R, Johnston C, Host G (2007) Integrated measures of anthropogenic stress in the U.S. Great Lakes basin. Environ Manag 39:631–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davenport MA, Anderson DH (2005) Getting from sense of place to place-based management: an interpretive investigation of place meanings and perceptions of landscape change. Soc Nat Resour 18(7):625–641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortner RW, Corney JR (2001) Great lakes educational needs assessment: teachers priorities for topics, material & training. J Great Lakes Res 28(1):3–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortner RW, Meyer RL (2000) Discrepancies among teachers’ priorities for and knowledge of freshwater topics. J Environ Educ 31(4):51–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon D (2010) ARIS: An open source platform for developing mobile learning experiences. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 59 pages

  • Gilbert L, Sandberg L, Wekerle G (2009) Building bioregional citizenship: the case of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Ontario, Canada. Local Environ: Int J Justice Sustain 14(5):387–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham EA (2011) Using mobile phones to engage citizen scientists in research. Eos Trans Am Geophys Union 92(38):313–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halpenny EA (2010) Pro-environmental behaviours and park visitors the effect of place attachment. J Environ Psychol 30(4):409–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart D (2014) Stressor Gradients and Spatial Narratives of the St. Louis River Estuary: Open Archives for Accessing the Science of the Estuary. http://maps.aqua.wisc.edu/geocatalog/pdf/slre-archive-dhart.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar 2015

  • Host GE, Schuldt J, Ciborowski JJH, Johnson LB, Hollenhorst T, Richards C (2005) Use of GIS and remotely sensed data for a priori identification of reference areas for Great Lakes coastal ecosystems. Int J Remote Sens 26:5325–5342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Host GE, Brown TN, Hollenhorst TP, Johnson LB, Ciborowski JJH (2011) High-resolution assessment and visualization of environmental stressors in the Lake Superior basin. Aquat Ecosyst Health Manag 14:376–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JMP (2011) Version 9. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, pp 1989–2011

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson RM, Gardiner S, Henderson L, Russell R, Ward D, Foster S, Meymaris K, Hatheway B, Carbone L, Eastburn T (2008) Lessons learned through our climate change professional development program for middle and high school teachers. Phys Geogr 29(6):500–511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim C, Fortner RW (2008) Great Lakes scientists’ perspectives on K-12 education collaboration. J Great Lakes Res 34(1):98–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luisetti T, Turner RK, Jickells T, Andrews J, Elliott M, Schaafsma M, Beaumont N, Malcolm S, Burdon D, Adams C, Watts W (2014) Coastal zone ecosystem services: from science to values and decision making; a case study. Sci Total Environ 493:682–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lukacs HA, Ardoin NM (2014) The relationship of place re-making and watershed group participation in Appalachia. Soc Nat Resour 27(1):55–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moller-Jensen L, Jeppesen H, Kofie RY (2008) GIS-facilitated spatial narratives: Danish plantations in Ghana. Geogr Tidsskri-Dan J Geogr 108(2):49–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monroe MC (2003) Two avenues for encouraging conservation behaviors. Hum Ecol Rev 10(2):13

    Google Scholar 

  • MPCA (2009) Surface water assessment grant quality assurance project plan, February 2009. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul, 55155

    Google Scholar 

  • MPCA (2013) St. Louis River St. Louis River Area of Concern Implementation Framework: Roadmap to Delisting (Remedial Action Plan Update) July 15, 2013. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Duluth, MN 55802. http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/water/water-types-and-programs/surface-water/st.-louis-river-area-of-concern.html#resources. Accessed 3 Mar 2015

  • NERR (2007) System-wide monitoring program (SWMP): a scientific framework and plan for detection of short-term variability and long-term change in estuaries and coastal habitats of the United States. National Estuarine Research Reserve

  • Nieber, JL, Arika, C Hansen, B (2013). Lower Poplar River Watershed Sediment Source Assessment. U. of Minnesota, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering University of Minnesota. Prepared for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, original submission, August 2011, finalized February 2013

  • NOAA (2010) Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan. Superior, WI. University of Wisconsin Extension Services. www.nerrs.noaa.gov/Doc/PDF/Reserve/LKS_MgmtPlan.pdf. Accessed 3 Mar 2015

  • NOAA (2013) The National Coastal Zone Management Program Measuring Performance: Community Development. http://coast.noaa.gov/czm/media/czmperfcomdevel.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar 2015

  • NRCS SSURGO (2012) U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Survey Database: www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/?cid=nrcs142p2_053627. Accessed 3 Mar 2015

  • Oxx K, Brimicombe A, Rush J (2013) Envisioning deep maps: exploring the spatial navigation metaphor in deep mapping. Int J Humanit Arts Comput 7(1–2):201–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer JA, Suggate J (1996) Influences and experiences affecting the pro-environmental behavior of educators. Environ Educ Res 2(1):109–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pike K, Wright P, Wink B, Fletcher S (2014) The assessment of cultural ecosystem services in the marine environment using Q methodology. J Coast Conserv 1–9

  • Ridge M, Lafreniere D, Nesbit S (2013) Creating maps and spatial narratives through design. Int J Humanit Arts Comput 7(1–2):176–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth RE, Harrower M (2008) Addressing Map interface usability: learning from the lakeshore nature preserve interactive Map. Cartogr Perspect 60(1):21

    Google Scholar 

  • Seelbach, PW, Read, JG, Buckner, KA, Eder, T, Manninen, C. (2014) Great Lakes Blue Accounting: Empowering decisions to realize regional water values. A report to the Council of Great Lakes Governors, in response to the Governors’ 2013 resolution on water monitoring. March 28

  • Seifert J, Shaw B (2013) Tending our patch of creation: engaging Christians in environmental stewardship through sense of place. J Stud Relig Nat Cult 7(3):265–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silbernagel J (2005) Bio-regional patterns and spatial narratives for integrated landscape research and design. In: Tress B, Tress G, Fry G, Opdam P (eds) From landscape research to landscape planning: aspects of integration, education, and application. Wageningen UR frontis series, 12th edn. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 107–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Silbernagel J (2013) Coastal communities create their story through Spatial Narrative Geotools. Proceedings, Esri User Conference, July, San Diego

  • SLRCAC (1992) The St. Louis River System Remedial Action Plan Stage One. St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee, Duluth, MN. http://www.stlouisriver.org/remedial-action-plan/. 4 Mar 2015

  • SLRCAC (2002) Lower St. Louis River Habitat Plan. St. Louis River Area of Concern Citizen Action Committee, Duluth, MN. http://www.stlouisriver.org/documents/. 4 Mar 2015)

  • Smith, VM (2007) Growing our own: the socioeconomic value of community food production. Dissertation. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, WI

  • Smith VM (2008) Environmental belief formation in children. VDM Verlag, Berlin, pp 114–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern PC (2000) Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. J Soc Issues 56(3):407–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thayer RL (2003) LifePlace: bioregional thought and practice. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • USEPA (2013) St. Louis River & Bay Area of Concern. Great Lakes National Program Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/aoc/stlouis/index.html#rap_info. Accessed 20 Jun 2013

  • USGS (2004) National field manual for the collection of water-quality data: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, Book 9, chapters A1-A9, http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A. Accessed 3 Mar 2015

  • Uzarski DG, Brady VJ, Cooper M (2012) Quality assurance project plan: great lakes indicator consortium (GLIC): implementing great lakes coastal wetland monitoring. Prepared for U.S. EPA GLNPO, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagler M, Mathews J (2012) Up river: place, ethnography, and design in the St. Louis river estuary. In: Dikkers S, Martin J, Coulter B (eds) Mobile media learning: amazing uses of mobile devices for teaching and learning. ETC Press, Pittsburgh

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker RD, Pastor J, Dewey B (2010) Litter quantity and nitrogen immobilization cause oscillations in productivity of wild rice (Zizania palustris L.) in northern Minnesota. Ecosystems 13:485–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported primarily by a joint Minnesota and Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute (NOAA) project. This work was funded by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute under grants from the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, and from the State of Wisconsin. Federal grant number NA100AR4170070, project number R/RegHCE-08-10. The Minnesota Sea Grant portion of the project was funded under grant number R/RegHCE-8-10.

Our team also had extensive in-kind support from the University of Minnesota-Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Minnesota and Wisconsin Sea Grant Institutes. We would especially like to acknowledge J. Reed (Red Pebble Web Design) for website design.

In addition, we wish to acknowledge supporting contributions by: M. Anderson, T. Brown, P. Collins, D. Desotelle, D. Erickson, R. Garono, R. Greene, J. Henneck, J. Hoffman, T. Hollenhorst, A. Moser, J. Karl, P. Meysembourg, E. Ruzycki, J. Schomberg, J. Schuldt, G. Sjerven, N. Will, J. Zomerfelt

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    J. Silbernagel & M. Axler

  2. Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN, USA

    G. Host & R. Axler

  3. Minnesota Sea Grant Institute, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN, USA

    C. Hagley

  4. Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    D. Hart

  5. School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University [Emeritus], Columbus, OH, USA

    R. Fortner

  6. Environmental Studies and Sociology, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR, USA

    V. Smith

  7. Department of Natural Sciences and Technology, Leech Lake Tribal College, Cass Lake, MN, USA

    A. Drewes

  8. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, US EPA-MED, Duluth, MN, USA

    W. Bartsch

  9. Natural Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Superior, Superior, WI, USA

    N. Danz

  10. Games, Learning, and Society, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    J. Mathews & M. Wagler

Authors
  1. J. Silbernagel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. Host
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. Hagley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. Hart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. Axler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. R. Fortner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M. Axler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. V. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. A. Drewes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. W. Bartsch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. N. Danz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. J. Mathews
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. M. Wagler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Silbernagel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Silbernagel, J., Host, G., Hagley, C. et al. Linking place-based science to people through spatial narratives of coastal stewardship. J Coast Conserv 19, 181–198 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-015-0380-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-015-0380-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation