The Extension Express - Cooperative Extension System - University ...

21 The Extension Express
Karen Filchak
Windham County Extension Center
Changing Homeowner‘s Lawn Care Behavior to Reduce Nutrient
Losses in New England‘s Urbanizing Watersheds
In 2007, a CSREES 406 New England Integrated Water Quality grant was funded. Connecticut,
working with New Hampshire (lead PI), Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont collaborated on a project
that combined social science and environmental science research to investigate who has the most
influence over residential lawn care practices of do-it-yourselfers and what should be done to minimize
excess nutrient runoff from lawns.
Karen Filchak (Educator, Department of Extension—CT Project and Outreach coordinator) and Karl
Guillard (Professor, Department of Plant Science—Turf Nutrient Research) were co-PI‘s on the
regional grant. Pamela Cooper (Special Payroll – Turf outreach) and Susan Munger (Master Gardener
Coordinator - New London County) collaborated on the project by providing educational outreach in
the targeted community. Connecticut‘s participating community was in the town of East Lyme.
The following excerpts from the grant‘s ―Final Social Science Project Evaluation‖ (Eisenhauer,
Stevenson & Peterson) provides a brief outline of the project.
―Nonopoint source pollution is a major threat to water quality, and the Changing Homeowner‘s
Lawn Care Behavior to Reduce Nutrient Losses in New England‘s Urbanizing Watersheds
project was designed to merge turf science, social science, and Extension knowledge and
efforts into a concerted effort to change DIYers turf care behavior to protect water quality
through the development and delivery of outreach and education.‖
―Many beneficial research and extension outcomes have resulted from this project. The soil
science research was used to develop regionally specific recommendations for fertilizer use to
minimize negative water quality impacts. The social science research looked into lawn care
behaviors, the underlying factors that drive that behavior, the correlates of environmentally
responsible behavior, and important considerations for program delivery.‖
Connecticut‘s contributions were two-fold. A significant component of the grant involved Dr.
Guillard‘s research and nutrient management recommendations for the New England region. This
included separate recommendations for last date applications for northern and southern New England.
The second component addressed the homeowner education (programs, newspaper articles, fact sheets,
neighborhood workshops and exhibits) through Extension outreach education.
The final reports for the two research components (social science and turf research) can be accessed
at: http://www.usawaterquality.org/NESCI/Focus_Areas/Landscaping/pubs.html under Regional
Reports.