91制片厂

Innovations developed by scientists at the (NHAES), like the in 49 other states and U.S. territories, are essential to ensuring that the U.S. food supply chain鈥攆rom producer to consumer鈥攊s abundant, safe and accessible to all communities. In 2021, over 6,500 projects were conducted at Agricultural Experiment Stations, each focused on responding to a particular opportunity in their state or territory that can help America鈥檚 food supply chain be more resilient to emerging challenges.

Because of the inextricable relationship between food and the environment, many Agricultural Experiment Station research projects have components that assess environmental issues and impacts. These projects are led by thousands of professors, who are supported by thousands more staff, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students, as well as collaborators from other public and private organizations. In 2021 alone, 26.3 million research hours were spent by Agricultural Experiment Station scientists and staff developing impactful agricultural and food research.

But what ethical guidelines help researchers ensure that the protocols and methods they use consider the environmental impact of the research itself?

A team of 91制片厂 researchers that includes Station scientist , a research assistant professor in the natural resources and the environment department at 91制片厂, and Ph.D. student offers a framework for exactly that鈥攅nvironmentally and ecologically responsible research鈥攊n a in Earth鈥檚 Future.

The proposed Environmental Responsibility 5-R Framework, or ER⁵F, was inspired by the , the internationally recognized framework governing animal care in research. The researchers found that there currently exists no universally applied framework for mitigating research impacts on the environment.

鈥淪uch frameworks exist for research involving animal and human subjects, but there seemed to be a void of similar protocols with respect to environmental subjects,鈥� said Murray. 鈥淔or ER⁵F, the overall goal is acknowledging research鈥檚 environmental impact and generating effective change towards mitigating the direct and indirect consequences of scientific practices.

鈥淔or ER⁵F, the overall goal is acknowledging research鈥檚 environmental impact and generating effective change towards mitigating the direct and indirect consequences of scientific practices.鈥�

The 5-Rs of the Environmental Responsibility framework include: Recognition, Refinement, Reduction, Replacement and Restoration. ER⁵F begins with Recognizing the impact that research can have on the environment, with each subsequent 鈥楻鈥� providing an opportunity for 鈥渁cknowledging, evaluating, and mitigating the environmental impacts of scientific research,鈥� according to the journal article.

鈥淩ecognizing our impact is a very important first step,鈥� Wymore said. 鈥淭his framework is not intended as judgement, but rather as an honest assessment, and recognition is intrinsic to each of the iterative and action-based goals of the subsequent R鈥檚.鈥�

鈥淭his framework is not intended as judgement, but rather as an honest assessment, and recognition is intrinsic to each of the iterative and action-based goals of the subsequent R鈥檚.鈥�

ER⁵F was designed to be used at any point within the scientific process, from initial inception or proposal writing to data collection and study completion.

"The ER⁵F process can be applied to lab, field and computational work鈥攅ach of which have different forms of impact,鈥� said Murray. 鈥淚t鈥檚 neither intended to focus on an individual鈥檚 personal actions or carbon footprint nor to provide a legal framework, but rather to encourage the scientific research community to consider the environmental impacts resulting from the design and implementation of their research.鈥�

鈥淪ometimes ER5F will help identify opportunities for environmental mitigation and other times it won鈥檛鈥攂oth outcomes are okay and it鈥檚 really the effort that鈥檚 most important,鈥� she added.

was co-authored by ; ; post-doctoral researcher ; Ph.D. students Eric Parker, , and ; undergraduate 91制片厂 student Isabel Cole; Nicolas Nunez from the University of Puerto Rico; and agroecosystem scientist Mitchell Donovan of .