The objectives of this study were to (a) determine preservice educators' perceptions of forest health, (b) define the experiences which may have influenced their understanding, and (c) identify the approaches they might use to convey forest health information. Twelve interviews were conducted with preservice science and agriculture education…

Utilizing ecosocial theory and the notion of the environment as text, two teachers, the vice principal and a university researcher, engaged in a year-long, place-based, qualitative action research project in which they used the environment as the integrating context for teaching critical literacy, mathematics, and science. The project revealed…

Namibia's cheetah population has predominantly been threatened by human conflict related to livestock farming and habitat loss. Cheetahs have been indiscriminately persecuted as a mortal threat to livestock, as well as suffered from human-caused land use change. The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Otjiwarongo, Namibia conducts cheetah…

Community workshops were held in coastal locations in Sarawak to raise awareness of cetacean conservation. Interviews were conducted up to 2 years later in four "workshop communities" as well as four villages where workshops were not conducted. Comparison of responses between respondents who had attended workshops (n = 127) versus those who had…

In this article, the authors analyze evidence regarding the dissemination of mistaken ideas concerning the presence and function of pine trees ("Pinus halepensis") in a Mediterranean archipelago: the Balearic Islands (Spain). The main errors concerning the natural vegetation that are disseminated among citizens by the forest management sector are…

The present study aimed to describe and evaluate a transformative, embodied, emergent learning approach to acquiring ecological literacy through higher education. A class of teacher candidates in a bachelor of education program filled out a survey, which had them rate their level of agreement with 15 items related to ecological macro-models.…

Research in political psychology suggests that politicians successfully manipulate emotions through campaign advertisements. While work in environmental psychology emphasizes emotional connection to the environment, scholars have yet to examine the potential of emotional appeals in non-campaign messages. I am interested in the use of emotional…

This study examines the exposure of Thai youths to media information on global warming, the relationship between exposure to global warming information and awareness of global warming, and the relationship between that awareness and lifestyle activities that contribute to global warming. A focus group of eight Thai youths provided information that…

In this article we present the results from an exploratory study conducted in the Wet Tropics in Australia. The study was initiated as part of a larger research program to support the development of a water quality improvement plan. Seven schools were invited to participate in this study. Students were asked to develop visions for the future of…

Exotic species seriously affect local biodiversity in Argentina. This article investigates how students in San Juan province perceive native and exotic species. With the help of a written questionnaire, 865 students (9-17 years old) were asked to name the plant and animal they liked most, disliked most, and perceived as most useful, and to name…

The Junior Forester Academy (JFA) is a summer forestry camp that provides environmental education (EE) in the context of an outdoor education program. The JFA was established in 2004 and is located at Northern Arizona University's Centennial Forest site. The JFA's goal is to increase a campers' understanding of forest ecology and forestry skills…

A study of attitudes of 328 people living around Mt. Elgon National Park showed that more than three-quarters had favorable attitudes toward the conservation of the Park's forest and wildlife resources. They also had favorable attitudes toward the conservation education efforts of various agencies that operated in the area, particularly those of…

The objective of many environmental education programs is to promote pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors in students. However, evaluation of these programs has focused on asking participants what they think (attitudes) and what they do (behaviors) regarding the environment problems through self-report questionnaires and interviews. These…

Wicked problems are multifactorial in nature and possess no clear resolution due to numerous community stakeholder involvement. We demonstrate childhood lead poisoning as a wicked problem and illustrate how understanding a community's ecology can build community capacity to affect local environmental management by (1) forming an academic-community…

Teaching ecological concepts in schools is important in promoting natural science and environmental education for young learners. Developing educational programs is difficult, however, because of complicated ecological processes operating on multiple levels, the unlimited nature of potential system interactions (given the openness of systems), and…