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Fishery‐dependent communities in coastal environments are often vulnerable to hurricanes, but diverse and accessible fisheries may buffer the effects of extreme storms and promote community resilience. We began evaluating this possibility with a qualitative study in the Lowe Sound and Red Bays communities in The Bahamas immediately after the impact of a category 4 hurricane. We interviewed 68 households, asking about the relationships between the storm's impacts and fisheries resources. Lowe Sound respondents described fisheries as natural insurance that provided food and income. Both communities indicated that retaining access to boats was critically important. Respondents most often blamed impacts on low‐elevation geography, followed by religious interpretations. Fishers linked damages with climate change more often than other community members, suggesting that fishers have an experiential knowledge of climate change. We discuss the importance of fisheries as natural insurance, how recovery efforts can strengthen resilience, and potential outreach strategies that incorporate local knowledge.

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Risky human behavior and high density of rabies vectors in urban environments combine to increase the risk of rabies. Pet vaccination, wildlife vector management, and public health education may be the most efficient ways to prevent urban rabies epidemics. Racial, ethnic, and socio-economic factors influence the use of low-cost rabies vaccination clinics, understanding rabies reporting requirements, and learning preferences. In collaboration with the City of Greensboro and Animal Control in Guilford County, NC, we conducted a survey of rabies prevention and transmission across socio-economic strata representing Latinos, African Americans, and Whites, and different income and education levels. Compliance with vaccination was low among Latinos; African Americans and Latinos were not aware of low-cost rabies vaccination clinics; and most respondents were willing to report rabid animals but did not know whom to call. White respondents preferred online information delivery, whereas Latinos and African Americans preferred postal mail. Communication targeting the public requires the consideration of different message decoding and interpretation based on the ethnicity, income, and educational level, and other barriers such as language. Differing message delivery methods may be required to achieve full dissemination.

This paper examines the links between the material and symbolic nature of timber extraction during the Pacific Northwest (PNW) timber wars of the 1980s and 1990s. Applying Durkheim’s work on religion and social solidarity, the authors consider a form of logger religion that emerged through many years of PNW timber production, shaping the identities of loggers and timber community dynamics. This paper proposes that forests are spaces that bridge the sacred and profane. Our evaluation examines a totemic meaning assigned to loggers originating from forest-based labour and reinforced by timber communities through rituals. Throughout the timber wars, loggers also developed a conflicted consciousness, stemming from their connection to and the destruction of forests. Given the character of logger religion that existed, the deployment of forest management and community development policies may not adequately re-create tacit relationships between the sacred and profane, previously damaged as a result of the drastic decline in timber production in the PNW.