Ten years later: An update on the status of collections of endemic Gulf of Mexico fishes put at risk by the 2010 Oil Spill.

The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon was the largest oil spill in human history that occurred during a 12-week period in a region less than 100 km from the coast of Louisiana; however, after more than a decade of post-spill research, few definitives can be said to be known about the long-term impacts on the development and distribution of fishes in and around the region of the disaster. Here, we examine endemic Gulf of Mexico fish species that may have been most impacted by noting their past distributions in the region of the spill and examining data of known collecting events and observations over the last twenty years (ten years prior to the spill, ten years post-spill). Five years post-spill, it was reported that 48 of the Gulf's endemic fish species had not been collected and, with expanded methods, we now report that 29 (of the 78 endemic species) have not been reported in collections since 2010 (five of these are only known from observations post-spill).

Spillover effects of anti-sugar-sweetened beverage messages: From consumption decisions to policy preferences.

Background: Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with many negative health outcomes. Efforts to curb consumption generally take one of two approaches: (a) Individual change based on the communication of personal risk information or (b) policies that limit or disincentivize the behavior, such as restricting access or implementing taxes.

Methods And Results: Using samples of 2347 persons and 139 pro- and anti-SSB messages, this study tested whether individual-level persuasion attempts would spill over to voting intentions and whether that spillover would amplify or attenuate policy preferences.

Persuasive Messages, Social Norms, and Reactance: A Study of Masking Behavior during a COVID-19 Campus Health Campaign.

Efforts by universities to reduce the spread of COVID-19 include health campaigns intended to encourage students to wear masks. While well-intended, these efforts may produce counter-persuasion (e.g.

Measurement of Environmental Concern: A Review and Analysis.

Growing concern about the seriousness of issues such as climate change has made the value of research on social and behavioral aspects of environmental problems clearer than ever. For authors studying environmental concern or attitudes, however, survey development can be a daunting task. A large number of scales measuring environmental concern have been developed, and it can be challenging to make informed decisions about which to use.

Working with Institutional Stakeholders: Propositions for Alternative Approaches to Community Engagement.

Community engagement is a vital aspect of addressing environmental contamination and remediation. In the United States, the Superfund Research Program (SRP) forms groups of academic researchers from the social and physical sciences into Community Engagement Cores (CECs) and Research Translation Cores (RTCs), which focus on various aspects of informing and working with communities during and through the resolution of environmental crises. While this work typically involves engaging directly with members of affected communities, no two situations are the same.

Themes Across New Directions in Community Engagement.

The articles in this special issue on New Directions in Environmental Communication in the present new research and perspectives on engaging communities impacted by Superfund sites-the hazardous waste sites that have been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as needing cleanup.

The Effect of Dioxin Contamination and Remediation on Property Values.

Loss of property value is a major concern in communities faced with the toxic byproducts of industrial practices. Even after site remediation, stigma may persist and negatively affect market values of residential properties. To study the effects of contamination and of remediation on property values in Midland, Michigan, where dioxins have been released into the environment through the incineration of contaminated waste and the discharge of contaminated water for many years, records of assessed value were obtained for 229 homes within the same neighborhood for the previous 18 years.

Environmental Stigma: Resident Responses to Living in a Contaminated Area.

This article examined the extent to which residents living in the Midland-Saginaw-Bay City area in Eastern Michigan felt stigmatized due to industrial contamination. Seventy in-depth interviews were conducted with local residents, focusing on the extent to which they experienced three aspects of stigma-affective, cognitive, and behavioral. Results indicated that although some participants were not concerned with living in a contaminated community, local residents largely perceived dioxin as a risk to individual health and the local environment.

Social networks and the communication of norms about prenatal care in rural Mexico.

Many normative beliefs are shared and learned through interpersonal communication, yet research on norms typically focuses on their effects rather than the communication that shapes them. This study focused on interpersonal communication during pregnancy to uncover (a) the nature of pregnancy-related communication and (b) normative information transmitted through such communication. Results from interviews with pregnant women living in rural Mexico revealed limited social networks; often, only a woman's mother or the baby's father were consulted about prenatal care decisions.