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<\/a>Her AmeriCorps work hooked her up with a consortium of stakeholders known as the Frenchman Bay Partners<\/a> (FBP) that since 2010 has worked to ensure Frenchman Bay\u2014bounded on the east by the Schoodic Peninsula and Mount Desert Island on the west\u2014is ecologically, economically and socially healthy and resilient in the face of future challenges.<\/p>\n A contemporary effort of FBP is the 610 Project<\/a>, which is aimed at opening 610 acres of closed mudflats. Fox\u2019s initial work in Frenchman Bay was focused on the mudflats that are valuable to Maine\u2019s economy, but also prone to bacterial pollution and, thus, closure. That valuation work began to steer Fox from her biology background to more of an economics and social science focus, all of which eventually landed her at UMaine and the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions<\/a> as part of the New England Sustainability Consortium<\/a> (NEST) on an unexpected path towards a master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n \u201cI had not planned to pursue a master\u2019s degree, Fox says, \u201cbut the Frenchman Bay Partners research got me interested in economics and social science and also introduced me to Dr. Bridie McGreavy, who at the time was working with the Partners as part of her dissertation research.\u201d (McGreavy, now an assistant professor in the UMaine Department of Communication and Journalism<\/a> and member of the Mitchell Center, coordinates the 610 Project.)<\/p>\n That connection brought Fox to McGreavy\u2019s dissertation defense at the Mitchell Center where McGreavy \u201cwas kind enough to announce \u2018There\u2019s someone here looking to be a master\u2019s student and you should pick her up!\u2019\u201d recalls Fox. One thing led to another and Fox was introduced to NEST researcher Kathleen Bell of the School of Economics<\/a>, who in turn connected Fox with Caroline Noblet, also of NEST, the School of Economics and the Mitchell Center, and now Fox\u2019s advisor.<\/p>\n One component of her master\u2019s thesis work has involved gauging how FBP members and stakeholders understand and value the so-called \u201cecosystem services\u201d provided by the surrounding environment\u2014including water filtration by soils.<\/p>\n Forest soils are superb at filtering water and, for example, had regions of the Catskills and Adirondack mountains not been preserved more than a century ago New York City would not have a plentiful supply of good water\u2014that ecosystem service would have to be replaced by enormously expensive water treatment plants. Closer to home, coastal wetlands function as natural water filtration systems thereby helping to protect shellfish habitat from pollution and bacterial contamination.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Frenchman Bay ecosystem services<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cEcosystem services<\/strong> is a new focus the Partners has adopted, which is what got me interested in looking at it for my thesis work,\u201d Fox says. \u201cThey did a series of workshops where they brought people in the Frenchman Bay region together to talk about what ecosystem services are.<\/p>\n \u201cMy research explores the Partners\u2019 use of Ecosystem Service Values workshops as a means to engage people, so I\u2019ve been following up with participants through interviews to see what was challenging to them, what they really know about ecosystem services, and if the workshops changed their perspectives,\u201d Fox says.<\/p>\n A separate but related part of Fox\u2019s thesis work has involved gauging public attitudes towards coastal water quality and the public\u2019s willingness to pay for improvements in water quality.<\/p>\n Poor coastal water quality is both a public and environmental health concern. Contributors to poor water quality come from natural (flood events) and human (bacteria from pet\u00a0waste, leaking septic systems, wastewater overflow, or sewer outfall) sources. Knowing what drives human behaviors on the coast can help managers target efforts and messages to mitigate harmful behavior, encourage healthy behavior, and effectively inform those who live, work, and play on the coast about possible threats to the health of the coastal environment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe purpose of this aspect of my master\u2019s work is to identify attitudes residents may have about coastal water quality and use them to help understand citizen support for water quality improvement, and think strategically about messaging as a means to change citizen behavior,\u201d Fox explains.<\/p>\n This work, which was done in parallel to the FBP work Fox did, was conducted as part of the National Science Foundation-funded NEST Safe Beaches and Shellfish<\/a> project and carried out via a mixed-method pilot mail\/online survey sent to coastal residents in Maine and New Hampshire.<\/p>\n Additionally, Fox adds, coastal managers can use the attitudinal data as a way to think about framing information for citizens on small things they can do to keep the coast clean. For instance, she says, \u201cWe know from our data analysis that a resident’s sense of personal responsibility for improving coastal water quality is an important factor in his or her choice to support a coastal water quality program. So, for state agencies, making the connection between dog waste or leaky septic systems and clam flats closed to harvest due to bacterial pollution explicit for citizens is a way to use those attitudes as a way to leverage change.”<\/p>\n Fox intends to continue her valuation work with the Frenchman Bay Partners, of which she is a member, and at the end of May accepted a Ph.D. research assistantship with the NEST Future of Dams<\/a> project.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m most interested in what\u2019s happening on the coast and on helping to solve real-world problems\u2014what can be done in coastal communities to improve people\u2019s lives.\u201d She adds, \u201cI feel very strongly about serving Maine\u2019s coastal communities and, in addition to my continued work with the Partners, the Future of Dams project will allow me to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"clam_flats_closure\"](\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/293\/2016\/05\/clam_flats_closure.png\")
<\/a>Workshop participants included a diverse group from the Bar Harbor and Hancock business communities. \u201cPeople come to Bar Harbor because of natural resources in the area\u2014Acadia is a huge draw\u2014and so they benefit directly or indirectly from the availability of these resources and the services that Frenchman Bay provides,\u201d Fox notes.<\/p>\n![\"harvesting](\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/293\/2016\/05\/harvesting-201x300.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cIn our surveys, we asked about resident willingness to pay an increase in monthly sewer\/water\/septic fees to support a hypothetical Coastal Water Quality Improvement Program,\u201d Fox says. “From the survey work, with data on attitudes and valuation in hand, we can go back to state agency partners at the Maine Healthy Beaches Program, the Maine Coastal Program, and the Department of Marine Resources and say, ‘Here is a way to help gauge citizen support for coastal zone programs.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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