The Shore to Statehouse project supported the creation of an open-source, replicable, undergraduate experiential course on marine debris. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the course allowed undergraduate students in Connecticut, USA, to collect marine debris locally, then create a policy report for state legislators. Here we share the results of the project including data on four accumulation surveys on the Long Island Sound, as well as the impact on student motivation, attitudes, and behavior levels. Results include finding over 1600 individual pieces of debris totaling 19.4kg (42.8lb). In addition, the students experienced statistically significant improvements in knowledge and behavior scores. This open-source course can be replicated, empowering students to remove debris, provide important information to local policy makers, and improve knowledge and behavior.

The Philippines has been listed as the topmost affected country by climate change. One of the sectors affected by this climatic change is the agricultural sector. This study aimed to document the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) on climate change among rice farmers as a baseline study in disseminating the practices on disaster risk reduction management to rice farmers in Central Luzon to reduce risks and improve the rice yield and income of rice farmers. A total of 969 respondents were randomly sampled from the seven provinces of Central Luzon. A survey questionnaire and an unstructured questionnaire were used as instruments in gathering the needed data. Descriptive and thematic analysis were used in analyzing the data. Results revealed that rice farmers are knowledgeable and have favorable attitudes toward the impact of climate change on farming. They sometimes practice climate-smart agricultural practices. Generally, the farmers are affected by weather and climatic conditions as well as the hazards that cause a reduction in rice yield. Climate change has affected farmers in their social well-being, economic aspect, and rice production. In terms of climate change disaster adaptation measures, the farmers sometimes adopt measures in terms of flood and drought and seldom adopt measures in typhoons, erosion, and volcanic eruptions. The study recommends the conduct of capability training on disaster risk reduction in rice production (such as early planting and planting of high-yielding varieties) based on the specific needs of each province.

Global expansion and intensification of industrialized agriculture during the last 50 years was facilitated by the replacement of labor by imported chemicals and energy, thus changing the economics and the social fabric of rural communities as well as impairing water, air, and soil resources essential to sustaining food and fiber production in a world with an increasing appetite. To effectively understand and solve complex problems resulting from this agricultural revolution, expanded communications are needed at a variety of levels. It is critical for the technical community to communicate through greater interdisciplinary research among agronomists, soil scientists, hydrologists, ecologists, and others to reduce diffuse pollution from agriculture. Also, more effective translations of technical problems and solutions are needed to influence policy. Accurate advice is needed in spite of the uncertainties that scientists too often use to obscure useful information. Education will be needed for producers and conservationists to gain confidence that promised environmental responses will occur if solutions are to be implemented at more than experimental or demonstration scales. The search for comprehensive solutions to environmental degradation will require understanding the ultimate causes of pollution, not just the proximal causes. The ultimate causes will only be found by examining the systems that facilitate the release of contaminants to the environment such as the wholesale landscape changes that replaced grazing land with annual crops leading to increased leaching and runoff. Research and demonstration projects increasingly need collaborations among agronomists, livestock scientists, soil scientists, hydrologists, economists, sociologists and others who have a stake in the study of diffuse pollution and the outcomes of any proposed solutions. Partnerships developed at the working level where basic principles can be shared will help avoid the pursuit of impractical solutions when viewed from different perspectives.