Subglacial Antarctic aquatic environments are important targets for scientific exploration due to the unique ecosystems they support and their sediments containing palaeoenvironmental records. Directly accessing these environments while preventing forward contamination and demonstrating that it has not been introduced is logistically challenging. The Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project designed, tested and implemented a microbiologically and chemically clean method of hot-water drilling that was subsequently used to access subglacial aquatic environments. We report microbiological and biogeochemical data collected from the drilling system and underlying water columns during sub-ice explorations beneath the McMurdo and Ross ice shelves and Whillans Ice Stream. Our method reduced microbial concentrations in the drill water to values three orders of magnitude lower than those observed in Whillans Subglacial Lake. Furthermore, the water chemistry and composition of microorganisms in the drill water were distinct from those in the subglacial water cavities. The submicron filtration and ultraviolet irradiation of the water provided drilling conditions that satisfied environmental recommendations made for such activities by national and international committees. Our approach to minimizing forward chemical and microbiological contamination serves as a prototype for future efforts to access subglacial aquatic environments beneath glaciers and ice sheets.

The Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) within the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated several programs to reduce risks associated with the use of pesticides. Examples include accelerated registration of new products (including biological pesticides) that offer reduced risk to human health and the environment, and regulatory relief for products posing virtually no risk to provide replacement for more problematic pesticides. In addition, efforts are being undertaken to reduce pesticide resistance in target pests, develop joint “Environmental Stewardship” efforts between the EPA, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The new Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division (BPPD), established as a pilot in October 1994, has responsibility for many above functions, with special emphasis on registration of biological pesticides and development of the new Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP). This program is designed to recognize achievements already made by farmers to reduce conventional pesticide use and to find further improvements through cooperative efforts with growers.

Environmental stewardship refers to responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. Aldo Leopold (1887 to 1948) championed environmental stewardship based on a land ethic “dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants that grow upon it.” Environmental stewardship as it relates to weed science has taken on varying roles as chemical weed control took hold in managing crops as a general practice soon after World War II, and became a well-known issue during the Vietnam War, with the extensive use of Agent Orange. As technologies in both chemistry and genetics have evolved, chemical weed control became safer with the advent of less toxicologically damaging materials. Combining toxicologically safe herbicides with genetic manipulation made it possible to apply chemicals that previously would have caused plant death, seemingly providing a magic bullet that simplified weed control for many producers during the mid to late 1990s. University scientists were guarded during the introduction of this technology; many understood that the magic bullet had flaws. By using predominately POST applications on weed species, genetic selection has given rise to substantial resistance, therefore presenting weed scientists with a grand challenge for the future. As new genetic technology is introduced for existing and future weed management problems, how will environmental stewardship be addressed and how can this technology be preserved? How can a producer afford it and how can they afford not to use it? When we have weeds present that used to be managed by herbicides and genetic technology, then society will be forced to deal with the same social, economic, agronomic, and environmental issues they dealt with prior to such technology. Herbicide-resistance technology and the concomitant herbicide-resistant weeds have provided a perfect case study to learn from if those in academia, extension, and industry will pay attention. Continuing education of the producer will be perhaps the biggest key in meeting the challenge to produce a safe and plentiful food supply for a growing population with minimal adverse effects of weeds while providing a desirable degree of environmental stewardship.

The objective of this research is to identify and quantify the motivations for organic grain farming in the United States. Survey data of US organic grain producers were used in regression models to find the statistical determinants of three motivations for organic grain production, including profit maximization, environmental stewardship, and an organic lifestyle. Results provide evidence that many organic grain producers had more than a single motivation and that younger farmers are more likely to be motivated by environmental and lifestyle goals than older farmers. Organic grain producers exhibited a diversity of motivations, including profit and stewardship.

The Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project will test the overarching hypothesis that an active hydrological system exists beneath a West Antarctic ice stream that exerts a major control on ice dynamics, and the metabolic and phylogenetic diversity of the microbial community in subglacial water and sediment. WISSARD will explore Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW, unofficial name) and its outflow toward the grounding line where it is thought to enter the Ross Ice Shelf seawater cavity. Introducing microbial contamination to the subglacial environment during drilling operations could compromise environmental stewardship and the science objectives of the project, consequently we developed a set of tools and procedures to directly address these issues. WISSARD hot water drilling efforts will include a custom water treatment system designed to remove micron and sub-micron sized particles (biotic and abiotic), irradiate the drilling water with germicidal ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and pasteurize the water to reduce the viability of persisting microbial contamination. Our clean access protocols also include methods to reduce microbial contamination on the surfaces of cables/hoses and down-borehole equipment using germicidal UV exposure and chemical disinfection. This paper presents experimental data showing that our protocols will meet expectations established by international agreement between participating Antarctic nations.