INFORMED CONSENT LETTER FOR HUDSON RIVER SUSTAINABLE SHORELINES PROJECT

POST-WORKSHOP SURVEY (APPLYING THE FINDINGS OF THE HRSSP: JULY, 23, 2014)
MARCH 4, 2015
Dear workshop participants and survey respondents,
I am a masters degree student at the University of New Hampshire and an intern at the Hudson River
National Research Reserve (HRNERR). I am conducting research to learn more about planning and
implementing trainings like the Hudson River Sustainable Shorelines Project workshop held July 23,
2014. I am writing to invite you to participate in this project, as one of the approximately 50
participants in the workshop.
On the day of the workshop, participants had the opportunity to submit post-workshop evaluation
forms. The responses from these forms gave us initial feedback on the content and format of the
workshop, what worked and what didnt, and how useful participants felt the workshop was at the
time. We now would like to follow up with a second survey to get a better sense of the impacts of this
workshop to assess whether the workshop achieved its goals of effectively sharing the information and
tools of the HRSSP.
If you agree to participate, the responses from this survey will be used internally by the HRSSP Team,
potentially shared with the NERRS Science Collaborative (HRSSP funders), and included in my
graduate research portfolio and graduate presentations this spring at the University of New Hampshire
in Durham, NH (primary audiences include my advisors, faculty, and peers at the University of New
Hampshire, but will be accessible to the public). I will not identify responses by name in my
portfolio or presentations.
Potential risks of participating in this study are minimal. You will not receive compensation to
participate in this project, but it should not take more than half an hour of your time. Although you are
not anticipated to receive direct benefits from participating in this study, the feedback is expected to
benefit the HRSSP team and improve future training workshops put on by the team. Participation in
this study is strictly voluntary. If you refuse to participate, you will not experience any penalty or
negative consequences. If you agree to participate, you may refuse to answer any question (other than
two initial questions about consent) and/or if you change your mind, you may withdraw at any time
without negative consequences.
You may choose to submit your name and contact information, but it is not mandatory. It could be
useful for Emilie Hauser to follow up as needed, but I will not use it. I seek to maintain the
confidentiality of all data and records associated with your participation in this research. Data will be
stored via SurveyMonkey and accessed by Emilie Hauser and Ben Ganon. Emilie or Ben will remove
any names submitted prior to sending me the data. Submitting your profession is also optional. This
information is useful so we can understand how effective the training was for different groups, but
there is no penalty for omitting this information.

If you have any questions about this or would like more information at any time, you may contact me
at LDD22@wildcats.unh.edu. If you have questions about your rights as a research subject, you may
contact Dr. Julie Simpson in UNH Research Integrity Services at (603) 862-2003 or
Julie.Simpson@unh.edu. You may keep this letter for your records. If you agree to allow us to use
your responses from the survey, please indicate your consent by selecting Yes on the two consent
questions. You may give different responses (Yes or No) to the consent question for HRNERR use
and the consent question for my graduate use, if you prefer. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Lisa Graichen
Graduate student, University of New Hampshire and Intern, HRNERR
LDD22@wilcdats.unh.edu