UCONN NRE 3000 Human Dimensions
Final Exam well answered 2025/2026
Human Dimensions - ANS ✔✔a social science that seeks to understand:
1)Why humans act the way they do concerning natural resources?
2)The characteristics of humans that influence those decisions
Themes of the course - ANS ✔✔1) Communicating with stakeholders
2) Relationships between people and natural resources
Stakeholder - ANS ✔✔individual/groups with a vested interest in a resource
Why do we care? - ANS ✔✔-Natural resources are all around us
-We humans depend on natural resources
-In the U.S. natural resources are a public good
Why communication fails - ANS ✔✔-"cult of expertise"
-different values
-language barriers
-mixed messages
How to make communication more effective - ANS ✔✔-find common ground
-ecosystem perspectives
-integration
-pay attention to values
,consensus - ANS ✔✔-the agreement that all individuals involved make and commit to support
to some degree
-endpoint of a decision making/conflict management process and the process itself
consensus allows for - ANS ✔✔1) opportunity to build trust among a diverse group
2) commitment of all involved to participate and try to reach an acceptable decision
3) long term sense of respect that individuals/decision makers care about the group as a whole,
and seek most benefit for greatest number
STP - ANS ✔✔Situation, Target, Pathway
1. Identify the Situation (S) - ANS ✔✔-Starting point
-Identify characteristics of current state and factors that may act as barriers in moving to a
resolution
-may be summed up in a couple of sentences; written in a problem statement
2. Identify the Target (T) - ANS ✔✔-desired endpoint/state/condition
-what decision maker seeks to accomplish; pitfalls to avoid
-may be common points among all groups; tend to be general/broad
3. Develop a Pathway (P) - ANS ✔✔-how do we get to T from S?
-series of steps starting with the situation and arriving at the target by establishing tolerable
resolution
-Answers who/what/where/when/why/how
-no guarantee that stakeholders will be happy with a P or fulfill commitment to the process
, Black Bears in CT - ANS ✔✔-situation: black bear populations up; # of human-bear conflicts up
as well
-target: reduce number of conflicts
-pathway: many different courses of action
more people=more complexity! - ANS ✔✔-multiple/competing goals
-scientific disagreement on cause/effect relationships
-limited time and resources
-lack of information
-inequity in access to information: distribution of political power
-public isolated from decision makers
systems framework - ANS ✔✔feedbacks: interactions between systems components
stakeholders: diverse and dynamic, just like the environment
The Human/Environmental Relationship, key people/figures/things - ANS ✔✔-Tashan Weir,
Ningbo, China (structure that enables water to be held for irrigation)
-Vasco de Gama (first person to sail from Europe to India)
-Manifest Destiny
-John Muir (early exploration of what are now our national parks)
-Aldo Leopold (father of wildlife management)
-Gifford Pinchot (first head of U.S. Forestry Service)
-Theodore Roosevelt
Progressive Era - ANS ✔✔-Early 20th century
-Science/efficiency > values
-agencies=unified public interest
Final Exam well answered 2025/2026
Human Dimensions - ANS ✔✔a social science that seeks to understand:
1)Why humans act the way they do concerning natural resources?
2)The characteristics of humans that influence those decisions
Themes of the course - ANS ✔✔1) Communicating with stakeholders
2) Relationships between people and natural resources
Stakeholder - ANS ✔✔individual/groups with a vested interest in a resource
Why do we care? - ANS ✔✔-Natural resources are all around us
-We humans depend on natural resources
-In the U.S. natural resources are a public good
Why communication fails - ANS ✔✔-"cult of expertise"
-different values
-language barriers
-mixed messages
How to make communication more effective - ANS ✔✔-find common ground
-ecosystem perspectives
-integration
-pay attention to values
,consensus - ANS ✔✔-the agreement that all individuals involved make and commit to support
to some degree
-endpoint of a decision making/conflict management process and the process itself
consensus allows for - ANS ✔✔1) opportunity to build trust among a diverse group
2) commitment of all involved to participate and try to reach an acceptable decision
3) long term sense of respect that individuals/decision makers care about the group as a whole,
and seek most benefit for greatest number
STP - ANS ✔✔Situation, Target, Pathway
1. Identify the Situation (S) - ANS ✔✔-Starting point
-Identify characteristics of current state and factors that may act as barriers in moving to a
resolution
-may be summed up in a couple of sentences; written in a problem statement
2. Identify the Target (T) - ANS ✔✔-desired endpoint/state/condition
-what decision maker seeks to accomplish; pitfalls to avoid
-may be common points among all groups; tend to be general/broad
3. Develop a Pathway (P) - ANS ✔✔-how do we get to T from S?
-series of steps starting with the situation and arriving at the target by establishing tolerable
resolution
-Answers who/what/where/when/why/how
-no guarantee that stakeholders will be happy with a P or fulfill commitment to the process
, Black Bears in CT - ANS ✔✔-situation: black bear populations up; # of human-bear conflicts up
as well
-target: reduce number of conflicts
-pathway: many different courses of action
more people=more complexity! - ANS ✔✔-multiple/competing goals
-scientific disagreement on cause/effect relationships
-limited time and resources
-lack of information
-inequity in access to information: distribution of political power
-public isolated from decision makers
systems framework - ANS ✔✔feedbacks: interactions between systems components
stakeholders: diverse and dynamic, just like the environment
The Human/Environmental Relationship, key people/figures/things - ANS ✔✔-Tashan Weir,
Ningbo, China (structure that enables water to be held for irrigation)
-Vasco de Gama (first person to sail from Europe to India)
-Manifest Destiny
-John Muir (early exploration of what are now our national parks)
-Aldo Leopold (father of wildlife management)
-Gifford Pinchot (first head of U.S. Forestry Service)
-Theodore Roosevelt
Progressive Era - ANS ✔✔-Early 20th century
-Science/efficiency > values
-agencies=unified public interest
