Abstract Type: Independent oral presentation
Abstract TitleGaining perspectives on the use of genomics and constructed wetland systems in environmental remediation
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Abstract
Mining of oil in Alberta/Canada, consists of water-intensive processes, resulting in large quantities of contaminated oil sands process-affected water(OSPW). Research is underway to use genomics-based methods to understand how plants and microbes degrade and detoxify OSPW and enhance the efficacy of constructed treatment wetland systems(CTWS), one of few technologies capable to handle the large volume of contaminants. As social knowledge on this topic is limited, this work aimed to compile opinion statements to co-create a Q-method concourse and Q-set. A review of ready-made sources including literature, news articles, podcasts, and Twitter resulted in a baseline of 22 statements. Focus groups with homogenous groups of affected persons - oil industry employees(OE), regulators and policymakers(RP), scientists(SC), and Indigenous Peoples(IP)- added, modified, and deleted statements, co-creating a comprehensive concourse of 100 statements. Shared characteristics of members within groups enhanced discussion on controversial topics, while diversity between groups supported the collection of a range of opinions. Concourse analysis through the lens of Cultural Theory showed that while expected worldviews dominate within each group—individualism with OE, hierarchy with RP and SC, and egalitarianism with IP—overlap in thinking and appreciation of other opinions suggest a desire and capacity for clumsy solutions in OSPW remediation. A modified Delphi was performed to distill the concourse into a 52-statement Q-set, applied into an online Q-sort current in progress. Statements were short and easy to understand, accurately represented what was said in the concourse, and were able to be interpreted in different ways by different sorters. This study demonstrates that it is important to learn whether local communities will accept remediation technologies, discloses what information people use to make decisions, and provides key points for subsequent research and regulations.
Related Conference Topic Area
(3) Resources, extraction and restoration ----------
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Presenter Information
First Name Renata |
Last Name Mont'Alverne |
Affiliation University of Saskatchewan |
Author(s) Information
Author | First Name | Last Name | Affiliation |
1 | Michelle | Tilford-Shaw | University of Saskatchewan |
2 | Renata | Mont'Alverne | University of Saskatchewan |
3 | Graham | Strickert | University of Saskatchewan |
4 | Lori | Bradford | University of Saskatchewan |