John M. Whiteley

There are several projects which employ the multiple perspectives and different levels of analysis of the social ecological paradigm to investigate complex, unsolved problems of society in the area of transboundary conflict and cooperation.

There was a conference being held October 28-30, 2004 on "Challenges of a Transboundary World." It is an extension of research initiated by Helen Ingram entitled "Reflections on Water: New Approaches to Transboundary Conflict and Cooperation." In addition to being a recognition of the work of Professor Ingram, the conference has expanded its framework to examine challenges of a transboundary world in the area of trade and environment (with the Newkirk Center on Science and Society), on social mobilization in transboundary conflict (in association with the Center for the Study of Democracy), on transboundary issues in water (with the Urban Water Research Center), and on transboundary governance (with the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies).

Apart from organizing the event, I am involved scientifically with Professors Ingram and Lejano on transboundary cooperation in preserving coral reefs and turtles in a region controlled by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, (to the extent that the region is governed at all).

I am working on a case study on the Klamath Basin region where the basic problem is water scarcity in a context where there are multiple constituencies which have legitimate claims on water. One constituency (stakeholder) is farmers whose ancestors homesteaded the region in a context of commitment from the US government that irrigation water would be provided in perpetuity by the Army Corps of Engineers. Another constituency is Native Americans for whom the suckerfish, an endangered species covered by the Endangered Species Act, has both religious and cultural significance. Another constituency is salmon fishers on the Pacific Coast who depend on the ample flow of water down the Klamath and Trinity Rivers to support salmon spawning. The Klamath Basin is also a center for the migration of the Bald Eagle, which needs sufficient water to protect it marsh habitat.

I continue to work on what is called the Peace Collection. This is a collection of interviews with important participants in the search for peace in the last decade of the Cold War. The basic purpose is to educate citizens about problems of peace. It is approached from a social ecological perspective intertwining perspectives of government, business, and economics, religion, education, and family and children. A research university has compelling obligations for teaching and public service. The Peace Collection is at the intersection of teaching and public service, conceptualized around educating citizens about the problems of achieving peace in the nuclear age.

Since 1975, colleagues and I have been working on the intertwined problems of moral reasoning in college students and moral action in young adulthood. This work has produced two volumes on Character Development in College Students and one volume on Moral Action in Young Adulthood. In process is a book of case studies called Portraits in Character which examines the transition from college to adulthood of a group of former college students who are now in their forties.