Description
Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
Apply various problem-solving methods to determine innovative solutions
Scenario
OneEarth is an environmental consulting company that specializes in building-condition assessments, contaminated-site remediation, and energy audits. Founded in 2010, OneEarth has emerged as the highest-quality and most comprehensive environmental services company in the northern United States.
You work as an environmental chemist in the Site Investigative Services Department at OneEarth. Your interdisciplinary team of scientists and business analysts assesses the long-term risk of contaminants on ecological and human health and designs innovative cleanup and disposal strategies for clients.
Recently, a government agency approached OneEarth to collaborate on developing a series of environmental impact statements (EIS) related to plastic waste, light pollution, and electronic waste that will inform decision makers’ discussions about the urgency of various environmental programs. Because of your strengths as a writer, researcher, and collaborator, your manager Claire DeAir has emailed asking you to work with one of the teams to draft sections of the EIS based on comprehensive research.
Directions
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (2,000–2,500 WORDS)
Your manager, Claire DeAir, has asked you to select and research one topic from her email (in the Supporting Materials section) and write the following components of an environmental impact statement:
Purpose and Need (approximately 500 words)
Define the issue or problem.
Describe the social, cultural, and historical significance of the issue to society.
Justify why you are proposing action be taken to address the issue.
Explain what you expect action to achieve and/or potentially resolve.
Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action (1,000–1,250 words)
Rigorously explore and objectively evaluate at least five reasonable actions from different fields of study (e.g., ecology, meteorology, biology, botany, geology, physics) that could address the issue and satisfy the need.
Include “no action” as a sixth action.
Propose and defend a preferred action or course of actions, specifically discussing how it’s innovative. An innovative idea is an original, new, or creative method for approaching a practical problem. It must be realistic or practical and supported by research.
Explain the reasons for eliminating each alternative action.
Environmental Consequences (500–750 words)
Examine how each action under consideration would impact the environment of the affected area(s).
Analyze the environmental effects of each action.
Discuss the energy requirements (if applicable) and the conservation potential of each action.
Describe the effect of each action on natural and depletable resources.
Analyze the human effects of each action.
Assess the direct and indirect effects of the reasonable actions and their significance.
Avoid assessing the impacts (long-term, near-term, certain, uncertain), since readers may value these differently.
What to Submit
Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:
Environmental Impact Statement (2,000–2,500 words)
Develop the purpose and need, alternatives including the proposed action, and environmental consequences sections of an environmental impact statement (EIS) based on research on an issue identified in Claire DeAir’s email, which is available in the Supporting Materials section.
Supporting Materials
The following resource(s) may help support your work on the project:
Citation Help
Need help citing your sources? Use the CfA Citation Guide and Citation Maker.
Email From Your Manager, Claire DeAire
Your manager, Claire DeAire, has provided you with brief overviews of each environmental issue. Select one to serve as the topic of your research and corresponding EIS.
Shapiro Library Research Guides
Research guides are developed by librarians to help you find and locate the information you need for your classes, papers, and projects. To create the environmental impact statement (EIS), you will need to conduct your own research. Use the following Shapiro Library research guides for help getting started.
Environmental Science
Sustainability & Environmental Compliance
Open Educational Resources: Environmental Studies, Science, & Sustainability
Chemistry
Biology
Information about Environmental Impact Statements
For this project, you will be writing aspects of an environmental impact statement (EIS). If you would like to learn more about all of these components, explore the following websites and Shapiro Library resources.
Reading: Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
Reading: National Environmental Policy Act Review Process
Reading: Environmental Impact Assessments and Statements
Example Environmental Impact Statements
Reading: Environmental Impact Statements: National Forest System Land Management Planning
Explore this example of an environmental impact statement, created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service. You will be creating a truncated version of an EIS for this project.
Reading: Final Environmental Impact Statement for Hydropower License
Review this sample created by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District, Alaska. You will be creating a truncated version of an EIS for this project.
Scientific Fields of Study
To learn more about different fields of study in science, review this Shapiro Library and web resource.
Reading: Taxonomy of Fields and Their Subfields
Information on Writing
Reading: Writing Guide
Review the tutorials and resources in the Writing Guide document if you need help with the writing aspects of this project.
