Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
Apply various problem-solving methods to determine innovative solutions
Scenario
OneEarth is an environmental consulting company that specializes in building-condition assessments, contaminated-site remediation, and energy audits. Founded in 2010, OneEarth has emerged as the highest-quality and most comprehensive environmental services company in the northern United States.
OneEarth Logo
You work as an environmental chemist in the Site Investigative Services Department at OneEarth. Your interdisciplinary team of scientists and business analysts assesses the long-term risk of contaminants on ecological and human health and designs innovative cleanup and disposal strategies for clients.
Recently, a government agency approached OneEarth to collaborate on developing a series of environmental impact statements (EIS) related to plastic waste, light pollution, and electronic waste that will inform decision makers’ discussions about the urgency of various environmental programs. Because of your strengths as a writer, researcher, and collaborator, your manager Claire DeAir has emailed asking you to work with one of the teams to draft sections of the EIS based on comprehensive research.
A person holding the Earth in their outstretched hands, while the sun rises over the horizon.
Directions
Environmental Impact Statement (2,000–2,500 words)
Your manager, Claire DeAir, has asked you to select and research one topic from her email (in the Supporting Materials section) and write the following components of an environmental impact statement:
Purpose and Need (approximately 500 words)
Define the issue or problem.
Describe the social, cultural, and historical significance of the issue to society.
Justify why you are proposing action be taken to address the issue.
Explain what you expect action to achieve and/or potentially resolve.
Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action (1,000–1,250 words)
Rigorously explore and objectively evaluate at least five reasonable actions from different fields of study (e.g., ecology, meteorology, biology, botany, geology, physics) that could address the issue and satisfy the need.
Include “no action” as a sixth action.
Propose and defend a preferred action or course of actions, specifically discussing how it’s innovative. An innovative idea is an original, new, or creative method for approaching a practical problem. It must be realistic or practical and supported by research.
Explain the reasons for eliminating each alternative action.
Environmental Consequences (500–750 words)
Examine how each action under consideration would impact the environment of the affected area(s).
Analyze the environmental effects of each action.
Discuss the energy requirements (if applicable) and the conservation potential of each action.
Describe the effect of each action on natural and depletable resources.
Analyze the human effects of each action.
Assess the direct and indirect effects of the reasonable actions and their significance.
Avoid assessing the impacts (long-term, near-term, certain, uncertain), since readers may value these differently.
