URI social scientists are applying social science methods to understand the effects of the Block Island Wind Farm.
Results have assisted Rhode Islanders to understand this impact and allowed other US coastal communities and industry to better prepare for and benefit from the growth of this budding industry.
- Analysis of Effects of the Block Island Wind Farm on Rhode Island Recreation and Tourism Activities. - Using social science methods to assess the effects of the Block Island Wind Farm on tourism and recreation activities.
- Assessing Impacts of the Block Island Wind Farm on Recreational Saltwater Fishing - This study uses qualitative and quantitative data to assess effects of the Block Island Wind Farm on recreational saltwater angling.
- Chains of trust: Lessons on public engagement from the United States’ first offshore wind farm - Dwyer, J. and D. Bidwell. 2019. Chains of trust: Lessons on public engagement from the United States’ first offshore wind farm. Energy Research & Social Science, 47:166-176.
- Developing Protocols for Reconstructing Submerged Paleocultural Landscapes and Identifying Native American Archaeological Sites in Submerged Environments - Best practices for advancing the current understanding of submerged paleocultural landscape distribution on the Outer Continental.
- Faring well in offshore wind power siting? Trust, engagement and process fairness in the United States - Firestone, J., C. Hirt, D. Bidwell, M. Gardner, and J. Dwyer. 2020. Faring well in offshore wind power siting? Trust, engagement and process fairness in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 62:101393. Read full text.
- Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Recreational Choices: A Survey of the Block Island Tourists. - Survey methods to examine the impact of offshore wind energy production on the number of trips taken and on the choice of recreational activities conducted in Block Island.
- Investigation of Users’ Preferences for and Values of Recreational Boating Activities Associated with the Block Island Wind Farm - Investigation of on-the-water users’ preferences for recreational boating trips associated with off-shore wind farms in and around Rhode Island waters.
- Place meaning and consistency with offshore wind: An island and coastal tale - Russell, A., Firestone, J., Bidwell, D., and Gardner, M. 2020. Place meaning and consistency with offshore wind: An island and coastal tale. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 132, 110044. Read full text.
- Price-based Inferences into the Socio-economic Impacts of the Block Island Wind Farm - This study employed quantitative evaluation of tourism impacts of Block Island Wind Farm using short-term rental market (i.e., Airbnb).
- Sociocultural Adaptations to Renewable Energy Infrastructure in Aquapelagic Systems - This ongoing project experiments with decolonial ethnographic methods to explore the sociocultural effects of renewable energy transitions, utilizing the New England transition to offshore wind as a primary case study.
- Understanding the Relationship Between the Block Island Wind Farm and Indigenous Island Lives, Past and Present - Exploring the indigenous experience on Block Island and the social effects of the Block Island Wind Farm and its cables on current indigenous lives and the future of indigenous community life on the island.