Browsing by Author "Stern, Marc J."

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    American Muslim Philanthropy in Flux: Effects of Community Building and Identity Formation
    Khan, Sabithulla (Virginia Tech, 2015-08-31)
    American Muslim Philanthropy in flux is concerned with several interlinked ideas. From a discussion of how American Muslim communities have emerged, to the role of identity and philanthropy in creating them, this study is a careful examination of the central role that philanthropy has played in these processes. While mainstream American discourses have had and continue to have a profound impact on how religiously inspired giving occurs, recent scholarship has shown that the ways in which religious giving is changing in America is quite unique. Several discourses impact how we understand charity and philanthropy, including, but not limited to those of religion, economy, social policy etc. I argue, through the papers that comprise this dissertation that philanthropy has a key role in how community is shaped among American Muslims and also that new formulations of philanthropic giving are emerging, that are moving in the direction of more strategic giving, incorporating ideals of a marketized, consumer driven philanthropy. The discourses of giving are impacting practices and I suggest that a close examination of organizational discourses will help us understand how American Muslim identity, civil society and philanthropy are being formulated.
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    Assessing the influence of preparation and follow-up on student outcomes associated with environmental education field trips
    Lee, Hannah Garrett (Virginia Tech, 2019-07-15)
    Experiential learning theory stresses the importance of adequate preparation and reflection surrounding concrete experiences. This study explores the relationship between preparation and follow-up classroom experiences and the outcomes of environmental education (EE) field trips, including environmental literacy, 21st century skills, positive youth development, satisfaction, and self-reported behavior change. Surveys with both students and their school teachers who attended over 300 EE programs reveal that both pre-trip preparation, especially concerning logistics, and post-trip follow up, related to the subject matter of the field trip, were significantly related to more positive student outcomes. The authors recommend both schools and organizations take into consideration how they can work together to create more holistic learning experiences.
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    Availability and distribution of environmental education field trip programs for adolescent students in the U.S.: a national study of spatial accessibility
    Hemby, Tyler L.; Powell, Robert B.; Stern, Marc J. (Routledge, 2023-07-24)
    What is the availability and distribution of single-day environmental education field trip programs for adolescent students across the U.S.? We assessed the spatial accessibility to EE field trip programs for U.S. schools that serve grades 5-8 (ages 10-14) by (1) compiling a comprehensive national database of 2,930 EE providers that offer field trip programs, (2) identifying 89, 311 middle schools’ locations, student populations, and relevant demographic information, and (3) calculating drive times between schools and EE provider locations using a high-performance computing cluster. We then used the integrated Floating Catchment Area method to calculate each school’s relative spatial access to EE field trip providers. Results suggest that spatial access was highly spatially clustered, particularly around several geographic regions (coastal California metropolitan areas, the southern Rockies, northern Kentucky, North Carolina, the western shore of Lake Michigan, and the high-density, contiguous metropolitan areas of the Northeast). Spatial access was also strongly related to partisan lean and urbanity, with more rural, White, and Republican-leaning areas generally having significantly less spatial access to EE field trips.
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    Barriers to and Motivations for Curriculum-Based Education Program Participation at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
    Wright, Mary Elizabeth Conville (Virginia Tech, 2010-03-05)
    Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) provides quality education programs to local schools. In order to continue this success and expand programs to reach more middle and high school students, a mixed methods study was conducted to help better understand why local middle and high school teachers participate or not in park educational programs. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, teacher surveys measured factors that influence teacher intentions to participate in park programs to best predict their likelihood of future involvement. In addition, school administrators were interviewed to understand their perceptions of teacher involvement. Results provided insight to how GRSM can better provide valuable services to local middle and high schools. The best predictors of teachers' intentions to participate in future programs were their perceptions of whether programs would enhance academic achievement, how easily and comfortably they could incorporate the programs into their pre-existing curricula, and whether the experience would be a fun experience in nature for both their students and themselves. Future communications with teachers should therefore emphasize that Park programs are fun, relevant learning experiences that address academic requirements for various subjects and are relatively easy to incorporate into pre-existing curricula.
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    Behavior and conservation: hellbender reproductive behavioral responses to poor water quality and the value of private lands research for conservation outreach
    O'Brien, Rebecca Sarah (Virginia Tech, 2023-09-01)
    The behavior of humans and animals is an important component of conservation. The way people behave can cause environmental harm, but it also can be a solution to conservation challenges. Similarly, wildlife can respond to changing environments in ways that are detrimental to their survival, but they can also in some cases adapt or even thrive in human-impacted environments. In this dissertation, I discuss the ways in which human and hellbender behaviors relate to conservation. First, using survey and interview data, I explore the reasons why private landowners allow access to their property for research. I find that landowners are more likely to allow research on their property if they have previously allowed research, if they are interested in learning about the research taking place, if they have larger properties, and if they had positive attitudes towards conservation. Conversely, they are less likely to allow access to their property if they are concerned that doing so might restrict free use of their property. Other possible predictors that I investigate, such as landowner demographics, landowner trust in science, and landowner attitudes towards hellbenders are not significant predictors of allowing research. I next explore the effects of engaging landowners in research either via citizen science or "traditional" private lands research where scientists work on the landowner's property, but the landowner is not involved in data collection. I assess the effects of these types of engagement on landowner conservation knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and behavioral intentions and compare the effects across these two treatment groups and a control. I find similar changes in both the traditional and citizen science treatment groups, with involvement in the research leading to greater conservation knowledge, increased awareness of conservation concerns, more positive attitudes towards conservation, and/or more conservation behavioral intentions. However, I observe limited behavior change in any treatment group, and I identify a lack of efficacy and a hesitancy to accept responsibility for water quality degradation as possible barriers to behavior change. My investigations of animal behavior utilize custom-built underwater infrared camera technology to study hellbender reproductive behavior. I first add to current understanding of hellbender breeding behavior by describing the basic hellbender mating sequence, identifying the presence of potential alternative mating tactics, and describing two novel behaviors, including possible signal production via wave-based communication and a unique egg laying behavior by female hellbenders. I then measure the extent to which hellbender males (which provide the parental care) may help protect their offspring from low oxygen and high siltation, and I assess the possibility of trade-offs between parental care behaviors that benefit the eggs and self-maintenance behaviors that benefit the parent. I find that guarding male hellbenders increase both their parental care behaviors and their self-maintenance behaviors in response to low dissolved oxygen, but that they also show evidence of a trade-off between the two, with males ceasing parental care in favor of self-maintenance at sufficiently low levels of dissolved oxygen. Males show no parental response to high levels of silt. My findings add to our understanding of human and animal behavior and highlight the importance of behavioral flexibility to conservation. I find that hellbenders can to some extent modify their behaviors to compensate for the impacts of poor stream management on their own and their offspring's health, and I find that engaging landowners in research can encourage changes in awareness, attitudes, and behavioral intentions regarding conservation.
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    A Biosocial Case Evaluation of Wood Biomass Availability Using Silvicultural Simulations and Owner Intentions on Family Forests in Virginia and North Carolina
    Brinckman, Matthew Douglas (Virginia Tech, 2010-05-17)
    Interest in wood-based bio-energy systems in the United States is increasing and may play a part in future renewable energy initiatives (Dincer 2000). Family forests have potential to play an important role in supplying wood biomass for energy production. However, access depends mostly on the management intentions among family forest owners. Enhanced biomass markets in regions where family forest ownership dominates could increase productivity by reinvigorating the low-value merchandizing required to accomplish silvicultural objectives. Given diverse owner objectives and forest types on family forests, estimates of biomass availability must include both biophysical and social aspects of procurable feedstock. This thesis chronicles a biosocial case study that estimates potential biomass supply from 51 family forests in Virginia and North Carolina. The study occurred within a woodshed centered on the future site of an impending ethanol plant in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. A survey instrument using the theory of planned behavior was used to measure ownership characteristics and intention to harvest. Forest attributes were collected during property visits to estimate potential yields resulting from silvicultural simulations. Results reveal that forest cover-type and tree size significantly affect owner intentions to harvest and owner attitudes toward harvesting partially mediate this relationship. Outputs from silvicultural simulations correspond with those made using Forest Inventory and Analysis data within the study region. Disproportionality was examined by coupling social and biological drivers of sustainable wood biomass availability. Implications of the research include refined estimates of potential supply and demonstrating a multi-scalar, mixed-method approach for assessing wood biomass availability.
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    Black bears in Canyon de Chelly National Monument: Life in a changing environment
    Tredick, Catherine Anne (Virginia Tech, 2011-06-23)
    Understanding how wildlife utilize habitat at varying scales is important for understanding and predicting potential impacts of landscape changes (e.g., habitat loss and fragmentation, restoration efforts, climate change, etc.) and in determining effective strategies for conservation and management. This research examines fine-scale and landscape-level habitat use of black bears in Canyon de Chelly National Monument (CACH), Arizona, USA in the context of large-scale landscape change. Currently, CACH is undergoing a large-scale restoration effort to remove all of the non-native Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) and tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima and T. chinensis) within the monument. As black bears rely on the Russian olive as a primary food source, a major goal of this research was to evaluate how bears currently use this resource and how its removal might affect bear habitat use and bear-human interactions within the monument. I developed a model of 3rd order (fine-scale) black bear habitat use in CACH using an occupancy modeling approach. Model results indicated that fine-scale habitat selection by bears in CACH is being driven by the presence of non-native Russian olive as well as native food sources. Thus availability of native foods may be sufficient to maintain the bear population in CACH, and bears may quickly adapt to the loss of the non-native food source. Similarly, results showed that bears avoid human areas and farmsteads and prefer higher elevations, suggesting that once olive is removed in the lower canyons near human areas, bear-human interactions may become less of a problem over the long term. I also developed a model of 2nd order (landscape-level) habitat use and evaluated movement patterns of black bears in CACH using location data collected from GPS collars. Model results showed that bears selected areas with higher tree canopy cover and terrain ruggedness, indicating that forest cover and escape cover are primary factors driving black bear habitat selection at the landscape scale in this region. Movement patterns revealed large mean daily movements and low average turning angles, indicating long, linear movements designed to take advantage of the mosaic of available habitats and food resources available over larger areas. I extracted DNA from hair samples collected throughout the study area to examine genetic variability and population structure of black bears in the region. Analyses revealed a relatively healthy, panmictic population across the wider landscape. No substantial genetic structuring was observed in multiple analyses, though I did find evidence of a slight isolation-by-distance pattern within the population. Measures of both current (Nb = 24) and long-term (Ne = 579) effective population size indicated a relatively high number of breeders in the current population and a sufficient amount of gene flow within the larger "superpopulation" to maintain long-term genetic viability. I focused the final portion of my dissertation research on understanding the factors that influence stakeholder acceptance capacity for black bears, which plays a central role in contemporary wildlife management issues, including human-wildlife conflict. I used data from telephone interviews of 1,546 residents in Virginia to develop conceptual models of black bear acceptance capacity at both county and state levels. Model results suggested that more deep-seated and less easily influenced factors (e.g., values and risk perceptions) are at the heart of stakeholder attitudes and perceptions of wildlife, making influencing these perceptions more difficult. Agencies can indirectly affect these attitudes and perceptions, however, by targeting more potentially pliable factors related to wildlife acceptance capacity such as knowledge, personal experience with wildlife, and trust in management agencies.
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    Bridging the Benefits of Online and Community Supported Citizen Science: A Case Study on Motivation and Retention with Conservation-Oriented Volunteers
    Frensley, B. Troy; Crall, Alycia; Stern, Marc J.; Jordan, Rebecca; Gray, Steven; Prysby, Michelle D.; Newman, Greg; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy; Mellor, David; Huang, Joey (Ubiquity Press, 2017)
    This study explores the motivations and barriers for participation and persistence in an innovative citizen science pilot project with Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers. The project combines self-guided online training, in-person meetings, and collaboration through social networking and “mental modeling” to support on-the-ground development and execution of citizen science projects developed by participants. Results suggest that the two strongest motivators for volunteers to participate in the project were an interest in the environment and an interest in protecting a local natural resource. Our findings indicate that volunteers with more prior experience participating in citizen science projects and those with higher gross incomes were more likely to persist in the project. Our data also suggest that decisions to persist or drop out of the project were influenced by volunteers’ time commitment, their ability to use the online tools, the perceived relevance of the resources, and the saliency of the project. Projects that arose from pre-existing environmental issues seemed to be more salient and may have enhanced volunteer persistence. We discuss the influence of our findings and the implications for the development of future citizen science projects.
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    Building a Comprehensive Understanding of Disturbance Mitigation in Migrating Shorebirds
    Mengak, Lara Frances (Virginia Tech, 2019-01-17)
    Human disturbance is a serious threat facing shorebirds, and reducing disturbance presents a significant conservation challenge. It requires an understanding of the complex factors that influence both shorebird biology and human behavior related to shorebirds and coastal environments. This thesis used information from ecological and social science fields, along with the applied knowledge of conservation practitioners to build a more holistic understanding of human-shorebird interactions, specifically related to human disturbance of migrating shorebirds. Further, this research provides practical solutions for better managing these interactions. To accomplish this, we used the Delphi technique, an iterative group communication process, to bring scientists and managers together to develop a shared definition of "human disturbance to shorebirds" and a list of priority disturbance categories that affect migratory shorebirds. Next, we collated and synthesized literature on human disturbance during migration and drivers of human behavior related to disturbance or potential management actions. Then, through manager interviews, we examined how shorebird management decisions are made during migration and explored how managers balance the needs of shorebirds and public use of their sites. The disturbance definition and priority disturbance categories, literature synthesis, and manager interviews were used to create a best practices guidance document for reducing human disturbance to migratory shorebirds in the Northeastern U.S. Finally, we conducted a survey of beachgoers to evaluate a shorebird conservation outreach campaign and examined the factors that influence pro-shorebird behavior change. This research demonstrates how integrating social and ecological information and expert opinion can inform conservation and management.
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    Caveating Behavior Modification Approaches to Conservation
    Stern, Marc J. (Wiley, 2017-06)
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    Characterization and communicative analysis of wildlife managers and recreational users of Virginiaâ s Wildlife Management Areas
    Carrozzino-Lyon, Amy L. (Virginia Tech, 2012-05-01)
    The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) manages wildlife management areas (WMAs) to provide wildlife habitat and hunting and fishing opportunities, along with opportunities for compatible wildlife-related recreation. Despite having responsibility for managing 39 WMAs, comprising more than 200,000 acres, VDGIF had only anecdotal information about who recreated on Virginia's WMAs, to what extent, and how they felt about management of the WMAs. My goals were to (1) determine the types and amount of recreational use WMAs receive, (2) describe and compare VDGIF managers' and WMA users' current attitudes and perceptions toward land management, and (3) determine if a methods bias existed between surveys administered online and through U.S. mail. I observed diverse recreational use totaling > 90,000 annual recreational user days on the 10 WMAs included in the study. Most visitors were satisfied with their visit, agreed with the use of most land management practices presented, and were willing to continue to visit a WMA if an annual fee was imposed. Co-orientation analysis revealed low agreement and low accuracy, suggesting a need to improve awareness and recognition of managers' and stakeholders' attitudes toward land management. Addressing areas where agreement already exists, but may not be recognized, should be a top priority. Areas of greater disparity will prove difficult to address, but attention is critical to successfully implement WMA management objectives. Wildlife value orientations differed between VDGIF managers and WMA users; VDGIF personnel were predominantly Utilitarian (54%, n=35), whereas WMA users were predominantly Pluralist (63%, n=381). Value orientations did not relate strongly to opinions of land management. Demographics differed between web and paper respondents, with slightly younger, more urban and more educated respondents electing to complete the web-based survey more often. Value orientations toward wildlife and attitudes toward land management did not differ between web and paper respondents, suggesting little influence of values and attitudes on the survey mode selected. Increasingly diverse stakeholders and limited funding sources continue to challenge state wildlife agencies. Specific engagement techniques should strengthen interpersonal relationships and collaboration between the agency and its stakeholders.
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    Climate adaptation as a team process: the role of place-based climate adaptation workshops in catalysing collective action
    O'Brien, Caleb; Stern, Marc J.; Brousseau, Jennifer J.; Hansen, Lara J. (Routledge, 2025-01-10)
    Place-based climate adaptation workshops are an increasingly common approach to advance collective efforts to cope with the effects of climate change. Despite their increasing prevalence, uncertainty remains about effective and ineffective elements of these processes. We conducted a comparative case study across 30 communities in which workshops took place in the United States between 2017 and 2020 to identify which workshop characteristics were most often associated with subsequent adaptation-related planning and action. We examined these workshops through a team process lens to reveal which inputs, processes, and emergent states distinguished workshops with substantial evidence of positive impact (n¼6) from those with little impact (n¼6). Key factors included the involvement of a local champion, co-design of the workshop between facilitators and participants, and sustained engagement post-workshop. As more communities embark on multisectoral processes meant to catalyze collective climate action, these findings offer insights for ensuring efforts are as effective as possible.
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    Determinants of Success in Group Work Settings in Federal Natural Resource Recreation Management
    Freeman, James William (Virginia Tech, 2024-05-20)
    This dissertation examines how federal land management agencies implement group work processes to meet land management objectives focused on natural resource-dependent outdoor recreation management. This dissertation is composed of two separate studies, one focused on the U.S Forest Service interdisciplinary teams implementing environmental analyses in support of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to comply with the 2005 Travel Management Rule and one focused on U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service management of partnerships to support recreational trails. These studies help answer the question "what factors lead to more or less successful group work in federal land management?" The first study is primarily informed by qualitative analysis and the second study is informed by quantitative and qualitative analyses. Chapter two reports the results and analyses of semi-structured interviews with 49 U.S. Forest Service employees on ten NEPA interdisciplinary teams. Chapter two examines interdisciplinary teams at the US Forest Service that had recently completed environmental analyses for recreational travel management plans in support of the 2005 Travel Management Rule. This study develops typologies of teamwork processes and how teams may change how collaborative they are over time and examines how external context and leadership approaches may influence process outcomes. Chapters three and four report the results of an online survey completed by 89 government and non-government points of contact for trail partnerships. Chapter three explores the factors that influence success in partnerships to support trail work at the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. Chapter three analyzes the survey responses of 89 federal land managers and non-government persons involved in 69 partnerships to work on trails on U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service lands. This analysis uses linear regression to develop a model of the factors that are important to the success of these trail partnerships. The chapter reveals that trust, interdependence, and capacity are the most important factors to the success of trail partnerships. Chapter four compares the survey responses for 28 partnerships where both the government and non-government point of contact provided complete survey responses. Through comparison of these responses, chapter four explores the concept of agreement in partnerships and how agreement on key factors related to partnership success may relate to ratings of overall partnership success. The final chapter synthesizes the findings of the two studies to examine group work across contexts. Group work that is more collaborative and has higher levels of group interdependence lead to more positive outcomes across both contexts. I conclude by proposing a framework that could incorporate the principles of liberal education and transdisciplinary learning into individual and group training to help federal land managers internalize the findings of this research into their work.
  • Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the United States? PART I. Exploration of outcomes for adolescent youth
    Thorpe, Emily G.; Stern, Marc J.; Powell, Robert B.; Hemby, Tyler L. (Routledge, 2023-10-28)
    In the United States, the two main political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have become increasingly polarized, including with regard to environmental issues. As part of a national study of environmentally focused single-day field trips for early adolescent youth in 2018, we conducted exploratory research to examine how outcomes differed for public school students from different sociopolitical contexts (i.e. predominantly Democratic, Republican, or mixed). Students from wealthier Democratic contexts exhibited less positive outcomes, measured as self-reported changes in environmental literacy, compared to others. The findings suggest that single-day EE field trips in the United States, in their current forms, may be particularly valuable in lower income and more politically conservative contexts, possibly due to the degree of novelty they may provide to these audiences. Meanwhile, EE field trips for students from wealthier Democratic contexts may provide reinforcement rather than meaningful shifts in environmental literacy, suggesting a need for more novel approaches for these audiences.
  • Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the United States? Part II. Examining pedagogy in school field trip programs for early adolescent youth across political contexts
    Thorpe, Emily G.; Stern, Marc J.; Powell, Robert B.; Hemby, Tyler L. (Routledge, 2023-12-16)
    Political polarization in the United States has made many environmental issues strongly partisan, with Democrats largely receptive to environmental messaging and Republicans commonly pitted against it. This phenomenon may have meaningful implications for how environmental education is conducted for people from different sociopolitical contexts. We explored whether certain pedagogical approaches to single-day environmental education field trip programs were linked to better or worse outcomes for early adolescent youth (ages 10–14) from different sociopolitical contexts: majority Republican, majority Democrat, or mixed (roughly even). All observed effect sizes were small with one exception. Play-based pedagogies tended to yield less positive outcomes for students from Republican majority contexts than others, with a medium effect size. The findings suggest that some traditional approaches to play, such as role-playing as animals or pretending to be water droplets, may feel incongruent with the social identities of students from largely Republican communities.
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    Dynamics of Forest Cover Extent, Forest Fragmentation and Their Drivers in the Lake Victoria Crescent, Uganda From 1989 to 2009
    Waiswa, Daniel (Virginia Tech, 2011-03-29)
    Despite the important values forests play in the tropics, sustainable forest management still remains a challenge as manifested through continued forest loss. The objective of this study was to provide information on the dynamics of forest cover and their drivers vital for enhancing sustainable forest management in the Lake Victoria crescent, Uganda. Several methodologies including remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems techniques, analysis of landscape patterns and various social science techniques were integrated in working towards the stated goal. Results showed that the Lake Victoria crescent, Uganda covering an area of about 1,509,228 ha, experienced a decline in forest cover from 9.0% in 1989 to 4.4% in 2009. This was in comparison with non-forest cover which increased from 58.7% in 1989 to 63.5% in 2009 while open water coverage generally remained unchanged averaging 32.3% from 1989 to 2009. Mean annual deforestation rate from 1989 to 2009 decreased with a weighted mean rate of 2.56%. Both deforestation and afforestation declined between 1989 and 2009 although deforestation still exceeded afforestation. In addition to deforestation, the Lake Victoria crescent also experienced forest fragmentation from 1989 to 2009. Forests greater than 100 ha in size were the most vulnerable to forest fragmentation yet they still constituted a big proportion of forest cover in 2009. Deforestation was a consequence of proximate causes which were triggered by a number of underlying drivers acting singly or in combination, with underlying drivers being more influential. In a bid to promote sustainable forest management, there is a need to continue with efforts to curb deforestation and forest fragmentation, especially amongst forests greater than 100 ha. This could be achieved through empowerment of local communities to take a core role in sustainable management of forest resources.
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    Ecosystem Management in the USDA Forest Service: A Discourse Analysis
    Predmore, Stephen Andrew (Virginia Tech, 2009-03-30)
    This dissertation examines the environmental discourse of the USDA Forest Service, focusing on the language of ecosystem management (EM). A two pronged approach was employed: eleven interviews were conducted with agency executives (chapter two); thirty-three interviews were conducted with agency staff specialists and decision-makers, working at the agency's operational levels (chapter three and four). Differences between how agency executives view EM and how agency operators view EM were identified. Chapter two shows that agency executives generally believed that the process of EM is ingrained in the agency. Chapter three explores this assertion at the forest and district levels, and reveals conflicting stories concerning the current practice of EM. Agency operators explained EM as a process driven by ecological science, but also revealed an alternate planning process. The alternate planning process is driven by the agency's budget and strict employee roles. Through qualitative analysis of interviews with agency operators, a model of how agency operators construct agency planning was created. It illustrates the potential mismatch between planning focused on ecological science and an agency focused on budgets, cost-benefit calculations, and strict employee roles. The model also shows that agency operators described active and passive publics in their constructions of agency planning. Chapter four focuses on these constructs of the public, and shows how they are partly created by agency interpretations of the public involvement processes required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In some cases, the agency applies a standard for public participation (substantive sieve) that requires publics to couch their concerns in scientific or legal terms. Publics that are able to navigate the substantive sieve are typically viewed as active publics, while those that cannot meet this standard are viewed as passive publics. A feedback mechanism was identified between constructs of the public and agency process; constructs of the public shape agency process and agency process shapes agency constructions of the public. The dissertation concludes by showing that agency focus on budgetary targets and the use of the substantive sieve can be understood as attempts to instill accountability into a decentralized agency with an ambiguous mission.
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    Empirical test of the participation paradox in conservation and development
    Baral, Nabin; Heinen, Joel T.; Stern, Marc J. (Wiley, 2025-01-02)
    Local participation has been greatly promoted to accomplish conservation and development goals globally, but the participation paradox, in which those empowered to participate fail to do so, has rarely been thoroughly scrutinized. Here we test the participation paradox with empirical data of 234 local decision-makers' participation in a decision-making forum, Conservation Area Management Committees, in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in 2013 and 2016, analyzed, interpreted, and integrated. Women, minorities, younger members, and non-elected members participated significantly less in decision-making than men, older members, and elected members and those with leadership roles and longer tenures on the committees. Qualitative analyses revealed five major themes for motivation to participate: influence in the community; personal incentives; conservation; improving access to natural resources; and feelings of accomplishment. Key constraints to participation included hardships and competing tasks; lack of incentives; perceptions of limited agency; disinterest; and emotional burdens. Participation motivations and constraints varied by gender, social group, and membership types. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results for participatory approaches to conservation and sustainable development in general and the governance of protected areas in particular.
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    Environmental education, age, race, and socioeconomic class: An exploration of differential impacts of field trips on adolescent youth in the United States
    Stern, Marc J.; Powell, Robert B.; Frensley, B. Troy (2021-10-21)
    Despite growing calls for greater inclusivity and cultural responsiveness, little is known about how environmental education (EE) may differentially affect diverse audiences. As part of a national study of 334 environmentally focused day field trips for adolescent youth in the United States in 2018, we examined how outcomes differed for students of different grade levels, racial backgrounds, and socioeconomic status. Participants who were younger, Hispanic, and from lower socioeconomic classes exhibited more positive outcomes than older, non-Hispanic, and wealthier participants. Differences in Hispanic populations are likely at least partially attributable to known survey response biases. We also found that programs with non-White instructors tended to yield higher levels of satisfaction in groups where the student majority was not White. We discuss potential explanations for these trends and call for further research on culturally responsive and age-appropriate approaches to EE. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2021.1990865 .
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    Exploring culturally responsive teaching and environmental education
    Pownall, Malia Ann (Virginia Tech, 2022-05-26)
    This thesis investigates culturally responsive teaching in the context of environmental education (EE) and is composed of an introduction (Chapter 1), one study intended for eventual publication (Chapter 2), and a personal reflection (Chapter 3). The introduction provides a brief overview of EE and explains why the topics of study included in this thesis are important to address. For Chapter 2, I conducted interviews to understand how environmental educators characterize culturally responsive EE, how they practice it, and what they identify are the key catalysts and challenges to providing culturally responsive EE. The results of this study indicate the importance of a multifaceted approach that incorporates EE content, educator practices, organizational practices, and a critically reflexive mindset. In Chapter 3, my personal reflection considers themes that were woven throughout the work, time, and thought spent on this project and as a master's student at Virginia Tech. This work is meant to provide ideas and guidance for EE practitioners as they seek out approaches for increasing relevance in EE programs, uplift equitable practices in the EE field, and progress along their journeys to awareness and action.