Geoethics Case Study: The Keystone Pipeline--Energy, Jobs or Environment?
Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman
David Mogk and Andrew Thorson, Montana State University-Bozeman Summary The Keystone Pipeline is a complex project that raises important environmental, economic, and international policy issues. Tar sands from ...

Does A River Have Rights?
Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College
Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College Summary Individual students have different ethical "lines." This class discussion proceeds with a series of prompts that presents a set of scenarios ...

Ethical Dilemmas of Backcountry Skiing and Guiding
Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman
Dave Mogk, Emma Vigers and Matt Wood, Montana State University-Bozeman Summary This case study explores decision-making in high risk settings such as back-country skiing. The scenarios presented have application ...

Case of GMOs in Environmental Cleanup
Daniel Vallero, Duke University
Daniel Vallero, Duke University Summary This case represents various agendas, hidden and otherwise, that can come into play during environmental remediation. Context Audience: Teachers at a summer institute, ...

Presenting science to the public: The ethics of outreach
Joy Branlund, Northeastern Junior College
Joy Branlund, Southwestern Illinois College Summary This case study involves class discussion about (a) the environmental concerns of developing a new industrial project (in this case, a new mine in Minnesota), ...

Ethics in Publishing
Cindy Palinkas, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Cindy Palinkas, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Summary This collection of case studies deals with ethics involved in publishing research in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Often, ...

Discovering the oil/plastics cycle
Lauren Sahl, Maine Maritime Academy
Lauren Sahl, Corning School of Ocean Studies, Maine Maritime Academy Summary Students examine a video clip showing dead albatross chicks with their guts full of plastics. They are asked to write down a list of all ...

The Nature of Science and Scientific Fraud
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota Summary There are two parts to this exercise but they are stand-alone if desired. The first part deals with the nature of science: what is science, what does it involve, ...

Water Development: A Philosophical and Ethical Issue
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota Summary This is a seven part module that deals with water development. The goal is to get students thinking about water development in terms of its appropriateness, and ...

Should iron fertilization be used to mitigate global warming?
Elizabeth Gordon, Fitchburg State University
Elizabeth Gordon, Fitchburg State University Summary STILL IN DEVELOPMENT Students engaged in this activity examine the scientific and ethical dimensions of iron fertilization as a geoengineering strategy to ...