Outdoor Education Commons^™

Education And Land Management On The Pacific Crest Trail Phase 4, Ben Sherman, Emma Perry, Cade Cappello, Hattie Cahill, Anna Macklyn, Aidan Tull, Tristian Xu, Augrey Gregg

Baker/Koob Endowments Awarded Projects

This research is a continuation of research collected on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The purpose of this study was to investigate land ethics and education, Leave No Trace principles, and hiker experiences on the PCT. From July 2023-January 2024, interdisciplinary students collected qualitative and quantitative data through interviews and surveys with hikers on the trail. Past phases of this project have determined that this research is necessary, but due to Covid, the team has only been able to gather data remotely via online surveys and interviews prior to this study. The Baker Koob grant funded travel and research equipment …

The Biltmore Forest School And The Establishment Of Forestry Education In America, Dan Barry Croom

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The Biltmore Forest School, despite its unusual existence within the affluent Biltmore Estate, played a crucial role in the early 20th-century American forestry movement. Founded by Carl A. Schenck and supported by George Vanderbilt II, the school aimed to educate foresters and promote sustainable forest management. However, many aspects of the Biltmore experiment failed due to the new and untested nature of forestry science in America. This experiment exposed a fundamental divide in forestry education, with Gifford Pinchot advocating for conservation-centered teaching while Schenck believed in the economic viability of lumber production. Ultimately, the Biltmore Forest School offered valuable vocational …

Analysis And Installation Of A Demonstration Agroforestry Orchard For Californian Mediterranean Plant Communities, Brandon Hurd

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Climate-appropriate agroforestry can provide low-input food security and ecosystem services for local Californian Mediterranean climates, while conserving natural resources (e.g., water, nitrogen, etc.). This project showcases a variety of agroforestry methods for five common plant communities of California and other analogous Mediterranean climates at the CAFES Experimental Farm on the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Plant community species and their ethnobotanical uses were analyzed to mimic and incorporate aspects of native flora. Agricultural plants were also characterized to represent each of the five selected plant communities. GIS was used to assess the project site for soil, slope, and …

Soil Response Of Helicopter Liming In The Monongahela National Forest, Jarrett Douglas Fowler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Soils in the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) are acidic due to sandstone parent material, acid deposition, uptake of base cations by vegetation, and release of organic acids by organic matter (OM) decomposition. Increases in soil acidity have caused declines in forest health and changed species composition and nutrient status. Liming can neutralize soil acidity, but no large-scale liming projects have been done on acid forest soils in the USA. In anticipation of acquiring funding for a proposed liming project in the MNF, in 2007 and 2009 10 sites were selected to sample and analyze soils before lime was applied. In …

Mammals Of Cedar Breaks National Monument, S. Nicole Frey, Natalie D'Souza, Ethan Hammer, Bryan Larsen, Jake Nielson

All Current Publications

This document is the result of a study of the terrestrial mammals found at Cedar Breaks National Monument from 2017-2019. During this time, we conducted a survey of mammals using a series of trail cameras. We used survey results to provide an index of terrestrial mammals (excluding bats) within the park. Our goal is to provide a beginner’s guide to the mammals at Cedar Breaks National Monument. We include information regarding appearance, diet, habitat, and population status according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The guide represents the species a visitor to Cedar Breaks National Monument …

Shifting Public Perception: Climate Change Means Living With Fire And Smoke, Robert Froembling

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

The urgency to prepare for the climate crisis has never been greater. We are currently living in the sixth mass extinction and the effects are only going to accelerate. We will inherit more wildfires, larger wildfires, and more frequent wildfires.

This piece is not meant to stoke fear in its readers or be depressing, but to shift public perception on what our future holds by evaluating the laws and science presented to us. This piece will look at regional and federal regulations and assess the increased rate of forest fires and the grave public health concerns from stagnant smoke specifically …

Outdoor Education’S Relationship To Adolescent Behavior And Academic Performance In Two East Texas Middle Schools, Trenton Stiefel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, a key part of a child’s development was their exposure to and relationship with the world outdoors – nature. The current movement to promote the inclusion of environmental and outdoor education into curricular and extracurricular activities stems from the mounting evidence that experiences in the outdoors may improve a child’s behavior and mood, as well as improve their academic performance. This mixed-methods study hoped to discover whether or not, on average, children improve their academic performance and/or their individual behavior in school when provided with outdoor education learning experiences. The mindset used in outdoor education research may have to …

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

Interacting With The Trail: A Comprehensive Approach To Developing An Environmental Education Program For Agnolakely Private Nature Reserve, Claire Hamilton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Madagascar is a diverse island, biologically and geographically. This has led to the development of endemic species and high biodiversity within the landscape. Unfortunately, due to poverty, extraction of natural resources, and a growing population, these species have become threatened. Agnolakely, is a private nature reserve, located in eastern Madagascar that is trying to combat these challenges through reforestation projects and land protection. Agnolakely is not only of ecological value, but is also integral in the community structure. As Agnolakely expands it has become essential to implement education and outreach for the reserve. This study was designed to collect biological …

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

Knowledge Of Forest Ecosystem Among Forest Guards In Southern Nigeria, Norris I. Erhabor

Journal of Bioresource Management

Undertaken study assessed the level of ecological knowledge among forest guards in southern Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was used for study. A structured questionnaire was administered to 60 respondents that are employed by forest guards system. Central question the study attempts to answer is the level of knowledge of the ecosystem among forest guards. Analysis of data revealed that forest guards have inadequate knowledge of ecosystem. Calculated mean score of respondents was 14.25. This mean score is lower than theoretical mean of 16 (80%). A binomial test revealed that fairly high number of respondents had inadequate knowledge of …

Proceedings : A Forest Based Economy - Carrying A Tradition Into The Future, Blaine House Conference On Forestry (December 6-7, 1984)

Maine Collection

Proceedings : A Forest Based Economy - Carrying A Tradition Into the Future

Blaine House Conference on Forestry (December 6-7, 1984)

Department of Conservation, State House Station 22, Augusta, Maine 04333, August 1986.

Contents: Table of Contents / Letter of Transmittal / The Forest 2020--Visions Of A Sustainable Forest / Forestry Resurvey: What Does It Say? How Can We Use It? / Can We Improve Maine's Timber Supply? / Atmospheric Deposition And Forests Of The Northeast / A National Perspective: What Is Maine's Competitive Niche? / The Future of Hardwood Markets / The Future of Softwood Markets / The State …

Protecting The Appalachian Trail In Maine, University Of Maine At Portland - Gorham

Maine Collection

Protecting the Appalachian Trail In Maine

A Handbook Compiled by the Allagash Environmental Institute, Center for Research & Advanced Study, University of Maine Portland - Gorham, 1976.

Directed & edited by Patricia Solotaire.

Contents: The Project Itself / The History of Trail Agreements in Maine / The Landowner's Duty to Hikers and Campers / History and Description of the Statutory Protection of the Appalachian Trail / An Overview of Tax Considerations / Land Protection Devices / Using the Information / Bibliography / Footnotes / Appendices