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Articles 1 - 30 of 47
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Ecotheology In Context: A Critical Phenomenological Study Of Graduates Of Environmentally Focused Seminary Programs In The United States Of America, Cherice Bock
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
In recent decades, the field of ecotheology has emerged in dialogue with the context of the interconnected environmental and climate crises, particularly relating to the critique of Christianity being used to justify human and resource exploitation. A range of disciplines within the religious academy have taken up these intersecting concerns, together termed “ecologically informed theological education.” Graduate institutions training faith leaders and theological educators have created degree programs and certifications, and/or incorporated awareness of ecology, sustainability, and care for creation into their curricula. A research approach for ecotheology is described through the conceptual framework of critical ecotheology, which acknowledges ecotheology …
Artistic Engagement With Monadnock: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Jonathan W. Coffin
Artistic Engagement With Monadnock: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Jonathan W. Coffin
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
This hermeneutic phenomenological study discloses the lived experience of creating art in association with New Hampshire’s Mount Monadnock. This study reveals the potential for artistic invention in association with place gradually to undermine an established sense of separation from environment and to prompt conscious awareness of continuity with environment. A series of interviews with four artists who create art of or in the presence of Monadnock revealed in the lived experience of creating Monadnock art a process that consists of five phases: first encounter, abstract appreciation, existential understanding, sustained attention, and continuity. A hermeneutic circular method of interpretation based upon …
The Use Of A Habitat Quality Stress Index To Evaluate Stress As An Analog For Proximate Fitness In The American Crow Within A Matrix Of Landcover Characteristics To Assess Its Potential Contribution To Disease Etiologies, Theodore Lee Grabarz
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
All organisms occur within spatial and temporal environments to maximize proximate fitness (health) and thus life history outcomes. Previous work has examined the temporal and behavioral aspects of proximate fitness on life history outcomes particularly regarding highly perturbed environments (i.e., climate and land use change, resource extraction, agricultural erosion, etc.). My work focuses on the less examined spatial aspect of these perturbed environments. More specifically, this dissertation examines habitat selection and quality as the basis for understanding stress response (negative and positive feedback mechanisms) to environmental stressors within the larger context of regional or gamma (ɣ) biodiversity. Through the lens …
Connecting Antibiotic Resistance To The Environment (Care): Introducing A Novel Framework Integrating Chemical Cross-Resistance And Place-Based Engagement To The Blue Marsh Watershed In Reading, Pennsylvania, Jill Felker
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Antibiotic resistance is a serious health threat around the world. Millions of individuals are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria yearly, and thousands die from previously curable illnesses. Although antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, misuse of antibiotics accelerates the loss of their effectiveness. Public health campaigns focusing on antibiotic awareness have not effectively communicated and educated the public on this health crisis. New efforts to combat antibiotic resistance are urgently needed. This dissertation focuses on the ecological and public health components of antibiotic resistance research that must be addressed to decelerate antibiotic resistance. A new interdisciplinary theoretical framework was developed to Connect Antibiotic …
Executive Functioning Among The Karyotypes In Turner Syndrome And Implications For Interventions, Sara Scull
Executive Functioning Among The Karyotypes In Turner Syndrome And Implications For Interventions, Sara Scull
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic disorder seen in phenotypically female (pf) individuals who have either a complete or partial absence of the second sex (X) chromosome. TS includes different karyotypes, and it presents with a variety of phenotypic and genotypic features. In general, the neuropsychological profiles for individuals diagnosed suggest that TS can contribute to challenges in various aspects of daily life, including social and emotional functioning. With regard to academic performances, individuals with TS often present with relative strengths in a range of verbal abilities and relative weakness in visual-spatial/perceptual abilities, nonverbal memory, motor function, processing speed, executive …
Forest Bathing Increases Adolescent Mental Well-Being And Connection To Nature: A Transformative Mixed Methods Study, Jennifer Keller
Forest Bathing Increases Adolescent Mental Well-Being And Connection To Nature: A Transformative Mixed Methods Study, Jennifer Keller
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Previous research has demonstrated that practicing forest bathing has significant positive effects on well-being. However, few studies have investigated whether forest bathing increases adolescent well-being despite the growing adolescent mental health crisis in the United States. Similarly, few studies have explored forest bathing’s impacts on connectedness to nature. Considering the ongoing environmental crisis, determining if forest bathing increases connectedness to nature is a critical expansion of forest bathing research, as connectedness to nature is linked to environmental care and concern. This study investigated the possibility that forest bathing, a nature-based mindfulness practice, could increase adolescent mental well-being and connectedness to …
Ecopsychologists' Vital Importance In The Time Of Climate Crises, Nicole B. Auckerman Psyd
Ecopsychologists' Vital Importance In The Time Of Climate Crises, Nicole B. Auckerman Psyd
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Ecopsychology is a systems-based philosophy that expands the therapeutic lens to include client interactions with and perceptions of the natural environment as an integral element of well-being or pathology. Ecopsychology, known forward as EP, also looks at the pathology of our culture and what kind of diagnoses lead to practices that put our planet at risk. In recent decades, the field has amassed a substantial amount of empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness but remains largely underutilized. First generation EP suggested a cultural reordering shifting away from consumer culture and reordering our way of life. Second generation posits working within the …
It Permeated Everything: A Lived Experience Of Slow Violence And Toxicological Disaster, Tara Jo Holmberg
It Permeated Everything: A Lived Experience Of Slow Violence And Toxicological Disaster, Tara Jo Holmberg
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Impacts of disasters on individuals are dependent on numerous factors: local to international political dynamics, socioeconomics, geography, educational background, and outside support among others. Currently, much of disaster research focuses on those of natural origin, acute and large-scale environmental events, emergency management, and the ability of individuals, communities, and societies to prepare for, and recover from, likely known disasters in their region. However, there is a lack of data about individual experiences through ‘invisible’ anthropogenic disasters, especially those that fall under the umbrella of slow environmental violence (Davies, 2019; Rice, 2016). Through critical phenomenological autoethnography, I examine an individual experience …
Integrating Interpersonal Neurobiology In Healthcare Leadership And Organizations, Lynn Redenbach
Integrating Interpersonal Neurobiology In Healthcare Leadership And Organizations, Lynn Redenbach
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) is an interdisciplinary, science-based field that seeks to understand human reality including the nature of mind, brain, and relationships. IPNB has been used extensively by mental health practitioners as well as child development and parenting experts. While practitioners and scholars have described ways that IPNB can be used in leadership and organizations, there has been no systematic inquiry into the practical and phenomenological experience of this application. IPNB offers an alternative to dominant models of care and leading in healthcare settings and fields, which are characterized by disconnection, objectification, and separation. It offers a relationally centered approach …
Using Principles Of Seascape Ecology To Consider Relationships Between Spatial Patterning And Mobile Marine Vertebrates In A Seagrass-Mangrove Ecotone In Bimini, Bahamas, Sarah Rebecca Taylor Driscoll
Using Principles Of Seascape Ecology To Consider Relationships Between Spatial Patterning And Mobile Marine Vertebrates In A Seagrass-Mangrove Ecotone In Bimini, Bahamas, Sarah Rebecca Taylor Driscoll
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Seagrass meadows and mangrove forests are ecologically and economically important systems that are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activity. This study used a non-invasive method, baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS), to observe mobile marine vertebrates in the seagrass-mangrove ecotone in North and South Bimini, the only area where mangroves remain in the northwestern Bahamas. An extensive area of mangroves and seagrass was removed for coastal development in North Bimini, where a marine protected area, the North Bimini Marine Reserve (NBMR), has been under consideration for decades. This research applied principles of seascape ecology to assess species abundance, diversity, and richness …
Decolonizing Food Systems Research – The Case Of Household Agricultural Food Access In Bikotiba, Togo, Katryna Maria Kibler
Decolonizing Food Systems Research – The Case Of Household Agricultural Food Access In Bikotiba, Togo, Katryna Maria Kibler
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Indigenous West African farmers are among the most climate change threatened globally. Food insecurity is prevalent in West Africa because ecological, social, political, and economic instabilities, and globalization worsen climate pressures. In this study, I collaborated with the community of Bikotiba (bih-CO-ti-buh), Togo, to understand their household agricultural food access, one aspect of resilience to food insecurity. I adopted a feminist approach of reflexivity, radical vulnerability, and radical empathy, combined with decolonizing principles, to argue that there could be an ethical way for well-trained Western researchers to engage Indigenous communities, if negotiated carefully. Together, Indigenous Research Assistants and I developed …
White Pine Blister Rust Distribution In New Hampshire 1900-2018: Exploring The Impacts Of An Exotic Pathogen On Forest Composition And Succession, Janine Marr
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
White pine blister rust (WPBR) has been affecting New Hampshire’s white pines for more than a century, yet no data exist on the long-term effects of the non-native disease on the state’s forests, particularly with respect to the regeneration and sustainability of white pine, and forest succession. This study aimed to address the gaps in the literature by exploring: 1) the current distribution, incidence, and severity of WPBR in New Hampshire; 2) the application of two historical hazard ratings models, one climatic, and one biotic; and 3) the long-term effects of the disease on forest composition, structure, and succession. Historical …
The Potential Role Of Payment For Ecosystem Services In Protected Area Management In Rwanda: A Case Study From Gishwati-Mukura National Park, Yves Gakunde
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
The demand for ecosystem services (ES) by communities around the world especially from developing countries is increasing, and creates conflict between protected ecosystem management and community socioeconomic wellbeing needs, particularly around protected areas. Taking into consideration globalization, capitalism, weak policies, and population growth as some of the majors driving factors to land change, increased demand for ES comes in part from societies’ changing economic demands and opportunities, such as food and commercial crop production, timber extraction, urbanization, and infrastructural development. Many biodiversity conservation approaches and initiatives have been used to protect and maintain healthy ecosystems. While the fence and fine …
Developing An Odonate-Based Index For Monitoring Freshwater Ecosystems In Rwanda: Towards Linking Policy To Practice Through Integrated And Adaptive Management, Erasme Uyizeye
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Worldwide, the decline of biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems is occurring at an alarming rate, due to anthropogenic threats, which directly impact humans in a variety of ways. Freshwater ecosystems occupy an integral part of political, socio-economic and ecological spheres. Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) and Adaptive Management (AM) conceptual frameworks provide an underpinning holistic platform from which to evaluate the performance of policies and actions on the ground in relation to freshwater ecosystem management. I investigate the extent to which environmental policies and practices embrace IWM and AM frameworks in Rwanda. Furthermore, this dissertation develops an odonate-based ecological monitoring tool, referred …
Home Range, Habitat Use And Thermal Ecology Of The Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene Bauri) On An Anthropogenic Island In Southwestern Florida, Christina Demetrio
Home Range, Habitat Use And Thermal Ecology Of The Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene Bauri) On An Anthropogenic Island In Southwestern Florida, Christina Demetrio
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Limited information is available on the ecology of Terrapene bauri (Florida Box Turtle) in mangrove ecosystems. Radio-telemetry and iButton data loggers were used to study the home range, habitat use, and thermal ecology of ten Florida Box Turtles on an anthropogenic island in the mangrove-dominated region of southwestern Florida. The effects of weather variables on movement and activity were also examined. Home range analysis using Minimum Convex Polygons (MCP) and Kernel Density Estimates (KDE) determined an average home range size of 0.81 ha (MCP) and 2.32 ha (95% KDE). Box Turtles moved an average distance of 6.3 m per day …
Habitat Characteristics And Nesting Ecology Of Golden Eagles In Arizona, Michele J. Losee
Habitat Characteristics And Nesting Ecology Of Golden Eagles In Arizona, Michele J. Losee
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) have a broad range globally and in general are well-studied. However, Arizona’s Golden Eagle population remained essentially unstudied until 2011, when Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) began nest surveys for cliff nesting Golden Eagles throughout the state. As a result of this data collection, the natural history of Arizona’s Golden Eagles is finally revealing itself. This dissertation outlined a reliable description of their nesting phenology that provides a framework for timing surveys and a baseline to monitor the effects of climate change on Golden Eagles. The mean date for egg-laying was February 14 and pairs …
Following The Seed: Investigating Seed Saving And Network Creation In The Appalachian Region Of Southeastern Ohio, Molly Hicks
Following The Seed: Investigating Seed Saving And Network Creation In The Appalachian Region Of Southeastern Ohio, Molly Hicks
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Since the beginning of agriculture, seeds have been cultivated, saved, and exchanged by farmers each year to ensure the success of future crops adapted to local environments. Yet, over ninety percent of our diverse vegetable and fruit crop varieties have been lost due to the industrialization and commercialization of seeds. Industrial agriculture has caused a great homogenization of crop varieties, but locally adapted seeds and their seed savers do still exist on the fringe, and across the world. There is a small but growing body of research on agri-food networks in Western and developing countries where advocates are working to …
A Multi-Scale Analysis Of Jaguar (Panthera Onca) And Puma (Puma Concolor) Habitat Selection And Conservation In The Narrowest Section Of Panama., Kimberly A. Craighead
A Multi-Scale Analysis Of Jaguar (Panthera Onca) And Puma (Puma Concolor) Habitat Selection And Conservation In The Narrowest Section Of Panama., Kimberly A. Craighead
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Over the past two centuries, large terrestrial carnivores have suffered extreme population declines and range contractions resulting from the synergistic anthropogenic threats of land-use change and indirect effects of climate change. In Panama, rapid land use conversion coupled with climate change is predicted to negatively impact jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor). This dissertation examined the environmental variables and scales influencing jaguar and puma habitat selection by season (annual, wet, and dry), using multi-scale optimized habitat suitability models and a machine-learning algorithm (Random Forests), in the narrowest section of Panama. The models derived from the data of an intensive …
Smallholder Farmers, Environmental Change And Adaptation In A Human-Dominated Landscape In The Northern Highlands Of Rwanda, Apollinaire William
Smallholder Farmers, Environmental Change And Adaptation In A Human-Dominated Landscape In The Northern Highlands Of Rwanda, Apollinaire William
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Climate change and crop intensification are key challenges to the livelihoods and wellbeing of the majority of rural smallholder farmers in developing countries, particularly in human-dominated, climate-sensitive landscapes such as the northern highlands of Rwanda where issues of fluvial floods, soil erosion pose serious threats to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. In this mixed methods study conducted between August and December 2015, I explored smallholder farmers’ perceptions by examining what barriers might hinder the process of agroforestry adoption by smallholder farmers, what socio-economic and physical factors and attitudes influence crop choices, motivations for smallholder farmers’ willingness to plant trees within …
Influences Of Forest Edges And Human Activities On The Dry Season Ranging Patterns Of Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii) In Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, Enathe Hasabwamariya
Influences Of Forest Edges And Human Activities On The Dry Season Ranging Patterns Of Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii) In Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, Enathe Hasabwamariya
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Great apes, our closest biological relatives are threatened globally by the increasing anthropogenic pressures on their habitat. The major threats to the eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are hunting for bush meat and illegal trade in chimpanzee infants, habitat loss or fragmentation and disease transmission (IUCN, 2010). Nyungwe National Park (NNP), Rwanda has a population of chimpanzees that face several threats, including hunting for bushmeat, habitat degradation from forest fires and human-wildlife conflicts, and much of these impacts are concentrated at forest edges. The main objectives of this research were to assess the use of forest edges by chimpanzees along …
Noninvasive Collection Of Saliva In Panthera Leo : Creation And Validation Of A Novel Technique For Health Assessment In Captive African Lions (Panthera Leo), Elizabeth Sgambelluri
Noninvasive Collection Of Saliva In Panthera Leo : Creation And Validation Of A Novel Technique For Health Assessment In Captive African Lions (Panthera Leo), Elizabeth Sgambelluri
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Very little research exists concerning direct correlations between alterations in stress stimuli and direct effects on carnivore physiology. Many studies have researched and documented what factors correlate to increased stress levels in predator species. Lacking, however, are studies observing the specific physiologic influences of increased glucocorticoid concentrations in those individuals. Furthermore, methods for monitoring and assessing health or immune function in many carnivore species often involve invasive techniques, such as physical restraint, blood sampling, and chemical immobilization. This study aimed to create, evaluate, and describe a new device for noninvasive collection of saliva for health assessment. The device itself was …
From Disposable Culture To Disposable People: Teaching About The Unintended Consequences Of Plastics, Sasha Adkins
From Disposable Culture To Disposable People: Teaching About The Unintended Consequences Of Plastics, Sasha Adkins
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Plastics, the epitome of disposable culture, pose both a toxicological and a spiritual problem. This dissertation examines plastics at a molecular level using the discourse of endocrine disruption, and at a sociological level using the discourses of eco-theology and environmental justice. Adding to the literature on the adsorption of toxicants to plastic marine debris, I demonstrate that certain types of plastic -- those containing mercaptans, such as styrene butadiene block copolymer -- efficiently concentrate methyl mercury from seawater. Further, samples of polycarbonate contributed mercury to seawater. I propose the term plastic-mediated magnification to describe the phenomenon that plastics, along with …
Ramapough/Ford The Impact And Survival Of An Indigenous Community In The Shadow Of Ford Motor Company’S Toxic Legacy, Chuck Stead
Ramapough/Ford The Impact And Survival Of An Indigenous Community In The Shadow Of Ford Motor Company’S Toxic Legacy, Chuck Stead
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
The purpose of this study was to examine the history of the Ford Motor Company’s impact upon the Ramapo Watershed of New York and New Jersey, as well as upon the Ramapough Munsi Nation, an indigenous population living there. In a 25 year span the automaker produced a record number of vehicles and dumped a massive amount of lead paint, leaving behind a toxic legacy that continues to plaque the area and its residents. The Ramapough people are not unlike many native nations living in the United States who have experienced industrial excess. This study examines the mindset that allows …
Matrix And Edge Effects On The Maintenance Of Ecological Function In An Afromontane Protected Area, Robin M. Martino
Matrix And Edge Effects On The Maintenance Of Ecological Function In An Afromontane Protected Area, Robin M. Martino
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Land use type in the human dominated matrix surrounding tropical forest can influence edge effects at the forest-matrix interface. Edge effects can alter ecological processes and impact the function of forest edge ecosystems. A key ecological process that helps maintain tropical forest and is affected by forest disturbance is seed dispersal by large, fruit eating vertebrates (frugivores). This dissertation examines how the type of vegetation in the matrix, the `soft’ edge contrast of pine plantations and the `hard’ edge contrast of tea plantations, affect seed dispersal behavior of large frugivores, and the structure and composition of tree species, in forest …
Weed Women, All Night Vigils, And The Secret Life Of Plants: Negotiated Epistemologies Of Ethnogynecological Plant Knowledge In American History, Claudia Jeanne Ford
Weed Women, All Night Vigils, And The Secret Life Of Plants: Negotiated Epistemologies Of Ethnogynecological Plant Knowledge In American History, Claudia Jeanne Ford
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
This dissertation critiques the discourse of traditional ecological knowledge described as embedded in indigenous peoples' longevity in location, for the purpose of understanding the embodiment of ecological knowledge in culture. The aim of this research is to examine the historical and epistemic complexity of traditional ecological knowledge that may be both established from the length of time people reside in a specific ecosystem and constitutive of negotiations between and among different cultures. I choose the specific case of the negotiation of plant knowledge for women's reproductive health among Native, African, and European groups as those negotiations unfolded on the American …
Utilization Of Placebo Response In Double-Blind Psychopharmacological Studies, Contextual Perspective, Margarita Olegovna Ashirova
Utilization Of Placebo Response In Double-Blind Psychopharmacological Studies, Contextual Perspective, Margarita Olegovna Ashirova
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Placebo response has been an elusive phenomenon in the fields of medicine, medical research, and psychology. Even though it has been heavily utilized as a comparator treatment in double-blind psychopharmacological studies, the reliable definition and consistent understanding of placebo response are missing. In this contextual exploration, I outlined the state of current placebo response research and variable rates of placebo response reported in double-blind studies. I identified the gap in the literature—lack of consistent understanding of placebo response—that has led to a waste of resources by the psychopharmacological research industry. Further, I compared and contrasted the current inconsistent Western medical …
Scales Of Resilience: Community Stability, Population Dynamics, And Molecular Ecology Of Brook Trout In A Riverscape After A Large Flood, Erin V. Rodgers
Scales Of Resilience: Community Stability, Population Dynamics, And Molecular Ecology Of Brook Trout In A Riverscape After A Large Flood, Erin V. Rodgers
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
Climate change in the northeastern United States currently and in future decadal predictions is characterized by warmer average temperatures and more frequent and intense storm events. Many aquatic organisms that thrive below a certain temperature threshold, such as brook trout, are being pushed towards their upper thermal limits, ultimately lowering their probability of survival and resilience to disturbance. In late-August and early-September 2011, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee created an extended flood in the Delaware Water Gap region of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as much of the northeast. This dissertation examines the effects of this flood on …
Just Farming: An Environmental Justice Perspective On The Capacity Of Grassroots Organizations To Support The Rights Of Organic Farmers And Laborers, Rebecca Elaine Berkey
Just Farming: An Environmental Justice Perspective On The Capacity Of Grassroots Organizations To Support The Rights Of Organic Farmers And Laborers, Rebecca Elaine Berkey
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
This mixed methods study builds upon literature and research in environmental justice, public participation, and community development to examine how justice-related issues impact farmers and workers on organic farms in the Northeastern United States. It also examines how involvement in a grassroots organization helps farmers and workers address these issues. At the core of the study is an exploration of environmental justice and its applications at a broad, systemic level; an examination of the current context of laborers in organic agriculture in the Northeast; and finally an investigation of the effects of grassroots organizing within the Northeast Organic Farming Association …
The Distance From Necessity: A Bourdieusian Analysis Of Gathering Practices In Vermont, Alan Robert Pierce
The Distance From Necessity: A Bourdieusian Analysis Of Gathering Practices In Vermont, Alan Robert Pierce
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
This study examines why contemporary Americans continue to gather wild plants and fungi. Vermont, a state with a rich history of gathering, serves as a study site. I interviewed twenty-four gatherers using ethnographic methods. I applied a Bourdieusian framework to analyze the differences between gathering practices as they related to gathering knowledge, views of nature, and uses of gathered products. The interviews indicated that gathering is important to the physical and mental well-being of its practitioners and instills a connection to nature as well as to place. Interviewees cited spending time in nature and enjoyment of engaging the senses as …
Humane Education: Perspectives Of Practitioners On Program Evaluation Efforts And Analysis Of Changes In Knowledge, Attitudes, And Empathy In Two Violence Prevention And Intervention Programs, Melanie Wagner
Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses
This descriptive and comparative study examined the current landscape of humane education program evaluation and data analysis through a survey of humane educators across the country. Results of the humane education survey show that data collection and evaluation are occurring in humane education programs but these efforts do not capture and measure empathy, the primary goal of most humane education programs. Humane educators reported they felt the profession is progressive and relevant to a broad host of purposes, from building positive relationships with animals to playing a role in the larger social justice scheme. They also suggested that the field …