News Article
April 6, 2016
iUTAH and USU researchers Doug Jackson-Smith, Courtney Flint, and Andrea Armstrong were featured in Liberalis, the alumni magazine of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University. “Aggregating the Puzzle,” explores the social science research connected with the iUTAH project. Here is a sampling of quotes from the article:
"I am just really interested in aggregating the puzzle and getting a clear-eyed vision about how we are changing as a society," Jackson-Smith says. "How is our built environment changing and how that is going to play into how this transition unfolds? I don't hear a lot of decision makers and public discussion around those issues of differentiating urban growth."
"Utah State is a land grant university. We can help with this," Flint says from her desk in Old Main. "Our mission really is not just to send information out to the public, but to be mindful of what the needs are to the state. How do we know if we don't ask?"
“A lot of research on Western water has taken the very large-scale perspective … and those tend to involve state and federal agencies,” Armstrong says. “They make big dams, big infrastructure, and while those types of policies and programs do set the stage in which local water decisions are made, the day to day activities of water management occur in our city and local irrigation organizations.”
In closing, Armstrong says “The other great part about our water system is that we built it. We do have some control over water once it’s here and we can design a system to meet our future needs. The complicated part is deciding what those needs are and striking a balance between natural and human uses. So if we can come up with a plan, and if we can try to foresee some unintended consequences of water changes, then I am confident that things will be okay. Humans have the ability to adapt. We always have.”
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