Browsing by Subject "Outreach"
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Item Open Access 2018 Land Trust Communication Guide(2018-04-26) Hanway, HayleyCommunications is a critical component of a land trust’s success. Since land trusts are mainly private, non-profit organizations, they are heavily dependent on donors and volunteers. A strong communications strategy will attract new donors and volunteers while retaining old ones. This project for the Land Conservancy of West Michigan (LCWM) evaluates different communications platforms and strategies and provides a list of recommendations for an effective communication’s plan. Research was conducted via a survey disseminated to LCWM members and informational interviews with other environmental organizations. Final recommendations include prioritizing Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube/Vimeo over other forms of social media, investing in an annual (or five-year) professional paper magazine product, strengthening partnerships with local organizations, and holding more events for outreach.Item Open Access Education and Outreach Development - Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, St. Croix, USVI(2021-04-26) Jackson, HaleyThe 384-acre Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, protects important nesting habitat for leatherback, hawksbill, and green sea turtles. The refuge works to create an understanding for sea turtles and their protection through education opportunities and community outreach. To help further this goal of the refuge, I worked closely with refuge and sea turtle biologist to create for them an educational worksheet on sea turtle conservation and outreach material on their different sea turtle programs for distribution around St. Croix. An outreach plan for Sandy Point NWR was designed for the refuge to use in facilitating, organizing, and tracking future programs and events. Posters were also created and will be distributed throughout the US Virgin Islands that aim to educate the public on sea turtle strandings and nesting. Ultimately, these materials will raise awareness of sea turtles in the US Virgin Islands, encourage community participation and wildlife conservation, and provide opportunities for St. Croix students.Item Open Access Evaluating and comparing in-person and virtual experiential learning programs for improving STEM career readiness of students from underrepresented communities(2021-04-19) Jahn, JoThe demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers in the U.S. has grown 24% in the last decade, but only 16% of STEM workers come from Hispanic and African American populations. Because of this disparity, there is a need to direct underrepresented students to STEM careers. The HackBio outreach program in Durham, NC introduces underrepresented high school students to STEM careers and human-environment interactions through experiential learning. The program also provides Duke University undergraduates with opportunities to serve as mentors to the high school students. Historically, HackBio has been an in-person event, but, in 2020, a virtual program was developed due to the pandemic. This program evaluation used pre- and post-event surveys to determine if the high school participants learned about pathways to STEM careers and human-environment interactions, and whether undergraduate mentors improved their leadership and mentoring skills. The evaluation also compared in-person and virtual events. I analyzed survey responses using thematic coding and one-sided t-tests. Both the in-person and virtual event significantly increased high school students’ knowledge of and confidence in environmental hazards in their community and increased their preparedness for the college application process and understanding of STEM research. I also found that undergraduates gained leadership, public speaking, problem-solving, and facilitation skills.Item Open Access Evaluation of Public Participation and Outreach Methods for the North Carolina Coastal Habitat Protection Plan(2004) Kelly, Leah F.Public participation has become an important component to many decision-making processes. It has many benefits, both for the participant as well as the decision-maker. It provides education and raises public awareness on important issues. It can reduce conflict between competing interest groups. It increases the willingness to accept programs to which participation is contributed. As part of the Fisheries Reform Act of 1997, the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) is developing an integrated approach to coastal management. The North Carolina Coastal Habitat Protection Plan (CHPP) will be the first attempt at regulatory co-management of commercially important coastal fish habitats. Within the scope of this project, DMF has included a public participation aspect to the writing and researching process. To increase the level of cooperation and support to this new management approach, DMF and the North Carolina Coastal Federation began an outreach campaign that started with the distribution of educational materials and resulted in the execution of 10 public meetings. I conducted a survey of participants who attended the ten public meetings. I assessed the representation of participating interest groups, the distribution tactics of the publications, and the effectiveness of the educational portion of the meetings. I also evaluated the respondents’ satisfaction with the level of knowledge gained from the outreach materials and the meetings. Anticipated future involvement in the process was an indicator of the success of the campaign. The results of this project indicate that the meetings and public outreach campaign succeeded in many ways. They provided education for the participating citizens, and they increased interest for future involvement in environmental issues. However, representation of target populations, such as fishermen and developers, did not meet the expressed goals of NCCF and DMF. Distribution tactics and outreach procedures should be reanalyzed to further increase the interest of the CHPP process for broader involvement of interest groups. As this is an ongoing process, it is important to see how public participation benefits citizens so that the decision-makers can work to maintain, or increase citizens’ level of interest in the CHPP process.Item Open Access EXHIBIT DESIGN AT THE GASKIN MUSEUM OF MARINE LIFE, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA(2003) Vos, ErinPublic outreach and education can effectively improve human behavior toward the natural environment. While communication between the scientific community and the general public is often challenging, scientists can bring about favorable results by promoting awareness and understanding of conservation goals. Such awareness and understanding are essential in resolving many environmental problems, including the protection of endangered marine mammals. With this in mind, I undertook a project to provide guidance in the development of natural history exhibits at a small museum run by a non-profit research station, the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station in Grand Manan, New Brunswick, Canada. Using the principles of environmental education and the contextual model of learning as guides, I produced a set of overall objectives for the museum. These included desired learning outcomes (e.g. an understanding of the Bay of Fundy ecosystem), as well as aesthetic goals and design principles. With these objectives in mind, I worked with Research Station personnel to renovate the museum space, write exhibit text, design and create layouts for new exhibits, and improve the museum’s collections. The project culminated in the production of a document outlining an overall design plan for the Gaskin Museum of Marine Life, along with a discussion of rationale from environmental interpretation and educational theory, and recommendations for implementation and evaluation of the design plan. The results of this work may be applied to similar projects in public outreach and education.Item Open Access RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS(2003) Kerns, ToniApparent failure of traditional management approaches to stall declines of economically important fish populations has led to new management approaches including marine protected areas (MPAs). Recreational organizations and associations are not pleased with management’s proposed use of MPAs. A pilot study was conducted to address the perception of recreational fishermen including the level of awareness of MPAs among recreational fishermen and their attitudes and concerns towards MPAs. My finding show the majority of recreational fishermen are in support of MPAs but have reservations with no-take areas. The respondents were knowledgeable in the benefits of MPAs but incompletely understood the designation process. I recommend that managers devise an outreach plan to educate recreational fishermen about MPAs and help to open a dialog with this user group and conservation groups on how to best employ MPAs to address both conservation and recreational fishing needs.Item Open Access Sea Level Rise Education and Outreach for Coastal North Carolina(2011-04-25) Dziuba, CatherineEnvironmental education and outreach are vital for preparing North Carolina to cope with impending sea level rise and the large number of risks it presents to the state’s coastal communities. The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission has created a draft sea level rise policy, which advocates for public education on the subject of sea level rise. In order to help with the goal of public education and outreach, educational materials were created for use by the Division of Coastal Management and other agencies. These materials consist of a sea level rise education section of the Division of Coastal Management website as well as an educational module on sea level rise. These materials can be used to target different audiences for sea level rise education. For example, a website serves as an educational tool that can reach a large number of people, displays a great deal of information, allows for the use of graphics and images that may aid in viewer comprehension and understanding, and can provide links that direct the reader to additional information on the subject from other sources. The educational module created as part of this Master’s Project provides more in-depth information on the science behind sea level rise and includes hands-on activities which enable students to better grasp less tangible concepts about this long term, hard to visualize process. Together, the website and the educational module present information about sea level rise, the science behind it, and some of the potential effects it can have on coastal North Carolina.