Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Monday, June 11 (travel day)

7:00 pm     Committee Dinner at Mahoney State Park Lodge

Tuesday, June 12

7:00           Breakfast, Mahoney State Park Lodge

8:00           Welcome, reconnections; review agenda Adena Rissman, Chair NC1190

8:15           Introductions and individual updates (each person gave a brief introduction and update on activities in the past year related to NC1190)

10:30         Break

10:45         Continued individual updates

11:45         Break

12:00         Working Lunch – Mahoney State Park

 Selection of NC1190 Secretary for 2018.

• • Stephen Gasteyer nominated and elected unanimously to be NC1190 Secretary for 2018-19. NC1190 2019 meeting will be in Wooster, Ohio (Jackson-Smith, Vice-chair)

 Reviewed Goals from 2017 meeting; discussed progress on various commitments and projects;

• • Synthesis paper (still inactive)
  • Groundwater
    • Small breakout group last year
    • Active interest among attendees: Stephen G, Tonya, Steven W, Ben
  • Adaptation (inactive for now)
  • INFEWS
    • Last year: at least 1 funded; others pending this year
    • Not clear interest in raising this up as priority for NC1190 this year (Doug and Ben are on projects; Linda is on proposals going in this year)
  • Leveraging large scale events for creating change
    • status: continue to consider
  • Rural / Urban divide
    • Adena Rissman still willing to lead paper; some progress last fall
    • Focus: mechanisms by which water quality influences urban-rural relationships. Good intro and outline of issues already on dropbox folder
    • Will continue to work on this (discuss this afternoon)
  • Book (MARK) is moving forward – have 7 chapters; going through edits; final versions due by October; highlight how social science used in water management; 2019 Publication date as USDA USFS General Technical Report; targeted at practitioners and undergraduates
  • Attitude-behavior split / disconnect (Prokopy, Burbach, Ribaudo, others)
    • Status – manuscript submitted to LUP; accepted!
  • Schneider/Ingram policy tools
    • Possibly keep alive (but of interest to many who are not at this year’s meeting); not discussed at this meeting
  • Nutrient Reduction Strategy paper – Doug volunteered to lead last year
    • Doug hired student last summer; did interviews, media analysis in Ohio
    • Model exists that could be extended to other states
    • Discuss later today
  • Data privacy issues / data info and disclosure (Adena)
    • New restrictions on access to public data (e.g., CRP participation)
  • Performance metrics; Performance measures / reporting (SESYNC proposal?) – Adena; Kathy
    • Last year’s Idea: Convene social scientists and modelers, discuss what indicators should be; Performance vs. impacts? Issue-focused (e.g., algae blooms)?
    • Adena still interested; connections to Kathy, Stephen G, Doug
  • Metadata / case studies (ask Kristin Flores if she wants to revive)
  • Structural issues in ag supply chain as drivers/constraints of conservation behavior
  • Last year: Conceptual paper, laying out dimensions, of structure?
  • Cohesive framework for data collection; develop issues-specific paper topics (e.g. groundwater, water quality)
  • Doug, Stephen, J., Chloe, Tonya, Mae, Jessica, Mark, Kristin, Pranay, Linda, Kristin (?)
  • Documentation of impact of social science on conservation policies (more comes from biodiversity world)
• Discussed possible new topics for discussion this year
  • Farmer engagement; different models and forms of partnerships (Doug)
    • Farmer engagement & participation as part of water quality policy/programs
    • Doug, Mark, Wes, Sarah, Emily, Kathy, Linda, Tonya, Adena
  • Minimizing social science research burdens (Kathy) on
    • Farmers; (coordination of research efforts; compensation for farmer time (in recognition of self-employment status) precedent, budget, equity
    • Develop review and set of guidelines and suggestions
    • Kathy, Mark, Wes, Tonya, Steven

1:30        Break

1:35        Full group in-depth discussion of key topics 

1. Hypoxia Task Force Mandate & response (led by Doug Jackson-Smith)
   • Key question – how does the process of adapting/responding to a common mandate differ across states? (for a national environmental problem/mandate catalyst)
   • How has it deflected the trajectory & scope of the state’s effort
   • Explaining variation using characteristics of states – measurable attributes
     • who participated in process
     • characteristics of the farm sector; commodity mix
   • Doug hired a student who did structured interviews and wrote short report in summer 2017. Desire to replicate OH work done in 2017 to other states – interest?
     • Last year interest from: Stephen G (MI), Doug JS, Adena (WI); J Arbuckle (IA); Linda, Sarah (IN); Ben (IL)
     • Connects to work done by Berger and Ingram in connection with SERA 46
     • Needed reach out to remaining states to test waters
   • ACTION: Doug J-S will distribute revised protocol to rest of group and nail down plans
     • Finalize baseline research design/instruments
     • Circulate IRB materials
     • Confirm participation in NC1190 states
     • Solicit participation from other MRB states

2. GROUNDWATER issues subgroup (Gasteyer/Gramig led)
   • As groundwater becomes a bigger issue in upper Midwest/eastern corn belt (traditionally rainfed states) – lessons from other regions that can be brought to bear?
   • Interest in management study – Stephen Gasteyer
     • What are institutions and governance arrangements (and social/cultural practices) that allow for groundwater management?
     • Survey management structures – look at position of each state to address the challenges that might be coming
   • ERS – update from Steven Wallander
     • looking into funding national survey of irrigation and groundwater districts (build into farm and ranch irrigation survey); Get info on their economics; marginal costs; cost to producers; factors that shape behaviors
     • Also good to include info from USGS studies of aquifer recharge/status; upper Midwest aquifers
   • Open discussion about the degree to which GW quantity (and quality) issues are being discussed in the state
   • ACTION: Proposal suggestion (Stephen Gasteyer)
     • Dropbox set up last year – need to update/add (Tonya, Stephen G will do)
     • Map the state-by-state policy context
     • Take North Central states and develop a protocol/instrument to capture information from documents and key informants to characterize status of GW management structure; governance arrangements and policies/programs
     • To what extent is quality a consideration? If so – what was catalyst
     • Invite Matt Sanderson

3:00           Break & Travel to Platte River

3:30           Walking tour and observation tower visit; discussion of regional WQ issues & challenges

7:00           Picnic at Platte River State Park

8:30           Return to Mahoney State Park

Wednesday, June 13

7:00           Breakfast Mahoney State Park Lodge

8:00           Re-convene to discuss paper ideas, grant opportunities, and project work.

3. Urban-Rural Relationships paper (Adena Rissman)
   • Adena shared draft MS with group (started last summer; somewhat revised)
   • Tentative title: WQ improvement efforts shape urban-rural relationships
     • Conceptual framework for types of linkages; Lit review; Policy by policy type – observations about the effects of these policy approaches on relationships; Highlight examples from real world
   • Google doc set up last year has material related to filling the cells on the table (combos of policies * relationship types):
   • Discussed potential for urban policies that might shape rural perceptions (to balance focus on nonpoint WQ programs/policies and their impacts on urban perceptions)
   • Focus should be on wide range of impacts that relate to the relationships between rural/urban
   • Organizing principles/outline for paper?
     • Stick to policy categories – but note projects can include a range of approaches and evolve through time
     • Think about target audience for paper – who would likely use this advice in their work? Community development; extension?
   • Next steps – conference call to reengage the outline/draft and decide on division of labor; see google doc and emailed copy of latest draft as a guide
   • Draft list of folks involved:
     • Present: Rissman, Church
     • From last year (not present): Arbuckle, Floress, Gasteyer, Ulrich-Schad, Wardropper
     • Add Burbach and Eaton (sermons/norms)
     • Doug J-S interested, but not likely to play strong role 

4. Farmer Participation in Research / Outreach (led by Doug Jackson-Smith)
   • Doug led discussion of possible coordinated project to explore how farmers in the region are being engaged in research and modeling relative to water quality issues (through on-farm research, participatory modeling, demonstration farms, etc.). Interested in assessing the diversity of approaches and their impacts on farmers (and scientists)
   • FOCUS: Drive towards mini-proposal to underwrite some baseline research
   • Goal
     • Develop conceptual typology of approaches and outcomes
     • Critically evaluate examples of engaged/participatory approaches
       • Edge-of-Field projects (inventory by state?)
       • On-farm research types
       • Farmer networks
       • Team suggested examples of projects for case studies.
     • Next steps
       • Doug will draft a vision document that can be circulated to group – highlight issue, potential research questions
       • Pitch proposal to Walton foundation to lay groundwork for larger study/proposal to USDA/NSF/AES or university seed grant proposals
       • Consider finding funds from our NC1190 allocations to help take first steps 

10:00         Break

5. Performance measurement (led by Adena Rissman)
   • Group discussed possible project/paper idea around the ways in which ‘performance’ is assessed and measured in research, models, and policy. Interesting to see the impact of how outcomes are defined and measured affects the trajectory of water quality projects.
   • Key questions:
     • Why do we track the things we do?
     • Internal needs vs. external audience targets
     • Diff between performance measurement and evaluation
       • Performance typically has no control, causal mechanisms
       • Lit from public policy scholarship
     • Wes suggested use of interesting conceptual foundation in Larry Busch’s work on Standards (where they come from, social/economic impacts)
     • A lot going on in water quality arena that involves quantification of outcomes
     • Examples of performance metrics include
       • Things that can be measured through models, actual measurements and observations, and the disconnections between the two
       • What are potential impacts of moving from model-based approach to actual performance measurements
       • Other examples = pay for performance projects; flexibility with accountability
     • Compare farmers concerns about data across different platforms and purposes
     • Examples of efforts to use private sector as ‘safe zone’ 3^rd party
     • TARGET/ACTION PLAN
       • Write proposal to AFRI social implications of new science and technologies
       • NSF / STS or CNH project? 

6. FARMER RESEARCH FATIGUE (led by Kathy Brasier)
   • Kathy Brasier introduced the idea – interested in studying the widely accepted idea that farmers are getting ‘research fatigue’ and how it might affect social science research in this arena; grows out of separate project that is working on research subject fatigue in energy boomtowns.
   • Steven Wallander noted how the USDA/NASS/ERS works to minimize burden by removing people from future samples who were involved in previous work
   • We discussed topics for potential research note – focused on social science research with farmers about water quality
     • How do we know that this is a problem?
     • In what ways is it a problem? What concerns does it raise?
     • Why is it happening?
     • What are opportunities to address / minimize burden?
   • ACTION ITEM
     • Target draft of Research note – Kathy Brasier
     • Possible outlets
       • SNR commentary/research note/policy piece?
       • JSWC commentary/section A

 11:50         Final business

 Plans for next year’s meeting

• • Wooster OH (weeks of June 17^th or 24^th)
  • Fly into Cleveland or Akron/Canton and rent a car (45-60 minute drive)
  • Meet at OARDC campus; field trip ideas could include trip to Amish Country; Sugarcreek water quality trading program; area parks

• Consider organizing conference special sessions; Pre-meeting workshops ; engagement
  • ISSRM 2019 – Oshkosh June 1-6, 2019
  • SWCS 2019 – Pittsburg July 28–31, 2019

 Noon         Adjourn

Accomplishments 2017/2018 Project Year 

Outcomes

• Through the survey and interview research conducted by Dr. Schad over the past year, South Dakota academics and practitioners have gained a better understanding of the current land management practices and drivers of such practices of South Dakota land operators and owners that are relevant to soil and water quality.
• Program evaluation of the Nebraska Water Leaders Academy by Dr. Burbach showed that Academy alumni have emerged as leaders in their communities and with the knowledge and skills to drive innovative approaches to water management in Nebraska. Research by Dr. Burbach and colleagues has demonstrated that nudges combined with financial incentives are a more effective policy tool than financial incentives alone. Research by Dr. Burbach and colleagues indicates that heterogeneous landscape-scale management of grasslands will remain low unless conservation organizations and others find mechanisms to improve attitudes about fire, prairie dogs, and wildlife.
• The "Common Ground Common Water" film was viewed by approximately 300 people in meetings and events. Teachers have asked to use the film in their high school science classrooms. Dr. Church has been invited to speak at a "Legislative Breakfast" in Northwest Indiana to discuss watershed planning and the importance of including "all" stakeholders in watershed management.
• Prokopy’s research on non-operating landowners has helped watershed efforts think about how to engage this very important audience. Our research on the role of the private sector in promoting conservation practices has infiltrated many sectors of government from local to state to national.  More and more watersheds are trying to figure out how to work with crop advisors and retailers in their ongoing efforts.  The collective research from Dr. Prokopy’s group has been used to inform state-level communications about nutrient management.
• Through key informant interviews, documented how scientist and other experts envision members of the landowning public through a ""deficit model"" lens. Building on the literature on public understanding of science and drawing from this interview data, the researchers at Penn State University suggest that humans do not change their behavior through reviewing new information alone. Instead, humans also change their behavior when groups with different forms of knowledge and experience engage in productive dialogue about the views and interests of all parties. Through dialogic processes, which are premised on mutual respect for experiences and perspectives that at times contrast, new understandings for energy crops can be developed by all parties, experts and public groups alike. The researchers suggest that this dialogic approach can indeed change human behavior, although what that change looks like will depend on the outcome of the dialogue between experts and public groups. Researchers developed a draft approach targeting scientists for fostering dialogic engagement.
• Through survey data collected from landowners across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, documented socio-cultural factors that the researcher's logistic regression model predict support for perennial energy crop production locally, and willingness to grow these crops on one's private land.
• In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, Iowa NC1190-related projects employed qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect and analyze social science data from Iowa farmers to inform water quality improvement activities. Research findings are helping ISU extension faculty and field staff, agencies (e.g., Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources), NGOs (e.g., Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa Clean Water Alliance), and private sector stakeholders to more effectively work with farmers to implement soil and water conservation practices in support of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, a statewide initiative to reduce nutrient loss.
• Wardropper’s non-operator landowner project disseminated information about soil health to approximately 40,000 landowners with land in Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois.
• Rissman’s projects caused an increase in knowledge of extreme storm events and actions to reduce the water quality impacts of large storms, increase in knowledge about public support for various policy options for improving water quality, and greater awareness of the strengths and limitations of measurement and modeling options within payment for performance schemes.
• Gramig’s projects are well-positioned to increased knowledge of determinants of agricultural conservation (and related research findings) that can be put to use in policy design and integrated research-extension projects or programs. It is expected that findings from water quality research on BMP effectiveness will provide insights to the state of Illinois (and its neighbors) on cost-effective investments in on-farm BMPs to achieve state nutrient loss reduction goals.
• Davenport’s project outcomes have included change in knowledge and action among natural resource professionals at the local, regional and national level. The social science studies have informed decision makers about the diverse audiences they serve, in particular what drives and constrains conservation action and public engagement in water resource management. Recommendations and technical assistance provided have guided program development, staff training, policy analysis and planning. Natural resource professionals and local decision makers have adapted education, outreach and monitoring tools based on study findings. Dr. Davenport also led several professional trainings on community capacity assessment and social science research methods. Her outreach in these areas has led to increased knowledge and capacity among natural resource agency staff and other professionals. End users have applied her research to redesign community engagement strategies in natural resource plans, better implement community engagement in natural resource management programming, and design new training materials and programs for natural resource agency staff and other professionals. To further contribute to social science monitoring at state agencies, she has created a new social monitoring system that has been piloted and adopted by multiple state agencies in Minnesota and in Wisconsin. The results of social monitoring system pilot work conducted by five agencies in Minnesota have been published in the Clean Water Fund Performance Report at www.legacy.leg.mn. 

Outputs (Websites) 

Building Climate Readiness on Minnesota’s North Shore   www.northshoreclimate.com

Center for Changing Landscapes  www.changinglandscapes.umn.edu

Clean Water Fund Performance Report www.legacy.leg.mn.

Eaton website: https://aese.psu.edu/directory/wme107

Gasteyer Faculty Website, http://sociology.msu.edu/faculty-and-staff/tenure_stream_faculty_directory/stephen-gasteyer

Idaho Water Resources Research Institute,  https://www.uidaho.edu/research/entities/iwrri

Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, https://ext.soc.iastate.edu/programs/iowa-farm-and-rural-life-poll/

Levees and Flooding of Agricultural Lands series 2011-present http://www.soc.iastate.edu/staff/wrightmorton/flooding.html

Midwest and High Plains Regional Climate Centers: https://mrcc.illinois.edu/U2U/irrigation/  and https://hprcc.unl.edu/iic.php

Nebraska Water Leaders Academy, http://waterleadersacademy.org/

Ohio Watershed Network, https://ohiowatersheds.osu.edu/

Prokopy Faculty Website: https://www.purdue.edu/fnr/prokopy/

Water For Agriculture Project website: http://water4ag.psu.edu/

Water Sustainability and Climate Project, https://wsc.limnology.wisc.edu/yahara2070

Outputs (Presentations) 

1. Arbuckle, J.G. Why do farmers adopt (or not adopt) soil and water conservation practices? Keynote address for the 8th Sustainable Cropping Systems Symposium, Penn State University, State College, PA, April 6, 2018.
2. Arbuckle, J.G.. Farmer perspectives on the social and environmental impacts of commodity crop production in Iowa. Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH, July 29, 2017.
3. Arbuckle, J.G. What’s new from the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll? ISU Extension Farm Management Team In-Service. Cherokee, IA, September 27, 2017.
4. Arbuckle, J.G. Iowa farmers and the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy: Are we making progress? Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance Advisory Committee Meeting, Des Moines, IA, July 26, 2017.
5. Arbuckle, J.G. How social science research can improve stakeholders understanding of farmers nutrient management perspectives and inform collaborative action to improve water quality. Urban Ag Academy, Ames, IA, July 13, 2017.
6. Bates, H and J.G. Arbuckle Jr. 2017. Social Predictors of Conservation Practice Adoption in Iowa. Prairie Lakes Conference. Okoboji, IA, August 9-11.
7. Brasier, K., Securing Water for and from Agriculture through Effective Community & Stakeholder Engagement. Universities Council on Water Resources Annual Conference, June, 2018.
8. Bausch and Porter. Water for Agriculture Project Overview. Various stakeholder & community meetings in Arizona, April - June, 2018.
9. Burbach, M.E. Securing Water for and from Agriculture through Effective Community & Stakeholder Engagement. Nebraska Water Center, Spring Retreat, April 5, 2018.
10. Burbach, M.E. Maximizing Your Civic Capacity by Engaging in Water Issues. Nebraska Association of County Officials (NACO), Institute of Excellence, February 13, 2018.
11. Burbach, M.E. Full Range Leadership for Leaders in the Water Arena. Nebraska State Irrigation Association, Water Leaders Academy, January 25, 2018.
12. Burbach, M.E. Securing Water for and from Agriculture through Effective Community & Stakeholder Engagement. Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, Legislative Conference, January 24, 2018.
13. Burbach, M.E. Personal Empowerment Continuing to Develop Your Leadership Capacity. Nebraska State Irrigation Association, Water Leaders Academy, November 16, 2017.
14. Burbach, M.E. Tapping into Your Motivation to Serve and Inspiring Others in Their Service. Nebraska State Irrigation Association, Water Leaders Academy, November 16, 2017.
15. Burbach, M.E. The Nebraska Water Leaders Academy (poster). Nebraska Water Center, 2017 Water Symposium, October 26-27, 2017.
16. Burbach, M.E. Addressing or managing difficult natural resource issues. Something Wicked This Way Comes: A Round Table on Engaging Stakeholders and Seeking Solutions to Complex Natural Resource Challenges. Penn State University College of Law, October 20, 2017.
17. Church, S.P. (2018). Common Ground Common Water: The use of film in water resource education and planning. Invited talk at Michigan City Conference on the Environment. Michigan City, IN. June 8, 2018.
18. Church, S.P. (Accepted). The Urban-Ag Divide: Film as a tool for shared understanding of water resource protection. Oral presentation. To be presented with R. Margerum, K. Genskow, C. Dyckman, F. Eanes, and L.S. Prokopy, at a pre-organized session organized by S.P. Church: New Directions in Water Resource Planning. 24th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Snowbird, UT. June 17-21, 2018.
19. Czap, N.V., Czap, H.J., Banerjee, S., & Burbach, M.E. Field Experiment on Encouraging Farmers Participation in the Conservation Stewardship Program. Advances with Field Experiments 2017 Conference, September 17, 2017.
20. Davenport, M.A., Pradhananga, A., & Shepard, J. (2018). Social attachments drive civic engagement in climate change action. Social Coast, Charleston, NC, February 6, 2018.
21. Davenport, M.A. (2018). Nitrogen use and determinants of best management practices: A social scientist’s nitrogen reduction strategy. USDA Workshop on Nutrient Management Best Practices, Washington DC, May 22, 2018.
22. Davenport, M.A. (2018). Stitching civic engagement into water quality improvement projects: What matters? Mississippi River Basin Civic Engagement Workshop, Biloxi, Mississippi, May 31, 2018.
23. Davenport, M.A. (2018). Manoomin in Minnesota and the Great Lakes Basin: A flagship for environmental preservation and indigenous resource sovereignty. 2nd Annual Lake Superior Manoomin Restoration Workshop, Duluth, MN, April 10, 2018.
24. Davenport, M.A., Perry, V. Lutsky, K. (2018). Climate change close to home: Learning and Adapting. Science on Tap, Minnesota Sea Grant, Duluth, MN. January 5, 2018.
25. Davenport, M.A. (2017). Climate change readiness on the North Shore: From information to meaning. Adaptation Planning for Coastal Communities, NOAA, Duluth, MN, October 25, 2017.
26. Davenport, M.A. (2017). Empowering people and engaging communities: The social science of clean water action. Minnesota Humanities Center We Are Water Minnesota Host Site Retreat, St. Paul, MN, October 24, 2017.
27. Davenport, M.A. (2017). Narratives of extreme weather, urban runoff, and climate adaptation. St. Anthony Falls Laboratory Seminar Series, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN September 26, 2017.
28. Pradhananga, A. & Davenport, M.A. (2017). Qualitative research: How to analyze focus group data? Training workshop presented to Sibley County project managers and partners, Gaylord, MN, May 22, 2017.
29. Davenport, M. (2017). Social measures for civic engagement in water. Webinar presented to EPA-Civic Engagement work group. April 3, 2017.
30. Davenport, M. (2017). Social measures for civic engagement in water. Applied research symposium: social dimensions of nutrient reduction. June 3, 2017.
31. Davenport, M. (2017). Activating a water ethic, inspiring water action: The social science of clean water, Environmental Quality Board Meeting, St. Paul, MN, April 19, 2017.
32. Davenport, M. (2017). North Dakota Watershed Coordinators Workshop, The social science of watershed management, Bismarck, ND, March 29, 2017.
33. Davenport, M. (2017). Common or at least consistent progress measures to consider in climate readiness work. Center for Changing Landscapes Climate Connections Seminar Series, St. Paul, MN, February 24, 2017.
34. Davenport, M.A. (2017). Learning by listening: The social science of watershed management. 34th Red River Basin Land and Water International Summit Conference, Fargo, North Dakota, January 17, 2017.
35. Eaton, Weston M., Morey Burnham, Theresa Selfa, & Clare Hinrichs. How Social Representations of Land Shape Landowner Responses to Perennial Energy Crops. Energy Impacts Symposium. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. July 26-27, 2017
36. Eaton, Weston M., Morey Burnham, Katrina Running, & Clare Hinrichs. Testing the Symbolic ‘Fit’ Hypothesis. How Differing Meanings for Place and Technology Shape Social Responses to Bioenergy Crops in the Northeast, U.S.A. Rural Sociological Society. Columbus, Ohio. July 27-30, 2017
37. Eaton, Weston M., Morey Burnham, & Clare Hinrichs. Reification of Supply and Demand: Unpacking Economic Assumptions in the Question of Landowner Adoption of Energy Crops in the Northeastern USA. Dimensions of Political Ecology. University of Kentucky. Lexington, KY. February 23-25, 2017
38. Gangeness, B., Smith, M. Davenport, M.A., & Tonko, J. (2017). The year of water action: Building the water ethic in Minnesota. Minnesota Environmental Congress, St. Paul, MN, February 3, 2017.
39. Gramig, B.M. Behavioral insights from qualitative and quantitative research on agricultural conservation adoption and stated preferences, Land, Water & Environment (ENV) track session, 2017 AAEA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
40. Groth, T., E. Toman and J. Arbuckle. The changing face of the 'traditional farmer' and the role of 'farmer identity'. Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH, July 28, 2017. (27)
41. Higgins, Kenneth F., Lora B. Perkins, and Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad. Temporal Impacts of Changing Agricultural Practices and Rural Populations on South Dakota Waterfowl Habitats and Populations.  South Dakota Academy of Science, Brookings, SD. 
42. Morton, L.W. 2017. Increasingly Variable Weather and a Changing Climate: What are farmers thinking and doing? National Association of Conservation Districts, NC Region board of directors. St Louis. January 10.
43. Morton, L.W. 2018.Vulnerability of Key US Agroecosystems. Scientific Collaboration for Agricultural Resilience. (US and Canada Dept of Agriculture) Ottawa, CA USDA-AAFC January 11.
44. Nelson, P. Davenport, M.A. & Kuphal, T. (2017). Building capacity and confidence: It’s not all about money. Water Resources Conference, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, October 18, 2017.
45. Nowak, J., Felix, A., Duever, B., Venier, C., & Davenport, M.A. (2017). Communication, information sources, and the rural-urban divide. International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, June 22, 2017, Umea, Sweden.
46. Pradhananga, A. & Davenport, M.A. (2017). A moral approach to farmer adoption of conservation practices. International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, June 19, 2017, Umea, Sweden.
47. Pradhananga, A. & Davenport, M.A. (2017). Qualitative research: How to conduct and analyze focus groups? Training workshop presented to Sibley County project managers and partners, St. Peter, MN, February 28, 2017.
48. Perry, V., Shepard, J., & Davenport, M.A. (2017). Collective efficacy theory as a framework for qualitative data analysis and community-centered water resource management. International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, June 19, 2017, Umea, Sweden.
49. Perry, V., Meier, H. & Davenport, M.A. (2017). Are we ready? Lower St. Louis River Basin community climate and extreme weather perceptions and preparedness, Mixed Methods Study Findings. St. Louis River Summit, March 14, 2017, Superior, WI.
50. Prokopy, L.S., J. Arbuckle, K. Floress, S.P. Church, P. Ranjan, A. Singh, J. Barmblett, K. Flahive, M. McDonald. (2017). Meta-Review of Barriers and Motivations for Farmers to Adopt Conservation Practices. Symposium presentation. 72nd Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference. Madison, WI. July 30-August 2, 2017.
51. Prokopy, Linda. February 2018. Priorities for Water Research. National Institutes for Water Resources annual meeting, Washington, DC.
52. Prokopy, Linda, November 2017. Social-Behavioral Dimensions: Motivating Change on Ag Lands, FFAR Convening Event on Barriers to Innovation Adoption, Washington, DC.
53. Prokopy, Linda, November 2017. Useful to Usable: A Retrospective Look at Successes and Challenges in Communicating Climate Change in Agriculture, Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan.
54. Prokopy, Linda, September 2017. The Role of Non-Operating Landowners in Conservation. CTIC Tour, Benton County, IN.
55. Prokopy, Linda, August 2017. Socio-Behavioral Determinants of Behavior Change in Agriculture. Keystone Monarch Collaborative Steering Committee meeting, Washington, DC.
56. Prokopy, Linda. July 2017. Talking Climate Change Down on the Farm. Wolf Park, Battleground, IN.
57. Ranjan, P. and S.P. Church. (Accepted). Barriers to conservation adoption: Evidence from qualitative research. Oral presentation. To be presented with L.S. Prokopy, J. Arbuckle, and K. Floress, at a pre-organized session: Meta-Review of Barriers and Motivations for Farmers to Adopt Conservation Practices. 24th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Snowbird, UT. June 17-21, 2018.
58. Ranjan, Pranay and Linda Prokopy. March 2018. Barriers to Soil Health Practices on Rented Land. Soil Health on Rented Lands in Indiana: A Workshop for Agricultural, Conservation and Landowner Service Professionals to Explore Potential Solutions, Indianapolis, IN.
59. Rissman, Adena R. Private land conservation: improving effectiveness and transparency in an era of environmental change. Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture. UW-Madison. April, 2018. Madison, WI
60. Rissman, Adena R. and Chloe Wardropper. Responses to Extreme Storms and Water Quality Information Use by Soil and Water Conservation Offices. Wisconsin Soil and Water Conference. March, 2018. Lake Geneva, WI
61. Shepard, J. Davenport, M.A., Seekamp, E., Pradhananga, A. (2017) Global climate change and local adaptation: Working across scales of problems, governance, and human experience. International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Umea, Sweden June 19-22, 2017.
62. Shepard, J. Davenport, M.A., Pradhananga, A., Seekamp, E. (2017) Lake Superior will always be Lake Superior: Resident perceptions of climate change and community adaptation on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota, USA. (Poster) International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Umeå, Sweden June 19-22, 2017.
63. Shepard, J. Davenport, M.A. (2017) Qualitative inquiry as a tool for centering local knowledge in community based adaptive management. (Poster) National Adaptation Forum, St. Paul, MN. May 9-11, 2017.
64. Shepard, J., Duever, B., Felix, L. Daveport, M.A. (2017) Community-centered adaptive management: Qualitative inquiry of climate change narratives on Minnesota’s North Shore. Western Social Science Association Conference, San Francisco, CA. April 15-17 2017.
65. Sun, S, BM Gramig, M Delgado and JP Sesmero. Spatial spillovers and temporal dynamics: heterogeneous impacts of agricultural cropland allocation and crop rotation on water quality, 2017 Heartland Environmental and Resource Economics workshop, Urbana, IL.
66. Sun, S., B.M. Gramig, M. Delgado and J.P. Sesmero. Spatial spillovers and temporal dynamics: heterogeneous impacts of agricultural cropland allocation and crop rotation on water quality, Selected poster, 2017 AAEA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
67. Sun, S., B.M. Gramig, M. Delgado and J.P. Sesmero. Measuring the effectiveness of agricultural conservation expenditures on water quality, Poster presentation, 2017 AERE Summer Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
68. Wardropper, C.B., Y. Masuda, R. Dell, P. Ranjan, S. Reddy, L. Prokopy. Tailoring messages to increase conservation on U.S. rented cropland. International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. Snowbird, Utah. June 17-21, 2018.
69. Whitmer, W. Securing Water for Agriculture through Effective Community and Stakeholder Engagement. National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, June 2018 

Activities

• Ulrich-Schad conducted a random sample survey of 3,000 South Dakota commodity crop farmers to assess their usage of soil and water conservation practices including the role of sense of place and entrepreneurial culture in their usage of land management practices. Through a USDA-NIFA grant, she developed and tested a typology of usage of parasiticides among livestock producers. She is conducting interviews with South Dakota land owners and their tenants to assess how they communicate about conservation practices used and the power dynamics at play
• Burbach evaluated the effect of the Nebraska Water Leaders Academy in producing catalysts of change in water issues. He also evaluated the effect of empathy nudging on water policy and programs. Investigated predictors of ranchers' attitudes toward heterogeneous landscape--scale management.
• Church produced a video and began data collection analyzing the video on watershed awareness and water as a shared resource. This 12-minute video highlights voices from urban and agricultural stakeholders, describing their impacts and actions to help protect water quality. Originally this "case study" was to be included as an example on an NC1190 paper on the "urban-Ag divide", which may yet happen. She also collaborated on a research note proposing new sense of place (SOP) measures for working lands to better measure the role of SOP in conservation behaviors. NC1190 collaborators include J. Arbuckle, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, and Wes Eaton. The paper has been submitted for a revise and resubmit in Society and Natural Resources. She collaborated on a USGS 104g grant proposal to explore the role of systems thinking in conservation programming and adoption at the state, watershed, and farm levels. NC1190 collaborators include J. Arbuckle, Doug Jackson-Smith, and Linda Prokopy. The grant was submitted June 15.
• Prokopy: (1) Worked with Kristin Floress, Ben Gramig, J. Arbuckle and others on a meta-analysis of all the ag BMP literature in the last 35 years. Results are not yet ready but are forthcoming.  Preliminary results were presented at the Soil and Water Conservation Society annual meeting in summer of 2017; (2) Analyzed the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework developed by ARS to understand how it can be used to get farmers and landowners to make conservation-friendly decisions on their land. Two papers are being drafted from this work; (3) Explored the role of Non-Operating Landowners in decisions on working farmlands across Iowa, Illinois and Indiana in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. Paper synthesizing results from qualitative interviews is in review. Paper synthesizing results of a messaging experiment is being drafted; (4) is exploring the role of crop insurance as a barrier to conservation adoption on farmland; (5) is working in three watersheds in Indiana (St. Mary's, Big Pine, and Upper White) to understand barriers and constraints to collaboration between multiple stakeholders; (6) is working in Saginaw Bay in Michigan to evaluate the effectiveness of a partnership program between The Nature Conservancy, NRCS, and the Michigan Agribusiness Association; (7) is working with NRCS to evaluate the effectiveness of National Water Quality Initiative.
• Arbuckle and fellow NC1190 co-PI Linda Prokopy received a grant from the Walton Family Foundation ($80,000) called Assessing Barriers to Adopting Conservation Practices. The project is conducting a review and meta-analysis of 35 years (1982-2017) of quantitative and qualitative social science research papers that have examined motivations of and barriers to adoption of soil and water conservation best management practices (BMPs) in US agriculture. The study will update and greatly expand on previous work that has reviewed BMP adoption (e.g., Prokopy et al. 2008; Baumgart-Getz et al. 2012). It will (1) review an unprecedented number of studies, (2) accommodate a number of recent advances in this field of study such as the growth of qualitative research with farmers, (3) focus on barriers to adoption in addition to motivations for adoption, and (4) identify gaps and areas in which more research is needed.
• Arbuckle is conducting a 5-year survey research project to measure change in awareness, attitudes, and actions related to nutrient loss reduction among Iowa farmers, and to identify barriers to action. Results have been disseminated through targeted presentations and the farm press, and stakeholders have used results to help refine programs.
• Arbuckle and fellow NC1190 co-PI Mae Davenport in March 2017 received a NIFA AFRI grant called Understanding and Building Capacity to Address Changing Water Availability in the Upper Corn Belt. This three-year multistate project (ISU and UMN) seeks to improve understanding of how planners, policy makers, and agricultural producers anticipate, respond, and adapt to changing water availability in four sites in Iowa and Minnesota. Iowa research has conducted in-depth interviews with rural water systems, livestock groups, government agencies, and other key stakeholders to evaluate perspectives on water availability and water quality issues in the region. The in-depth interviews are informing the development of a farmer survey to be conducted in both states.
• Arbuckle, in the 2017 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll (IFRLP) survey, examined several NC1190-relavent issues, including influence of Agricultural Information Sources (public and private sector actors) influence over crop and livestock and conservation decisions. Findings indicate that Local ag retailers, Seed dealers, and ISU Extension have the most influence on crop and livestock decisions, while USDA-NRCS, ISU Extension, and family members who farm have the most influence on soil and water conservation decisions. These results point to likely areas to focus communication and engagement resources. A second relevant set of IFRLP questions asked farmers to self-assess their farm’s performance relative to other farm operations in their area on several metrics on 5-point scale from far below average to far above average. Results showed that in terms of controlling soil erosion, only 1% of farmers believe their performance is below average, while 30% rated themselves as average, and 69% were above average. In terms of controlling nutrient loss: 2% rated themselves below average, 35% average, and 63% above average. These results suggest that Iowa farmers overestimate their farms; environmental performance.
• Eaton published a paper on northeast USA landowner perceptions of perennial energy and conservation crops, another paper on how northeast USA scientists imagine landowner behavior relative to perennial energy and conservation crops; and began work with Dr. Burbach and Dr. Brasier on a USDA grant focused on stakeholder engagement and water quality and quantity relative to agriculture in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Arizona (see below). He also developed and implemented survey items measuring Sense of Place (SOP) in working landscapes specifically, with colleagues in field of natural resource and rural sociology, in surveys with farmers in South Dakota, Idaho, and Iowa. Preliminary findings (to be) presented at ISSRM 2018., and he developed and implemented survey items measuring landowner and farmer perspectives on precision agriculture technologies and conservation practices, with colleagues in field of natural resource and rural sociology, in surveys with farmers in Iowa
• Gasteyer is finalizing an EPA grant on "Cooling the Hotspots"" in River Raisin on farmer led watershed analysis.
• Tonya Haigh co-authored a chapter called "The use of serious games for building cross-sector collaboration for water management planning under climate extremes" for the GTR that is being edited by Kristen, Linda, and Mark. Other co-authors include Deborah J. Bathke, Tonya Bernadt, Nicole Wall, Harvey Hill, and Andrea Carson.
• Flores is moving the GTR of the NC1190 team's case studies through the publication process. She also published a paper last fall co-authored with the team: Floress et al. 2018 (see below).
• Wardropper worked with NC1190 colleagues at UW-Madison and Purdue before starting a new faculty position at the U of Idaho. In her new role, she worked as co-author on 3 publications in review or in prep on non-operator landowners of farmland and their adoption of conservation practices. She also co-organized the session on “Non-operating agricultural landowners: Who they are, what we know, and how to work with them” at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. Snowbird, Utah held June 17-21, 2018. She also established new research programs on adoption of conservation in wheat-growing regions of the inner Pacific Northwest, and on practices that improve water quality and quantity in rangeland systems in Idaho and Montana.
• Brasier and Dr. Burbach successfully received funding from USDA for the project, "Securing Water for and From Agriculture Through Effective Community and Stakeholder Engagement" (Award Number: 2017-680007-26584). Activities involved in this first year include team organization, literature reviews, development of conceptual models, and baseline data collection. Team members reported on this project at the June, 2018 NC1190 meeting, which led to further discussion of how to increase the visibility of this project's engaged scholarship.
• Rissman examined public perceptions of water quality policies; published results from a survey of households in southern Wisconsin. She presented research and facilitated discussion in a workshop on the Yahara Watershed, Wisconsin attended by local stakeholders from government, industry, nonprofit organizations, and university researchers. She also conducted public outreach on water quality improvement efforts.
• Gramig officially joined the project in March of 2018 and worked on multi-state collaboration with NC-1190 members Prokopy (Purdue), Arbuckle (Iowa State) and Floress (USFS) on a systematic review of farmer adoption and barriers to adoption of conservation practices in the United States (1982-2017). He also is working with graduate students and collaborators at Purdue and the SILC Business School at Shanghai University to evaluate the environmental and cost-effectiveness of the EQIP program administered by USDA-NRCS using conservation contract data together with land use/land cover, soils, weather and water quality monitoring data in the Illinois and Wabash River basins of Illinois and Indiana. His NC1190-related activities included ongoing work that focuses on the economics of irrigation adoption (expansion) under projected future climate change in the Midwest/North central region; this work includes research and development of farmer decision support tools (current climate basis) found online through the Midwest and High Plains Regional Climate Centers: https://mrcc.illinois.edu/U2U/irrigation/ and https://hprcc.unl.edu/iic.php
• Davenport had 10 projects related to NC1190 including two directly examining public perceptions of water supply and risk associated with climate change and other impacts. The other projects include a state-wide survey of Minnesota residents on the value of water and water protection; an interdisciplinary study of impacts to manoomin (wild rice), a culturally significant grass species that grows in shallow lakes; and several other survey projects for local water resource managers. Her research team has also conducted workshops and trainings with local water resource and land use professionals on community assessment using social science research methods. She continues to consult with state agencies in Minnesota on tracking the social outcomes of water projects.
• Jackson-Smith is chairing a Task Force on Water Quality for the College of Food Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the Ohio State University. This Task Force will be proposing a new Water Quality Initiative to better coordinate and improve the impact of water quality research, teaching and extension activities at OSU. He conducted research on the response of Ohio state agencies and nonprofit organizations to the Gulf Coast Hypoxia Task Force Nutrient Reduction Strategy memo. He continues to work on social, institutional and organizational factors that mediate adoption and performance of water quality behaviors in agricultural and urban systems. He also served as secretary of NC1190 this year.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles (published)

1. Andrews, AC, R Clawson, BM Gramig and L Raymond. 2017. Finding the Right Value: Framing Effects on Domain Experts. Political Psychology 38(2): 261-278.
2. Arbuckle, J.G., J.C. Tyndall, L.W. Morton, and J. Hobbs. 2017. Climate change typologies and audience segmentation among Corn Belt farmers. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 72(3):205-214.
3. Armstrong, A. and D. Jackson-Smith. (forthcoming) Privatization and Inter-Municipal Collaboration in Local Stormwater Planning and Management. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.
4. Armstrong, A. and D. Jackson-Smith. 2017 “Connections and Collaborations of Local Water Management Organizations of Utah.” Society and Natural Resources 30(11): 1343-1357. Doi: 10.1080/08941920.2017.1347972
5. Barnett, M., D. Jackson-Smith, and M. Haeffner. 2018. Influence of recreational activities on water quality perceptions and concerns: a replicated analysis. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism.
6. Bates, H. and J.G. Arbuckle. 2017. Understanding Predictors of Nutrient Management Practice Diversity in Midwestern Agriculture. Journal of Extension 55(6)
7. Brock, Caroline, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad, and Linda S. Prokopy. Bridging the Divide: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Sector Agricultural Professionals Working with Amish and Mennonite Producers on Conservation. Environmental Management 61(5): 756-771.  DOI: 10.1007/s00267-018-0998-5.
8. Church, Sarah P., Tonya Haigh, Melissa Widhalm, Silvestra Garcia de Jalon, Nicholas Babin, Stuart Carlton, Michael Dunn, Katie Fagan, Cody L. Knutson, Linda S. Prokopy. 2017. Agricultural Trade Publications and the 2012 Midwestern U.S. Drought: A Missed Opportunity for Climate Risk Communication. Climate Risk Management, 15: 45-60.
9. Church, Sarah P. and Linda Stalker Prokopy. 2017. The Influence of Social Criteria in Mobilizing Watershed Conservation Efforts: A Case Study of a Successful Watershed in the Midwestern U.S. Land Use Policy, 61: 353-367.
10. Church, S.P., L.B. Payne, S. Peel, L.S. Prokopy. 2018. Beyond water data: Benefits to volunteers and to local water from a citizen science program. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management: 1-21.
11. Church, S.P., Dunn, M., N. Babin, A.S. Mase, T. Haigh, L.S. Prokopy. 2017. Do Advisors Perceive Climate Change as an Agricultural Risk? An in-depth examination of Midwestern U.S. Ag advisors’ views on drought, climate change, and risk management. Agriculture and Human Values: 1-17.
12. Czap, H.J., Czap, N.V., Burbach, M.E., & Lynne, G.D. 2018. Does might make right? An experimental investigation on the impact of who owns the property rights. Ecological Economics, 150, 229-240.
13. Czap, N.V., Czap, H.J., Khachaturyan, M., & Burbach, M.E. 2018. Conforming to or defying gender stereotypes? Empathy nudging vs. financial incentives in environmental context. Review of Behavioral Economics, 5(1), 61-84.
14. Czap, N.V., Czap, H.J., Khachaturyan, M., Burbach, M.E., & Lynne, G.D. 2018. Experiments on Empathy Conservation: Implications for Environmental Policy. Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, 2(2), Early view.
15. Eanes, Francis R., Ajay R. Singh, Brian R. Bulla, Pranay Ranjan, Linda S. Prokopy, Mary Fales, Benjamin Wickerham, Patrick J. Doran. 2017. Midwestern US Farmers Perceive Crop Advisers as Conduits of Information on Agricultural Conservation Practices. Environmental Management, 60(5): 974-988.
16. Eaton, Weston M., Morey Burnham, C. Clare Hinrichs, & Theresa Selfa. 2018. How do sociocultural factors shape rural landowner responses to the prospect of perennial bioenergy crops? Landscape & Urban Planning 175:195-204.
17. Eaton, Weston M., Morey Burnham, Clare Hinrichs, & Theresa Selfa. 2017. Bioenergy experts and their imagined ‘obligatory publics’ in the United States: Implications for public engagement and participation. Energy Research & Social Science 25:65-75.
18. Flint, C.G., X. Dai, D. Jackson-Smith, J. Endter-Wada, S.K. Yeo, R. Hale & M.K. Dolan. 2017. Social and Geographic Contexts of Water Concerns in Utah. Society & Natural Resources 30(8):885-902. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2016.1264653.
19. Floress, Kristin, Adam Reimer, Aaron Thompson, Mark Burbach, Cody Knutson, Linda Prokopy, Marc Ribaudo, Jessica Ulrich-Schad. 2018. Measuring Farmer Conservation Behaviors: Challenges and Best Practices. Land Use Policy. 70: 414-418.
20. Floress, K., Garcia de Jalon, S., Church, S., Babin, N., Ulrich-Schad, J., Prokopy, L.S., 2017. Toward a theory of farmer conservation attitudes: dual interests and willingness to take action to protect water quality. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 53, 73-80.
21. Gardezi, M. and J.G. Arbuckle. 2018. Spatially Representing Vulnerability to Extreme Rain Events Using Midwestern Farmers' Objective and Perceived Attributes of Adaptive Capacity. Risk Analysis. DOI: 10.1111/risa.12943
22. Gramig, BM and NJO Widmar. (forthcoming) Farmer Preferences for Agricultural Soil Carbon Sequestration Schemes. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.
23. Gramig, BM, R Massey and SD Yun.2017. Nitrogen Application Decision-making under Climate Risk in the U.S. Corn Belt. Climate Risk Management 15:82-89.
24. Haigh, Tonya, Vikram Koundinya, Chad Hart, Jenna Klink, Maria Lemos, Amber Saylor Mase, Linda Prokopy, Ajay Singh, Dennis Todey, and Melissa Widhalm. 2018. Provision of Climate Services for Agriculture: Public and Private Pathways to Farm Decision-making. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
25. Hale, R., C. Flint, D. Jackson-Smith and J. Endter-Wada (forthcoming). Social Dimensions of Urban Flood Experience, Exposure, and Concern. Journal of the American Water Resources Association.
26. Jackson-Smith, D., S. Ewing, A. Sigler, C. Jones, and A. Armstrong. (forthcoming) Farmers as Partners in Science: Participatory approaches to solving a groundwater nitrate pollution problem. Journal of the Soil and Water Conservation Society.
27. Haeffner, M., D. Jackson-Smith, and C.G. Flint. 2018. Social position influencing the water perception gap between local leaders and constituents in a socio-hydrological system. Water Resources Research. 54. doi: 10.1002/2017WR021456.
28. Haeffner, M., D. Jackson-Smith, M. Buchert, and J. Risley. 2017. Accessing blue spaces: social and geographic factors structuring familiarity with, use of, and appreciation of urban waterways. Landscape and Urban Planning 167: 136-146. DOI:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.06.008.
29. Klink, Jenna, Vikram Koundinya, Kim Kies, Courtney Robinson, Amulya Rao, Claire Berezowitz, Melissa Widhalm, and Linda Prokopy. 2017. Enhancing interdisciplinary climate change work through comprehensive evaluation. Climate Risk Management, 15: 109-125.
30. MacGowan, Brian, Ajay Singh, Bryan Overstreet, Michael O’Donnell, Heidi Klotz, Linda S. Prokopy. In Press. Producer’s Opinions on What Makes Effective Demonstrations. Journal of Extension, 16269RIB.
31. Mase, Amber Saylor, Benjamin Gramig, and Linda Stalker Prokopy. 2017. Climate Change Beliefs, Risk Perceptions, and Adaptation Behavior among Midwestern U.S. Crop Farmers. Climate Risk Management, 15: 8-17.
32. McClellan, E.L., K.E. Schilling, C.F. Wolter, M.D. Tomer, S.A. Porter, J.A. Magner, D.R. Smith, L.S.Prokopy 2018. Right Practice, Right Place: A Conservation Planning Toolbox for Meeting Water Quality Goals in the Corn Belt. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 73(2): 29A-34A.
33. Morton, L.W. and K.R. Olson. 2018. The pulses of the Mekong River Basin: Rivers and the
34. livelihoods of farmers and fishers. Journal of Environmental Protection 9:431-459.
35. Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. 2017. Tonle Sap Lake and River and Confluence with the Mekong River in Cambodia. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 73 (3):60A-66A.
36. Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. 2017. Water rights and fights, Lao PDR dams on the Mekong River. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 73(2)35A-41A.
37. Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. 2017. Managing Upper Missouri River for agriculture, irrigation, flood control and energy. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 72(5):105A-110A.
38. Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. 2017. Sedimentation, navigation, and agriculture on the lower Missouri River. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 72(4):80A-86A.
39. Olson, B. & Davenport, M.A. 2017. An inductive model of farmer conservation decision making for nitrogen management. Landscape Journal, 36(1), 59-73.
40. Pape, Aaron and Linda Stalker Prokopy. 2017. Delivering on the Potential of Formal Farmer Networks: Insights from Indiana. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 72(5): 463-470.
41. Pradhananga, A., Davenport, M.A., Perry, V. 2017. The influence of beliefs and norms in landowners’ civic engagement in water resource protection. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 72(6), 639-649.
42. Pradhananga, A. & Davenport, M.A. 2017. Community attachment, beliefs, and residents’ civic engagement in stormwater management. Landscape and Urban Planning, 168, 1-8.
43. Pradhananga, A., Davenport, M.A., Fulton, D.C., Maruyama, G.M., & Current, D. 2017. An integrated moral obligation model for landowner conservation norms. Society and Natural Resources 30(2), 212-227.
44. Prokopy, Linda Stalker, J. Stuart Carlton, Tonya Haigh, Maria Carmen Lemos, Amber Saylor Mase, Melissa Widhalm. 2017. Useful to Usable: Developing Usable Climate Science for Agriculture. Climate Risk Management, 15: 1-7.
45. Qiu, Jiangxiao, Chloe B. Wardropper, Adena R. Rissman, and Monica G. Turner. 2017. Spatial fit between water quality policies and hydrologic ecosystem services in an urbanizing agricultural landscape. Landscape Ecology. 32(1):59-75.
46. Rissman, A.R., P. Kohl, C.B. Wardropper. 2017. Public support for carrot, stick, and no-government water quality policies. Environmental Science and Policy, 76, 82-89.
47. Rissman, Adena R., Jessica Owley, Andrew W. L'Roe, Amy W. Morris, and Chloe B. Wardropper. 2017. Public access to spatial data on private-land conservation. Ecology and Society. 22(2):24   https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09330-220224
48. Rissman, Adena R., Patrice Kohl, and Chloe B. Wardropper. 2017. Public support for carrot, stick, and no-government water quality policies. Environmental Science and Policy. 76:82-89.
49. Roesch-McNally, G.E., J.G. Arbuckle, and J.C. Tyndall. 2018. Barriers to implementing climate resilient agricultural strategies: The case of crop diversification in the U.S. Corn Belt. Global Environmental Change 48:206-215.
50. Roesch-McNally, G.E., J.G. Arbuckle, and J.C. Tyndall. 2018. Soil as social-ecological feedback: Examining the ‘ethic’ of soil stewardship among Corn Belt farmers. Rural Sociology. 83(1):145-173.
51. Roesch-McNally, G., Basche, A., Arbuckle, J., Tyndall, J., Miguez, F., Bowman, T., and Clay, R. 2017. The trouble with cover crops: Farmers’ experiences with overcoming barriers to adoption. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 1-12. doi:10.1017/S1742170517000096
52. Schulte, L.A., Niemi, J., Helmers, M.J., Liebman, M., Arbuckle, J.G., James, D.E…, Witte, C. 2017. Prairie strips improve biodiversity and the delivery of multiple ecosystem services from corn-soybean croplands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114(42):11247-11252.
53. Sigler, W.A., S.A Ewing, C.A Jones, R.A Payn, E.N.J. Brookshire, J.K Klassen, D. Jackson-Smith, G.S. Weissmann,. 2018. Connections among soil, ground, and surface water chemistries characterize nitrogen loss from an agricultural landscape in the upper Missouri River basin. Journal of Hydrology 556: 247-261. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.10.018
54. Singh, Ajay S., Brian MacGowan, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad, Michael O’Donnell, Heidi Klotz, and Linda S. Prokopy.   The influence of demonstration sites and field days on conservation practices adoption. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 73(3): 274-281.
55. Singh, Ajay, Francis Eanes, Linda Prokopy. 2018. Assessing Conservation Adoption Decision Criteria Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process: Case Studies from Three Midwestern Watersheds. Society and Natural Resources, 31(4): 503-507.
56. Stoker, P., R. Ewing, M. Buchert, and D. Jackson-Smith. (forthcoming) “Neighborhood effects on parcel level water use.” Sustainable Water Resources Management.
57. Ulrich-Schad, Jessica, Carolina Brock, Linda Prokopy. 2017. A Comparison of Awareness, Attitudes, and Usage of Water Quality Conservation Practices between Amish and Small non-Amish Farmers. Society and Natural Resources. 30(12): 1476-1490.
58. Ulrich-Schad, Jessica D., Silvestre Garcia de Jalon, Nicholas Babin, Aaron Pape, Linda Stalker Prokopy. 2017. Measuring and Understanding Agricultural Producers’ Adoption of Nutrient Best Management Practices. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 72(5): 506-518.
59. Ulrich-Schad, Jessica D., Caroline Brock, and Linda S. Prokopy.   A Comparison of Awareness, Attitudes, and Usage of Water Quality Conservation Practices between Amish and non-Amish Farmers.  Society and Natural Resources 30(12): 1476-1490.
60. Wardropper, C.B. Environmental performance information use by conservation agency staff. 2018. Environmental Management, 61 (4), 563-576. doi: 10.1007/s00267-017-0990-5
61. Wardropper, C.B., S. Gillon, A.R. Rissman. 2017. Experimental governance and uncertain measurement produce both risk and collaboration in a watershed nonpoint pollution program. Land Use Policy, 67, 690-701.
62. Wardropper, C.B., Sean Gillon, and Adena R. Rissman. 2017. Uncertain monitoring and modeling in a watershed nonpoint pollution program. Land Use Policy. 67:690-701.

Technical Reports

1. Arbuckle, J. Gordon Jr. 2017. Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll: 2017 Summary Report. Extension Report SOC3085. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Extension.
2. Burbach, M. E., & Reimers-Hild, C. (2017). 2017 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy Final report. School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Open-File Report 177.
3. Church, S.P., N. Babin, B. Bentlage, M. Dunn, J.D. Ulrich-Schad, P.Ranjan, J. Magner, E. McLellan, S. Stephan, M. Tomer, L.S. Prokopy. (under review) The Beargrass Story: Utilizing social science to inform, evaluate, and learn from the watershed approach. To be included in: Floress, K., L.S. Prokopy, M. Burbach (Eds.) Catalyzing Change: Social Science Research Approaches for Natural Resources Management. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report.
4. Fairchild, E. and D. Jackson-Smith. 2017. “Shifting water use patterns in response to the conversion of irrigated agricultural lands.” Rural Connections 11(1): 17-20. Available at: Available at: http://wrdc.usu.edu/files-ou/publications/rcspr2017d.pdf
5. Fellows, S., Green, E. & Davenport, M.A. 2018. Seven Mile Creek Watershed: Minnesota Community Assessment for Clean Water. A final technical report prepared for the Seven Mile Creek Watershed Partnership and Great River Greening. St. Paul, MN: Center for Changing Landscapes, University of Minnesota, 107 pp.
6. Sliwinski, M., & Burbach, M. 2017. Collaborative conservation in the Great Plains: Opportunities and barriers for cross-property private-lands management, USDA NIFA SARE Project Reports. https://www.sare.org/Project-Reports
7. Pradhananga, A., Green, E. & Davenport, M.A. 2017. Building local capacity for groundwater protection: An evaluation of groundwater management workshops. A final technical report prepared for the University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. St. Paul, MN: Center for Changing Landscapes, University of Minnesota, 46 pp.
8. Pradhananga, A. & Davenport, M.A. 2017. Social science-based evaluation of Scott County’s Technical Assistance and Cost Share Program. St. Paul, MN: Center for Changing Landscapes, University of Minnesota. 72 pp.
9. Pradhananga, A. & Davenport, M.A. 2017. An assessment of landowner conservation behavior in Nicollet County, Minnesota. A final technical report submitted to Nicollet County. St. Paul, MN: Center for Changing Landscapes, University of Minnesota, 89pp.
10. Sliwinski, M., Burbach, M., Powell, L., & Schacht, W. 2017. Managing for wildlife habitat on rangelands in the Great Plains. School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Open File Report-162.

Book Chapters

Doering, OE III, BM Gramig, D Jeong. 2018. Economic and Policy Implications of Nitrogen Management in Soil Nitrogen Uses and Environmental Impacts, eds. Lal and Stewart. CRC Press. (ISBN 9781138626362).