| NSF Org: |
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 27, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 11, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 1733924 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Frederick Kronz
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2021 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $178,341.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $178,341.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2018 = $63,111.00 FY 2019 = $57,886.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
201 MULLICA HILL RD GLASSBORO NJ US 08028-1702 (856)256-4057 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NJ US 08028-1701 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | STS-Sci, Tech & Society |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
This project will look at the history of waste management in New Jersey to study individuals' and communities' relationships with their physical environment. The goal of the study is to contribute to a new approach to environmental governance that takes ecological identity into consideration. The project will develop a public, interactive website allowing users to explore the past, present, and future of waste management in New Jersey. This project will yield generalizable findings with applications for researchers, policymakers, and publics across the country that are concerned about the effectiveness of existing approaches to environmental problem-solving. It will provide research experiences for undergraduate students.
By being grounded in scholarships about risk, governance, and scale, this project will reconstruct environmental policy and governance around the concept of ecological identity. The project thus focuses on two major questions. First, how do choices regarding waste management reflect differing understandings of ecological identity in New Jersey (and vice versa)? And second, how does articulation of ecological identity transform policymaking processes and aid efforts to protect the natural environment from pollution? By analyzing a range of data to identify connections between ecological identities and waste management strategies in New Jersey the project will articulate how these connections have resulted in both successful and unsuccessful attempts to manage wastes. Documentary and quantitative historical data about waste management in New Jersey will be used along with interviews from key figures in the state's waste management history and community focus groups the project will examine interconnections waste management practices and ecological identity. In addition, data collected from an interactive website and forum will help to develop a systematic means for incorporating ecological identity into environmental policy and governance processes.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The major goals of this project were to investigate the evolution of solid waste management systems in the state of New Jersey, with an eye towards understanding 'how we got here' with the infrastructure and policies that exist. Though many are surprised to hear it, New Jersey has actually played a very important role in waste management for the entire US, and many major policies and court cases have unfolded in the context of the state and its 21 counties.
On a higher level, this project examines the way that environmental policy is made, and is looking to better understand alternatives to the cost-benefit analysis approach that characterizes most environmental policymaking in the USA. The project asks whether viable alternatives to the cost-benefit analysis approach which dominates contemporary environmental policymaking can be developed through closer consideration of ecological identity. Ecological identity is a concept that links peoples' attitudes towards environmental protection to their specific, material connections to the physical environments they interact with in their daily lives.
This project involved in-depth interviewing of waste management professionals, extensive archival research, and the analysis and public dissemination of approximately 30 years' worth of quantitative solid waste data in order to achieve the goals. As a part of the research work, the project provided training opportunities for undergraduate students.
Key outcomes of the project included a peer-reveiwed research article, numerous conference presentations, and the development of a book detailing all the project findings. Another key outcome was development of a public-facing website allowing interested persons to examine project data as well as a series of interactive maps detailing changes to waste management in New Jersey.
Last Modified: 09/02/2021
Modified by: Jordan Howell
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