Environmental Education Commons^™

Energizing North Dakota's Future, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about the Energy & Environmental Research Center’s 2018 goals for North Dakota’s natural resources and energy production. Goals include resource sustainability, eliminating pipeline leaks, and education. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Winter Bat Activity In A Landscape Without Traditional Hibernacula, Amy M. Hammesfahr, Rene E. Ohms

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

Prior to 2014, bat research at Devils Tower National Monument (DETO) focused on bats present during the summer months. Biologists at DETO assumed local bats were strictly summer residents due to the presumed lack of typical habitat features associated with bat hibernation, such as caves and mines. This lack of traditional hibernacula features at DETO discouraged staff and research cooperators from studying winter bat populations. Despite the earlier assumption that bats were unlikely to hibernate on the monument, DETO documented significant winter bat activity through passive winter acoustic monitoring. This study is the first study at DETO that documents …

Evaluating Outcomes Of An Immersive-Field-Study Program On Fifth-Grade Students’ Connectedness With Nature, Laleh Talebpour

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate to what extent an immersive-field-study experience influenced fifth-grade students’ connection to nature. Two instruments were used to collect data: Connection to Nature Index (CNI) obtained pre- and postfield study and students’ field journals with prompts.

The coding of the journals was based on the four components of CNI: Enjoyment of Nature, Empathy for Creatures, Sense of Oneness, and Sense of Responsibility. These components were built on the three basic components of nature connectedness described by Schultz (2002) as “cognitive (connectedness), affective (caring), and behavioral (commitment)” (p. 61).

Data were gathered from 317 …

Municipal Drinking Water Quality: Environmental Health And Safety Perceptions In Phoenix, Arizona, Chelsey Weaver

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

The goals of the Service Learning/Capstone Experience (SL/CE) project included identifying current perceptions regarding lead in municipal drinking water and related environmental health and safety concerns in the Sunnyslope community of Phoenix, Arizona; evaluating and improving the current outreach program in order to effectively target drinking water perceptions; and identifying strengths and weaknesses in the City of Phoenix Water Services Department (WSD) and Environmental Services Division (ESD) that contribute to negative public perceptions of municipally supplied drinking water. Objectives used to meet the stated goals included developing and distributing a survey to measure perceptions of the above issues through a …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring At Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2017 Data Summary Report, Stephanie L. Rockwood

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2017 at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Effects Program (NGPFire). This was the seventh year of field work conducted by NGPN at AGFO.

In 2017, crew members from NGPN visited six long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots and NGPFire visited eight additional PCM and fire plant community monitoring (FPCM) plots to collect data on the plant communities at AGFO. This collaborative effort is part of a long-term monitoring program established to better …

Spatial Analysis Of Air Particulate Pollution Distributions And Its Relation To Real Property Value In Beijing, China, Yingyu Zhang

Great Lakes Center Masters Theses

Air particulate pollution contributes the major air pollution in Beijing, China. In this research, concentrations of air particulate pollutants were measured at a total of twenty-three field locations in the urban districts of Beijing applying a laser particle counter in June and December 2015. Geographic Information System (GIS) was utilized to study the two and three-dimensional spatial distributions of air particulate pollution (PM0.5, PM1.0, PM2.5, PM5.0, PM10). Geostatistical or spatial statistical models were applied to interpolate the spatial distributions of air particulate pollution and real property values in the study area. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was applied to analyze the …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- April 2018, Natalie Umphlett, Crystal J. Stiles, Shellie Hanneman

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the interim director........................................1

Weather photo of the quarter.........................................1

Tribal climate summaries......2

Product highlights..................3

Update on regional climate conditions..................................4

State Climate Extremes Committee.................................4

Update on research................5

Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................6

Policy Communication And The Influence Of Agricultural Communities On Karst Landscapes: A Case Study In Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Vietnam, Elizabeth Willenbrink

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Karst landscapes are vulnerable to human influence, especially agricultural practices. The interconnectedness between surface activities and subsurface environments make karst landscapes particularly susceptible to soil erosion and water contamination. The likelihood of these two phenomena happening increases when agricultural intensification, irrigation, or fertilizer application occurs. This situation arises frequently in Vietnam, where 18% of the country is karst terrain and 60% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods (Farming First 2009). In order to mitigate the negative consequences of agriculture on karst landscapes, effective implementation of policy to regulate human activities and increased communication of these policies to …

The Voice Of Iceland: Communication Of Climate Science Through Choral Music, Jason Fox

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

As the environmental sciences expand with the intent to more fully analyze and understand human interactions with the environment in a time of rapid environmental change, a need has arisen to more widely communicate new environmental knowledge with the public; however, environmental communication efforts often fail to capture the interest of audiences in relatable, emotional ways. This research constitutes an exploratory evaluation of the potential of choral music to effectively communicate climate change to musical audiences using Iceland as a geographic backdrop. Based on the author’s own experiences regarding climate change in Iceland, a three-movement original choral composition Icelandic Sketches: …

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 …

Food Waste Diversion Programming In Post-Secondary Education, Manar Arica Alattar

Dissertations and Theses

The urgent need for reform of USA and global food systems is evident in the pervasiveness of both food waste and food insecurity. Such an inefficient system strains the environmental, social, and economic systems on which it relies. Although policy and infrastructure changes are essential, consumers can play a significant role by decreasing their food waste, given that consumer waste represents 60% of the waste along the food cycle in developed countries. Incorporation of food literacy and food waste education in school curricula may provide a meaningful entry point for promoting food waste reduction skills.

This dissertation presents context on …

Place-Based Pedagogy And The Creative Writing Classroom, Jennifer Case

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Although compositionists have long appropriated and discussed place-based pedagogy’s ability to encourage environmental awareness and engage community issues, creative writing as a discipline has largely ignored place-based philosophies and environmental education. In fact, creative writing pedagogy often undermines place-based pedagogy by encouraging students to “write what they know” while simultaneously encouraging work with national rather than regional appeal. This article takes the first major step toward addressing this oversight by exploring the field’s assumptions about “place,” how these assumptions are influencing our classrooms, and how place-based composition and pedagogy could—and should—challenge and expand the ways we teach creative writing.

Extreme Precipitation Events, Impacts, Trends And Projections For Indiana, Sam Lashley

Purdue Road School

The National Weather Service is working with core partners to build a Weather Ready Nation for present and future generations by taking advanced action against the devastating impacts of extreme weather events, including extreme precipitation and flooding. One way in which this can be accomplished is by studying trends in historical weather data and applying what we learn to future mitigation efforts. The goal is to gain a better understanding of the magnitude and impacts that future extreme precipitation events may have on local infrastructure.

This presentation will review extreme rainfall and flooding events that have occurred across Indiana along …

Agriculture In The Classroom Farm Day Lesson Plan, Tessa Nicole Thompson

Agricultural Education and Communication

Nontraditional educational programs have been proclaimed desirable by many teachers, and proven effective through data collection and feedback (Coombs and Ahmed, 1974). Of the more popular unconventional educational programs, outside learning activities are commonly implemented as they are not only advantageous to students, but to teachers as well (Cengelci, 2013; Knoblock, 2008). Though nontraditional, much thought must be put into creating lesson plans for these educational programs.

El Dorado County’s Agriculture in the Classroom program utilizes nontraditional outdoor learning activities to conduct “Farm Day.” This lesson plan, created for Farm Day, is to teach third graders the importance of composting …

Fossils On The Floor In The Nebraska State Capitol: A Coloring And Activities Book, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The Nebraska State Capitol is a wonderful place. This building is home to great treasures of art owned by the people of Nebraska. The floor of the Capitol Rotunda has beautiful works of art. Maybe you have seen this art. Small pieces of two kinds of rocks make pictures of people, their tools, the natural resources they used, and pictures of fossil animals and plants. These kinds of pictures are called mosaics [moe ZAY icks]. The animals and plants follow one another in a curved ribbon around the floor. In that ribbon of pictures are many kinds of fossil animals …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2017 Data Report, Ryan Manuel

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2017 at Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire).

During the seventh full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited eight long-term monitoring plots on May 22-25, 2017 to collect data on the plant communities at SCBL. This is part of a long-term monitoring effort to better understand the condition of the vegetation at SCBL. NGPN staff captured data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, abundance of individual native and non-native …

Acoustic Surveys Of Bats At Northern Great Plains Parks And Preliminary Results From 2014-16, Daniel S. Licht

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

From 2014-16, the Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (Network)—in collaboration with the Midwest Regional Biologist—used acoustic methods to monitor bat populations at 12 Network parks. Six parks were monitored using the nascent North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) framework. Six other parks did not meet a priori criteria for inclusion in NABat so they were monitored using similar methods, but a non-systematic sampling frame.

Fifty-five NABat stations were established along with 62 non-NABat stations. Stations were typically monitored for 4-7 nights each year using equipment that records the echolocation calls of bats. Fourteen mobile survey routes …

Foreword, Tim O'Connell, Garrett Hutson

Research in Outdoor Education

The article offers information related to papers that were published in the publication "Research in Outdoor Education" Volume 16, as well as how others might contribute to the publication in the future.

Health And Outdoor Settings: A Summary Of The Coalition For Education In The Outdoors Pre-Symposium Workshop, 2018, Kristina R. Anderson, Alan Ewert

Research in Outdoor Education

At the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors (CEO) 14th Biennial Research Symposium, researchers and practitioners explored the intersection between outdoor education settings and practices and human health during a pre-symposium workshop. Guided by a supposition that outdoor education experiences impact one or more dimensions of health, participants first aligned around a collective foundation of 1) definitions of nature and health and 2) formative scholarship in outdoor exposure and natural elements.

With this foundation, existing paradigms were questioned: Are mainstay methodologies used in outdoor education efficacious, particularly if researchers are to engage with cross-disciplinary research teams or seek new funding …

Healthy Eating And Physical Activity Programming At Overnight Summer Camps, Ellen King, Kendra Liddicoat, Rebecca L. Franzen, Annie Wetter

Research in Outdoor Education

Overnight summer camps have previously been overlooked as settings for healthy eating and physical activity programming; however, recent summer camp research has begun to examine how summer camp programming can help fight childhood obesity. The purpose of this research was to identify and examine the efforts that Wisconsin overnight summer camps are taking to support campers in meeting national dietary and physical activity guidelines. Data were collected through in-person or phone interviews with 13 directors and owners of American Camp Association (ACA) accredited camps and were analyzed using a conventional content analysis and inductive thematic analysis approach. Results indicated that …