Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals by Christine J Kirchhoff
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2012
Julie brugger "We have to ask ourselves, are we doing the right thing? Or are we using scientific... more Julie brugger "We have to ask ourselves, are we doing the right thing? Or are we using scientific information to do the wrong thing more precisely?"
Worldwide water governance failures undermine effective water management under uncertainty and ch... more Worldwide water governance failures undermine effective water management under uncertainty and change. Overcoming these failures requires employing more adaptive, resilient water management approaches; yet, while scholars have advance theory of what adaptive, resilient approaches should be, there is little empirical evidence to support those normative propositions. To fill this gap, we reviewed the literature to derive theorized characteristics of adaptive, resilient water governance including knowledge generation and use, participation, clear rules for water use, and incorporating nonstationarity. Then, using interviews and documentary analysis focused on five U.S. states' allocation and planning approaches, we examined empirically if embodying these characteristics made states more (or less) adaptive and resilient in practice. We found that adaptive, resilient water governance requires not just possessing these characteristics but combining and building on them. That is, adaptive, resilient water governance requires well-funded, transparent knowledge systems combined with broad, multilevel participatory processes that support learning, strong institutional arrangements that establish authorities and rules and that allow flexibility as conditions change, and resources for integrated planning and allocation. We also found that difficulty incorporating climate change or altering existing water governance paradigms and inadequate funding of water programs undermine adaptive, resilient governance.
Environmental Science & Policy, 2013
Please cite this article in press as: Kirchhoff, C.J. et al., What influences climate information... more Please cite this article in press as: Kirchhoff, C.J. et al., What influences climate information use in water management? The role of boundary organizations and governance regimes in Brazil and the U.S., Environ. Sci. Policy (2012), http://dx.
Weather, Climate, and Society, 2014
Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol 38, 2013
Nature Climate Change, 2012
Climate Risk Management, 2014
This paper examines the role of crop advisors as brokers of climate information to support US cor... more This paper examines the role of crop advisors as brokers of climate information to support US corn farmers to adapt to climatic change. It uses quantitative data collected from a broad survey of crop advisors in the US Corn Belt to examine the factors that shape advisors' use of (and willingness to provide) climate information to their clients. Building upon a general model of climate information usability we argue that advisors' willingness to provide climate advice to farmers is influenced by three main factors: their information seeking habits and behavior, their experience with innovation in the past, and how climate information interplays with other kinds of information that they provide-especially agronomic advice. We find that advisors' willingness to provide climate related information depends both on factors at the individual and organizational level and on the type of advice they provide. First, at the individual and organizational levels, advisors who work in supportive organizations and who collaborate with other advisors are more likely to provide climate information. Second, advisors are more likely to provide climate information if it does not interfere with their main profit making business (e.g. provision of agronomic advice). Third, there is a significant positive relationship between trust in a greater number or sources of information and use of climate information. Fourth, the way advisors perceive short-and long-term risk also influences their willingness to provide climate information; the more concerned they are about long-term climate-related risks to farming, the more likely they are to provide (or want to provide) advice based on climate information. Differently from other empirical work in the literature, our analytical model suggests that neither negative experiences with climate information in the past nor the high level of uncertainty characteristic of climate information appear to influence advisors willingness to provide climate information in the future.
Climate Risk Management, 2015
Boundary organizations facilitate and negotiate the interface between science production and use ... more Boundary organizations facilitate and negotiate the interface between science production and use to improve information usability particularly for climate adaptation. To support the increasing demand for usable climate information and enable adaptation, boundary organizations themselves must innovate to foster more efficient production of usable science and more effective networks of producers and users. A recent innovation centers on the idea of boundary chains, whereby boundary organizations work together to increase efficiencies such as leveraging human and social resources. While this idea holds promise, more work is needed to better understand how and why boundary organizations work together to improve information usability and other beneficial outcomes. In this perspective for the special issue, we propose a new conceptual framework for exploring why and how boundary chains form and for evaluating whether or not they are successful. We then apply the framework to case studies that are discussed in more detail in this special issue. Our framework hinges on the notion that boundary chains that are successful are those that create synergy. In turn, synergy depends on a combination of complementarity, putting two kinds of inputs together results in greater output than either each engaging partner could deliver on their own, and embeddedness, the choices and actions on one side are at least partially influenced by and dependent upon the choices and actions of the other side and vice versa.
Climate Risk Management, 2015
Climate Risk Management, 2015
Widespread adoption of agricultural conservation measures in Lake Erie's Maumee River watershed m... more Widespread adoption of agricultural conservation measures in Lake Erie's Maumee River watershed may be required to reduce phosphorus loading that drives harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. We engaged agricultural and conservation stakeholders through a survey and workshops to determine which conservation practices to evaluate. We investigated feasible and desirable conservation practices using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool calibrated for streamflow, sediment, and nutrient loading near the Maumee River outlet. We found subsurface placement of phosphorus applications to be the individual practice most influential on March−July dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) loading from row croplands. Perennial cover crops and vegetated filter strips were most effective for reducing seasonal total phosphorus (TP) loading. We found that practices effective for reducing TP and DRP load were not always mutually beneficial, culminating in trade-offs among multiple Lake Erie phosphorus management goals. Adoption of practices at levels considered feasible to stakeholders led to nearly reaching TP targets for western Lake Erie on average years; however, adoption of practices at a rate that goes beyond what is currently considered feasible will likely be required to reach the DRP target.
Climatic Change, 2013
ABSTRACT This paper expands our understanding of water manager's climate information (CI)... more ABSTRACT This paper expands our understanding of water manager's climate information (CI) use and of the effectiveness of interactive research efforts in improving use by quantitatively measuring usability both within and outside the interactive research model. Using a mixed method approach (i.e., interviews and surveys), data was collected across five states and hundreds of water managers to understand the production of CI by scientists at two Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISAs) employing an interactive approach and the use of that information by water managers in the corresponding RISA regions. This study finds that RISAs are effective in three important ways: first, in co-producing usable information and achieving a high rate of information use among RISA clients; second, in overcoming barriers to information use arising from negative perceptions about the usability and reliability of CI; and, finally, in fostering innovation. RISA information use is contingent on sustained scientist-client interaction and is enabled by users' willingness and capacity making RISAs most effective in reaching the largest, most capable users. These users and those who use CI from other sources do so as a strategy to manage risk. This research suggests areas for enhancing RISA CI uptake: structuring RISAs as consortia, cultivating relationships with knowledge brokers and capitalizing on existing knowledge networks, and increasing public education and outreach. Beyond the interactive research models, findings suggest CI uptake may be enhanced by building capabilities for long-term water planning at water systems and bolstering public science citizenship and climate literacy.
This research investigates the supply of climate information by two NOAA RISAs and the use of tha... more This research investigates the supply of climate information by two NOAA RISAs and the use of that information by water managers across five states in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and the Southwest (SW) United States. A survey (n=2,651) of water managers at Community Water Systems (i.e., non-RISA clients) was conducted to examine information sources, collaborations, and barriers to and drivers of climate information use. Interviews of water managers who worked with the RISAs (i.e., RISA clients) were also conducted to better understand water managers’ use climate information for decision making and for building resilience to climate variability and change. The goal of this mixed method approach was to compare information production and use across: (1) the two RISA programs and regions, (2) decision scales, and (3) RISA clients and non-RISA clients. Results indicate a high rate of information use among RISA clients in both regions that suggests RISAs are successfully bridging the scie...
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2016
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2016
Book Chapters and Other Publications by Christine J Kirchhoff
Green Issues and Debates: An A-to-Z Guide, 2011
Green Politics: An A-to-Z Guide, 2011
Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, 2004
Disposal of manures, biosolids, and other organic wastes is problematic because of the potential ... more Disposal of manures, biosolids, and other organic wastes is problematic because of the potential impact on the quality of surface water and groundwater resulting from leaching of nutrients (N and P), heavy metals, and bacteria. Organic wastes that are managed responsibly and ...
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2007, 2007
Concerns about global change resulting from global warming, ozone depletion and population pressu... more Concerns about global change resulting from global warming, ozone depletion and population pressures provided the motivation for the development of the United States Global Change Research Act (USGCRA) of 1990 . The legislation was enacted to develop and coordinate a comprehensive, integrated research program with two primary goals: to advance scientific understanding of global change and provide "usable information" upon which to develop "effective policies to abate, mitigate, and cope with global change .
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Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals by Christine J Kirchhoff
Book Chapters and Other Publications by Christine J Kirchhoff