@article{grieger_zarate_barnhill-dilling_hunt_jones_kuzma_2022, title={Fostering Responsible Innovation through Stakeholder Engagement: Case Study of North Carolina Sweetpotato Stakeholders}, volume={14}, ISSN={2071-1050}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14042274}, DOI={10.3390/su14042274}, abstractNote={Stakeholder and community engagement are critical for the successful development of new technologies that aim to be integrated into sustainable agriculture systems. This study reports on an approach used to engage stakeholders within the sweetpotato community in North Carolina to understand their preferences, needs, and concerns as they relate to a new sensing and diagnostic platform. This work also demonstrates an example of real-time technology assessment that also fosters responsible innovation through inclusivity and responsiveness. Through the conduction of 29 interviews with sweetpotato stakeholders in North Carolina, we found that participants found the most value in detecting external sweetpotato characteristics, as well as the ability to use or connect to a smartphone that can be used in field. They also found value in including environmental parameters and having a Spanish language module. Most participants indicated that they were comfortable with sharing data as long as it benefited the greater North Carolina sweetpotato industry, and were concerned with sharing these data with “outside” competitors. We also observed differences and variations between stakeholder groups. Overall, this work demonstrates a relatively simple, low-cost approach to eliciting stakeholder needs within a local agricultural context to improve sustainability, an approach that could be leveraged and transferred to other local agrifood systems.}, number={4}, journal={Sustainability}, publisher={MDPI AG}, author={Grieger, Khara and Zarate, Sebastian and Barnhill-Dilling, Sarah Kathleen and Hunt, Shelly and Jones, Daniela and Kuzma, Jennifer}, year={2022}, month={Feb}, pages={2274} } @article{kokotovich_barnhill-dilling_elsensohn_li_delborne_burrack_2022, title={Stakeholder engagement to inform the risk assessment and governance of gene drive technology to manage spotted-wing drosophila}, volume={307}, ISSN={["1095-8630"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114480}, DOI={10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114480}, abstractNote={Emerging biotechnologies, such as gene drive technology, are increasingly being proposed to manage a variety of pests and invasive species. As one method of genetic biocontrol, gene drive technology is currently being developed to manage the invasive agricultural pest spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii, SWD). While there have been calls for stakeholder engagement on gene drive technology, there has been a lack of empirical work, especially concerning stakeholder engagement to inform risk assessment. To help address this gap and inform future risk assessments and governance decisions for SWD gene drive technology, we conducted a survey of 184 SWD stakeholders to explore how they define and prioritize potential benefits and potential adverse effects from proposed SWD gene drive technology. We found that stakeholders considered the most important potential benefits of SWD gene drive technology to be: 1) Decrease in the quantity or toxicity of pesticides used, and 2) Decrease in SWD populations. Stakeholders were most concerned about the potential adverse effects of: 1) Decrease in beneficial insects, 2) Increase in non-SWD secondary pest infestations, and 3) Decrease in grower profits. Notably, we found that even stakeholders who expressed support for the use of SWD gene drive technology expressed concerns about potential adverse effects from the technology, emphasizing the need to move past simplistic, dichotomous views of what it means to support or oppose a technology. These findings suggest that instead of focusing on the binary question of whether stakeholders support or oppose SWD gene drive technology, it is more important to identify and assess the factors that are consequential to stakeholder decision making - including, for example, exploring whether and under what conditions key potential adverse effects and potential benefits would result from the use of SWD gene drive technology.}, journal={JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Kokotovich, Adam E. and Barnhill-Dilling, S. Kathleen and Elsensohn, Johanna E. and Li, Richard and Delborne, Jason A. and Burrack, Hannah}, year={2022}, month={Apr} } @article{barnhill-dilling_delborne_2021, title={Whose intentions? What consequences? Interrogating "Intended Consequences" for conservation with environmental biotechnology}, volume={3}, ISSN={["2578-4854"]}, DOI={10.1111/csp2.406}, abstractNote={Novel genetic interventions may offer innovative solutions to environmental conservation challenges, but they also represent new kinds of risks and concerns for diverse publics. Yet, by focusing on potential negative outcomes of emerging technologies like gene editing, their potential utility in species protection could lead to overblown fears of unknown and unanticipated consequences. In response, Revive and Restore organized a workshop in June 2020 entitled, “Intended Consequences,” to highlight conservation successes in the discourse and governance of genomic interventions. This article argues that if we seek to emphasize Intended Consequences to embolden innovative conservation efforts, we must simultaneously query whose intentions are included and what consequences are considered to ensure that environmental goals are accompanied by the goals of responsibility, democracy, and justice. These questions reveal that the governance and management of conservation interventions always rest upon value judgements. Inspired and informed by the Responsible Research and Innovation framework, we encourage anticipation of potential outcomes, reflection on assumptions and intentions, inclusion of diverse stakeholders and perspectives, and a commitment to responding thoughtfully to concerns and preferences of communities and broader publics.}, number={4}, journal={CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE}, author={Barnhill-Dilling, S. Kathleen and Delborne, Jason A.}, year={2021}, month={Apr} } @article{barnhill-dilling_serr_blondel_godwin_2019, title={Sustainability as a Framework for Considering Gene Drive Mice for Invasive Rodent Eradication}, volume={11}, ISSN={2071-1050}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11051334}, DOI={10.3390/su11051334}, abstractNote={Gene drives represent a dynamic and controversial set of technologies with applications that range from mosquito control to the conservation of biological diversity on islands. Currently, gene drives are being developed in mice that may one day serve as an important tool for reducing invasive rodent pests, a key threat to island biodiversity and economies. Gene drives in mice are still in development in laboratories, and wild release of modified mice is likely a distant reality. However, technological changes outpace the existing capacity of regulatory frameworks, and thus require integrated governance frameworks. We suggest sustainability—which gives equal consideration to the environment, economy, and society—as one framework for addressing complexity and uncertainty in the governance of emerging gene drive technologies for invasive species management. We explore the impacts of rodent gene drives on island environments, including potential conservation and restoration of island biodiversity. We outline considerations for rodent gene drives on island economies, including impacts on agricultural and tourism losses, and reductions in biosecurity costs. Finally, we address the social dimension as an essential space for deliberation that will be integral to evaluating the potential deployment of gene drive rodents on islands.}, number={5}, journal={Sustainability}, publisher={MDPI AG}, author={Barnhill-Dilling, S. and Serr, Megan and Blondel, Dimitri and Godwin, John}, year={2019}, month={Mar}, pages={1334} }