what is a case study in environmental science

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Perspective
• Open access
• Published: 04 October 2019

Engaging with research impact assessment for an environmental science case study

• Kirstie A. Fryirs   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0541-3384 1 ,
• Gary J. Brierley   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1310-1105 2 &
• Thom Dixon   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4746-2301 3  

Nature Communications volume  10 , Article number:  4542 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

15k Accesses

20 Citations

40 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Environmental impact
• Research management

An Author Correction to this article was published on 08 November 2019

This article has been updated

Impact assessment is embedded in many national and international research rating systems. Most applications use the Research Impact Pathway to track inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes of an invention or initiative to assess impact beyond scholarly contributions to an academic research field (i.e., benefits to environment, society, economy and culture). Existing approaches emphasise easy to attribute ‘hard’ impacts, and fail to include a range of ‘soft’ impacts that are less easy to attribute, yet are often a dominant part of the impact mix. Here, we develop an inclusive 3-part impact mapping approach. We demonstrate its application using an environmental initiative.

Similar content being viewed by others

SciSciNet: A large-scale open data lake for the science of science research

A dataset for measuring the impact of research data and their curation

Interdisciplinarity revisited: evidence for research impact and dynamism

Introduction.

Universities around the World are increasingly required to demonstrate and measure the impact of their research beyond academia. The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings now includes a measure of knowledge transfer and impact as an indicator of an institution’s quality and the THE World University Rankings released their inaugural University impact rankings in 2019. With the global rise of impact assessment, most nations adopt a variant of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) definition of impact 1 ; “the contribution that research makes to the economy, society, environment or culture, beyond the contribution to academic research.” Yet research impact mapping provides benefits beyond just meeting the requirements for assessment 1 . It provides an opportunity for academics to reflect on and consider the impact their research can, and should, have on the environment, our social networks and wellbeing, our economic prosperity and our cultural identities. If considered at the development stage of research practices, the design and implementation of impact mapping procedures and frameworks can provide an opportunity to better plan for impact and create an environment where impact is more likely to be achieved.

Almost all impact assessments use variants of the Research Impact Pathway (Fig. 1 ) as the conceptual framework and model with which to document, measure and assess environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts of research 1 . This Pathway starts with inputs, followed by activities. Outputs and outcomes are produced and these lead to impact. Writing for Nature Outlook: Assessing Science , Morgan 2 reported on how Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO) mapped impact using this approach. However, the literature contains very few worked examples to guide academics and co-ordinators in the process of research impact mapping. This is particularly evident for environmental initiatives and innovations 3 , 4 .

Here we provide a new, 3-part impact mapping approach that can accommodate non-linearity in the impact pathway and can more broadly include and assess both ‘hard’ impacts, those that can be directly attributed to an initiative or invention, and ‘soft’ impacts, those that can be indirectly attributed to an initiative or invention. We then present a worked example for an environmental innovation called the River Styles Framework, developed at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. The River Styles Framework is an approach to analysis, interpretation and application of geomorphic insights into river landscapes as a tool to support management applications 5 , 6 . We document and map how this Framework has shaped, and continues to shape, river management practice in various parts of the world. Through mapping impact we demonstrate how the River Styles Framework has contributed to environmental, social and economic benefits at local, national and international scales. Cvitanovic and Hobday (2018) 3  in Nature Communications might consider this case study a ‘bright spot’ that sits at the environmental science-policy-practice interface and is representative of examples that are seldom documented.

The Research Impact Pathway (modified from ref. 2 )

This case study is presented from the perspective of the researchers who developed the River Styles Framework, and the University Impact co-ordinator who has worked with the researchers to document and measure the impact as part of ex post assessment 1 , 7 . We highlight challenges in planning for impact, as the research impact pathway evolves and entails significant lag times 8 . We discuss challenges that remain in the mapping process, particularly when trying to measure and attribute ‘soft’ impacts such as a change in practice or philosophy, an improvement in environmental condition, or a reduction in community conflict to a particular initiative or innovation 9 . We then provide a personal perspective of the challenges faced and lessons learnt in applying and mapping research impact so that others, particularly in the environmental sciences and related interdisciplinary fields, can undertake similar exercises for their own research impact assessments.

Brief background on research impact assessment and reporting

Historical reviews of research policy record long-term shifts towards incorporation of concerns for research impact within national funding agencies. In the 1970s the focus was on ‘research utilisation’ 10 , more recently it has been on ‘knowledge mobilisation’ 11 . The focus is always on seeking to understand the actual manner and pathways through which research becomes incorporated into policy, and through which research has an economic, social, cultural and environmental impact. Often these are far from linear circumstances, entailing multiple pathways.

Since the 1980s, higher education systems around the world have been transitioning to performance-based research funding systems (PRFS). The initial application of the PRFS in university contexts occurred as part of the first Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in the United Kingdom in 1986 12 . PRFS systems have been designed to reward and perpetuate the highest quality research, presenting notionally rational criteria with which to support more intellectually competitive institutions 13 . The United Kingdom’s (UK) RAE was replicated in Australia as the Research Quality Framework (RQF), and more recently as the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) assessment. In 2010, 15 countries engaged in some form of PRFS 14 . These frameworks focus almost solely on academic research performance and productivity, rather than the contribution and impact that research makes to the economy, society, environment or culture.

In the last decade, research policy frameworks have increasingly focused on facilitating national prosperity through the transfer, translation and commercialisation of knowledge 15 , 16 , combined with the integration of research findings into government policy-making 17 . In 2009, the Higher Education Funding Council for England conducted a year-long review and consultation process regarding the structure of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 18 . Following this review, in 2010 the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) commissioned a series of impact pilot studies designed to produce narrative-style case studies by 29 higher education institutions. The pilot studies featured five units of assessment: clinical medicine, physics, earth systems and environmental sciences, social work and social policy, and English language and literature 12 . These pilot studies became the basis of the REF conducted in the UK in 2014 9 , 19 with research impact reporting comprising a 20% component of the overall assessment.

In Canada, in 2009 and from 2014 the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and Manitoba Research, respectively, developed an impact framework and narrative outputs to evaluate the returns on investment in health research 20 , 21 . Similarly the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) regularly produces impact synthesis case studies 22 . In Ireland, in 2012, the Science Foundation Ireland placed research impact assessment at the core of its scientific and engineering research vision, called Agenda 2020 23 . In the United States, in 2016, the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, US Department of Agriculture, and US Environmental Protection Authority developed a repository of data and tools for assessing the impact of federal research and development investments 24 . In 2016–2017, the European Union (EU) established a high-level group to advise on how to maximise the impact of the EU’s investment in research and innovation, focussing on the future of funding allocation and the implementation of the remaining years of Horizon 2020 25 . In New Zealand, in 2017, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment released a discussion paper proposing the introduction of an impact ‘pillar’ into the science investment system 26 . In 2020, Hong Kong will include impact assessment in their Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) for the first time 27 . Other countries including Denmark, Finland and Israel have scoped the use of research impact assessments of their major research programs as part of the Small Advanced Economies Initiative 28 .

In 2017, the Australian Research Council (ARC) conducted an Engagement and Impact Assessment Pilot (EIAP) 7 . While engagement is not analogous to impact, it is an evidential mechanism that elucidates the potential beneficiaries, stakeholders, and partners of academic research 12 , 16 . In addition to piloting narrative-style impact case study reporting, the EIAP characterised and mapped patterns of academic engagement with end users that create and enable research impact. The 2017 EIAP assessed a selection of disciplines for engagement, and a selection of disciplines for impact. Environmental science was a discipline selected for the impact pilot. These pilots became the basis for the Australian Engagement and Impact (EI) assessment in 2018 7 that ran in parallel with the ERA, and from which the case study in this paper is drawn.

Research impact assessment does not just include ex post reporting that can feed into a national PRFS. A large component of academic impact assessment involves ex ante impact reporting in research funding applications. In both the UK and Australia, the perceived merit of a research funding application has been linked in part to its planning and potential for external research impact. In the UK this is labelled a ‘Pathways to Impact’ statement (used by the Research Council UK), in Australia this is an Impact statement (used by the ARC), with a national interest statement also implemented in 2018. These statements explicitly draw from the ‘pathway to impact’ model which simplifies a direct and linear relationship between research excellence, research engagement, and research impact 29 . These ex ante impact statements can be difficult for academics, especially early career researchers, if they do not understand the process, nature and timing of impact. This issue exists in ex post impact reporting and assessment as well, with many researchers finding it difficult to supply evidence that directly or indirectly links their research to impacts that may have taken decades to manifest 1 , 7 , 8 . Also, the simplified linearity of the Research Impact Pathway model makes it difficult to adequately represent the transformation of research into impact.

For research impact statements and assessments to be successful, researchers need to understand the patterns and pathways by which impact occurs prior to articulating how their own research project might achieve impact ex ante, or has had impact ex post. The quality of research impact assessment will improve if researchers and funding agencies understand the types and qualities of impact that can reasonably be expected to arise from a research project or initiative.

Given the plethora of interest in, and a growing global movement towards, both ex ante and ex post research impact assessment and reporting, it is surprising that very few published examples demonstrate how to map research impact. Even in the business, economics and corporate sectors where impact assessment and reporting is common practice 30 , 31 , 32 , very few published examples exist. This hinders prospects for researchers and co-ordinators to develop a more critical understanding of impact, inhibiting more nuanced understandings of the pathways to impact model. Mapping impact networks and recording a cartography of impact for research projects and initiatives provides an appropriate basis to conduct such tasks. This paper provides a new method by which this can be achieved.

The research impact pathway and impact mapping

Many impact assessment frameworks around the world have common characteristics, often structured around the Research Impact Pathway model (Fig. 1 ). This model can be identified in a series of 2009 and 2016 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that investigated the mechanisms of impact reporting 1 , 33 . The Research Impact Pathway is presented as a sequence of steps by which impact is realised. This pathway can be visualised for an innovation or initiative using an impact mapping approach. It starts with inputs that can include funding, staff, background intellectual property and support structures (e.g., administration, facilities). This is followed by activities or the ‘doing’ elements. This includes the work of discovery (i.e., research) and the translation—i.e., courses, workshops, conferences, and processes of community and stakeholder engagement.

Outputs are the results of inputs and activities. They includes publications, reports, databases, new intellectual property, patents and inventions, policy briefings, media, and new courses or teaching materials. Inputs, activities and outputs can be planned and somewhat controlled by the researcher, their collaborators and their organisations (universities). Outcomes then occur under direct influence of the researcher(s) with intended results. This may include commercial products and licences, job creation, new contracts, grants or programs, citations of work, new companies or spin-offs and new joint ventures and collaborations.

Impacts (sometimes called benefits) tend to occur via uptake and use of an innovation or initiative by independent parties under indirect (or no) influence from the original researcher(s). Impacts can be ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ and have intended and unintended consequences. They span four main areas outside of academia, including environmental, social, economic and cultural spaces. Impacts can include improvements in environmental health, quality of life, changes in industry or agency philosophy and practice, implementation or improvement in policy, improvements in monitoring and reporting, cost-savings to the economy or industry, generation of a higher quality workforce, job creation, improvements in community knowledge, better inter-personal relationships and collaborations, beneficial transfer and use of knowledge, technologies, methods or resources, and risk-reduction in decision making.

The challenge: applying the research impact pathway to map impact for a case study

The River Styles Framework 5 , 34 aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals of Life on Land and Clean Water and Sanitation that have a 2020 target to “ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services” and a 2030 target to urgently “implement integrated water resources management at all levels” 35 .

The River Styles Framework is a catchment-scale approach to analysis and interpretation of river geomorphology 36 . It is an open-ended, generic approach for use in any landscape or environmental setting. The Framework has four stages (see refs. 5 , 37 , 38 , 39 ); (1) Analysis of river types, behaviour and controls, (2) Assessment of river condition, (3) Forecasting of river recovery potential, and (4) Vision setting and prioritisation for decision making.

River Styles Framework development, uptake, extension and training courses have contributed to a global change in river management philosophy and practice, resulting in improved on-ground river condition, use of geomorphology in river management, and end-user professional development. Using the River Styles Framework has changed the way river management decisions are made and the level of intervention and resources required to reach environmental health targets. This has been achieved through the generation of catchment-scale and regional-level templates derived from use of the Framework 6 . These templates are integrated with other biophysical science tools and datasets to enhance planning, monitoring and forecasting of freshwater resources 6 . The Framework is based on foundation research on the form and function of streams and their interaction with the landscape through which they flow (fluvial geomorphology) 5 , 40 .

The Framework has a pioneering structure and coherence due to its open-ended and generic approach to river analysis and interpretation. Going well beyond off-the-shelf imported manuals for river management, the Framework has been adopted because of its innovative approach to geomorphic analysis of rivers. The Framework is tailored for the landscape and institutional context of any given place to produce scaffolded, coherent and consistent datasets for catchment-specific decision making. Through on-ground communication of place-based results, the application of the Framework spans local, state, national and international networks and initiatives. The quality of the underlying science has been key to generating the confidence required in industry and government to adopt geomorphology as a core scientific tool to support river management in a range of geographical, societal and scientific contexts 6 .

The impact of this case study spans conceptual use, instrumental use and capacity building 4 defined as ways of thinking and alerting policy makers and practitioners to an issue. Impact also includes direct use of research in policy and planning decisions, and education, training and development of end-users, respectively 4 , 41 , 42 . The River Styles Framework has led to establishment of new decision-making processes while also changing philosophy and practice so on-ground impacts can be realised.

Impact does not just occur at one point in time. Rather, it comes and goes or builds and is sustained. How this is represented and measured, particularly for an environmental case study, and especially for an initiative built around a Framework where a traditional ‘product’, ‘widget’, or ‘invention’ is not produced is challenging 4 . More traditional metrics-based indicators such as the number of lives saved or the amount of money generated cannot be deployed for these types of case studies 4 , 9 . It is particularly challenging to unravel the commercial value and benefits of adopting and using an initiative (or Framework) that is part of a much bigger, international paradigm shift in river management philosophy and practice.

Similarly, how do you measure environmental, social, economic or cultural impacts of an initiative where the benefits can take many years (and in the case of rivers, decades) to emerge, and how do you then link and attribute those impacts directly with the design, development, use and extension of that initiative in many different places at many different times? For the River Styles Framework, on-ground impacts in terms of improved river condition and recovery are occurring 43 , but other environmental, social and economic benefits may be years or decades away. Impactful initiatives in themselves often reshape the contextual setting that then frames the next phase of science and management practices which leads to further implications for policy and institutional settings, and for societal (socio-cultural) and environmental benefits. This is currently the case in assessing the impact of the River Styles Framework.

The method: a new, 3-part impact mapping approach

Using the River Styles framework as an environmental case study, Fig. 2 presents a 3-part impact mapping approach that contains (1) a context strip, (2) an impact map, and (3) soft impact intensity strips to capture the scope of the impact and the conditions under which it has been realised. This approach provides a template that can be used or replicated by others in their own impact mapping exercises 44 .

The research impact map for the River Styles Framework case study. This map contains 3 parts, a context strip, impact map and soft impact intensity strips

The cartographic approach to mapping impact shown in Fig. 2 provides a mechanism to display a large amount of complex information and interactions in a style that conveys and communicates an immediate snapshot of the research impact pathway, its components and associated impacts. The map can be analysed to identify patterns and interactions between components as part of ex post assessment, and as a basis for ex ante impact forecasting.

The 3-part impact map output is produced in an interactive online environment, acknowledging that impact maps are live, open-ended documents that evolve as new impacts emerge and inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes continue. The map changes when activities, outputs or outcomes that the developers had forgotten, or considered to be peripheral, later re-appear as having been influential to a stakeholder, community or network not originally considered as an end-user. Such activities, outputs and outcomes can be inserted into a live map to broaden its base and understand the impact. Also, by clicking on each icon on the map, pop-up bubbles contain details that are specific to each component of the case study. This functionality can also be used to journal or archive important information and evidence in the ‘back-end’ of the map. Such evidence is often required, or called upon, in research impact assessments. Figure 2 only provides a static reproduction of the map output for the River Styles Framework. The fully worked, interactive, River Styles Framework impact map can be viewed at https://indd.adobe.com/view/c9e2a270–4396–4fe3-afcb-be6dd9da7a36 .

Context is a key driver of research impact 1 , 45 . Context can provide goals for research agendas and impact that feeds into ex ante assessments, or provide a lens through which to analyse the conditions within which certain impacts emerged and occurred as part of ex post assessment. Part 1 of our mapping approach produces a context strip that situates the case study (Fig. 2 ). This strip is used to document settings occurring outside of academia before, during and throughout the case study. Context can be local, national or global and examples can be gathered from a range of sources such as reports, the media and personal experience. For the River Styles case study only key context moments are shown. Context for this case study is the constantly changing communities of practice in global river restoration that are driven by (or inhibited by) the environmental setting (coded with a leaf symbol), policy and institutional settings (coded with a building symbol), social and cultural settings (coded with a crowd symbol), and economic settings (coded with a dollar symbol). For most case studies, these extrinsic setting categories will be similar, but others can be added to this part of the map if needed.

Part 2 of our mapping approach produces an impact map using the Research Impact Pathway (Fig. 1 ). This impact map (Fig. 2 ) documents the time-series of inputs (coded with a blue hexagon), activities (coded with a green hexagon), outputs (coded with a yellow hexagon), outcomes (coded with a red hexagon) and impacts (coded with a purple hexagon) that occurred for the case study. Heavier bordered hexagons and intensity strips represent international aspects and uptake. To start, only the primary inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes are mapped. A hexagon appears when there is evidence that an input, activity, output or outcome has occurred. Evidence includes event advertisements, reports, publications, website mentions, funding applications, awards, personnel appointments and communications products.

However, in conducting this standard mapping exercise it soon became evident that it is difficult to map and attribute impacts, particularly for an initiative that has a wide range of both direct and indirect impacts. To address this, our approach distinguishes between ‘hard’ impacts and ‘soft’ impacts. Hard impacts can be directly attributed to an initiative or invention, whereas soft impacts can be indirectly attributed to an initiative or invention. The inclusion of soft impacts is critical as they are often an important and sometimes dominant part of the impact mix. Both quantitative and qualitative measures and evidence can be used to attribute hard or soft impacts. There is not a direct one-to-one relationship between quantitative measurement of hard impacts and qualitative appraisal of soft impacts.

Hard impacts are represented as purple hexagons in the body of the impact map. For the River Styles Framework we have only placed a purple hexagon on the impact map where the impact can be ‘named’ and for which there is ‘hard’ evidence (in the form of a report, policy, strategic plan or citation) that directly mentions and therefore attributes the impact to River Styles. Most of these are multi-year impacts and the position of the hexagons on the map is noted at the first mention.

For many case studies, particularly those that impact on the environment, society and culture, attributing impact directly to an initiative or invention is not necessarily easy or straighforward. To address this our approach contains a third element, soft impact intensity strips (Fig. 2 ) to recognise, document, capture and map the extent and influence of impact created by an initiative or invention. This is represented as a heat intensity chart (coded as a purple bar of varying intenstiy) and organised under the environmental, social and economic categories that are often used to measure Triple-Bottom-Line (TBL) benefits in sustainability and research and development (R&D) reporting (e.g., refs. 7 , 46 ). Within these broad categories, soft impacts are categorised according to the dimensions of impacts of science used by the OECD 1 . These include environmental, societal, cultural, economic, policy, organisational, scientific, symbolic and training impacts. Each impact strip for soft impacts uses different levels of purple shading (to match the purple hexagon colour in the impact map) to visualise the timing and intensity of soft impacts. For the River Styles Framework, the intensity of the purple colour is used to show those impacts that have been most impactful (darker purple), the timing of initiation, growth or step-change in intensity of each impact, the rise and wane of some impacts and the longevity of others. A heavy black border is used to note the timing of internationalisation of some impacts. This heat intensity chart was constructed by quantitatively representing qualitative sentiment in testimonials, interviews, course evaluations and feedback, surveys and questionnaires, acknowledgements and recognitions, documentation of collaborations and networks, use of River Styles concepts, and reports on the development of spin-off frameworks. Quantitative representations of qualitative sentiment was achieved through using the methods of time-series keyword searches and expert judgement. These are just two methods by which the level of heat intensity can be measured and assigned 9 .

The outcome: impact of the River Styles Framework case study

Figure 2 , and its interactive online version, present the impact map for the River Styles Framework initiative and Table 1 documents the detail of the River Styles impact story from pre-1996 to post-2020. The distribution of colour-coded hexagons and the intensity of purple on the soft impact intensity strips on Fig. 2 demonstrates the development and maturation of the initiative and the emergence of the impact.

In the first phase (pre-1996–2002), blue inputs, green activities and yellow output hexagons dominate. The next phase (2002–2005) was an intensive phase of output production (yellow hexagons). It is during this phase that red outcome hexagons appear and intensify. From 2006, purple impact hexagons appear for the first time, representing hard impact outside of academia. Soft impacts also start to emerge more intensely (Fig. 2 ). 2008–2015 represents a phase of domestic consolidation of yellow outputs, red outcomes and purple impacts, and the start of international uptake. Some of this impact is under direct influence and some is independent of the developers of the River Styles Framework (Fig. 1 ). The number of purple impact hexagons is more intense during the 2008–2015 period and soft impacts intensify further. 2016–2018 (and beyond) represents a phase of extension into international markets, collaborations and impact (heavier bordered hexagons and intensity strips; Fig. 2 ). The domestic impacts that emerged most intensively post-2006 continue in the background. Green activity hexagons re-appear during this period, much like the 1996–2002 phase, but in an international context. Foundational science (green activity hexagons) re-emerge, particularly internationally with new collaborations. At the same time, yellow outputs and red outcomes continue.

For the River Styles case study the challenge still remains one of how to adequately attribute, measure and provide evidence for soft impacts 4 that include:

a change in river management philosophy and practice

an improvement in river health and conservation of threatened species

the provision of an operational Framework that provides a common and consistent approach to analysis

the value of knowledge generation and databases for monitoring river health and informing river management decision-making for years to come

the integration into, and improvement in, river management policy

a change in prioritisation that reduces risk in decision-making and cost savings on-the-ground

professional development to produce a better trained, higher quality workforce and increased graduate employability

the creation of stronger networks of river professionals and a common suite of concepts that enable communication

more confident and appropriate use of geomorphic principles by river management practitioners

an improvement in citizen knowledge and reduced community conflict in river management practice

Lessons learnt by applying research impact mapping to a real case study

When applying the Research Impact Pathway and undertaking impact mapping for a case study it becomes obvious that generating and realising impact is not a linear process and it is never complete, and in many aspects it cannot be planned 8 , 9 , 29 . Rather, the pathway has many highways, secondary roads, intersections, some dead ends or cul-de-sacs and many unexpected detours of interest along the way.

Cycles of input, activity, outputs, outcomes and impact occur throughout the process. There are phases where greater emphasis is placed on inputs and activities, or phases of productivity that produce outputs and outcomes, and there are phases where the innovation or initiative gains momentum and produces a flurry of benefits and impacts. However, throughout the journey, inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes are always occurring, and the impact pathway never ends. Some impacts come and go while others are sustained.

The saying “being in the right place at the right time with the right people” has some truth. Impact can be probabilistically generated ex ante by the researcher(s) regularly placing themselves and their outputs in key locations or ‘rooms’ and in ‘moments’ where the chance of non-academic translation is high 47 . Context is also critical 45 . Economic, political, institutional, social and environmental conditions need to come together if an innovation or initiative is to ‘get off the ground’, gain traction and lead to impact (e.g., Fig. 2 ). Ongoing and sustained support is vital. An innovation funded 10 years ago may not receive funding today, or an innovation funded today may not lead to impact unless the right sets of circumstances and support are in place. This is, in part, a serendipitous process that involves the calculated creation of circumstances aligned to evoke the ‘black swan’ event of impact 48 . The ‘black swan’ effect, coined by Nassem Nicholas Taleb, is a metaphor for an unanticipated event that becomes reinterpreted through the benefit of hindsight, or alternatively, an event that exists ‘outside the model’. For example, black swans were presumed not to exist by Europeans until they were encountered in Australia and scientifically described in 1790. Such ‘black swan’ events are a useful device in ex post assessment for characterising those pivotal moments when a research program translates into research impact. While the exact nature of such events cannot be anticipated, by understanding the ways in which ‘black swan’ events take place in the context of research impact, researchers can manufacture scenarios that optimise their probability of provoking a ‘black swan’ event and therefore translating their research project into research impact, albeit in an unexpected way. One ‘black swan’ event for the River Styles Framework occurred between 1996–2002 (Table 1 ). Initial motivations for developing the Framework reflected inappropriate use of geomorphic principles derived elsewhere to address management concerns for distinctive river landscapes and ecosystems in Australia. Although initial applications and testing of the Framework were local (regional-scale), advice by senior-level personnel in the original funding agency, Land and Water Australia (blue input hexagon in 1997; Fig. 2 ), suggested we make principles generic such that the Framework can be used in any landscape setting. The impact of this ‘moment’ was only apparent much later on, when the Framework was adopted to inform place-based, catchment-specific river management applications in various parts of the world.

What is often not recognised is the time lag in the research impact process 9 . Depending on the innovation or initiative, this is, at best, a decadal process. Of critical importance is setting the foundations for impact. The ‘gem of an idea’ needs to be translated into a sound program of research, testing (proof of concept), peer-review and demonstration. These foundations must generate a level of confidence in the innovation or initiative before uptake. A level of branding may be required to make the innovation or initiative stand out from the crowd. Drivers are required to incentivise academics, both internal and external to their University setting, encouraging them to go outside their comfort zone to apply and translate their research in ‘real-world’ settings. Maintaining passion, patience and persistence throughout the journey are some of the most hidden and unrecognised parts of this process.

Some impacts are not foreseeable and surprises are inevitable. Activities, outputs and outcomes that may initially have seemed like a dead end, often re-appear in a different context or in a different network. Other outputs or outcomes take off very quickly and are implemented with immediate impact. Catalytic moments are sometimes required for uptake and impact to be realised 8 . These surprises are particularly obvious when an innovation or initiative enters the independent uptake stage, called impact under indirect influence on Fig. 1 . In this phase the originating researchers, developers or inventors are often absent or peripheral to the impact process. Other people or organisations have the confidence to use the innovation or initiative (as intended, or in some cases not as intended), and find new ways of taking the impact further. The innovation or initiative generates a life of its own in a snowball effect. Independent uptake is not easily measured, but it is a critical indicator of impact. Unless the foundations are solid and sound, prospects for sustained impact are diminished.

The maturity and type of impact also vary in different places at different times. This is particularly the case for innovations and initiatives where local and domestic uptake is strong, but international impact lags. Some places may be well advanced on the uptake part of the impact journey, firmly embedding the benefits while developing new extensions, add-ons and spin-offs with inputs and activities. Elsewhere, the uptake will only have just begun, such that outputs and outcomes are the primary focus for now, with the aim of generating impact soon. In some instances, authorities and practitioners are either unaware or are yet to be convinced that the innovation or initiative is relevant and useful for their circumstances. In these places the focus is on the inputs and activity phases necessary to generating outputs and outcomes relevant to their situation and context. Managing this variability while maintaining momentum is critical to creating impact.

Future directions for the practice of impact mapping and assessment

The process of engaging with impact and undertaking impact mapping for an environmental case study has been a reflective, positive but challenging experience. Our example is typical of many of the issues that must be addressed when undertaking research impact mapping and assessments where both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ impacts are generated. Our 3-part impact mapping approach helps deal with these challenges and provides a mechanism to visualise and enhance communication of research impact to a broad range of scientists and policy practitioners from many fields, including industry and government agencies, as well as citizens who are interested in learning about the tangible and intangible benefits that arise from investing in research.

Such impact mapping work cannot be undertaken quickly 44 , 45 . Lateral thinking is required about what research impact really means, moving beyond the perception in academia that outputs and outcomes equals impact 4 , 9 , 12 . This is not the case. The research impact journey does not end at outcomes. The real measure of research impact is when an initiative gains a ‘life of its own’ and is independently picked-up and used for environmental, social or economic benefit in the ‘real-world’. This is when an initiative exits from the original researcher(s) owning the entirety of the impact, to one where the researcher(s) have an ongoing contribution to vastly scaled-up sets of collective impacts that are no longer controlled by any one actor, community or network. Penfield et al. 9 relates this to ‘knowledge creep’ where new data, information or frameworks become accepted and get absorbed over time.

Careful consideration of how an initiative is developed, emerges, is used, and the resulting benefits is needed to map impact. This process, in its own regard, provides solid foundations for future planning and consideration of possible (or maybe unforeseen) opportunities to develop the impact further as part of ex ante impact forecasting 1 , 44 . It’s value also lies in communicating and teaching others, using worked case studies, about what impact can mean, to demonstrate how it can evolve and mature, and outline the possible pathways of impact as part of ex post impact assessment 1 , 44 .

With greater emphasis being placed on impact in research policy and reporting in many parts of the world, it is timely to consider the level of ongoing support required to genuinely capture and assess impact over yearly and decadal timeframes 20 . Creation of environments and cultures in which impact can be incubated, nourished and supported aids effective planning, knowledge translation and engagement. Ongoing research is required to consider, more broadly and laterally, what is measured, what indicators are used, and the evidence required to assign attribution. This remains a challenge not just for the case study documented here, but for the process of impact assessment more generally 1 , 9 . Continuous monitoring of impacts (both intended and unintended) is needed. To do this requires support and systems to gather, archive and track data, whether quantitative or qualitative, and adequately build evidence portfolios 20 . A keen eye is needed to identify, document and archive evidence that may seem insignificant at the time, but can lead to a step-change in impact, or a re-appearance elsewhere on the pathway.

Impact reporting extends beyond traditional outreach and service roles in academia 16 , 19 . Despite the increasing recognition of the importance of impact and its permeation into academic lives, it is yet to be formally built into many academic and professional roles 9 . To date, the rewards are implicit rather than explicit 44 . Support is required if impact planning and reporting for assessment is to become a new practice for academics.

Managing the research impact process is vital, but it is also important to be open to new ideas and avenues for creating impact at different stages of the process. It is important to listen and to be attuned to developments outside of academia, and learn to live with the creative spark of uncertainty as we expect the unexpected!

Change history

08 november 2019.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Enhancing Research performance through Evaluation, Impact Assessment and Priority Setting  (Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, Paris, 2009). This is a ‘go-to’ guide for impact assessment in Research and Development, used in OECD countries .

Morgan, B. Income for outcome. Australia and New Zealand are experimenting with ways of assessing the impact of publicly funded research. Nat. Outlook 511 , S72–S75 (2014). This Nature Outlook article reports on how Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO) mapped their research programs against impact classes using the Research Impact Pathway .

CAS   Google Scholar  

Cvitanovic, C. & Hobday, A. J. Building optimism at the environmental science-policy-practice interface through the study of bright spots. Nat. Commun. 9 , 3466 (2018). This Nature Communications paper presents a commentary on the key principles that underpin what are termed ‘bright spots’, case studies where science and research has successfully influenced and impacted on policy and practice, as a means to inspire optimism in humanity’s capacity to address environmental challenges .

Article   ADS   Google Scholar  

Rau, H., Goggins, G. & Fahy, F. From invisibility to impact: recognising the scientific and societal relevance of interdisciplinary sustainability research. Res. Policy 47 , 266–276 (2018). This paper uses interdisciplinary sustainability research as a centrepiece for arguing the need for alternative approaches for conceptualising and measuring impact that recognise and capture the diverse forms of engagement between scientists and non-scientists, and diverse uses and uptake of knowledge at the science-policy-practice interface .

Article   Google Scholar  

Brierley, G. J. & Fryirs, K. A. Geomorphology and River Management: Applications of the River Styles Framework . 398 (Blackwell Publications, Oxford, 2005). This book contains the full River Styles Framework set within the context of the science of fluvial geomorphology .

Brierley, G. J. et al. Geomorphology in action: linking policy with on-the-ground actions through applications of the River Styles framework. Appl. Geogr. 31 , 1132–1143 (2011).

Australian Research Council (ARC). EI 2018 Framework  (Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2017). This document and associated website contains the procedures for assessing research impact as part of the Australian Research Council Engagement and Impact process, and the national report, outcomes and impact cases studies assessed in the 2018 round .

Matt, M., Gaunand, A., Joly, P.-B. & Colinet, L. Opening the black box of impact–Ideal type impact pathways in a pubic agricultural research organisation. Res. Policy 46 , 207–218 (2017). This article presents a metrics-based approach to impact assessment, called the Actor Network Theory approach, to systematically code variables used to measure ex-post research impact in the agricultural sector .

Penfield, T., Baker, M. J., Scoble, R. & Wykes, M. C. Assessment, evaluations, and definitions of research impact: a review. Res. Eval. 23 , 21–32 (2014). This article reviews the concepts behind research impact assessment and takes a focussed look at how impact assessment was implemented for the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) .

Weiss, C. H. The many meanings of research utilization. Public Adm. Rev. 39 , 426–431 (1979).

Cooper, A. & Levin, B. Some Canadian contributions to understanding knowledge mobilisation. Evid. Policy 6 , 351–369 (2010).

Watermeyer, R. Issues in the articulation of ‘impact’: the responses of UK academics to ‘impact’ as a new measure of research assessment. Stud. High. Educ. 39 , 359–377 (2014).

Hicks, D. Overview of Models of Performance-based Research Funding Systems. In: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Performance-based Funding for Public Research in Tertiary Education Institutions: Workshop Proceedings . 23–52 (OECD Publishing, Paris, 2010). https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264094611-en (Accessed 27 Aug 2019).

Hicks, D. Performance-based university research funding systems. Res. Policy 41 , 251–26 (2012).

Etzkowitz, H. Networks of innovation: science, technology and development in the triple helix era. Int. J. Technol. Manag. Sustain. Dev. 1 , 7–20 (2002).

Perkmann, M. et al. Academic engagement and commercialisation: a review of the literature on university-industry relations. Res. Policy 42 , 423–442 (2013).

Leydesdorff, L. & Etzkowitz, H. Emergence of a Triple Helix of university—industry—government relations. Sci. Public Policy 23 , 279–286 (1996).

Google Scholar  

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Research Excellence Framework . Second consultation on the assessment and funding of research. London. https://www.hefce.ac.uk (Accessed 12 Aug 2019).

Smith, S., Ward, V. & House, A. ‘Impact’ in the proposals for the UK’s Research Excellence Framework: Shifting the boundaries of academic autonomy. Res. Policy 40 , 1369–1379 (2011).

Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). Making an Impact. A Preferred Framework and Indicators to Measure Returns on Investment in Health Research  (Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Ottawa, 2009). This report presents the approach to research impact assessment adopted by the health science industry in Canada using the Research Impact Pathway .

Research Manitoba. Impact Framework . Research Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (2012–2019). https://researchmanitoba.ca/impacts/impact-framework/ (Accessed 3 June 2019).

United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research (UKNIHR). Research and Impact . (NIHR, London, 2019).

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Agenda 2020: Excellence and Impact . (SFI, Dublin, 2012).

StarMetrics. Science and Technology for America’s Reinvestment Measuring the Effects of Research on Innovation , Competitiveness and Science . Process Guide (Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington DC, 2016).

European Commission (EU). Guidelines on Impact Assessment . (EU, Brussels, 2015).

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The impact of science: Discussion paper . (MBIE, Wellington, 2018).

University Grants Committee. Panel-specific Guidelines on Assessment Criteria and Working Methods for RAE 2020. University Grants Committee, (Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong, 2018).

Harland, K. & O’Connor, H. Broadening the Scope of Impact: Defining, assessing and measuring impact of major public research programmes, with lessons from 6 small advanced economies . Public issue version: 2, Small Advanced Economies Initiative, (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dublin, 2015).

Chubb, J. & Watermeyer, R. Artifice or integrity in the marketization of research impact? Investigating the moral economy of (pathways to) impact statements within research funding proposals in the UK and Australia. Stud. High. Educ. 42 , 2360–2372 (2017).

Oliver Schwarz, J. Ex ante strategy evaluation: the case for business wargaming. Bus. Strategy Ser. 12 , 122–135 (2011).

Neugebauer, S., Forin, S. & Finkbeiner, M. From life cycle costing to economic life cycle assessment-introducing an economic impact pathway. Sustainability 8 , 428 (2016).

Legner, C., Urbach, N. & Nolte, C. Mobile business application for service and maintenance processes: Using ex post evaluation by end-users as input for iterative design. Inf. Manag. 53 , 817–831 (2016).

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Fact sheets: Approaches to Impact Assessment; Research and Innovation Process Issues; Causality Problems; What is Impact Assessment?; What is Impact Assessment? Mechanisms . (Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, Paris, 2016).

River Styles. https://riverstyles.com (Accessed 2 May 2019).

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org (Accessed 2 May 2019).

Kasprak, A. et al. The Blurred Line between form and process: a comparison of stream channel classification frameworks. PLoS ONE 11 , e0150293 (2016).

Fryirs, K. Developing and using geomorphic condition assessments for river rehabilitation planning, implementation and monitoring. WIREs Water 2 , 649–667 (2015).

Fryirs, K. & Brierley, G. J. Assessing the geomorphic recovery potential of rivers: forecasting future trajectories of adjustment for use in river management. WIREs Water 3 , 727–748 (2016).

Fryirs, K. A. & Brierley, G. J. What’s in a name? A naming convention for geomorphic river types using the River Styles Framework. PLoS ONE 13 , e0201909 (2018).

Fryirs, K. A. & Brierley, G. J. Geomorphic Analysis of River Systems: An Approach to Reading the Landscape . 345 (John Wiley and Sons: Chichester, 2013).

Meagher, L., Lyall, C. & Nutley, S. Flows of knowledge, expertise and influence: a method for assessing policy and practice impacts from social science research. Res. Eval. 17 , 163–173 (2008).

Meagher, L. & Lyall, C. The invisible made visible. Using impact evaluations to illuminate and inform the role of knowledge intermediaries. Evid. Policy 9 , 409–418 (2013).

Fryirs, K. A. et al. Tracking geomorphic river recovery in process-based river management. Land Degrad. Dev. 29 , 3221–3244 (2018).

Kuruvilla, S., Mays, N., Pleasant, A. & Walt, G. Describing the impact of health research: a Research Impact Framework. BMC Health Serv. Res. 6 , 134 (2006).

Barjolle, D., Midmore, P. & Schmid, O. Tracing the pathways from research to innovation: evidence from case studies. EuroChoices 17 , 11–18 (2018).

Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH). Triple bottom line reporting in Australia. A guide to reporting against environmental indicators . (Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2003).

Le Heron, E., Le Heron, R. & Lewis, N. Performing Research Capability Building in New Zealand’s Social Sciences: Capacity–Capability Insights from Exploring the Work of BRCSS’s ‘sustainability’ Theme, 2004–2009. Environ. Plan. A 43 , 1400–1420 (2011).

Taleb, N. N. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable . 2nd edn. (Penguin, London, 2010).

Fryirs, K. A. & Brierley, G. J. Practical Applications of the River Styles Framework as a Tool for Catchment-wide River Management : A Case Study from Bega Catchment. (Macquarie University Press, Sydney, 2005).

Brierley, G. J. & Fryirs, K. A. (eds) River Futures: An Integrative Scientific Approach to River Repair . (Island Press, Washington, DC, 2008).

Fryirs, K., Wheaton, J., Bizzi, S., Williams, R. & Brierley, G. To plug-in or not to plug-in? Geomorphic analysis of rivers using the River Styles Framework in an era of big data acquisition and automation. WiresWater . https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1372 (2019).

Rinaldi, M. et al. New tools for the hydromorphological assessment and monitoring of European streams. J. Environ. Manag. 202 , 363–378 (2017).

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Rinaldi, M., Surian, N., Comiti, F. & Bussettini, M. A method for the assessment and analysis of the hydromorphological condition of Italian streams: The Morphological Quality Index (MQI). Geomorphology 180–181 , 96–108 (2013).

Rinaldi, M., Surian, N., Comiti, F. & Bussettini, M. A methodological framework for hydromorphological assessment, analysis and monitoring (IDRAIM) aimed at promoting integrated river management. Geomorphology 251 , 122–136 (2015).

Gurnell, A. M. et al. A multi-scale hierarchical framework for developing understanding of river behaviour to support river management. Aquat. Sci. 78 , 1–16 (2016).

Belletti, B., Rinaldi, M., Buijse, A. D., Gurnell, A. M. & Mosselman, E. A review of assessment methods for river hydromorphology. Environ. Earth Sci. 73 , 2079–2100 (2015).

Belletti, B. et al. Characterising physical habitats and fluvial hydromorphology: a new system for the survey and classification of river geomorphic units. Geomorphology 283 , 143–157 (2017).

O’Brien, G. et al. Mapping valley bottom confinement at the network scale. Earth Surf. Process. Landf. 44 , 1828–1845 (2019).

Sinha, R., Mohanta, H. A., Jain, V. & Tandon, S. K. Geomorphic diversity as a river management tool and its application to the Ganga River, India. River Res. Appl. 33 , 1156–1176 (2017).

O’Brien, G. O. & Wheaton, J. M. River Styles Report for the Middle Fork John Day Watershed, Oregon . Ecogeomorphology and Topographic Analysis Lab, Prepared for Eco Logical Research, and Bonneville Power Administration, Logan. 215 (Utah State University, Utah, 2014).

Marçal, M., Brierley, G. J. & Lima, R. Using geomorphic understanding of catchment-scale process relationships to support the management of river futures: Macaé Basin, Brazil. Appl. Geogr. 84 , 23–41 (2017).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Simon Mould for building the online interactive version of the impact map for River Styles and Dr Faith Welch, Research Impact Manager at the University of Auckland for comments on the paper. The case study documented in this paper builds on over 20 years of foundation research in fluvial geomorphology and strong and lasting collaboration between researchers, scientists and managers at various universities and government agencies in many parts of the world.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

Kirstie A. Fryirs

School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

Gary J. Brierley

Research Services, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

K.F. conceived, developed and wrote this paper. G.B., T.D. contributed to, and edited, the paper. K.F., T.D. conceived, developed and produced the impact mapping toolbox.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kirstie A. Fryirs .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

K.F. and G.B. are co-developers of the River Styles Framework. River Styles foundation research has been supported through competitive grant schemes and university grants. Consultancy-based River Styles short courses taught by K.F. and G.B. are administered by Macquarie University. River Styles contract research is administered by Macquarie University and University of Auckland. River Styles as a trade mark expires in May 2020. T.D. declares no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Communications thanks Barbara Belletti and Gary Goggins for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Fryirs, K.A., Brierley, G.J. & Dixon, T. Engaging with research impact assessment for an environmental science case study. Nat Commun 10 , 4542 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12020-z

Download citation

Received : 17 June 2019

Accepted : 15 August 2019

Published : 04 October 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12020-z

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

This article is cited by

Applying a framework to assess the impact of cardiovascular outcomes improvement research.

• Mitchell N. Sarkies
• Suzanne Robinson

Health Research Policy and Systems (2021)

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines . If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Case Studies in the Environment

Subject Area and Category

• Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
• Environmental Science (miscellaneous)

University of California Press

Publication type

Information.

How to publish in this journal

[email protected]

The set of journals have been ranked according to their SJR and divided into four equal groups, four quartiles. Q1 (green) comprises the quarter of the journals with the highest values, Q2 (yellow) the second highest values, Q3 (orange) the third highest values and Q4 (red) the lowest values.

The SJR is a size-independent prestige indicator that ranks journals by their 'average prestige per article'. It is based on the idea that 'all citations are not created equal'. SJR is a measure of scientific influence of journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journals where such citations come from It measures the scientific influence of the average article in a journal, it expresses how central to the global scientific discussion an average article of the journal is.

Evolution of the number of published documents. All types of documents are considered, including citable and non citable documents.

This indicator counts the number of citations received by documents from a journal and divides them by the total number of documents published in that journal. The chart shows the evolution of the average number of times documents published in a journal in the past two, three and four years have been cited in the current year. The two years line is equivalent to journal impact factor ™ (Thomson Reuters) metric.

Evolution of the total number of citations and journal's self-citations received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. Journal Self-citation is defined as the number of citation from a journal citing article to articles published by the same journal.

Evolution of the number of total citation per document and external citation per document (i.e. journal self-citations removed) received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. External citations are calculated by subtracting the number of self-citations from the total number of citations received by the journal’s documents.

International Collaboration accounts for the articles that have been produced by researchers from several countries. The chart shows the ratio of a journal's documents signed by researchers from more than one country; that is including more than one country address.

Not every article in a journal is considered primary research and therefore "citable", this chart shows the ratio of a journal's articles including substantial research (research articles, conference papers and reviews) in three year windows vs. those documents other than research articles, reviews and conference papers.

Ratio of a journal's items, grouped in three years windows, that have been cited at least once vs. those not cited during the following year.

Evolution of the percentage of female authors.

Evolution of the number of documents cited by public policy documents according to Overton database.

Evoution of the number of documents related to Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. Available from 2018 onwards.

Leave a comment

Name * Required

Email (will not be published) * Required

* Required Cancel

The users of Scimago Journal & Country Rank have the possibility to dialogue through comments linked to a specific journal. The purpose is to have a forum in which general doubts about the processes of publication in the journal, experiences and other issues derived from the publication of papers are resolved. For topics on particular articles, maintain the dialogue through the usual channels with your editor.

Follow us on @ScimagoJR Scimago Lab , Copyright 2007-2024. Data Source: Scopus®

Cookie settings

Cookie Policy

Legal Notice

Privacy Policy

Research Topics & Ideas: Environment

100+ Environmental Science Research Topics & Ideas

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. Here, we’ll explore a variety research ideas and topic thought-starters related to various environmental science disciplines, including ecology, oceanography, hydrology, geology, soil science, environmental chemistry, environmental economics, and environmental ethics.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the environmental sciences. This is the starting point though. To develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. Also be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to develop a high-quality research topic from scratch.

Overview: Environmental Topics

• Ecology /ecological science
• Atmospheric science
• Oceanography
• Soil science
• Environmental chemistry
• Environmental economics
• Environmental ethics
• Examples  of dissertations and theses

Topics & Ideas: Ecological Science

• The impact of land-use change on species diversity and ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes
• The role of disturbances such as fire and drought in shaping arid ecosystems
• The impact of climate change on the distribution of migratory marine species
• Investigating the role of mutualistic plant-insect relationships in maintaining ecosystem stability
• The effects of invasive plant species on ecosystem structure and function
• The impact of habitat fragmentation caused by road construction on species diversity and population dynamics in the tropics
• The role of ecosystem services in urban areas and their economic value to a developing nation
• The effectiveness of different grassland restoration techniques in degraded ecosystems
• The impact of land-use change through agriculture and urbanisation on soil microbial communities in a temperate environment
• The role of microbial diversity in ecosystem health and nutrient cycling in an African savannah

Topics & Ideas: Atmospheric Science

• The impact of climate change on atmospheric circulation patterns above tropical rainforests
• The role of atmospheric aerosols in cloud formation and precipitation above cities with high pollution levels
• The impact of agricultural land-use change on global atmospheric composition
• Investigating the role of atmospheric convection in severe weather events in the tropics
• The impact of urbanisation on regional and global atmospheric ozone levels
• The impact of sea surface temperature on atmospheric circulation and tropical cyclones
• The impact of solar flares on the Earth’s atmospheric composition
• The impact of climate change on atmospheric turbulence and air transportation safety
• The impact of stratospheric ozone depletion on atmospheric circulation and climate change
• The role of atmospheric rivers in global water supply and sea-ice formation

Topics & Ideas: Oceanography

• The impact of ocean acidification on kelp forests and biogeochemical cycles
• The role of ocean currents in distributing heat and regulating desert rain
• The impact of carbon monoxide pollution on ocean chemistry and biogeochemical cycles
• Investigating the role of ocean mixing in regulating coastal climates
• The impact of sea level rise on the resource availability of low-income coastal communities
• The impact of ocean warming on the distribution and migration patterns of marine mammals
• The impact of ocean deoxygenation on biogeochemical cycles in the arctic
• The role of ocean-atmosphere interactions in regulating rainfall in arid regions
• The impact of ocean eddies on global ocean circulation and plankton distribution
• The role of ocean-ice interactions in regulating the Earth’s climate and sea level

Tops & Ideas: Hydrology

• The impact of agricultural land-use change on water resources and hydrologic cycles in temperate regions
• The impact of agricultural groundwater availability on irrigation practices in the global south
• The impact of rising sea-surface temperatures on global precipitation patterns and water availability
• Investigating the role of wetlands in regulating water resources for riparian forests
• The impact of tropical ranches on river and stream ecosystems and water quality
• The impact of urbanisation on regional and local hydrologic cycles and water resources for agriculture
• The role of snow cover and mountain hydrology in regulating regional agricultural water resources
• The impact of drought on food security in arid and semi-arid regions
• The role of groundwater recharge in sustaining water resources in arid and semi-arid environments
• The impact of sea level rise on coastal hydrology and the quality of water resources

Topics & Ideas: Geology

• The impact of tectonic activity on the East African rift valley
• The role of mineral deposits in shaping ancient human societies
• The impact of sea-level rise on coastal geomorphology and shoreline evolution
• Investigating the role of erosion in shaping the landscape and impacting desertification
• The impact of mining on soil stability and landslide potential
• The impact of volcanic activity on incoming solar radiation and climate
• The role of geothermal energy in decarbonising the energy mix of megacities
• The impact of Earth’s magnetic field on geological processes and solar wind
• The impact of plate tectonics on the evolution of mammals
• The role of the distribution of mineral resources in shaping human societies and economies, with emphasis on sustainability

Topics & Ideas: Soil Science

• The impact of dam building on soil quality and fertility
• The role of soil organic matter in regulating nutrient cycles in agricultural land
• The impact of climate change on soil erosion and soil organic carbon storage in peatlands
• Investigating the role of above-below-ground interactions in nutrient cycling and soil health
• The impact of deforestation on soil degradation and soil fertility
• The role of soil texture and structure in regulating water and nutrient availability in boreal forests
• The impact of sustainable land management practices on soil health and soil organic matter
• The impact of wetland modification on soil structure and function
• The role of soil-atmosphere exchange and carbon sequestration in regulating regional and global climate
• The impact of salinization on soil health and crop productivity in coastal communities

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Chemistry

• The impact of cobalt mining on water quality and the fate of contaminants in the environment
• The role of atmospheric chemistry in shaping air quality and climate change
• The impact of soil chemistry on nutrient availability and plant growth in wheat monoculture
• Investigating the fate and transport of heavy metal contaminants in the environment
• The impact of climate change on biochemical cycling in tropical rainforests
• The impact of various types of land-use change on biochemical cycling
• The role of soil microbes in mediating contaminant degradation in the environment
• The impact of chemical and oil spills on freshwater and soil chemistry
• The role of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in shaping water and soil chemistry
• The impact of over-irrigation on the cycling and fate of persistent organic pollutants in the environment

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Economics

• The impact of climate change on the economies of developing nations
• The role of market-based mechanisms in promoting sustainable use of forest resources
• The impact of environmental regulations on economic growth and competitiveness
• Investigating the economic benefits and costs of ecosystem services for African countries
• The impact of renewable energy policies on regional and global energy markets
• The role of water markets in promoting sustainable water use in southern Africa
• The impact of land-use change in rural areas on regional and global economies
• The impact of environmental disasters on local and national economies
• The role of green technologies and innovation in shaping the zero-carbon transition and the knock-on effects for local economies
• The impact of environmental and natural resource policies on income distribution and poverty of rural communities

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Ethics

• The ethical foundations of environmentalism and the environmental movement regarding renewable energy
• The role of values and ethics in shaping environmental policy and decision-making in the mining industry
• The impact of cultural and religious beliefs on environmental attitudes and behaviours in first world countries
• Investigating the ethics of biodiversity conservation and the protection of endangered species in palm oil plantations
• The ethical implications of sea-level rise for future generations and vulnerable coastal populations
• The role of ethical considerations in shaping sustainable use of natural forest resources
• The impact of environmental justice on marginalized communities and environmental policies in Asia
• The ethical implications of environmental risks and decision-making under uncertainty
• The role of ethics in shaping the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future for the construction industry
• The impact of environmental values on consumer behaviour and the marketplace: a case study of the ‘bring your own shopping bag’ policy

Examples: Real Dissertation & Thesis Topics

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various environmental science-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• The physiology of microorganisms in enhanced biological phosphorous removal (Saunders, 2014)
• The influence of the coastal front on heavy rainfall events along the east coast (Henson, 2019)
• Forage production and diversification for climate-smart tropical and temperate silvopastures (Dibala, 2019)
• Advancing spectral induced polarization for near surface geophysical characterization (Wang, 2021)
• Assessment of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter and Thamnocephalus platyurus as Tools to Monitor Cyanobacterial Bloom Development and Toxicity (Hipsher, 2019)
• Evaluating the Removal of Microcystin Variants with Powdered Activated Carbon (Juang, 2020)
• The effect of hydrological restoration on nutrient concentrations, macroinvertebrate communities, and amphibian populations in Lake Erie coastal wetlands (Berg, 2019)
• Utilizing hydrologic soil grouping to estimate corn nitrogen rate recommendations (Bean, 2019)
• Fungal Function in House Dust and Dust from the International Space Station (Bope, 2021)
• Assessing Vulnerability and the Potential for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in Sudan’s Blue Nile Basin (Mohamed, 2022)
• A Microbial Water Quality Analysis of the Recreational Zones in the Los Angeles River of Elysian Valley, CA (Nguyen, 2019)
• Dry Season Water Quality Study on Three Recreational Sites in the San Gabriel Mountains (Vallejo, 2019)
• Wastewater Treatment Plan for Unix Packaging Adjustment of the Potential Hydrogen (PH) Evaluation of Enzymatic Activity After the Addition of Cycle Disgestase Enzyme (Miessi, 2020)
• Laying the Genetic Foundation for the Conservation of Longhorn Fairy Shrimp (Kyle, 2021).

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. To create a top-notch research topic, you will need to be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you’ll need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Need more help?

If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your environmental science dissertation or research project, be sure to check out our private coaching services below, as well as our Research Topic Kickstarter .

Need a helping hand?

12 Comments

research topics on climate change and environment

Researched PhD topics on environmental chemistry involving dust and water

I wish to learn things in a more advanced but simple way and with the hopes that I am in the right place.

Thank so much for the research topics. It really helped

the guides were really helpful

Research topics on environmental geology

Thanks for the research topics….I need a research topic on Geography

hi I need research questions ideas

Implications of climate variability on wildlife conservation on the west coast of Cameroon

I want the research on environmental planning and management

I want a topic on environmental sustainability

It good coaching

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

North American Association for Environmental Education

• About eePRO
• Explore eePRO
• Collections & PRO Picks
• All Learning
• eeLEARN Modules
• Higher Education Database
• Annual Conference
• All Resources
• Climate Change
• Guidelines for Excellence
• All Opportunities
• Explore eeJOBS
• All Research Initiatives
• Research Symposium

Case Studies in the Environment

Organization

• University of California

Quality cases, comprehensive coverage of environmental issues.

Case Studies in the Environment (cse.ucpress.edu) is an online journal of peer-reviewed case study articles and case study pedagogy articles from University of California Press. The journal informs faculty, students, researchers, educators, professionals and policymakers on case studies and best practices in the environmental sciences and studies.

Research grants may require that you "broaden the impact" of your work through innovation in teaching and training (e.g., develop curricular materials and pedagogical methods); contribute to the science of learning; and broaden engagement with your research to people outside your immediate field. Publishing in Case Studies in the Environment is a meaningful way to broaden the impact of your work. 

Case Studies in the Environment was named one of two finalists for the Association of American Publishers' 2019 PROSE Awards in the category Best New Journal in Science, Technology and Medicine, and welcomes case study article and case study pedagogy article submissions from NAAEE members.

For the developing world, access to Case Studies in the Environment is free through Research4Life, a public-private partnership with the goal of reducing the knowledge gap between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries by providing affordable access to critical scientific research.

For more information, including author guidelines and details on subscribing, please visit cse.ucpress.edu .

• EE Professional
• Higher Education
• K-12 Educator
• Policymaker
• Biodiversity
• Citizen Science
• Civic Engagement
• Conservation
• Environmental Literacy
• EPA Priority
• Evaluation and Assessment
• Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
• Natural Resources
• Policy/Advocacy
• Sustainability

11 min read

Seven case studies in carbon and climate

Every part of the mosaic of Earth's surface — ocean and land, Arctic and tropics, forest and grassland — absorbs and releases carbon in a different way. Wild-card events such as massive wildfires and drought complicate the global picture even more. To better predict future climate, we need to understand how Earth's ecosystems will change as the climate warms and how extreme events will shape and interact with the future environment. Here are seven pressing concerns.

The Far North is warming twice as fast as the rest of Earth, on average. With a 5-year Arctic airborne observing campaign just wrapping up and a 10-year campaign just starting that will integrate airborne, satellite and surface measurements, NASA is using unprecedented resources to discover how the drastic changes in Arctic carbon are likely to influence our climatic future.

Wildfires have become common in the North. Because firefighting is so difficult in remote areas, many of these fires burn unchecked for months, throwing huge plumes of carbon into the atmosphere. A recent report found a nearly 10-fold increase in the number of large fires in the Arctic region over the last 50 years, and the total area burned by fires is increasing annually.

Organic carbon from plant and animal remains is preserved for millennia in frozen Arctic soil, too cold to decompose. Arctic soils known as permafrost contain more carbon than there is in Earth's atmosphere today. As the frozen landscape continues to thaw, the likelihood increases that not only fires but decomposition will create Arctic atmospheric emissions rivaling those of fossil fuels. The chemical form these emissions take — carbon dioxide or methane — will make a big difference in how much greenhouse warming they create.

Initial results from NASA's Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) airborne campaign have allayed concerns that large bursts of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas, are already being released from thawing Arctic soils. CARVE principal investigator Charles Miller of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, is looking forward to NASA's ABoVE field campaign (Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment) to gain more insight. "CARVE just scratched the surface, compared to what ABoVE will do," Miller said.

Methane is the Billy the Kid of carbon-containing greenhouse gases: it does a lot of damage in a short life. There's much less of it in Earth's atmosphere than there is carbon dioxide, but molecule for molecule, it causes far more greenhouse warming than CO 2 does over its average 10-year life span in the atmosphere.

Methane is produced by bacteria that decompose organic material in damp places with little or no oxygen, such as freshwater marshes and the stomachs of cows. Currently, over half of atmospheric methane comes from human-related sources, such as livestock, rice farming, landfills and leaks of natural gas. Natural sources include termites and wetlands. Because of increasing human sources, the atmospheric concentration of methane has doubled in the last 200 years to a level not seen on our planet for 650,000 years.

Locating and measuring human emissions of methane are significant challenges. NASA's Carbon Monitoring System is funding several projects testing new technologies and techniques to improve our ability to monitor the colorless gas and help decision makers pinpoint sources of emissions. One project, led by Daniel Jacob of Harvard University, used satellite observations of methane to infer emissions over North America. The research found that human methane emissions in eastern Texas were 50 to 100 percent higher than previous estimates. "This study shows the potential of satellite observations to assess how methane emissions are changing," said Kevin Bowman, a JPL research scientist who was a coauthor of the study.

Tropical forests

Tropical forests are carbon storage heavyweights. The Amazon in South America alone absorbs a quarter of all carbon dioxide that ends up on land. Forests in Asia and Africa also do their part in "breathing in" as much carbon dioxide as possible and using it to grow.

However, there is evidence that tropical forests may be reaching some kind of limit to growth. While growth rates in temperate and boreal forests continue to increase, trees in the Amazon have been growing more slowly in recent years. They've also been dying sooner. That's partly because the forest was stressed by two severe droughts in 2005 and 2010 — so severe that the Amazon emitted more carbon overall than it absorbed during those years, due to increased fires and reduced growth. Those unprecedented droughts may have been only a foretaste of what is ahead, because models predict that droughts will increase in frequency and severity in the future.

In the past 40-50 years, the greatest threat to tropical rainforests has been not climate but humans, and here the news from the Amazon is better. Brazil has reduced Amazon deforestation in its territory by 60 to 70 percent since 2004, despite troubling increases in the last three years. According to Doug Morton, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, further reductions may not make a marked difference in the global carbon budget. "No one wants to abandon efforts to preserve and protect the tropical forests," he said. "But doing that with the expectation that [it] is a meaningful way to address global greenhouse gas emissions has become less defensible."

In the last few years, Brazil's progress has left Indonesia the distinction of being the nation with the highest deforestation rate and also with the largest overall area of forest cleared in the world. Although Indonesia's forests are only a quarter to a fifth the extent of the Amazon, fires there emit massive amounts of carbon, because about half of the Indonesian forests grow on carbon-rich peat. A recent study estimated that this fall, daily greenhouse gas emissions from recent Indonesian fires regularly surpassed daily emissions from the entire United States.

Wildfires are natural and necessary for some forest ecosystems, keeping them healthy by fertilizing soil, clearing ground for young plants, and allowing species to germinate and reproduce. Like the carbon cycle itself, fires are being pushed out of their normal roles by climate change. Shorter winters and higher temperatures during the other seasons lead to drier vegetation and soils. Globally, fire seasons are almost 20 percent longer today, on average, than they were 35 years ago.

Currently, wildfires are estimated to spew 2 to 4 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year on average — about half as much as is emitted by fossil fuel burning. Large as that number is, it's just the beginning of the impact of fires on the carbon cycle. As a burned forest regrows, decades will pass before it reaches its former levels of carbon absorption. If the area is cleared for agriculture, the croplands will never absorb as much carbon as the forest did.

As atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to increase and global temperatures warm, climate models show the threat of wildfires increasing throughout this century. In Earth's more arid regions like the U.S. West, rising temperatures will continue to dry out vegetation so fires start and burn more easily. In Arctic and boreal ecosystems, intense wildfires are burning not just the trees, but also the carbon-rich soil itself, accelerating the thaw of permafrost, and dumping even more carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

North American forests

With decades of Landsat satellite imagery at their fingertips, researchers can track changes to North American forests since the mid-1980s. A warming climate is making its presence known.

Through the North American Forest Dynamics project, and a dataset based on Landsat imagery released this earlier this month, researchers can track where tree cover is disappearing through logging, wildfires, windstorms, insect outbreaks, drought, mountaintop mining, and people clearing land for development and agriculture. Equally, they can see where forests are growing back over past logging projects, abandoned croplands and other previously disturbed areas.

"One takeaway from the project is how active U.S. forests are, and how young American forests are," said Jeff Masek of Goddard, one of the project’s principal investigators along with researchers from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Forest Service. In the Southeast, fast-growing tree farms illustrate a human influence on the forest life cycle. In the West, however, much of the forest disturbance is directly or indirectly tied to climate. Wildfires stretched across more acres in Alaska this year than they have in any other year in the satellite record. Insects and drought have turned green forests brown in the Rocky Mountains. In the Southwest, pinyon-juniper forests have died back due to drought.

Scientists are studying North American forests and the carbon they store with other remote sensing instruments. With radars and lidars, which measure height of vegetation from satellite or airborne platforms, they can calculate how much biomass — the total amount of plant material, like trunks, stems and leaves — these forests contain. Then, models looking at how fast forests are growing or shrinking can calculate carbon uptake and release into the atmosphere. An instrument planned to fly on the International Space Station (ISS), called the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar, will measure tree height from orbit, and a second ISS mission called the Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) will monitor how forests are using water, an indicator of their carbon uptake during growth. Two other upcoming radar satellite missions (the NASA-ISRO SAR radar, or NISAR, and the European Space Agency’s BIOMASS radar) will provide even more complementary, comprehensive information on vegetation.

Ocean carbon absorption

When carbon-dioxide-rich air meets seawater containing less carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas diffuses from the atmosphere into the ocean as irresistibly as a ball rolls downhill. Today, about a quarter of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions get absorbed into the ocean. Once the carbon is in the water, it can stay there for hundreds of years.

Warm, CO 2 -rich surface water flows in ocean currents to colder parts of the globe, releasing its heat along the way. In the polar regions, the now-cool water sinks several miles deep, carrying its carbon burden to the depths. Eventually, that same water wells up far away and returns carbon to the surface; but the entire trip is thought to take about a thousand years. In other words, water upwelling today dates from the Middle Ages – long before fossil fuel emissions.

That's good for the atmosphere, but the ocean pays a heavy price for absorbing so much carbon: acidification. Carbon dioxide reacts chemically with seawater to make the water more acidic. This fundamental change threatens many marine creatures. The chain of chemical reactions ends up reducing the amount of a particular form of carbon — the carbonate ion — that these organisms need to make shells and skeletons. Dubbed the “other carbon dioxide problem,” ocean acidification has potential impacts on millions of people who depend on the ocean for food and resources.

Phytoplankton

Microscopic, aquatic plants called phytoplankton are another way that ocean ecosystems absorb carbon dioxide emissions. Phytoplankton float with currents, consuming carbon dioxide as they grow. They are at the base of the ocean's food chain, eaten by tiny animals called zooplankton that are then consumed by larger species. When phytoplankton and zooplankton die, they may sink to the ocean floor, taking the carbon stored in their bodies with them.

Satellite instruments like the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua let us observe ocean color, which researchers can use to estimate abundance — more green equals more phytoplankton. But not all phytoplankton are equal. Some bigger species, like diatoms, need more nutrients in the surface waters. The bigger species also are generally heavier so more readily sink to the ocean floor.

As ocean currents change, however, the layers of surface water that have the right mix of sunlight, temperature and nutrients for phytoplankton to thrive are changing as well. “In the Northern Hemisphere, there’s a declining trend in phytoplankton,” said Cecile Rousseaux, an oceanographer with the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at Goddard. She used models to determine that the decline at the highest latitudes was due to a decrease in abundance of diatoms. One future mission, the Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, will use instruments designed to see shades of color in the ocean — and through that, allow scientists to better quantify different phytoplankton species.

In the Arctic, however, phytoplankton may be increasing due to climate change. The NASA-sponsored Impacts of Climate on the Eco-Systems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment (ICESCAPE) expedition on a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker in 2010 and 2011 found unprecedented phytoplankton blooms under about three feet (a meter) of sea ice off Alaska. Scientists think this unusually thin ice allows sunlight to filter down to the water, catalyzing plant blooms where they had never been observed before.

Related Terms

• Carbon Cycle

Explore More

As the Arctic Warms, Its Waters Are Emitting Carbon

Runoff from one of North America’s largest rivers is driving intense carbon dioxide emissions in the Arctic Ocean. When it comes to influencing climate change, the world’s smallest ocean punches above its weight. It’s been estimated that the cold waters of the Arctic absorb as much as 180 million metric tons of carbon per year […]

Peter Griffith: Diving Into Carbon Cycle Science

Dr. Peter Griffith serves as the director of NASA’s Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Griffith’s scientific journey began by swimming in lakes as a child, then to scuba diving with the Smithsonian Institution, and now he studies Earth’s changing climate with NASA.

NASA Flights Link Methane Plumes to Tundra Fires in Western Alaska

Methane ‘hot spots’ in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are more likely to be found where recent wildfires burned into the tundra, altering carbon emissions from the land. In Alaska’s largest river delta, tundra that has been scorched by wildfire is emitting more methane than the rest of the landscape long after the flames died, scientists have […]

Discover More Topics From NASA

Explore Earth Science

Earth Science in Action

Earth Science Data

Facts About Earth

Join us on eePRO Global! Post resources, events, jobs, join groups, and share your profile with the community! Learn More

GEEP: Global Environmental Education Partnership

• Mission & Goals
• Regional Centers
• Strengthen Networks
• Build Leadership
• Champion Effective Practice
• Get Involved
• Organizations
• Call to Action
• Ten Actions for the Future
• Sign the Pledge
• Pledge: Organizations
• Pledge: Individuals

Case Studies

Case studies can help us all better understand what environmental education looks like in practice. They can help us think critically and learn from what worked and what didn't work.

Through the e-book, educators can explore a variety of topics – from climate change to positive youth development – to better understand theory and practice. Each chapter is designed for university professors, instructors, and workshop leaders to help facilitate learning about a key topic area, which is then explored in practice through a case study. Each chapter contains an overview of the topic area, a case study, and discussion questions and activities. Over time, GEEP will continue to add chapters to this collection.

E-Book: Learning from Case Studies

How can case studies in environmental education help us better understand what works? Explore key environmental education topics and case studies through this learning tool.

Explore the chapters here

Search Case Studies

Explore the GEEP collection of environmental education case studies around the world.

Site Search

• How to Search
• Advisory Group
• Editorial Board
• OEC Fellows
• History and Funding
• Using OEC Materials
• Collections
• Research Ethics Resources
• Ethics Projects
• Communities of Practice
• Get Involved
• Submit Content
• Open Access Membership
• Become a Partner
• Advanced Search
• Webinar Series

Life and Environmental Science Ethics: Case Studies

This collection of cases covers topics related to Life and Environmental Science ethics including, agriculture ethics, bioethics, environmental ethics, and more. Cases come from a variety of online educational sources, ethics centers, and ethics programs.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Arctic Offshore Drilling.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/arctic-offshore-drilling.

• Offshore oil and gas reserves, primarily along coastlines in Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Texas, account for a large proportion of the oil and gas supply in the United States. In August 2015, President Obama authorized Royal Dutch Shell to expand drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast. His decision brought into sharp relief the different, oftentimes competing views on the expansion of offshore drilling.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Climate Change & the Paris Deal.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/climate-change-paris-deal.

• In December 2015, representatives from 195 nations gathered in Paris and signed an international agreement to address climate change, which many observers called a breakthrough for several reasons. First, the fact that a deal was struck at all was a major accomplishment, given the failure of previous climate change talks. Second, unlike previous climate change accords that focused exclusively on developed countries, this pact committed both developed and developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the voluntary targets established by nations in the Paris climate deal fall considerably short of what many scientists deem necessary to achieve the stated goal of the negotiations: limiting the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, since the established targets are voluntary, they may be lowered or abandoned due to political resistance, short-term economic crises, or simply social fatigue or disinterest.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Patient Autonomy & Informed Consent - Ethics Unwrapped.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/patient-autonomy-informed-consent.

• In the context of health care in the United States, the value on autonomy and liberty was cogently expressed by Justice Benjamin Cardozo in Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospitals (1914), when he wrote, “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body.” This case established the principle of informed consent and has become central to modern medical practice ethics . However, a number of events since 1914 have illustrated how the autonomy of patients may be overridden. In Buck v. Bell (1927), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that the involuntary sterilization of “mental defectives,” then a widespread practice in the U.S., was justified, stating, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough.” Another example, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in which African-American males were denied life-saving treatment for syphilis as part of a scientific study of the natural course of the disease, began in 1932 and was not stopped until 1972.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Prenatal Diagnosis & Parental Choice.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/prenatal-diagnosis-parental-choice.

• In the United States, many citizens agree that the government may impose limits on the freedom of individuals when individuals interfere with the rights of others, but the extent of these limits is often a topic of debate. Among the most debated of bioethical issues is the issue of abortion, which hinges on whether the fetus is a person with rights, notably the right to life.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Retracting Research: The Case of Chandok v. Klessig.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/retracting-research-case-chandok-v-klessig.

• In 2003, a research team from prominent laboratory the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) for Plant Research in Ithaca, New York published an article in the prestigious academic journal Cell. It was considered a breakthrough paper in that it answered a major question in the field of plant cell biology. The first author of this paper was postdoctoral researcher Meena Chandok, working under her supervisor Daniel Klessig, president of BTI at the time.

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science & Engineering. “IDEESE Case: GMOs.” University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. https://www.umass.edu/sts/ethics/online/cases/GMO/case.html.

• High ethical concern about GM organisms has two sources: concerns for the integrity and sustainability of the natural environment and concern about the social consequences of allowing the supply of seeds or breeding stock to be controlled by developers (mainly though not exclusively large multinational corporations) having 20-year monopolies over the distribution of any particular genetic material as a consequence of patent rights.

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science & Engineering. “IDEESE Case: Stem Cell.” University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. https://www.umass.edu/sts/ethics/online/cases/StemCell/case.html.

• Stem cells are undifferentiated cells in the human body which are able to replenish themselves by dividing. Under particular natural or medically induced circumstances, they are able to develop into more specialized cells for forming bones, nerves, body tissue, brains, muscles, and blood. Stem cell research has provoked considerable ethical concern; while many welcome the prospect of more effective treatments of birth defects or diseases, using human embryonic stem cells for such treatments, or even in scientific research, is very controversial. The embryo must be destroyed to secure its stem cells, and anyone who believes that human life begins at the moment of conception equates destroying embryos with committing murder. Excitement generated by the first acquisition of human embryonic stem cells in 1998 spread around the world. In South Korea, where scientists and the government had been attuned to advances in genetics, bioscience, and biotechnology since the mid-1980s, there was strong interest in taking up the new possibilities. Four years earlier, the South Korean government had adopted an ambitious "Plan 2000" intended to make South Korea one of the leading sites of bioscience and biotechnology research in the world. In 1990 it provided its national Genetics Research Institute with ample facilities in the new Taedok Science town just outside Seoul; in 1995 it expanded the Institute and renamed it the Korean Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology to better reflect its expanded areas of work.

Iowa State University. “Case Studies.” Bioethics Program, 2021. https://bioethics.las.iastate.edu/a-note-about-case-studies-for-the-classroom/.

• The following are helpful for introducing real-life ethics situations to students. These case studies are designed for teaching purposes, to help students develop critical responses to ethical issues, taking into account a multitude of viewpoints. Please feel free to use these case studies in your classrooms, or modify as necessary for your purposes. Please give credit where credit is due.

Teach the Earth. “Case of GMOs in Environmental Cleanup.” Across the Geoscience Currirulum, 2019. https://serc.carleton.edu/geoethics/activities/84049.html.

• This case represents various agendas, hidden and otherwise, that can come into play during environmental remediation.

Teach the Earth. “Does A River Have Rights?” Across the Geoscience Curriculum, 2019. https://serc.carleton.edu/geoethics/activities/84031.html.

• Individual students have different ethical "lines." This class discussion proceeds with a series of prompts that presents a set of scenarios that explores ethical boundaries. Students discuss right and wrong actions with respect to a river and discuss why those actions are "right" or "wrong" as well as how their ethical viewpoints vary.

Submit Content to the OEC   Donate

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2055332. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

• Publications
• Conferences & Events
• Professional Learning
• Science Standards
• Awards & Competitions
• Instructional Materials
• Free Resources
• American Rescue Plan
• For Preservice Teachers
• NCCSTS Case Collection
• Science and STEM Education Jobs
• Interactive eBooks+
• Digital Catalog
• Regional Product Representatives
• e-Newsletters
• Bestselling Books
• Latest Books
• Popular Book Series
• Submit Book Proposal
• Web Seminars
• National Conference • New Orleans 24
• Leaders Institute • New Orleans 24
• National Conference • Philadelphia 25
• Exhibits & Sponsorship
• Submit a Proposal
• Conference Reviewers
• Past Conferences
• Latest Resources
• Professional Learning Units & Courses
• For Districts
• Online Course Providers
• Schools & Districts
• College Professors & Students
• The Standards
• Teachers and Admin
• eCYBERMISSION
• Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision
• Junior Science & Humanities Symposium
• Teaching Awards
• Climate Change
• Earth & Space Science
• New Science Teachers
• Early Childhood
• Middle School
• High School
• Postsecondary
• Informal Education
• Journal Articles
• Lesson Plans
• e-newsletters
• Science & Children
• Science Scope
• The Science Teacher
• Journal of College Sci. Teaching
• Connected Science Learning
• NSTA Reports
• Next-Gen Navigator
• Science Update
• Teacher Tip Tuesday
• Trans. Sci. Learning

MyNSTA Community

• My Collections

Case Studies in Environmental Justice

A Joint Science– Humanities Project

Science Scope—September/October 2020 (Volume 44, Issue 1)

By Elizabeth Schibuk and Melissa Psallidas

Share Start a Discussion

CONTENT AREA  Environmental Science and Humanities

GRADE LEVEL  7

BIG IDEA/UNIT  Environmental justice

ESSENTIAL PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEDGE  Some knowledge of ecology and water pollution is helpful but not required.

TIME REQUIRED  2 weeks

COST  $0–$100 depending on inclusion of artistic project and existing available supplies

SAFETY  No safety issues

We work in a school where conversations around race, income, and equity are integral to everyday learning. These topics serve as the foundation of our curriculum and drive the “why” of each unit of study. We felt it was both natural and necessary to end the year with an interdisciplinary unit that addressed environmental injustice and its disproportionate effect on individuals and communities of color.

Research has shown that using real-world contexts to teach science content can improve both motivation and achievement in science ( Kuhn and Muller 2014 ). For two weeks, we integrated our seventh-grade science and humanities classes, creating an extended “project block” where we co-taught a large combined class of two seventh-grade sections. Students went to their project-block class for 2.5 hours a day for a series of learning tasks that we co-designed and co-taught. In these two weeks, students in seventh grade learned about large themes in the study of environmental justice and became deep experts in one of four case studies in environmental racism. Students discovered and unpacked the layered implications of environmental racism, the notion that exposures to environmental risks are not equally distributed by race and class ( Mohai, Pellow, and Roberts 2009 ). Their culminating task was to create both a feature article that highlighted their case study as an example of environmental racism and an original watercolor protest piece. Together, these two work products would demonstrate their understanding of environmental justice as it applies to their case study and empower them to create artwork to express their reactions and share their voice on this issue. Figure 1 maps out the timeline for the project, each step of which is explained in greater detail in the article.

Unit timeline for the project

Although many schools might not have the scheduling flexibility to organize the instructional day for science and humanities team-teaching, our hope is that science and humanities teachers interested in interdisciplinary learning could lift pieces of this project in ways that work well in their teaching context when and where possible (see Wonder Week Student Overview in Online Supplemental Materials ).

Unit launch

The project began with a set of experiences designed to build students’ awareness of the relationship between environmental health and factors such as race and income in the United States.

Gallery walk

Students built background knowledge about the upcoming content by analyzing various images, artwork, maps, and graphs that pertained to environmental racism. Examples include photographs from abandoned industrial waste sites, infographics about the history of environmental justice, photographs from environmental protests, and a variety of artwork. The images were sorted into six stations, through which students rotated and gathered observations and curiosities in their note-catchers (see Gallery Walk Note-Catcher in Online Supplemental Materials ). At the end of the gallery walk, students were prompted to define environmental racism using nothing but their inferencing skills and what they had gathered from the sources. At this point in the process, students were able to gather that there were clearly differences in the overall environmental health of communities of color and predominantly white communities, but they hadn’t yet dug into how or why.

Building background knowledge

Graphing task.

Following the gallery walk, students dug deeper into the issue of environmental racism through a data analysis task (see Environmental Racism: Exploring the Data in Online Supplemental Materials ). Students were given tabulated data about industrial chemical and hazardous waste exposure and release sites in Massachusetts, as a function of income bracket and of race. Students began by studying the data and deciding what type of graph to make, then were coached in creating two double bar graphs (one for income and one for race). Because the two data sets (industrial chemical and hazardous waste exposure) have different units and different orders of magnitude, students needed to create two y -axes. Students were coached in creating one y -axis on the left for weight of industrial chemical exposure and a second one on the right for the number of hazardous waste release sites (see sample graph in Figure 2 ). Students were also asked to look for patterns in a map (see Figure 3 ) that similarly addressed the relationship between hazardous waste exposure and race, and in so doing working toward grades 6–8 application of the crosscutting concept of patterns in science.

Sample student graph of authentic data about industrial hazardous waste expoata about industrial hazardous waste exposure as a function of percentage of nonwhite population and later as a function of average neighborhood income

Map of Boston displaying Black population density and hazardous waste hotspots (map courtesy of Erin Duffer)

The initial idea for this graphing task came from the graphs available in the Teaching Tolerance activity “Biases in Exposure to Pollution in Massachusetts,” but the activity was rewritten and expanded so that students were creating their own graphs. The graphing task played an instrumental role in supporting students in building out their working definition of environmental racism on the basis of pattern seeking in data analysis and not strictly in reading or note-taking.

Common text

We read a common text about the Gulf Coast oil spill in 2010 to continue to build a stronger foundational knowledge base about environmental racism before splitting into differentiated case study groups. Students read excerpts from the article “The Gulf Oil Spill: An Environmental Justice Disaster” by Julie Weiss from Teaching Tolerance and from the article “Why Oil Spills are a Racial Issue” by Cord Jefferson, published in The Root (see Resources for links to both articles). This study solidified the notion that a natural disaster itself may not be an act of racism, but the circumstances in the aftermath, or the negligence and indifference beforehand, can be. Students concluded that the impact of the spill was felt most keenly by low-income families and people of color, not because of the coincidental and accidental location of the spill, but because of the intentional disposal of oil-related debris. After the reading assignment, students revisited their original definition of environmental racism, making edits and additions on the basis of what they had learned in the article.

We hosted an environmental justice panel driven by questions that students had generated from the gallery walk and graphing task. We invited a local college professor who specializes in environmental justice, a local reporter who has written about relevant topics, and a faculty member who was living in Puerto Rico during hurricane Maria. Students had time to ask questions of the visitors to deepen the knowledge they had already begun building in reading the common texts.

Common film

In our last background-building learning task, we watched “Rise” (Season 1, Episode 1: Sacred Water: Standing Rock Part 1), a film about the Dakota Access Pipeline and conflict around water pollution and indigenous land rights (see “Rise” film assignment in Online Supplemental Materials ). We used this film screening as an opportunity to discuss the concept of a “case study” as an approach to learning about an issue.

Case study research and mentor text analysis

In preparing for the project, we curated resources for four different case studies in environmental justice:

• Hurricane Katrina and the federal government’s relief efforts after the storm
• Asthma and its disproportionate effect on people of color
• Maquiladoras (foreign-owned factories located in Mexico)
• Tar Creek, the Native American land that became a U.S. Superfund site in 1983

To transition from building background knowledge to case study research, we previewed the four case study options for students through a gallery walk where they could peruse some of the research artifacts such as video clips, article excerpts, graphics, and images that would become source material for each case study.

Students were given the opportunity to express their case study preferences and then were assigned a case study based on their stated preference as well as their current reading level as some case studies had more accessible source material prepared. We then gave each student a research folder with preselected print research materials and guided note-taking sheets for their case study. We were able to guarantee each student either their first or second choice, and students readily jumped in with their assigned group.

Differentiation in reading instruction

Students were grouped on the basis of their STAR Reading scores and Fountas and Pinnell data. Lexile (L) levels of assigned informational texts were informed by STAR Reading reports. The Maquiladoras and Tar Creek groups had heterogeneous mixes of all students reading at or above grade level, and all reading materials ranged from 1095L–1465L (grades 10–11). Students in the Hurricane Katrina group were reading slightly below grade level, around 1030L (grade 7). Students in the Asthma group needed additional reading and writing supports, and read texts around 950L (grade 6). All reading instruction was guided by seventh-grade informational text reading standards.

Students in the Maquiladoras and Tar Creek groups were assigned a reading partner within their group. In each pairing, there was at least one student who read above grade level and one student who read at a seventh-grade level. During daily reading time, these students read a vocabulary preview to introduce words in the text that would be difficult to define solely using context clues and background knowledge. Each day students had different instructions for their “during reading” task, but they could mostly guide their own learning as a case study team from the materials and written instructions provided (see Asthma Texts with Stop and Jots, Hurricane Katrina Articles with Stop and Jots, Maquiladoras Texts with Stop and Jots, and Tar Creek Texts with Stop and Jots, all in Online Supplemental Materials ).

Students in the Hurricane Katrina group needed more support to access their assigned research materials. Each day the Katrina group began with teacher guidance in previewing important vocabulary from that day’s text. This group also received reading instruction, but students were guided through the process (using modelling and think alouds) for the first few paragraphs of their assigned text before being left to do it as a group without a teacher. They then continued the process on their own after the teacher left the group.

Students in the Asthma group received guided instruction from a teacher or support staff at most times during the research process. Although most of their research materials were also rigorous texts with seventh-grade vocabulary and text structure, they also had supplemental visual and multimedia resources that allowed them to gain background knowledge before approaching the daily text. By previewing the text content with accessible resources, students were able to more effectively make meaning of grade-level texts.

At the end of every class, students shared their groups’ new findings as they pertained to the topic of environmental justice. After these closing share-outs, students would revisit their working definition of environmental racism and again make necessary edits or additions based on their new knowledge.

Science research: Building content expertise

The final stage of the students’ research process was to work through a self-directed series of science content learning tasks (available in the linked resources) that asked students to use text and audiovisual resources to build scientific background knowledge related to their case studies (see Science Background Research: Asthma Case Study, Katrina Case Study, Maquiladoras Case Study, and Tar Creek Case Study, all in Online Supplemental Materials ). The assignments are similar for the four case studies, but the materials and some of the questions are tailored specifically to the relevant science content of each case study.

Collapsed church sits in the deserted Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans seven months post-Katrina

In their case-study science work, students were asked questions designed to guide them to the understanding that the environmental degradation described in each of these case studies is the result of urbanization and development happening without an ethic of environmental stewardship.

These science tasks also supported students in building supplemental knowledge in human physiology such that they could understand the impact of relevant pollutants on the human body. Students were given an opportunity to choose a relevant body system that they were most interested in learning about and using the Scholastic Study Jams video series to build their knowledge of how this organ system is meant to function. The Study Jam films are freely available online and present content in an accessible student-friendly manner, filled with visuals and contextual anecdotes. By using film, students can watch, take notes, and digest the content at their own pace. Students made connections back to their case study reading to build their understanding of how exposure to toxins in the affected populations impacted the physical health and wellness of those exposed.

Situating the science content research at the end of the case study research gave a compelling reason for students to deeply engage with the readings and films, as they had already developed an interest in understanding the injustices done onto those affected in their case study through their research. Students were being asked to learn about environmental degradation and human physiology to help them better understand the implications of the relevant toxins on the populations they were studying, and in turn to strengthen the feature articles they would then be writing. Students were asked to consider how human activities were at the root of each environmental justice issue and thus consider growing human impact on the environment.

Creating final products

Writing workshop: teaching feature article writing.

With their background case-study reading and science learning complete, students were ready to begin their feature articles. Students became journalists, drafting feature stories that shared their insights on their particular case study. The articles drew connections between the environmental hazards detailed in the case study and the role of race and class. Feature article instruction was approached in two different buckets: first structure, then style. Students analyzed the structure of a number of feature articles, observing everything from the font size of subheadings to the reasoning for shorter, chunked paragraphs that enhance readability and flow. All instruction about structure and organization of feature articles was delivered through analysis of mentor texts (exemplar feature articles to develop understanding of format and content; see Feature Article Mentor Text Notes in Online Supplemental Materials ). Students incorporated case study research into their feature articles as they aimed to elevate the voices of those affected by the environmental injustice at hand, while sharing and citing reliable research studies and data.

Before thinking about style and craft, students dedicated two days of writing workshop time to organization and structure. They analyzed purpose and structure of feature articles, then brainstormed the purpose of their own article (see Feature Article Brainstorm and Outline in Online Supplemental Materials ). Once they determined their own purpose for writing, they began organizing their ideas into separate sections with headings. By sifting through their research folders—rich with annotated articles, notes from multimedia sources, and exit tickets—students were able to synthesize key ideas from their research and organize them into different sections of their feature article. They also ordered these sections in such a way that would intentionally reveal important information to the reader and enhance the purpose of their article. To transition from the brainstorming process, which mainly focused on synthesis and organization, to the drafting process, where they would be focusing on craft and style, students drafted the topic sentence for each section. Once each student’s topic sentences were approved, they began drafting their articles.

Differentiation in writing instruction

The Maquiladoras, Tar Creek, and Hurricane Katrina groups all received writing instruction together, while the Asthma group received separate, more scaffolded instruction. The Asthma group needed support synthesizing the information from multiple resources into a few paragraphs organized by topic and delivered in a purposeful order. They used a graphic organizer that held space for exactly three sections (whereas the other three groups had free range about the amount of sections they felt necessary, and some students drafted up to six separate headings). They were instructed to create a first section that would give important introductory knowledge to the reader, essentially defining asthma and listing its causes. Through guided small-group instruction, they sifted through their learning materials to find at least one quote that would fit into this section. Then they jotted down bullet points of other information they would include that belonged under this first heading. They were then instructed to draft a section explaining who is mostly affected by asthma. Last, they came up with the topic of the third section on their own. Essentially, there was a gradual release process as they worked to draft the first section, then the second, then the third, which was done independently.

At the end of the drafting process, students from all groups participated in a peer-revision activity. Students received a partner in their own group for the first round and a partner in a different group for the second round. They provided feedback by marking up a printed copy of their partner’s feature article with colors that indicated area of growth in a particular part of the rubric (see Feature Article Rubric: Maquiladoras, Hurricane Katrina, Tar Creek in Online Supplemental Materials ). This color-coded revision process allowed for students to give their peers guided, rubric-based feedback, without simply making the revision for them.

Protest paintings: Incorporating artistry

As a school with an arts-focused mission, we seek opportunities to harness our students’ passion for art as a lever for engagement and for building a sense of personal connection to the curricular content. In creating a rigorous visual art component for this assignment, students are asked to consider how they can leverage visual imagery to engage and invest their audience in the content, which in turn reinforces their own sense of investment and attachment to the content. In addition, in writing their artist statements, students are provided with another learning opportunity to synthesize their learning and its broader meaning.

We began the visual arts component of the project around the time students were beginning to write their feature articles. This allowed us to break up the 2.5-hour project block into smaller components, split between art studio and writer’s workshop. We opened our studio time with a gallery walk studying examples of environmental protest art (see Environmental Protest Art, Gallery Walk Note-Catcher in Online Supplemental Materials ).

After the gallery walk, students completed an art planning document that was designed to help them think about how to create their own environmental protest art that explicitly references and responds to what they had learned about their case study (see Art Project Planning in Online Supplemental Materials ). The art planning document asked students to gather the three most compelling stories, facts, and questions they encountered in their research, and from there to brainstorm three symbols and three phrases they could use to communicate this learning in their work. Students were challenged to intentionally and purposefully use symbolism to teach and make a statement about environmental racism in the context of their case study, a process they then wrote about in their final artist statements (see student artwork in Figure 4 and Artist Statement Directions in Supplemental Online Materials).

Sample student artwork and artist statements: TOP: one student in the Hurricane Katrina case study group;  BOTTOM: one student in the Asthma case study group 

Celebration of learning

Our school follows the EL (formerly Expeditionary Learning) model. One of the core foundational tenets of EL is that expeditions culminating in public displays of student work “compel students to reflect on and articulate what they have learned, how they learned, questions they answered, research they conducted, and areas of strength and struggles” ( EL Education n.d. ). Celebrations of learning are a core ritual at our school, and nearly every major project or learning expedition culminates with a public display of student work. The formats vary depending on grade level, content, and type of work. Consistent, however, is the notion that students know from the beginning that their work will be made public for their peers, faculty, administrators, parents, and friends of the school. The celebration of learning is not just a display of work, but a learning experience for students where they practice reciting, synthesizing, and reflecting on their learning.

Students at our school take leadership roles in planning and curating celebrations of learning, building authentic ownership over their work and a true sense of pride. Students were invited to participate in a voluntary planning committee for the celebration of learning. We do not screen for student skill level or work quality in the celebration of learning committee—it is entirely voluntary and open to all students who are interested. We frame participation as optional, not for extra credit or any other transactional reward, and a leadership opportunity. All students plan and prepare for the event, and are active participants on the day of the event, but inviting interested students into the fold in planning the logistics of the event further builds investment and excitement across the class community.

The celebration of learning for this project took the format of a gallery exhibit. Students set up a gallery of their artwork, organized into clusters by case study, with their printed artist statements and printed feature articles on display (see One-Page Story Sample and Student Artwork with Artists’ Statements in Online Supplemental Materials ). Students stood by their work during a 45-minute block while guests from across the school community came to observe students’ artwork, read their feature articles, and ask students questions about their learning.

Science assessment

Students’ work in this project was assessed not according to performance expectations but rather to the Next Generation Science Standards science and engineering practices: analyzing and interpreting data, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information ( NGSS Lead States 2013 ). As this project was a multidisciplinary experience meant to sit separately from the main curriculum, we welcomed the invitation to focus assessment on the applications of science and engineering practices to more deeply understanding a socio-scientific issue.

Students were explicitly assessed in analyzing and interpreting data in the introductory graphing activity where they created two double-bar graphs using data sets about local environmental health exposure concerns. When writing about their graphs, and the relationship between income, race, and exposure to industrial chemicals and hazardous waste, students needed to demonstrate their ability to see and discuss patterns in data (see Environmental Racism Data Task Rubric in Online Supplemental Materials ).

Students were also assessed in obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information through their final written feature article (see Science Background Research Rubric in Online Supplemental Materials ). In this work they were engaging with the (grades 3–5) application of this practice, as they were expected to read and understand grade-appropriate scientific texts. In a future iteration of this project, we would push to the (grade 6–8) application of this practice by providing students with complex data sets relevant to their case studies and guiding them through the analysis of this data and its connection to their case study.

Reflections, tips, and future considerations

As we think forward on how to improve students’ learning in this project, we believe that a more explicit introduction to the purpose of journalism and feature articles, specifically science journalism, could have enriched students’ writing. Additionally, we noticed that students needed support in learning how to fluently integrate science content into their feature writing. Some students were able to authentically weave in their knowledge of human physiology and the impact that modern life is having on the natural world, while others left out their science content knowledge entirely. In the future, we would take additional time to have students explicitly study how science journalists weave science content explanations into their work in the context of a broader piece whose main focus is a human interest story, but one grounded in science.

Elizabeth Schibuk ( [email protected] ) is a middle school science teacher and Melissa Psallidas is a middle school humanities teacher, both at the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Jefferson, C. 2010, September 2. Why oil spills are a racial issue. The Root. https://www.theroot.com/why-oil-spills-are-a-racial-issue-1790883618 

Weiss, J. 2010. The Gulf oil spill: An environmental justice disaster . https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/the-gulf-oil-spill-an-environmental-justice-disaster

Online Supplemental Materials

Art Project Planning— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope  

Artist Statement Directions— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Asthma Texts with Stop and Jots— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Environmental Protest Art, Gallery Walk Note-Catcher— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Environmental Racism Data Task Rubric— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Environmental Racism: Exploring the Data— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Feature Article Brainstorm and Outline— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Feature Article Mentor Text Notes— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Feature Article Rubric: Maquiladoras, Hurricane Katrina, Tar Creek— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Gallery Walk Note-Catcher— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope  

Hurricane Katrina Articles with Stop and Jots— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Maquiladoras Texts with Stop and Jots— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

One-Pager Story Sample— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

“Rise” Film Assignment— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Science Background Research: Asthma Case Study— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Science Background Research: Katrina Case Study— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Science Background Research: Maquiladoras Case Study— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Science Background Research: Tar Creek Case Study— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Science Background Research Rubric— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Student Artwork with Artists’ Statements— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Tar Creek Texts with Stop and Jots— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

Wonder Week Student Overview— https://www.nsta.org/online-connections-science-scope

EL Education. n.d. Celebrations of learning: Why this practice matters .

Kuhn J., and Muller A.. 2014. Context-based science education by newspaper story problems: A study on motivation and learning effects . Perspectives in Science 2 (1-4): 5–21. doi: 10.1016/j.pisc.2014.06.001

Mohai P., Pellow D., and Roberts J.T.. 2009. Environmental justice . Annual Review of Environment and Resources 34 (1): 405–430. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-082508-094348.

NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For states, by states . Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Jefferson C. 2010, September 2. Why oil spills are a racial issue . The Root.

Weiss J. 2010. The Gulf oil spill: An environmental justice disaster .

Feature Article Brainstorm and Outline—

Feature Article Mentor Text Notes—

Feature Article Rubric: Maquiladoras, Hurricane Katrina, Tar Creek—

Gallery Walk Note-Catcher—

Hurricane Katrina Articles with Stop and Jots—

Maquiladoras Texts with Stop and Jots—

One-Pager Story Sample—

“Rise” Film Assignment—

Science Background Research: Asthma Case Study—

Science Background Research: Katrina Case Study—

Science Background Research: Maquiladoras Case Study—

Science Background Research: Tar Creek Case Study—

Science Background Research Rubric—

Student Artwork with Artists’ Statements—

Tar Creek Texts with Stop and Jots—

Wonder Week Student Overview—

Equity Inclusion

You may also like

Reports Article

Web Seminar

Join us on Monday, October 28, from 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM ET, to learn about how to safely use lithium-ion batteries in instructional spaces....

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CASE STUDIES

Apes curriculum alignment page & apes resource page.

Case Study: Sea Otters (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: American Alligators (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: American Bison (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: American Chestnut (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Asbestos (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Bald Eagles (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Beavers (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Benthic Macroinvertebrates (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Bighorn Sheep (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Brook Trout in the Adirondacks (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Canada Geese (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Caribou (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Chronic Wasting Disease (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Climate Change (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Coast Redwoods (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Earth's Climate (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Earthworms (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Eating at a Different Trophic Level (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Electric Vehicles (EVs) (Teacher & Student Edition)

Case Study: Firewood (Teacher & Student Edition)

Search form

Population and environment case studies: local approaches to a global challenge.

Chih-Hsien (Michelle) Lin, Detbra Rosales, Melanie Jackson

It is apparent that we now live in a new epoch, the Anthropocene (IGBP, 2001), in which Earth’s environment and climate is mainly controlled by human activity. Environmental damage is accelerating on a global scale. As the world’s population increases, improving standards of living without destroying or degrading the natural environment becomes a challenge. Water shortages, sea-level rise, air pollution and degradation of coastline afflict many areas all over the world.

The larger the population, the more complex the environmental problems become (Fig. 1). The challenge is to build synergies between members of separate disciplines and between scientists, policymakers and the public within and between nations that can accomplish collaboratively what none are capable of doing alone for global climate change. A number of case studies in the coastal zone, based on population density gradients, from Palau , Maryland Coastal Bays, Moreton Bay in Australia and Chesapeake Bay to Pearl River in China will be reviewed to understand the population dynamics, environment issues, and management services. Importantly, through this case study discussion, we can learn from different perspectives between nations and the mistakes in terms of the environment and quality of living.

Palau is not letting the overwhelming climate change impacts slow them down. The Pacific country of Palau (with a population of only 21,000) has made significant environmental inroads to a pristine ecosystem protection and a sustainable tourism-based economy. They are looking for ways to increase the resilience of their diverse mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs to promote high-end ecotourism and manage development to protect its unique ecosystem. However, managing conflicts between conservation, tourism and traditional practices are inevitable in Palau. For example, how do we push to develop education awareness of ecological processes and sustainable development to the public? How do we overcome the knowledge gap, culture differences and language barriers before educating local people about global climate change? How do we spread awareness of the environmental problems when it brings people into closer contact with nature via ecotourism? It is obvious that Palau needs international support and lessons from different experiences and perspectives for management, monitoring and research. A comparison between regions (such as tropical versus temperate environments) is necessary, but it should be careful not to extrapolate too much. Culture bias on nutrient pollution and marine impacts on different systems must be taken into account when making environmental decisions.

The Maryland coastal bay, Chincoteague Bay lagoon system is a wave-dominated environment. The changes impacting water quality, land use and the ecosystem have been associated with intensification of anthropogenic stressors (Fertig et al. 2013) Non-linear ecosystem level changes are due to the complexity of the phenomena occurring in this system. Therefore, management of coastal ecosystems requires a strong interaction between managers and researchers (Dennison 2008). Problem-oriented research is an effective way to examine the sustainable use of coastal zones, and targeting proper species that can affect human health directly is also important for implementing research. The aim of research is to translate it into meaningful information for the decision-making process or its evaluation.

The Moreton Bay system in Australia is known for seagrasses, mangroves and coral diversity. The bay is special in that wildlife is close to city skyline. The health of the bay had worsened over the past year due to the growing population along the coastlines. A significant component of nitrogen pollution from sewage discharge leads to marine eutrophication (Costanzo et al. 2001). Scientists researching water quality issues have developed an ecosystem health index for assessing the health of Moreton Bay. Functional zones based on habitats are also well defined to process effectiveness assessment. On the other hand, the scientists working in Moreton Bay have had good support from politicians, which has enhanced the communication with the public. The Queensland government and mayor are big advocates of the idea that the more people hear the problems, the more they get behind the actions. Currently, they yield good result: the receiving sewage discharge used to be seven times higher than the water quality standards in Queensland; however, it is currently only about two times the standard.

The drivers-pressures-state-impacts-responses (DPSIR; Fig. 2) framework provides a standard framework for site assessment and evaluation on the effect of human activity on environment. The framework has been applied to study the complex interactions in Chesapeake Bay and China’s megacity around Pearl River. The rapid rate of population growth around Chesapeake Bay watershed has changed the land use and expanded urban areas. Harmful algal blooms, declines in oyster population, land erosion and invasive species have become major environmental issues here. Although the Chesapeake Bay is extremely well studied; effective communication between science and management is required to bridge the barriers to integration (Boesch 2006). While the Chesapeake Bay is extensively managed with multiply branches; the community involvement and partnership are commonly separated. People do not feel a sense of ownership for the bay.

Population growth in China is formidable. The economic imbalances within the country itself result in a huge and constant influx of migrants to the coastal megacity (defined as a city with more than 10 million people in search of better jobs and quality of living). China’s Pearl River Delta region has overtaken Tokyo as world’s largest megacity. Large population pressures on resources cause devastating effects on natural environments and human health. As megacities grow, the boundaries expand. It is difficult to manage efficiently when cities reach unprecedented scales and complexity beyond population models. Although the urbanization rate of this coastal megacity has been slowing down, there are a number of uncertainties in terms of nutrient contaminants and future climate change.

Governments around the world are moving to integrate their efforts to address complex environmental issues, such as the Kyoto Protocol . However, there are many challenges we must face in order to make this possible, and to working together across-boundaries can range from technological applications, such as data to culture bias in science and organization. Science may have good networking through peer review, but integrative management is not easy to conduct.

References :

• IGBP (2001) Global Change and the Earth System: a Planet Under Pressure . In: IGBP Science, No. 4. International GeosphereeBiosphere Programme, Stockholm, Sweden, p. 32.
• Boesch DF (2006) Scientific requirements for ecosystem-based management in the restoration of Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Louisiana . Ecological Engineering 26:6-26 [ pdf ]
• Costanzo SD, O’donohue MJ, Dennison WC, Loneragan NR, Thomas M (2001) A new approach for detecting and mapping sewage impacts. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42:149-156
• Dennison WC (2008) Environmental problem solving in coastal ecosystems: A paradigm shift to sustainability . Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 77:185-196 [ pdf ]
• Fertig B, O'Neil JM, Beckert KA, Cain CJ, Needham DM, Carruthers TJB, Dennison WC (2013) Elucidating terrestrial nutrient sources to a coastal lagoon, Chincoteague Bay, Maryland, USA . Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 116:1-10
• Sekovski I, Newton A, Dennison W (2011) Megacities in the coastal zone: Using a driver-pressure-state-impact-response framework to address complex environmental problems. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science xxx (2011) 1-12

Next Post > Kick-starting Collective Impact in Five Easy Report Card Steps

Stephanie Siemek 9 years ago

I agree with the statement, “The larger the population, the more complex the environmental problems become…”, as this idea can be supported within our own personal experiences on how difficult it is to accommodate a large group of people. For instance, how difficult is it for a large group of friends to all agree on what to do on Friday night? Each person has different ideas, needs, and opinions. Therefore, how can it be possible for multiple leaders, states, countries etc. to form an agreement that will restore and sustain the Earth’s ecosystems?

Worldwide collaboration and understanding is necessary for conservation and recovery of ecosystems, as nature has no boundaries. Therefore, it will be up to our leaders to enforce policies that will not lead us into total destruction as human population continues to grow. This may mean that they will eventually have to take measures that will not make every big corporation “happy” and cause burden on the economy and society, but it will keep us from completely destroying our resources, planet, and ourselves.

Whitney Hoot 9 years ago

I think you bring up some really excellent points. You've made me start thinking a lot about the relationships among human population size, growth, and density and how these factors influence conservation and management of marine resources. For instance, Palau actually has a higher population growth rate than China (0.8 percent per year vs. 0.5 percent per year), but we are talking about population sizes that are almost incomparable (21,000 vs. 1.36 billion) and hugely different land masses (458 sq km vs. 9.6 million sq km). Even though China is a huge country, it is much more densely populated than Palau; the density in Palau is about 45 people per sq km vs. 142 per sq km in China. (That being said, I imagine that population density is a more useful figure when managing marine resources in Palau than in China, because the density will inevitably be less variable in a small island country.)

We think a lot about population growth in large countries such as China and India - but what about tiny nations like Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia? Obviously, the global implications of population growth in these small countries are much less significant, but locally, population growth can place serious pressure on resources. Should global concerns always outweigh local concerns? China's per capita fish consumption is over 26 kg per year (http://www.greenfacts.org/en/fisheries/l-2/06-fish-consumption.htm) - not a small amount if you multiply it by more than a billion. So, we have to think a lot about Chinese fisheries. But what if there's an endemic species in Palau that could be wiped out by adding just a few more people to the island who are eating reef fish every day? As always, in conservation, we have to prioritize. And there are two ways to look at it - we could spend a lot of money and a lot of time addressing a massive issue (e.g. China's impact on fish abundance) or a lot less time and a lot less money (and we might even be successful) addressing a smaller, locally-scaled conservation issue in Palau. Just fish for thought.

Atika 11 months ago

Worldwide collaboration and understanding is necessary for conservation and recovery of ecosystems, as nature has no boundaries. Therefore, it will be up to our leaders to enforce policies that will not lead us into total destruction as human population continues to grow.

Post a comment

Your E-Mail

E-Mail Notifications: Off All

Stay informed: Sign up for eNews

• Facebook (opens in new window)
• X (opens in new window)
• Instagram (opens in new window)
• YouTube (opens in new window)
• LinkedIn (opens in new window)

UC Press Blog

Climate-smart intervention takes top 2023 case studies in the environment prize.

Case Studies in the Environment is pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 Case Studies in the Environment Prize Competition .

Eligible submissions are judged for their ability to translate discrete case studies into broad, generalizable findings; for advancing a strong perspective and engaging narrative; for being accessible to their intended audiences; for addressing topics that are important or notable in their novelty, impact, or urgency; and which contribute to the teaching of environmental concepts to students and/or practitioners.

The winning case study from the 2023 competition, “ Building Resilience in Jamaica’s Farming Communities: Insights From a Climate-Smart Intervention ,” from The University of the West Indies’ Donovan Campbell and Shaneica Lester, demonstrates that while climate change poses immense threats to the environment and to human livelihoods, adaptation also provides opportunities to strengthen a community.

“This positivity and sense of agency is critical to the success of climate initiatives,” noted CSE Editor-in-Chief Dr. Jennifer Bernstein. “The editorial team felt that the manuscript exemplifies the journal at its best–identifying and evaluating an important environmental question using robust interdisciplinary methods.”

The honorable mention articles from the 2023 competition are “ Teaching the Complex Dynamics of Clean Energy Subsidies With the Help of a Model-as-Game ,” from Rochester Institute of Technology’s Eric Hittinger, Qing Miao, and Eric Williams; and “ Barriers and Facilitators for Successful Community Forestry: Lessons Learned and Practical Applications From Case Studies in India and Guatemala ,” from Vishal Jamkar (University of Minnesota), Megan Butler (Macalester College), and Dean Current (University of Minnesota).

“‘Teaching the Complex Dynamics of Clean Energy Subsidies’ recognizes the value of subsidies, while at the same time acknowledging contextual constraints. The game itself allows students to work through subsidy design via a number of cases, and provides high quality material for use immediately in the classroom. This is a wildly useful tool, and exemplifies what we want to see with respect to accessible pedagogy using environmental case studies as a focus.”

“Barriers and Facilitators for Successful Community Forestry” is the author team’s second case study contribution to the journal, extending the well-developed framework of their previous article, “ Understanding Facilitators and Barriers to Success: Framework for Developing Community Forestry Case Studies ” and applying it to two unique locations.

Both the winning case study and honorable mentions have been made freely available to the public at online.ucpress.edu/cse .

The Case Studies in the Environment team extends their gratitude to everyone who submitted articles for the 2023 competition. For previous Case Studies in the Environment Prize Competition winners, please see our prize competition landing page .

Case Studies in the Environment is a journal of peer-reviewed case study articles and case study pedagogy articles. The journal informs faculty, students, researchers, educators, professionals, and policymakers on case studies and best practices in the environmental sciences and studies. online.ucpress.edu/cse

• Tumblr (opens in new window)
• Email (opens in new window)
• Case Studies in the Environment ,
• Environmental Studies ,
• UC Press News
• climate change

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts .

• Science & Case Studies

Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee Report on Microfiber Pollution

• Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Opportunities to Address Tire Wear Particles in Waterways (2023)

Report on Priority Microplastics Research Needs: Update to the 2017 Microplastics Expert Workshop

• Microplastics Expert Workshop Report  (2017)

State of the Science White Paper: A Summary of the Effects of Plastics Pollution on Aquatic Life and Aquatic-Dependent Wildlife

• Summary of Expert Discussion Forum on Possible Human Health Risks from Microplastics in the Marine Environment

Tern Island Preliminary Assessment and Technical Support Document

EPA conducts analysis and research to address important issues related to the potential health, ecological, and socio-economic impacts of trash and debris in the aquatic environment.

Pursuant to a requirement of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (P.L. 116-224) , the Trash Free Waters Program and NOAA’s Marine Debris Program co-led the development of a Report to Congress, Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee Report on Microfiber Pollution . This report was developed on behalf of the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee, with support from the consulting firm Materevolve and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation . The content includes an overview of microfiber pollution, including a proposed definition of a microfiber, an assessment of the problem, and recommendations for measuring and reducing microfiber pollution. It also outlines a plan with five goals for Federal agencies to reduce microfiber pollution in coordination with stakeholders.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Opportunities to Address Tire Wear Particles in Waterways 

EPA’s Trash Free Waters (TFW) program announces the publication of  “Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Opportunities to Address Tire Wear Particles in Waterways.”  Tire wear particles as a pollutant in waterways is a relatively new field of study without standardized terminology, assessment methodologies, or established solutions. The emergence of tire wear particles as a significant category of microplastics found in waterways prompted EPA to convene stakeholders in two roundtable discussions in Spring 2022 to facilitate shared learning about the challenges of addressing the problem of tire wear particle pollution. Stakeholders represented diverse perspectives on the nature of the problem and how to effectively address it. The roundtables provided a forum for discussion among participants without committing to a specific course of action. Participants discussed a set of questions aimed at understanding the barriers to and opportunities for managing tire wear particles in waterways. This brief report summarizes the roundtable discussions. In producing it, EPA seeks to share the challenges and potential solutions discussed during the roundtables, in order to inform the public and broaden the community engaged in addressing tire wear particle pollution.

• View the Report:  Where the Rubber Meets the Road (pdf) (835 KB, April 2023, EPA-830-S-23-001)

In June 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Trash Free Waters Program convened a workshop that brought together subject matter experts (SME) in the fields of environmental monitoring, waste management, toxicology, ecological assessments, and human health assessments to discuss and summarize the risks posed by microplastics to ecological and human health (See "Microplastics Expert Workshop Report" below). The resulting workshop report outlined priority scientific information needs within four broad categories of research: Field and analytical methods; sources, transport, and fate; ecological assessments; and human health assessments.

The EPA Trash Free Waters Program has updated the 2017 Microplastics Expert Workshop (MEW) report to assist the scientific research and funding communities in identifying information gaps and emerging areas of interest within microplastics research. This report  includes a status update on the state of the science for each of the four categories listed above, informed by conversations with SMEs and a targeted review of the peer-reviewed literature.

• View the Report: A Trash Free Waters Report on Priority Microplastics Research Needs: Update to the 2017 Microplastics Expert Workshop (pdf) (2.1 MB, December 2021, EPA-842-R-21-005)

Microplastics Expert Workshop Report

The EPA Trash Free Waters program convened a Microplastics Expert Workshop (MEW) on June 28-29, 2017 to identify and prioritize the scientific information needed to understand the risks posed by microplastics to human and ecological health. The workshop gave priority to gaining greater understanding of these risks, while recognizing that there are many research gaps needing to be addressed and scientific uncertainties existing around microplastics risk management.  The workshop participants adopted a risk assessment-based approach and addressed four major topics: 1) microplastics methods, including deficits and needs; 2) microplastics sources, transport and fate; and 3) the ecological and 4) human health risks of microplastics exposure.  Workshop participants recommended developed detailed conceptual models to illustrate the fate of microplastics from source to receptor and assess the ecological and human health risks of microplastics, the degree to which information is available for each, and the interconnections among these uncertainties.  The expert panelists did not provide recommendations for specific regulatory or non-regulatory actions to be taken. This document presents a summary of the expert panel discussion.

• View the Report

Plastics have become a pervasive problem in oceans, coasts, and inland watersheds. Recent estimates suggest that 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic waste entered the global marine environment in 2010. Areas of accumulation of plastic debris include enclosed basins, ocean gyres, and bottom sediments. Plastics in the aquatic environment primarily originate from land-based sources such as littering and wind-blown debris, though plastic debris from fishing activities may be a key source in some areas. Plastic particles are generally the most abundant type of debris encountered in the marine environment, with estimates suggesting that 60% to 80% of marine debris is plastic, and more than 90% of all floating debris particles are plastic. This document is a state-of-the-science review – one that summarizes available scientific information on the effects of chemicals associated with plastic pollution and their potential impacts on aquatic life and aquatic-dependent wildlife.

Sediment microbial diversity, functional potentials, and antibiotic resistance pattern: a case study of Cochin Estuary core sediment

• Research Article
• Published: 14 August 2024

Cite this article

• Jasna Vijayan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9528-9622 1 ,
• Akhil Prakash Ezhuthanikkunnel   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0122-0174 1 ,
• Sabira Abdul Kareem Punnorkodu 1 ,
• Sunil Sukumaran Poikayil   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0115-6117 2 ,
• Mahesh Mohan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1003-5357 3 &
• Mohamed Hatha Abdulla Ammanamveetil   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0136-2911 1  

Marine sediments are an important part of the marine environment and the world’s greatest organic carbon source. Sediment microorganisms are important regulators of major geochemical and eco-environmental processes in marine environments, especially nutrient dynamics and biogeochemical cycles. Despite their importance, core marine microorganisms are virtually unknown due to a lack of consensus on how to identify them. Most core microbiotas have been characterized thus far based on species abundance and occurrence. The combined effects of habitat and depth on benthic bacterial communities and ecological functions were studied using “Next-Generation sequencing (NGS) and Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) predictive functional profiling” at the surface (0.2 cm) and bottom depth (250 cm) in a sediment core sample from Cochin Estuary, Kerala, India. The results showed that bacterial diversity and richness were significantly higher in the surface sediment sample with the most abundant phyla being Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes. The major metabolic functions were metabolism, followed by environmental information processing and genetic information processing. Antibiotic resistance genes between the surface and bottom samples help to understand the resistance pattern among multidrug resistance is the most prominent one. Among viruses, Siphoviridae is the dominant family, followed by Myoviridae . In the case of Archea, Crenarchaeota is dominant, whereas among eukaryotes phyla Streptophyta and Chordata were dominant in the surface and the bottom samples respectively.

Graphical Abstract

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

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Explore related subjects

• Environmental Chemistry

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Akhil PS, Nair MP, Sujatha CH (2013) Core sediment biogeochemistry in specific zones of Cochin Estuarine System (CES). J Earth Syst Sci 122(6):1557–1570

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Alvarez-Munoz D, Farré M (2020) Future trends in environmental metabolomics analysis. In Environmental Metabolomics (pp. 339–341). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818196-6.00012-1

Angly FE, Pantos O, Morgan TC, Rich V, Tonin H, Bourne DG, ... Tyson GW (2016) Diuron tolerance and potential degradation by pelagic microbiomes in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. PeerJ 4:e1758. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1758

Azam F, Long RA (2001) Sea snow microcosms. Nature 414(6863):495–498. https://doi.org/10.1038/35107174

Azam F, Fenchel T, Field JG, Gray JS, Meyer-Reil LA, Thingstad F (1983) The ecological role of water-column microbes in the sea. Mar Ecol Progress Series Oldendorf 10(3):257–263. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226125534-024

Article   Google Scholar  

Bai Y, Shi Q, Wen D, Li Z, Jefferson WA, Feng C, Tang X (2012) Bacterial communities in the sediments of Dianchi Lake, a partitioned eutrophic waterbody in China. PLoS One 7(5):e37796. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037796

Balachandran K, Raj CL, Nair M, Joseph T, Sheeba P, Venugopal P (2005) Heavy metal accumulation in a flow restricted, tropical estuary. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 65(1–2):361–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2005.06.013

Balachandran KK, Laluraj CM, Martin GD, Srinivas K, Venugopal P (2006) Environmental analysis of heavy metal deposition in a flow-restricted tropical estuary and its adjacent shelf. Environ Forensic 7(4):345–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/15275920600996339

Balser TC, Kinzig AP, Firestone MK (2002) Linking soil microbial communities and ecosystem functioning. The functional consequences of biodiversity: empirical progress and theoretical extensions 265–293. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400847303.265

Beale DJ, Marney D, Marlow DR, Morrison PD, Dunn MS, Key C, Palombo EA (2013) Metabolomic analysis of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in water: a proof of concept demonstration. Environ Pollut 174:201–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2012.12.002

Berdy J (2005) Bioactive microbial metabolites. J Antibiot 58(1):1–26. https://doi.org/10.1038/ja.2005.1

Bong CW, Malfatti F, Azam F, Obayashi Y, Suzuki S (2010) The effect of zinc exposure on the bacteria abundance and proteolytic activity in seawater. In: Hamamura N, Suzuki S, Mendo S, Barroso CM, Iwata H, Tanabe S (eds) Interdisciplinary studies on environmental chemistry— Biological Responses to Contaminants. © by TERRAPUB, pp 57–63

Google Scholar  

Bundy JG, Davey MP, Viant MR (2009) Environmental metabolomics: a critical review and future perspectives. Metabolomics 5:3–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-008-0152-0

Cai H, Jiang H, Krumholz LR, Yang Z (2014) Bacterial community composition of size-fractioned aggregates within the phycosphere of cyanobacterial blooms in a eutrophic freshwater lake. PLoS One 9(8):e102879. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102879

Cai L, Zhang R, He Y, Feng X, Jiao N (2016) Metagenomic analysis of virioplankton of the subtropical Jiulong River estuary, China. Viruses 8(2):35. https://doi.org/10.3390/v8020035

Cassman N, Prieto‐Davó A, Walsh K, Silva GG, Angly F, Akhter S, ... Dinsdale EA (2012) Oxygen minimum zones harbour novel viral communities with low diversity. Environ Microbiol 14(11):3043–3065. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02891.x

Chaudhry V, Rehman A, Mishra A, Chauhan PS, Nautiyal CS (2012) Changes in bacterial community structure of agricultural land due to long-term organic and chemical amendments. Microb Ecol 64:450–460

Chen B, Liang X, Huang X, Zhang T, Li X (2013a) Differentiating anthropogenic impacts on ARGs in the Pearl River Estuary by using suitable gene indicators. Water Res 47(8):2811–2820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.02.042

Chen B, Yang Y, Liang X, Yu K, Zhang T, Li X (2013b) Metagenomic profiles of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) between human impacted estuary and deep ocean sediments. Environ Sci Technol 47(22):12753–12760. https://doi.org/10.1021/es403818e

Chen X, Andersen TJ, Morono Y, Inagaki F, Jørgensen BB, Lever MA (2017) Bioturbation as a key driver behind the dominance of bacteria over archaea in near-surface sediment. Sci Rep 7(1):2400. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02295-x

Choure K, Parsai S, Kotoky R, Srivastava A, Tilwari A, Rai PK, ... Pandey P (2021) Comparative metagenomic analysis of two alkaline hot springs of Madhya Pradesh, India and deciphering the extremophiles for industrial enzymes. Front Genet 12:643423. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.643423

D’Costa VM, Griffiths E, Wright GD (2007) Expanding the soil antibiotic resistome: exploring environmental diversity. Curr Opin Microbiol 10(5):481–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2007.08.009

D’Hondt S, Pockalny R, Fulfer VM, Spivack AJ (2019) Subseafloor life and its biogeochemical impacts. Nat Commun 10:3519. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11450-z

Danovaro R, Snelgrove PV, Tyler P (2014) Challenging the paradigms of deep-sea ecology. Trends Ecol Evol 29(8):465–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.06.002

Danovaro R, Corinaldesi C, Rastelli E, Anno AD (2015) Towards a better quantitative assessment of the relevance of deep-sea viruses, bacteria and archaea in the functioning of the ocean seafloor. Aquat Microb Ecol 75(1):81–90. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01747

Darnley AG, Bjorklund A, Bolviken B, Gustavsson N, Koval PV, UK JP, ... Xuejing X (1995) A global geochemical database. Recommendations for international geochemical mapping. Final report of IGCP project 259, UNESCO Publishing

Ding Y, Li Y, You T, Liu S, Wang S, Zeng X, Jia Y (2024) Effects of denitrification on speciation and redistribution of arsenic in estuarine sediments. Water Res 121766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2024.121766

Dyksma S, Bischof K, Fuchs BM, Hoffmann K, Meier D, Meyerdierks A, ... Mußmann M (2016) Ubiquitous Gammaproteobacteria dominate dark carbon fixation in coastal sediments. ISME J 10(8):1939–1953. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2015.257

Ekman DR, Skelton DM, Davis JM, Villeneuve DL, Cavallin JE, Schroeder A, ... Collette TW (2015) Metabolite profiling of fish skin mucus: a novel approach for minimally-invasive environmental exposure monitoring and surveillance. Environ Sci Technol 49(5):3091–3100. https://doi.org/10.1021/es505054f

Fan Y, Li Z, Li B, Ke B, Zhao W, Lu P, ... Kan B (2023) Metagenomic profiles of planktonic bacteria and resistome along a salinity gradient in the Pearl River Estuary, South China. Sci Total Environ 889:164265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164265

Feng BW, Li XR, Wang JH, Hu ZY, Meng H, Xiang LY, Quan ZX (2009) Bacterial diversity of water and sediment in the Changjiang estuary and coastal area of the East China Sea. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 70(2):236–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2009.00772.x

Flynn DF, Mirotchnick N, Jain M, Palmer MI, Naeem S (2011) Functional and phylogenetic diversity as predictors of biodiversity–ecosystem-function relationships. Ecology 92(8):1573–1581. https://doi.org/10.1890/10-1245.1

Ghosh A, Bhadury P (2019) Exploring biogeographic patterns of bacterioplankton communities across global estuaries. MicrobiologyOpen 8(5):e00741. https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.741

Göller PC, Haro-Moreno JM, Rodriguez-Valera F, Loessner MJ, Gómez-Sanz E (2020) Uncovering a hidden diversity: optimized protocols for the extraction of dsDNA bacteriophages from soil. Microbiome 8:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-020-0795-2

Guo X, Hu H, Meng H, Liu L, Xu X, Zhao T (2020) Vertical distribution and affecting factors of Escherichia coli over a 0–400 cm soil profile irrigated with sewage effluents in northern China. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 205:111357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111357

Han Y, Wang J, Zhao Z, Chen J, Lu H, Liu G (2017) Fishmeal application induces antibiotic resistance gene propagation in mariculture sediment. Environ Sci Technol 51(18):10850–10860. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b02875

Harikumar PS, Nasir UP, Rahman MM (2009) Distribution of heavy metals in the core sediments of a tropical wetland system. Int J Environ Sci Technol 6:225–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03327626

Hawley AK, Nobu MK, Wright JJ, Durno WE, Morgan-Lang C, Sage B, ..., Hallam SJ (2017) Diverse Marinimicrobia bacteria may mediate coupled biogeochemical cycles along eco-thermodynamic gradients. Nat Commun 8(1):1507. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01376-9

Hoshino T, Doi H, Uramoto GI, Wörmer L, Adhikari RR, Xiao N, ... Inagaki F (2020) Global diversity of microbial communities in marine sediment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117(44):27587–27597. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1919139117

Huang W, Jiang X (2016) Profiling of sediment microbial community in Dongting Lake before and after impoundment of the three gorges dam. Int J Environ Res Public Health 13(6):617. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13060617

Jamieson AJ, Fujii T, Mayor DJ, Solan M, Priede IG (2010) Hadal trenches: the ecology of the deepest places on Earth. Trends Ecol Evol 25(3):190–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.09.009

Jasna V, Parvathi A, Dash A (2018) Genetic and functional diversity of double-stranded DNA viruses in a tropical monsoonal estuary. India Sci Rep 8(1):16036. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34332-8

Jiang L, Zheng Y, Chen J, Xiao X, Wang F (2011) Stratification of archaeal communities in shallow sediments of the Pearl River Estuary, Southern China. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 99:739–751. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-011-9548-3

Jorgensen BB, Marshall IPG (2016) Slow microbial life in the seabed. Ann Rev Mar Sci 8:311–332. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010814-015535

Kassambara A, Mundt F (2020) Factoextra: Extract and Visualize the Results of Multivariate Data Analyses. R Package Version 1.0.7. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=factoextra

Khandeparker L, Eswaran R, Gardade L, Kuchi N, Mapari K, Naik SD, Anil AC (2017a) Elucidation of the tidal influence on bacterial populations in a monsoon influenced estuary through simultaneous observations. Environ Monit Assess 189:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5687-3

Khandeparker L, Kuchi N, Kale D, Anil AC (2017b) Microbial community structure of surface sediments from a tropical estuarine environment using next generation sequencing. Ecol Ind 74:172–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.11.023

Kim KK, Lee JS, Lee KC, Oh HM, Kim SG (2010) Pontibaca methylaminivorans gen. nov., sp. Nov., a member of the family Rhodobacteraceae. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 60(9):2170–2175. https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.020172-0

Lankadurai BP, Nagato EG, Simpson MJ (2013) Environmental metabolomics: an emerging approach to study organism responses to environmental stressors. Environ Rev 21(3):180–205. https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2013-0011

Larsson DGJ, Flach CF (2022) Antibiotic resistance in the environment. Nat Rev Microbiol 20:257–269. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-021-00649-x

Leprince A, Nuytten M, Mahillon J (2022) Viral proteins involved in the adsorption process of Deep-Purple, a siphovirus infecting members of the Bacillus cereus group. Appl Environ Microbiol 88(10):e02478-e2521. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02478-21

Levitan MA, Kuptsov VM, Romankevich EA, Kondratenko AV (2000) Some indication for late Quaternary Pechora River discharge: results of vibrocore studies in the southeastern Pechora Sea. Int J Earth Sci 89:533–540

Li Y, Zheng L, Zhang Y, Liu H, Jing H (2019) Comparative metagenomics study reveals pollution induced changes of microbial genes in mangrove sediments. Scientific Reports 9(1):5739. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42260-4

Li Y, Yang R, Häggblom MM, Li M, Guo L, Li B, ... Sun W (2022) Characterization of diazotrophic root endophytes in Chinese silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis). Microbiome 10(1):186. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-022-01379-9

Li Y, Sun X, Yang R, Guo L, Li C, Wang X, ... Sun W (2024a) Phototrophic nitrogen fixation, a neglected biogeochemical process in mine tailings? Environ Sci Technol 58(14):6192–6203. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c09460

Li Y, Zhang R, Ma G, Shi M, Xi Y, Li X, ... Jia Y (2024b) Bacterial community in the metal (loid)-contaminated marine vertical sediments of Jinzhou Bay: impacts and adaptations. Sci Total Environ 171180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171180

Liu Q, Hu X, Jiang J, Zhang J, Wu Z, Yang Y (2014) Comparison of the water quality of the surface microlayer and subsurface water in the Guangzhou segment of the Pearl River, China. J Geog Sci 24:475–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-014-1101-7

Liu X, Pan J, Liu Y, Li M, Gu JD (2018) Diversity and distribution of Archaea in global estuarine ecosystems. Sci Total Environ 637:349–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.016

Lloyd KG, Steen AD, Ladau J, Yin J, Crosby L (2018) Phylogenetically novel uncultured microbial cells dominate earth microbiomes. Msystems 3(5):10–1128. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00055-18

Maloney JG, Molokin A, Santin M (2019) Next generation amplicon sequencing improves detection of Blastocystis mixed subtype infections. Infect Genet Evol 73:119–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2019.04.013

Martin GD, Vijay JG, Laluraj CM, Madhu NV, Joseph T, Nair M, Gupta GVM, Balachandran KK (2008) Fresh water influence on nutrient stoichiometry in a tropical estuary, southwest coast of India. Appl Ecol Environ Res 6(1):57–64. ©Penkala Bt., Budapest, Hungary. http://www.ecology.uni-corvinus.hu

Mathew J, Gopinath A, Martin GD (2019) Spatial and temporal distribution in the biochemical composition of sedimentary organic matter in a tropical estuary along the west coast of India. SN Appl Sci 1:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-018-0128-2

Menon NN, Balchand AN, Menon NR (2000) Hydrobiology of the Cochin backwater system–a review. Hydrobiologia 430:149–183. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004033400255

Nikhitha D, Narayanankutty A, Jacob J (2021) Bacterioplankton diversity and pollution levels in the estuarine regions of Chaliyar and Anjarakkandi rivers, Kerala, India. Biorxiv 2021–04. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.06.438743

Nunoura T, Takaki Y, Hirai M, Shimamura S, Makabe A, Koide O, ... Takai K (2015) Hadal biosphere: insight into the microbial ecosystem in the deepest ocean on Earth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(11):E1230-E1236. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.142181611

Obiol A, Giner CR, Sánchez P, Duarte CM, Acinas SG, Massana R (2020) A metagenomic assessment of microbial eukaryotic diversity in the global ocean. Mol Ecol Resour 20(3):718–731. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13147

Parvathi A, Jasna V, Aswathy VK, Nathan VK, Aparna S, Balachandran KK (2019) Microbial diversity in a coastal environment with co-existing upwelling and mud-banks along the south west coast of India. Mol Biol Rep 46:3113–3127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-04766-y

Parvathi A, Catena M, Jasna V, Phadke N, Gogate N (2021) Influence of hydrological factors on bacterial community structure in a tropical monsoonal estuary in India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(36):50579–50592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14263-0

Petro C, Starnawski P, Schramm A, Kjeldsen KU (2017) Microbial community assembly in marine sediments. Aquat Microb Ecol 79(3):177–195. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01826

Pinu FR, Beale DJ, Paten AM, Kouremenos K, Swarup S, Schirra HJ, Wishart D (2019) Systems biology and multi-omics integration: viewpoints from the metabolomics research community. Metabolites 9(4):76. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo9040076

Priju CP, Narayana AC (2007) Heavy and trace metals in Vembanad Lake sediments. Int J Environ Res 1(4):280–289

CAS   Google Scholar  

Qasim SZ (2003) Indian estuaries. New Delhi, Allied Publishers. Pvt. Ltd., p 277

Ravenschlag K, Sahm K, Amann R (2001) Quantitative molecular analysis of the microbial community in marine Arctic sediments (Svalbard). Appl Environ Microbiol 67(1):387–395. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.67.1.387-395.2001

Roux S, Enault F, Robin A, Ravet V, Personnic S, Theil S, ... Debroas D (2012) Assessing the diversity and specificity of two freshwater viral communities through metagenomics. PloS One 7(3):e33641. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033641

Schimel D, Enting LG, Heimann M, Wigley TM, Raynaud D, Alves D, ... Moore B (1995) C0 2 and the carbon cycle. Climate Change 1994: Radiative Forcing of Climate Change and An Evaluation of the IPCC IS92 Emission Scenarios. ⟨hal-03384881⟩

Schmitt H, Stoob K, Hamscher G, Smit E, Seinen W (2006) Tetracyclines and tetracycline resistance in agricultural soils: microcosm and field studies. Microb Ecol 51:267–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-006-9035-y

Séveno NA, Kallifidas D, Smalla K, van Elsas JD, Collard JM, Karagouni AD, Wellington EM (2002) Occurrence and reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. Rev Res Med Microbiol 13(1):15–27

Shivlata L, Satyanarayana T (2015) Thermophilic and alkaliphilic Actinobacteria: biology and potential applications. Front Microbiol 6:1014. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01014

Shtarkman YM, Koçer ZA, Edgar R, Veerapaneni RS, D’Elia T, Morris PF, Rogers SO (2013) Subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica) accretion ice contains a diverse set of sequences from aquatic, marine and sediment-inhabiting bacteria and eukarya. PLoS One 8(7):e67221. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067221

Simon M, Scheuner C, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Brinkhoff T, Wagner-Döbler I, Ulbrich M, ... Göker M (2017) Phylogenomics of Rhodobacteraceae reveals evolutionary adaptation to marine and non-marine habitats. ISME J 11(6):1483–1499. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.198

Smith MW, Herfort L, Rivers AR, Simon HM (2019) Genomic signatures for sedimentary microbial utilization of phytoplankton detritus in a fast-flowing estuary. Front Microbiol 10:2475. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02475

Song H, Li Z, Du B, Wang G, Ding Y (2012) Bacterial communities in sediments of the shallow Lake Dongping in China. J Appl Microbiol 112(1):79–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2011.05187.x

Sparks DL, Page AL, Helmke PA, Loeppert RH, Soltanpour PN, Tabatabai MA, ... Sumner ME (1996) Methods of soil analysis, part 3. Chem Methods 14:1085–1121

Srinivas K, Revichandran C, Maheswaran PA, Asharaf TT, Murukesh N (2003) Propagation of tides in the Cochin estuarine system, southwest coast of India. Indian Journal of Marine Sciences 32:14–24. https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:56212571

Srinivasan R, Kannappan A, Shi C, Lin X (2021) Marine bacterial secondary metabolites: A treasure house for structurally unique and effective antimicrobial compounds. Marine Drugs 19(10):530. https://doi.org/10.3390/md19100530

Stim KP (1995) A phylogenetic analysis of micro-organisms isolated from subsurface environments. Mol Ecol 4(1):1–10

Sun F, Xia X, Simon M, Wang Y, Zhao H, Sun C, ... Wu M (2022) Anticyclonic eddy driving significant changes in prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities in the south China Sea. Front Mar Sci 9:773548. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.773548

Tilman D (1999) The ecological consequences of changes in biodiversity: a search for general principles. Ecology 80(5):1455–1474. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9658(1999)0802

Toth M, Smith C, Frase H, Mobashery S, Vakulenko S (2010) An antibiotic-resistance enzyme from a deep-sea bacterium. J Am Chem Soc 132(2):816–823. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja908850p

van Waasbergen LG, Balkwill DL, Crocker FH, Bjornstad BN, Miller RV (2000) Genetic diversity among Arthrobacter species collected across a heterogeneous series of terrestrial deep-subsurface sediments as determined on the basis of 16S rRNA and recA gene sequences. Appl Environ Microbiol 66(8):3454–3463. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.66.8.3454-3463.2000

Vieira RP, Clementino MM, Cardoso AM, Oliveira DN, Albano RM, Gonzalez AM, ... Martins OB (2007) Archaeal communities in a tropical estuarine ecosystem: Guanabara Bay, Brazil. Microb Ecol 54:460–468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9261-y

Vipindas PV, Abdulaziz A, Chekidhenkuzhiyil J, Kalanthingal Ramkollath L, Karayadi Hamza F, Kizhakkepat Kalam B, Ravunnikutty MK, Nair S (2015) Bacterial domination over archaea in ammonia oxidation in a monsoondriven tropical estuary. Microb Ecol 69:544–553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0519-x

Wang Y, Zhang R, He Z, Van Nostrand JD, Zheng Q, Zhou J, Jiao N (2017) Functional gene diversity and metabolic potential of the microbial community in an estuary-shelf environment. Front Microbiol 8:1153. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01153

Wang Y, Wang C (2020) Comparative study on archaeal diversity in the sediments of two urban landscape water bodies. PLoS ONE 15(2):e0229097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229097

Wang W, Weng Y, Luo T, Wang Q, Yang G, Jin Y (2023) Antimicrobial and the resistances in the environment: ecological and health risks, influencing factors, and mitigation strategies. Toxics 11(2):185. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics11020185

Wellsbury P, Herbert RA, Parkes RJ (1996) Bacterial activity and production in near-surface estuarine and freshwater sediments. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 19(3):203–214. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.1996.tb00213.x

Yadav B, Johri AK, Dua M (2020) Metagenomic analysis of the microbial diversity in solid waste from Okhla Landfill, New Delhi. India Microbiol Resour Announc 9(46):10–1128. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00921-20

Yi Y, Lin C, Wang W, Song J (2021) Habitat and seasonal variations in bacterial community structure and diversity in sediments of a Shallow Lake. Ecol Ind 120:106959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106959

Zhang XX, Zhang T, Fang HH (2009) Antibiotic resistance genes in water environment. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 82:397–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-008-1829-z

Zhang Y, Yao P, Sun C, Li S, Shi X, Zhang XH, Liu J (2021) Vertical diversity and association pattern of total, abundant and rare microbial communities in deep-sea sediments. Mol Ecol 30(12):2800–2816. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15937

Zinger L, Boetius A, Ramette A (2014) Bacterial taxa–area and distance–decay relationships in marine environments. Mol Ecol 23(4):954–964. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12640

Zinger L, Amaral-Zettler LA, Fuhrman JA, Horner-Devine MC, Huse SM, Welch DBM, ... Ramette A (2011) Global patterns of bacterial beta-diversity in seafloor and seawater ecosystems. PloS One 6(9):e24570. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024570

Zinke M, Schröder GF, Lange A (2022) Major tail proteins of bacteriophages of the order Caudovirales. J Biol Chem 298(1):101472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101472

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry and Department of Biotechnology, Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Cochin University of Science and Technology, School of Environmental Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University. JV is grateful to the UGC-Kothari postdoctoral fellowship (DSKPDF-UGC-BL/20-21/0310). All authors are grateful to “Geo Marine Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mangalore, India” for providing the Cochin Estuary Core sediment sample.

JV is grateful for the UGC-Kothari postdoctoral research fellowship grant (DSKPDF-UGC BL/20–21/0310).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry; School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India

Jasna Vijayan, Akhil Prakash Ezhuthanikkunnel, Sabira Abdul Kareem Punnorkodu & Mohamed Hatha Abdulla Ammanamveetil

Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics; School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India

Sunil Sukumaran Poikayil

School of Environmental Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills P.O, Kottayam, 686560, Kerala, India

Mahesh Mohan

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

JV and AAMH have conceptualized and designed the work for research, AAMH, APE, and PSS collected the core sample JV and SPA analyzed samples and prepared the manuscript JV, APE, and SPA performed the analysis of the data and prepared the plots, and MM performed the sediment analysis. AAMHA and PSS have done the manuscript correction.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jasna Vijayan .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval.

There is no need of ethics approval, since this work does not include research on identifiable human material or data.

Consent to participate

All participants have the right to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty and the assurance of confidentiality.

Consent for publication

The manuscript must have written consent from all the authors and the institute.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Robert Duran

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Vijayan, J., Ezhuthanikkunnel, A.P., Punnorkodu, S.A.K. et al. Sediment microbial diversity, functional potentials, and antibiotic resistance pattern: a case study of Cochin Estuary core sediment. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-34665-0

Download citation

Received : 20 March 2024

Accepted : 05 August 2024

Published : 14 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-34665-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Antibiotic resistance
• Deep core sediments
• Viral diversity
• Metabolic functions
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

• DOI: 10.3390/en17163943
• Corpus ID: 271835544

Risks and Safety of CO2 Pipeline Transport: A Case Study of the Analysis and Modeling of the Risk of Accidental Release of CO2 into the Atmosphere

• Paweł Bielka , Szymon Kuczyński , +1 author Stanisław Nagy
• Published in Energies 9 August 2024
• Environmental Science, Engineering

37 References

Estimating the likelihood of pipeline failure in co2 transmission pipelines: new insights on risks of carbon capture and storage, an approach of quantitative risk assessment for release of supercritical co2 pipelines, modelling ruptures of buried high pressure dense phase co2 pipelines in carbon capture and storage applications—part i. validation, co2 pipelines material and safety considerations, impacts: framework for risk assessment of co2 transport and storage infrastructure, modelling of accidental releases from a high pressure co2 pipelines, comprehensive analysis of pipeline transportation systems for co2 sequestration. thermodynamics and safety problems, consequence modelling of co2 pipeline failure, pipeline design for a least-cost router application for co2 transport in the co2 sequestration cycle, optimization of pipeline transport for co2 sequestration, related papers.

Showing 1 through 3 of 0 Related Papers