Source: MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIV submitted to
SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF GENETICALLY IMPROVED TREES: ASSESSING PUBLIC AND FOREST OWNER ATTITUDES AND RISK PERCEPTIONS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1022689
Grant No.
2020-67023-31638
Cumulative Award Amt.
$475,000.00
Proposal No.
2019-08482
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2020
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2025
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[A1642]- AFRI Foundational - Social Implications of Emerging Technologies
Recipient Organization
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIV
1400 Townsend Drive
HOUGHTON,MI 49931
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Recent advancements in tree genetics and biotechnology have created opportunities to accelerate the time required to develop trees that are resistant to pests and pathogens, or that exhibit desirable wood qualities and growth rates. However, it is critical that we consider public perceptions regarding the development and proliferation of genetically improved trees. It is also critical to better understand the concerns among forest landowners and the potential for genetically improved trees to help them achieve their forest management goals. This project will unfold in three phases: First, we will conduct a thorough literature review and meta-analysis of tree improvement research to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and potential risk associated with various improvement methods. Those results will directly inform the next phase of the project, which will involve an online survey of members of the public throughout the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, to better understand attitudes towards genetically improved trees for use in various management contexts,and perceptions of risk and institutional trust. The third phase of the project will engage various types of forest landowners (non-industrial, corporate, tribal) in focus group discussions to better understand their perceptions of risks and benefits associated with proliferating genetically improved trees on their properties.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1230699108040%
1230699308060%
Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0699 - Trees, forests, and forest products, general;

Field Of Science
1080 - Genetics; 3080 - Sociology;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is to assess attitudes towardsand acceptability of using genetically improved trees (GIT) among various private forest owner types as well as members the general public of the Lake States region for achieving various forest management obejctives, including improving forest health, restoring native populations of tree species impacted by disease and pests, and increasing forest productivity of timber products.The following three objectives will be pursued in support of the above goal:1. Conduct a meta-analysis of tree genetic improvement studies, including those using traditional tree breeding as well as studies using genetic engineering approaches, to identify which approaches are most likely to be successful and in which contexts.2. Assess attitudes and risk perceptions among members of the general public regarding use of GITs for mitigating risks to forest health, restore lost populations of vulnerable species, and increase growth and yield of timber products on both planted and natural forest environments.3. Assess attitudes towards GITs among various forest owner types, including family forest owners, industrial owners, and tribal owners, with a focus on perceptions of risk and to understand in their willingness to plant GITs on their properties to satisfy various management objectives.
Project Methods
This project will unfold in three phases: (1) meta-analysis of tree improvement research (2) online survey of the general public in the Lake States region (3) focus group discussion among industrial, non-industrial/family, and tribal forest owners. This sequence will allow for the flow of knowledge, such that the outcomes from one phase will be used as a guide or direct input to subsequent research activities, thus creating a strongly connected, interdisciplinary project.Phase 1: Meta-AnalysisThe meta-analysis will focus broadly on studies involvingdeciduous species of North America. The meta-analysis will look at 1) methods used to identify resistance markers to pathogens and pests in trees; 2) tree improvement methods including traditional breeding, marker assisted breeding, genomic selection and genetic modification; and 3) risk assessments of improvement methods. Overall trends in effectiveness, efficencieny, and potential risks will be assesed.These findings will inform the development of materials and content used in survey and focus group questions.Phase 2: Public SurveyThe online survey will target members of the general public located within the three states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We will target a total sample of 1200 to 1500 residents who are at least 18 years old. The survey will be designed by the research team, with input and feedback from key stakeholders, including private forest owners, profesional foresters, agency personnel, and fellow scientists. Survey questions will include questions designed to measure the relative importance of 3 factors on willingness to support research/proliferation of genetically improved trees: (1) tree improvement method (traditional tree breeding, marker-assisted breeding, genomics selection / genetic modification), (2) forest management objective (improve timber production, mitigate threats to forest health, restore decimated tree species), and (3) institution leading / funding research and proliferation efforts (university, government agency, forest products industry). The survey will also include Likert-style question to measure attitudes towards and knowledge of topics of specific interest, including tree improvement methods, perceptions of risk, forest management concerns, and membership/support for various organizations, institutions and stakeholder groups.Landowner Focus GroupsTo better understand ownership objectives, attitudes, and perceptions of risk towards GITs among private landowners, we will organize three focus group discussions within each of the three states that make up our study region - Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin - combining for a total of 9 focus groups over the life of the project. Each of thethree focus groups conducted in each state will involveone of three landowner types - industrial/corporate, tribal/indigenous, family/NIPF. We will seek to partner with local government and non-government organizations to find suitable locations for each focus group area that is convenient for participants. During each focus group, the research team will provide a series of presentations that provide a general overview of relevant topics. These presentations are necessary to ensure that landowners engage in informed discussion about the potential benefits and risks of GITs within various management contexts. Thus, the presentations will focus on forest health concerns, wood / forest products, tree genetics and methods for tree improvement, and public survey results.Following the presentations, focus group participants will be prompted with discussion questions designed to assess risk perceptions of GITs based on theories of risk associated with technologyalong two dimensions: cultural bias and knowledge. Therefore, focus group participants will be prompted to consider how development and proliferation of GITs mis/aligns with their cultural and personal values, as well as with their broader forest management goals. Additionally, participants will be asked to consider the role of institutions, such as universities and government agencies, and their in/ability to assuage concerns of GITs. This line of questioning is designed to assess how institutional trust may or may not affect landowner acceptanceof GITs. Finally, participants will be asked under what circumstances (if any) would they consider planting GITs on their forest properties, and what control mechanisms (e.g. external/institutional oversight, internal oversight, part of a research study, etc.), if any, would they prefer. In general, we hypothesize that the perspectives of industrial landowners will be motivated by perceived financial benefits and limitations related to forest certification standards, while tribal landowners will be motivated by traditional knowledge and customs. Family/NIPF owners will have a range of intrinsic motivations, such as personal forest management goals and objectives (e.g. wildlife habitat, privacy, generate revenue, recreation, etc.)and environmental attitudes, as well as extrinsic factors, such as perceived social norms and influence of peer networks. Qualitative data will be collected during all focus group discussions via audio recording devices, following all institutional review board (IRB) protocols for ensuring the safety and confidentiality of human subjects. Audio recordings of the discussion will transcribed, coded, and analyzed to identify themes and salient information.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:1,500 forest land owners from Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin were written to, and asked to complete a survey on theirperception of risk to forests under various scenarios including business as usual, assisted migration of existing tree species,selection of improved trees and genetic modification of trees. The graduate student presented a poster with the results of their meta-analysis at the 2023 Plant Biology meeting organized bythe American Society of Plant Biologists with an international audience of scientists, students and professionals. The othergraduate student presented their results of the forest land owners survey as an oral presentation at the 2023 International Association of Society and Natural Resources conference in Portland, OR in June 2023 to an audience of scientists,professionals and students. Changes/Problems:Due to the covid-19 pandemic and change in PI at the start of this project, several aspectsstarted late or were delayed. We have requested and received a 1 year no-cost extension to complete this project and included a new MS student to complete goal 3. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two graduate students have finished their programs and have graduated (MS student in May 2023) or will graduate (PhD student in December 2024). The new MS student is participating in classes relevant to the project and has completed CITI training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The PI gave an oral presentationat the 2024 North American Forest Genetics Society meeting held in Oaxaca, Mexico in June 2024 presenting the outcomes of all aspects of this project. One manuscript is in print in Society and Natural Resources, another is in review in Tree Genetics and Genomes. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A MS student was hired to finish the final goal of this project. Interviews with forestry professionals, including tribal members, DNR, and state government, will be conducted in January 2025. Invitations to these professionals have been sent out in November 2024. Analysis and write up of the results will be conducted in spring and summer 2025.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: The meta-analysis is finished and is under review in the journal Tree Genetics and Genomes.The PhD candidate reviewedover 1,500 papers that were published between 1990 and 2021 to assess trends in methodology of tree improvement, targetsof tree improvement, and which tree species were improved over time. Tree improvement methods were broadly categorizedinto conventional breeding, marker-assisted and genomic-selection breeding, and genetic engineering or manipulation. Wefound a strong increase in research on genetic engineering and genetic manipulation of trees in recent years due to an uptake of gene editing technology, but publications on marker-assisted and genomic-selection breeding are still increasing, whileconventional breeding publications are plateauing or slightly declining. The main targets of improvement were higherenvironmental adaptability (biotic and abiotic stress tolerance), productivity (growth and yield), and product quality (fruits aswell as wood products). Investigating the trends in tree improvement allowed us to provide a 5-step guide and model for futuredirections of tree improvements: 1. There is a need to produce an increasing number of high-quality reference genomesequences and pan-genomes. 2. Advance our ability to accurately predict or identify quantitative trait loci enabled throughnext-generation phenotyping technologies and improved prediction models. 3. Plant-environment interaction studies areneeded to understand the molecular/mechanistic causes of plant defense against herbivores and pathogens and the plants'ability to withstand severe abiotic extremes, such as droughts and heat. 4. If natural variation does not allow for selection ofsuitable genotypes, we need to engineer trees to satisfy the needs of growers - these engineering efforts may need to beconducted in multiple lines to avoid bottlenecks and local maladaptation. 5. The challenging amounts of data producedthroughout these efforts need to be both preserved and available to a broad audience, necessitating the collaboration ofscientists from many different fields. Goal 2: The MS student finished and defended their thesis in 2023. The manuscript was submitted to the journal Society and Natural Resources and was accepted in its final form on October 21, 2024 and is currently in print (I was unable to add as product, since I do not yet have a DOI).1,500 non-industrialprivate forest landowners were asked to complete a survey to assess the risk they see with genetic modification of trees. Theresponse rate was ~10%. Forest landowners were sceptical to genetic modification of trees to enhance yield, but neutral orslightly negative to genetic modifications to enhance pest- or pathogen-resistance. Goal 3: To achieve this goal, a new MS student started in August 2024. They completed their CITI Social/Behavioral training and submitted the appropriate IRB package with co-PI Chelsea Schelly, which has since been approved. Forty forestry professionals have been identified from Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesotta and have been invited to participate in a phone interview. Phone interviews will commence in January 2025. Questions for these interviews have been developed and were based on the land owner survey and meta-analysis study conducted earlier in this project.

Publications

  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Ketola, Zoe L., "ACCEPTING CHANGE: FACETS OF ACCEPTANCE & SUSTAINABLE REDEVELOPMENT", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2023. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/1593
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Chakrabarty Swapan "NOVEL METHODS OF TREE IMPROVEMENT IN THE GENOMIC ERA" PhD thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2024. Release date November 20, 2025


Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:1,500 forest land owners from Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin were written to, and asked to complete a survey on their perception of risk to forests under various scenarios including business as usual, assisted migration of existing tree species, selection of improved trees and genetic modification of trees. Onegraduate student presented results from their meta-analyis to an MTU internal graduate student conference with an audience of other graduate students, faculty and staff. The graduate student presented a poster with the results of theirmeta-analysisat the 2023 Plant Biology meeting organized by the American Society of Plant Biologists with an international audience of scientists, students and professionals. The other graduate student presented their results of the forest land owners survey as an oral presentation at the 2023 Internatioanl Association of Society and Natural Resources conference in Portland, OR in June 2023 to an audience of scientists, professionals and students. Changes/Problems:We planned to conduct more focus group meetings at the end of this project. However, due to low response rates, we changed this to targeted phone interviews, where we will email invites from target groups and conduct interviews with a set of pre-approved questions. This will provide a more formal dataset that can be analyzed and quantified, compared to the focus group meetings that were originally planned. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Both graduate students continue to participate in classes relevant to the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A poster on the meta-analysis was presented at the Graduate Student Research Forum at Michigan Tech in April 2023 with an audience of graduate students, faculty and staff from the Michigan Tech community. A talk was given at the 2023 International Association for Society and Natural Resources in Portland, Oregon. Outcomes from the landowners survey were presented. These data were submitted, and accepted for publication in Social and Natural Resources. A posterwas presentedat the 2023 Plant Biology meeting inSavannah, Georgia in August 2023, showing the results of the meta-analysis. These results were submitted to Plan Communication journal in November 2023. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will design questions for phone interviews with a broader audience (compared to small privated forest landowners), including family forest owners, industrial, and tribal owners. We will hire a student to conduct these interviews in spring 2024 and analyse the outcomes with the PI and co-PI's during summer 2024.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: The meta-analysis is finished and submitted as a manuscript to Plant Communications. The PhD candidate reviewed over 1,500 papers that were published between 1990 and 2021 to assess trends inmethodology of tree improvement, targets of tree improvement, and which tree species were improved over time. Tree improvement methods were broadly categorized into conventional breeding, marker-assisted and genomic-selection breeding, and genetic engineering or manipulation.We found a strong increase in research on genetic engineering and genetic manipulation of trees in recent years due to an uptake of gene editing technology, but publications on marker-assisted and genomic-selection breeding are still increasing, while conventional breeding publications are plateauing or slightly declining. The main targets of improvement were higher environmental adaptability (biotic and abiotic stress tolerance), productivity (growth and yield), and product quality (fruits as well as wood products). Investigating the trends in tree improvement allowedus to provide a 5-step guide and model for future directions of tree improvements: 1. There is a need to produce an increasing number of high-quality reference genome sequences and pan-genomes. 2. Advance our ability to accurately predict or identify quantitative trait loci enabled through next-generation phenotyping technologies and improved prediction models. 3. Plant-environment interaction studies are needed to understand the molecular/mechanistic causes of plant defense against herbivores and pathogens and the plants' ability to withstand severe abiotic extremes, such as droughts and heat. 4. If natural variation does not allow for selection of suitable genotypes, we need to engineer trees to satisfy the needs of growers - these engineering efforts may need to be conducted in multiple lines to avoid bottlenecks and local maladaptation. 5. The challenging amounts of data produced throughout these efforts need to be both preserved and available to a broad audience, necessitating the collaboration of scientists from many different fields. Goal 2: In the past year, the MS student finished and defended their thesis (May 2023), wrote and submitted their manuscript, which was recently accepted, and presented their findings at an international conference in June 2023. 1,500 non-industrial private forest landowners were asked to complete a survey to assess the risk they see with genetic modification of trees. The response rate was ~10%. Forest landowners were sceptical to genetic modification of trees to enhance yield, but neutral or slightly negative to genetic modifications to enhance pest- or pathogen-resistance. Goal 3: To achieve this goal, we plan to conduct targeted phone interviews with our target audience, since the response to our initial focus group meeting was too low. These phone interviews will be conducted in spring 2024.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Ketola Z, Schelly C, Rouleau M, Kuelheim C (2023) Understanding Perceptions on Genetic Improvement of Tree Species Among Family Forest Owners (FFO) in Three Midwestern States. Accepted in Society & Natural Resources
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Chakrabarty S, Kuelheim C (2023) Trends in Tree Improvement Methods: Past and Future. Submitted to Plant Communication


Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Local forest land owners (Houghton, Baraga, Keweenaw counties) were invited to a focus group meeting discussing the future of Michigan Forests. 1,500 forest land owners from Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsinwere written to, and asked to complete a survey on their perception of risk to forests under various scenarios including business as usual, assisted migration of existing tree species, selection of improved trees and genetic modification of trees. One graduate student presented results from their meta-analyis to an MTU internal graduate student conference with an audience of other graduate students, faculty and staff. One graduate student presented preliminary results from the forest landowner survey at the 2022 International Association for Society and Natural Resources conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, to an international audience of scientists. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Both graduate students continue to participate in classes relevant to the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A focus group meeting with local landowners was held December 2, 2021. A poster on the meta-analysis was presented at the Graduate Student Research Forum at Michigan Tech in April 2022 with an audience of graduate students, faculty and staff from the Michigan Tech community. A talk was given at the 2022 International Association for Society and Natural Resources in San Jose, Costa Rica. Preliminary data from the landowners survey were presented. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the meta-analysis manuscript will be submitted and hopefully published. The landowner survey analysis will be finished and prepared for publication. The outcomes of the survey will be the basis for several focus group meetings in 2023 with local land owners and the public.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1The meta-analysis is completed and the manuscript has been written and is prepared for submission to Trends in Plant Science in January 2023. In total 1,513 publications were included in the analysis. Publications using traditional breeding for tree improvement peaked between 2006-2009 and have since slightly declined, while publications using marker assisted breeding or genetic manipulation have an increasing trend. Target traits (e.g. wood propterties, biotic stress tolerance) and tree species groups, as well as improvement methodwere compared and trends over time investigated. Goals 2and 3We held a focus group meeting with local forest land owners on December 2, 2021. We presented data from the meta-anlysis and discussed local forest health and potential issues and solutions in the future.Based on this meeting and literature investigation, we designed a forest landowner survey, which contained 5 introductory questions, 11 questions related to risk perception of genetically improved trees, 23 questions about values and beliefs,and 5 demographic questions. The survey was approved by Michigan Tech's Institutional Review Board and mailed to 1,499 forest land owner in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, randomly selected from a database of forest landowners curated by Dynata. 150 completed surveys were returned and are currently being analysed.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Ketola Z., Rouleau M., Schelly C., Kuelheim C., Chakrabarty S. (2022) Social Acceptability for Genetically improved Trees. 2022 International Society and Natural Resources (IASNR), San Jose, Costa Rica June 26-29, 2022


Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:The lead PI, Dr. Matt Kelly has left Michigan Tech and I have taken over the lead PI role. To fill the knowledge gap from Dr. Kelly's departure, we have included Dr. Mark Rouleau in this project as co-PI. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the start date of the PhD student was delayed from fall 2020 to summer 2021. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All participants have passed their CITI training and have been added to IRBnet. The two graduate students are taking classes relevant to this project. Both graduate students are receiving training on how to hold focus group meetings and how to design surveys. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our first focus group meeting with local landowners is scheduled for December 2, 2021. We will include a short presentation of our findings from the meta-analysis during this meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the first goal (meta-analysis) will be finished and will lead to a scientific publication as well as providing the basis for goals 2 and 3. We are holding a focus group meeting with local landowners on December 2, 2021. This will help us with the design of the land owner survey, which will be designed and executed during the next reporting period. The survey results will then provide the basis for further focus group meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The covid-19 pandemic had a large impact at the start of the project. The PhD student we selected in spring 2020, was not able to start before summer 2021, due to visa issues and travel restrictions. The MS student started as planned in fall 2021. Goal 1: The PhD candidate started the meta-analysis in summer 2021. Since then, over 840 scientific publications (1990-2020)have been assessed and categorized into three improvement categories (traditional breeding, marker assisted breeding and genetic engineering), and sorted by type of tree and target of improvement. The search for publications is not finished and will continue into spring 2022, however, we are already able to see trends in improvement methods over time and which types of trees were targeted for what kind of improvement. Currently, we are also creating a subset of data based on species that occur in the midwest, which are relevant to goals 2 and 3. Goals 2 and 3: All participants have finished their CITI training and are included on IRBNet. The second graduate student (started in fall 2021 and is hence not reported under participants) is preparing the planned survey and the first focus group meeting with local land owners is scheduled for December 2, 2021.

Publications