Environmental conservation groups involve people in diverse ways. These include participatory spaces where people can participate in decision-making and action and engagement processes, where groups communicate, educate, and conduct outreach to build environmental understanding and involve audiences in conservation activities. We explored the perceptions and experiences of conservation practitioners in Maine, USA, to understand their views of participation and engagement. We interviewed 21 practitioners and analysed the qualitative data using an interpretative phenomenological approach grounded in interviewees’ words and experiences. All interviewees recognised the interconnections between people, places, and the non-human world; however, individuals and the groups they work within thought about the role of people in conservation in diverse ways. Views of public stakeholders and rights holders, individual values, Indigenous knowledge, commitments to place and community, and personal experiences all influence who is involved, how people are involved, why people are involved, and what comes of people’s involvement. We conclude by discussing the implications for equitable conservation that seeks to incorporate diverse voices.

Students develop personal connections to local places and build critical thinking skills as they engage in meaningful problem-solving rooted in place. At the same time, when students work within local communities, they can contribute to increased community technical capacity and well-being. In this case study, we sought to explore student and community perceptions of a place-based activity integrated within a college-level GIS course in Maine, USA. We partnered with a local conservation organization to develop place-based activities to address our partner's geospatial needs. We drew on multiple data generation methods including pre-/post-test student responses within a quasi-experimental design, student reflections, and a group interview with community partners to illuminate the diverse benefits and challenges of place-based education (PBE). Our findings indicate that while quantitative results did not detect differences between the place-based, technologically-mediated place-based, and campus-based approaches, qualitative results – such as student reflections and community partner perceptions – depicted complex reciprocal gains resulting from education rooted in local community. Community partners benefit from PBE by increasing their GIS capacity and engaging on a personal level with students. We conclude with implications for GIS instructors seeking to incorporate place-based approaches within their college-level courses, such as the need to engage community partners thoughtfully and transparently, think critically about measurement and assessment of learning outcomes, and remain flexible to student needs.

This collaboration between the Nez Perce Tribe and the University of Idaho aimed to address the unique needs and perspectives required for Tribal Natural Resources Management (TNRM). TNRM involves the governance and caretaking of the land and waters, emphasizing the recognition of cultural significance, sovereignty, self-determination, and traditional knowledge systems. A workforce development program was created, focusing on Fisheries, Forestry, and Fire Management, while being grounded in Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous STEM identities, and culturally sustaining pedagogy. The philosophical foundations of the program emphasized the importance of integrating Indigenous knowledge and learning approaches alongside technical skills. By broadening the conceptions of "what counts" in science, students were encouraged to recognize the value of Indigenous knowledge and develop a sense of responsibility toward caring for the Land and waters. Data collected from the program revealed its success in helping students connect Indigenous ways of knowing to their understanding of STEM. Students found meaning in Indigenous knowledge as a means to perpetuate Nimiipuu lifeways, while also recognizing the utility of Western STEM. The involvement of Elders and Native professionals as teachers in the STEM curriculum highlighted the importance of intergenerational knowledge transmission. By combining Indigenous ways of knowing with technical skills, the program successfully laid the groundwork for students to become future leaders in Tribal Natural Resources Management, equipped with the necessary cultural, environmental, and scientific expertise to caretake Lands and waters effectively.

Values and motivations can shape natural resource management decision-making as individuals set conservation goals based on diverse, unique backgrounds, histories, and experiences. Recent literature points to the need to understand, evaluate, and articulate practitioner values to make explicit how experiences shape their work. Our research responds to calls to explore a diverse range of values and motivations among conservation practitioners. We used a qualitative approach grounded in phenomenology to advance an in-depth understanding of how conservation and stewardship practitioners experience, acknowledge, and make sense of conservation decision-making in Maine, USA. We interviewed 21 conservation and stewardship practitioners. Our results indicate the presence of complex value systems, including strong biospheric, altruistic, eudaimonic, as well as egoistic values. These values interact and intersect with motivations for participants’ careers in conservation in unique ways, driving participant actions and decision-making. Within Maine specifically, our results highlight the many areas for convergence of broad values among seemingly diverse groups that can inform opportunities for collaboration. Participants expressed various pathways to careers in conservation, where their work enables them to make a meaningful contribution to the environment and society. However in situations where personal and organizational values are misaligned, the role of organizational transparency, employee empowerment, and agency are key. Our results have implications for conservation groups seeking to achieve high employee satisfaction, as well as researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who hope to inspire individuals to take on conservation careers to create sustainable and transformative action for the future. Fostering early experiences in place, including interactions with the non-human world and local community, are important for influencing and reinforcing values and motivations for conservation action.

This study examined the process to identify required competencies for an entry-level position in the Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resource Management located in the Pacific Northwest. The overall goal was to provide content for a pedagogical framework to support Nez Perce students in the development of their STEM identity and to consider careers in natural resources and fisheries. The DACUM process was used to analyze the job, Fisheries Technician. The process involved a focus group of six expert workers in the Department of Fisheries Resource Management and was led by a facilitator. The experts identified 48 competencies categorized as technical and professional for fisheries technician. Seven cultural competencies were also identified as important for the successful accomplishment of work and the quality of work life. Competencies will provide content for the middle and high school culture, science, and technology curriculums, and there is the potential to connect technical and professional competencies to a career and technical education microcredentialing system.

More sustainable environmental behavior and management is necessary if we are to sustain human well-being; however, current educational practices are not well aligned to support the development of environmentally informed citizens, including adequate teacher preparation. Classroom teachers are in a unique position to develop student skills and knowledge for sustainable environmental behavior through their teaching. Yet, teachers report a gap in their understanding of social-ecological systems, which presents a barrier to developing environmental citizens, or those enacting the skills and knowledge necessary for sustainable environmental behavior. This study focuses on the impact of a teacher professional development workshop designed to develop teachers' understanding of local social-ecological systems. We explore the effects of the workshop through the framework of environmental citizenship which has five components: Ecological Literacy, Civics Literacy, Self-Efficacy, Values Awareness, and Practical Wisdom. The quasi-experimental design included a pre- and post-survey of teacher participants' environmental citizenship. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that the median posttest scores were significantly higher than the median pretest scores, indicating a statistically significant increase in environmental citizenship for all five components. The environmental citizenship of teachers has not been reported in the literature, despite the emerging importance of environmental citizenship dispositions for delivering social-ecological systems content. Although the nature of the study limits our ability to generalize beyond this case, our findings suggest that environmental citizenship may increase as a result of teacher professional development, with potential to inform the type of education that leads to fostering environmental citizenship in students.

The purpose of this study was to identify the competencies that are required for entry-level forestry and fire management technicians. The strategy is a part of a larger goal to develop the STEM identity of Nez Perce students through the integration of relevant competencies in middle and high school curriculums. The DACUM process was used. Through this groupware process, nine experts from the Nez Perce Natural Resources produced a competency profile consisting of 12 duties and 79 tasks, along with general knowledge and skills, attitudes, tools, and future trends. Findings indicate that the experts view relevant cultural competencies as central to the function of the job and not as mere enablers. This has implications for how content is integrated, taught, and assessed in schools.

Many nations are seeking novel approaches to increasing youth physical activity levels, as well as academic performance in science-related disciplines. This study investigated an integrated approach to addressing both issues by exploring student experiences in (a) a pilot outdoor adventure-based science course, and (b) their normal school settings before and after this course. Twenty-two high school students participated in a five-day snow science program that incorporated winter outdoor adventure activities within a science curriculum. Variables related to attitudes, identity, intrinsic motivation, basic psychological needs, and engagement in science education and outdoor physical activities were measured, along with actual physical activity levels. Participants' reported engagement, intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, self-determination, and physical activity levels were significantly higher during the outdoor adventure-based science course compared to pre and post-school settings. Findings provide preliminary support for further developing and evaluating adventure education and recreation programs with the dual aims of improving student engagement in science education and physical activity. Management implication: This study explored outdoor physical activity and science learning in a publicly operated residential science school program based in a ski area and State park. The results can assist managers of public and private agencies implement innovative experiences that meet growing demand for personal development, education, health, wellness and meaning, in addition to enjoyment. Recreation managers can apply findings to create novel programs during school breaks that appeal to youth, parents and school administrators alike. Findings suggested that integrated outdoor adventure-based programs may: enhance participants' intrinsic motivation to engage in both physical activity and science education; provide a novel means of addressing two pressing social issues (sedentary lifestyles, underperformance in science). In terms of program structure and implementation, managers should focus on facilitating intrinsic motivation, autonomy, competence, and relatedness through techniques such as: supporting positive group dynamics; providing participants choices about how and where learning happens; allowing time to develop recreation skills as well as science skills; fostering flow opportunities through dynamically matching challenges with progressive skill instruction over the course of the program (or several programs). Finally, in terms of assessing programs and experiences, managers might consider measuring aspects such as flow, intrinsic motivation, or physical activity in addition to customary 'satisfaction' measures.

Participation and engagement are important factors in students’ academic achievement and in increasing interest and motivation in the learning process. This study evaluates participation and engagement in circle formations in both outdoor and indoor education settings. Over a four-week study period, four instructors collected data on different circle formations. The four circle formations tested are: instructor and students standing (allstanding); instructor and students sitting (all-sitting); instructor standing with students sitting; instructor sitting with students standing. Results from 86 observation forms show that students had the greatest active participation and engagement in the all-sitting circle formation. The traditional learning arrangement, with teacher standing and students sitting, had the lowest level of student participation and engagement. Eye level of instructor and students was thought to be a major factor influencing participation and engagement in the learning environment. Results obtained from this study will help inform educators in both traditional classroom and outdoor learning environments on effective teaching practices for increasing student participation and engagement.

Physical inactivity and academic underperformance in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects are complex youth issues requiring multifaceted solutions. This exploratory study investigated a novel outdoor learning approach to addressing both issues through an outdoor adventure education (OAE) STEM education programme designed to enhance student engagement and self-determination in STEM subjects and physical activity. Twenty-two high school (secondary school) students participated in a five-day alternative spring break snow science programme that integrated STEM topics with winter outdoor activities (i.e., snowshoeing, downhill skiing, and snowboarding). Results indicated that the OAE STEM programme provided an autonomy-supportive learning climate characterised by experiences of optimal engagement (i.e., flow) and self-determination (i.e., autonomy, relatedness, and competence). Findings suggested that OAE STEM programmes have the potential to enhance high school/secondary school students’ engagement in both physical activity and STEM education. Implications for research and practices that blend STEM education with OAE are explored.

The aim of this research was to examine the effectiveness of outdoor education on middle school students' energy literacy. An energy literacy curriculum was developed and taught in both outdoor and traditional, indoor classroom settings. Energy literacy constructs of knowledge, attitude, and behavior were evaluated and measured using a survey distributed pre, post, and 1-month after the curriculum was taught. The population ( n =130) of this study was 6th grade students attending a five-day residential education program at an outdoor science school. Results showed greater increases in middle school students' energy literacy knowledge, attitude, and behavior when taught in outdoor learning environments. These findings indicate the benefit outdoor and non-traditional learning environments have in improving energy education in order to produce a more energy literate citizenry willing to tackle future energy decisions and challenges.

Recent innovations in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geovisualization tools offer new opportunities to promoting interest in geoscience and STEM careers. The place-based educational model is particularly suited to geoscience education and can appeal to Native American students’ connection to local places. Yet the geoscience discipline is heavily imbued with Western Science conceptions of places, spaces, and physical processes that are not in congruence with the interconnected worldview of Indigenous Science. This review of the literature on geoscience education offers three recommendations to promote geoscience and STEM interest among Native American youth. The practice of science is a field that has only been recently contested by the Indigenous Science worldview. This cognitive dissonance between Native American students who have a deep attachment to their local environment can be at odds with the rational, objective perspective of Western science. The place-based educational model aligns with Indigenous Science and prior research has shown that it promotes STEM and geoscience in Native American students. Since GIS and geovisualization tools are well-suited to place based education and promote spatial thinking skills, which have been identified as crucial to geoscience and STEM success, this review provides several examples of research and education projects using these technologies. Yet our understanding of spatial thinking is based on Western Science’s conceptions of space as an abstract quality. We contend that like other areas of science which are increasingly more open to Indigenous Science practices, spatial thinking research needs to do likewise by developing an analytical framework that accommodates Native American ideas on space and place. We draw on recent research to frame an argument for advancing research on creating a hybridized conception of spatial thinking that can accommodate both Western and Indigenous Science perspectives.

Whereas the evolution of snow cover across forested mountain watersheds is difficult to predict or model accurately, the presence or absence of snow cover is easily observable and these observations contribute to improved snow models. We engaged citizen scientists to collect observations of the timing of distributed snow disappearance over three snow seasons across the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A. . The primary goal of the project was to build a more spatially robust dataset documenting the influence of forest cover on the timing of snow disappearance, and public outreach was a secondary goal. Each year’s effort utilized a different strategy, building on the lessons of the previous year. We began by soliciting our professional networks to contribute observations via electronic or paper forms, moved to a public outreach effort to collect geotagged photographs, and finally settled on close collaboration with an outdoor science school that was well-positioned to collect the needed data. Whereas the outreach efforts garnered abundant enthusiasm and publicity, the resulting datasets were sparse. In contrast, direct collaboration with an outdoor science school that was already sending students to make weekly snow observations proved fruitful in both data collection and educational outreach. From a data collection standpoint, the shift to an educational collaboration was successful because it essentially traded wide spatial coverage combined with sparse temporal coverage for dense temporal coverage at a single, but important location. From a public engagement standpoint, the partnership allowed for more intensive participation by more people and enhanced the science curriculum at the collaborating school.

Effectively communicating scientific research has taken on greater importance as climate change impacts the world we live in. It is increasingly incumbent upon the science and education communities to produce and deliver curriculum that is timely, accessible, and scientifically accurate. In the summer of 2012, scientists and educators worked together to develop and conduct the Adventure Learning @ Greenland (AL@GL) project, which explored the capacity of hands-on and web-based climate science education experiences that occurred in Greenland and the US. The Adventure Learning approach and associated framework was used to design the learning experience during AL@GL activities. Participating students were from Greenland, Denmark, and the US; these students included participants who were diverse, rural, and traditionally underrepresented. Participating students worked closely with educators and scientists to learn about an atmospheric observatory at Summit Station, located on the Greenland Ice Sheet. The purpose of this article is to inform readers in how they may use Adventure Learning and the newly developed curriculum model called Content, Transition, Inquiry, and Synthesis for the education and outreach of research projects.

Environmental education authors have argued for cultivating a relationship with nature and the outdoors, and have urged parents to "unplug" their children from technology. In this perspective, technology is seen as curtailing ties to the environment and its use needs to be limited. In this paper, we consider the idea that while technology may contribute to children's disconnect from the natural world around them, it could also support being outdoors. Thus, we explore techniques for incorporating mobile technology into a field-based environmental science curriculum and compare two approaches to field-based environmental education: a traditional approach and a traditional-plus technological intervention approach. A mixed methods design was used to evaluate learning outcomes and record observations. Based on comparisons of pre- and post-test scores and common themes detected through reflexive journaling, results show that the traditional-plus approach to environmental education facilitated an increase in student knowledge and comprehension during a weeklong residential science program. Appropriate implementation of technology can enable outdoor education to enhance existing practice, but there is still a need for further research on the topic.