Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Teaching ethical analysis in environmental management decisions: a process-oriented approach.

Fred Van Dyke1

  • 1Department of Biology, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL 60187, USA. fred.g.vandyke@wheaton.edu

Science and Engineering Ethics
|November 11, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Environmental management actions involve ethical value judgments, not just science. This study teaches ethical evaluation of interventions like prescribed burning by identifying actions, system needs, stakeholders, and affirmed values.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Response of benthic macroinvertebrates to dam removal in the restoration of the Boardman River, Michigan, USA.

PloS one·2021
Same author

Response of elk to habitat modification near natural gas development.

Environmental management·2012
Same author

Short- and longer-term effects of fire and herbivory on sagebrush communities in south-central Montana.

Environmental management·2006
See all related articles

Area of Science:

  • Environmental ethics
  • Conservation science
  • Ecological management

Background:

  • Environmental management actions are often misperceived as purely scientific.
  • These actions involve critical value judgments regarding intervention in natural systems.
  • Ethical analysis is essential for determining normative outcomes in environmental management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To illustrate a method for ethically evaluating environmental management actions.
  • To teach students to recognize implicit and explicit value judgments in management.
  • To provide a general ethical analysis framework for environmental managers.

Main Methods:

  • Case study analysis of prescribed burning in sagebrush communities.
  • Identification of the proposed management action.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Assessment of the system's deficiency addressed by the action.
  • Identification of affected stakeholders and their values.

    • Main Results:

    • Management actions require precise identification of the intervention, system deficit, stakeholders, and values.
    • Students learn to distinguish scientific components from value judgments.
    • A structured ethical evaluation method is demonstrated.

    Conclusions:

    • Environmental management necessitates ethical considerations beyond scientific data.
    • Recognizing value judgments and stakeholder obligations is crucial for responsible management.
    • The proposed method enhances ethical reasoning in environmental decision-making.