Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Innovations in Education and Research at WCNR

Melinda Laituri — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:15:00 PDT

A panel discussion of new ideas, pedagogy and methods for the integration of teaching and research. WCNR is a leading institution for natural resource education. This panel will present specific examples from the across the college and discuss benefits to students, research outputs, and innovative approaches to teaching. Facilitator: Melinda Laituri; Panelists: Jessica Thompson, Sara Rathburn

Supporting Fisheries Undergraduate Education with Realistic Laboratory Exercises and Research Experience

Christopher A. Myrick et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:45:00 PDT

The financial support U.S. institutions of higher education receive from non-tuition sources for undergraduate programs has been declining, and therefore, many institutions have sought to streamline their programs to reduce expenses while simultaneously raising tuition. One aspect of undergraduate programs often targeted for reduction is the inclusion of various “hands-on” exercises that provide students with practical experience. This, trend, when combined with the traits of the typical “millennial generation” student, raises the possibility that current and future student cohorts will lack practical experience in core areas. We argue that despite the ongoing reductions of funding and support, it is both possible and beneficial to provide undergraduates with the hands-on experiences, experiential learning, and exposure to research and management topics that enrich their education and better prepare them for entry-level positions or graduate school. We describe a multi-tiered approach for doing so, and include examples from successful programs at two institutions.

Sustainability Beliefs of First-year Students in Natural Resources

Donald J. Orth et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:00:00 PDT

A crux of the environmental problem is change resistance and few college students possess the critical analysis and persuasive communication skills needed to engage in this dialogue. Furthermore, there is little appreciation among college students for the diversity of beliefs regarding sustainability issues. We surveyed students enrolled in a First-Year Experience class in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. We used the Dunlap and Van Liere New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) measurement scale to assess the individual student orientations toward nature and the environment. The students enrolled in this class had enrolled voluntarily based on their interest in the study of the environment or natural resources. Therefore, it was no surprise that the score reflected a belief orientation towards sustainability. Survey results allowed these first-year students to discover the range of opinion among members of a relatively homogeneous sample. The survey provided insights regarding the human-centered or eco-centered orientation of their student peers. We used these findings to encourage revision of a draft problem-solving essay. We plan further use of the NEP measurement scale in our curriculum and encourage its adoptions by instructors involved in pedagogy of sustainable thinking.

Closing the Science-Practice Gap: Scientists and Community Members as Partners in Wildfire Management

Judy Serby — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:15:00 PDT

The link between science and on-the-ground practice is often not as easy to apply as scientists and stakeholders would believe. I will discuss approaches to the knowledge transfer process and a key lesson for researchers that suggest knowledge transfer should focus less on delivering specific knowledge and more on developing and strengthening networks with community members, practitioners and scientists.

Incorporating Measures of Community in Wildland Fire Preparedness Education

Jerry J. Vaske et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:45:00 PDT

Using data from a survey of Colorado residents, we examined measures of sense of community (SOC). Respondents were asked to rate fifteen items measuring SOC on a 7-point scale, where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree. McMillan and Chavis (1986) suggest that these items form four dimensions of SOC: membership, influence, reinforcement of needs, and shared emotional connection. The four dimensions of SOC were supported by the data (i.e., Cronbach’s alpha > .80 for all four dimensions). A cluster analysis of the four dimensions of SOC identified three distinct segments of individuals. The first cluster indicated that they felt a strong SOC on all four dimensions. The second cluster felt a more neutral SOC, while the third cluster felt a low SOC on all four dimensions. We hypothesize that individuals with a low SOC will not be as likely to adopt wildfire protection (i.e., defensible space) behaviors. Understanding these segments can help inform future wildland fire educational materials.

Colorado Are You FireWise? Program: An Overview

Lisa Mason et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:15:00 PDT

The Colorado State Forest Service began the “Are You FireWise?” and “Are You Plain’s FireWise?” in 1999 to help educate landowners and homeowners about steps they can take to protect their home from wildfire. This information has been disseminated through a variety of ways including community workshops, seminars and one-on-one forester to homeowner dialouge. Defensible space, home access, water supply, trees and shrubs, evacuation and interior safety are some of the topics covered in a FireWise workshop. This program has also been a key to developing community wildfire protection plans (CWPP). There are currently over 150 CWPPs in Colorado. FireWise practices are important for all ages to understand. Using the Fire Works Trunks, a fire ecology curriculum out of the National Fire Lab in Missoula, Montana, the CSFS has adapted some of the hands-on experiments from the curriculum to create a fire ecology and defensible space program for any age. This program covers lodgepole and ponderosa pine ecosystems, the fire triangle, defensible space and a great experiment called Matchstick Forests.

Defying Distance Education: Building a New Recreation Resource Management Program

Robin L. Ceurvorst — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:00:00 PDT

Facilitating Online Course Design in a Faculty Learning Community (FLC)

Jessica K. Tomaszewski — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:30:00 PDT

At University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (UWSP) in the academic year 2010-2011, online course instructors held informal lunch sessions in which they gathered to discuss challenges and resources in teaching online courses. For the 2011-2012 academic year the leaders of this group applied to have a formal Faculty Learning Community (FLC) in which we would work together to explore and create online course design guidelines for the campus. This group of online instructors is participating in a facilitated process in which we learn from one another’s experiences to inform the best practices in design and management for our campus’ online courses. UWSP offers minimal instructional design assistance for faculty and staff who teach online courses, so this opportunity has participants looking more deeply at different components of instructional design. Since we have many veteran online instructors, peer sharing with instructors who would like to teach more online and hybrid courses is a benefit to our rookie online instructors, as well as to the veteran instructors who learn through interacting with their colleagues. This FLC has members from many Colleges and Disciplines. This presentation will explore the process and progress this FLC has made in defining the best practices in course design guidelines for our campus.

Innovation in Natural Resources Engagement at Land-Grant Universities: a View from the Center for Collaborative Conservation

Robin S. Reid et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:15:00 PDT

Historically, the creation of land-grant universities ushered in the idea of democracy and practicality in higher education. Today, that mission emphasizes the ‘outreach university’, one of service to society. Scholars continue to question whether the land grants are successfully meeting their missions, especially with declining funding to agricultural extension. In natural resources, we face a shift from production, use and management of natural resources to a much broader and more complex agenda of cultural, social, ecological and economic sustainability, in an environment of accelerating change. Here we ask: How might the natural resources parts of land-grant universities meet the complex challenges of sustainability through engagement in the 21st century? We begin addressing this question by reviewing new approaches to natural resources, including the ideas of problem-oriented and transdisciplinary education and research, an emphasis on holism and systems-oriented thinking, and new models for public engagement. We discuss the critical role of the land-grant university in building resilience of communities through engagement with diverse partners and transformative leadership. We then propose a model that focuses on creation and support of innovative and nimble boundary leaders and their supporting boundary institutions that work across multiple landscapes, institutions, disciplines and scales while working on complex, systems-level problems. In describing this model, we reflect on ways to overcome the challenges faced by boundary institutions when working across multiple boundaries on complex problems. We suggest that this model requires an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to problem solving in natural resources that draws from humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, law, engineering and beyond. These hands also include real engagement with community members, from developing fully relevant research to welcoming practitioners as teachers and equal partners. This approach can help propel land-grant education and research so that it is both useful and used, more than ever before. We conclude with some specific examples of new institutions that are attempting to embody these principles in philosophy and practice, based on our experience creating the Center for Collaborative Conservation at Colorado State University, working in the western US and around the world.

Understanding Scholarly Communication – Tools to Help Graduate Students Publish

Susanne Clement — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:30:00 PDT

Although graduate students are increasingly expected to publish before graduation, they are rarely offered formal education in the full range of the scholarly communication process in their discipline. They quickly learn how to do the research and to present their findings in a format suitable for submission to an academic peer-reviewed journal, but seldom do they (or their faculty advisors) understand the business of publishing and how that may affect their ability to get published. At Utah State University, the Department of Environment and Society (College of Natural Resources) started in 2010 requiring first-term graduate students to take a 2-credit class that will prepare them to publish in their field. Called Graduate Student Publishing Seminar (GSPS) it covers a broad range of topics related to scholarly communication and publishing. Actual publications are required to pass the class. The GSPS final grade is given the semester of their graduation. A senior professor in the department teaches GSPS with guest lectures provided by other faculty in the university. The subject librarian and a university press editor teach approximately 25% of the class. Based on the librarian’s lectures, this presentation will focus on why and how the GSPS curriculum includes information on the following topics: understanding the business of publishing, identifying and navigating the plethora of various publication types in a discipline, understanding impact and what it really means, reading publishing contracts and the copyright implications for the author (not only as a researcher but also as a future teacher), and familiarizing them to alternatives to traditional publishing – including open access models of publishing. The presentation will also provide a brief overview of GSPS’s overall course requirements as well as an assessment of student learning to the above curriculum.

Bridging the Gap for Emerging Professionals: CNHP's Professional Internship Program

David G. Anderson et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:00:00 PDT

The Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) is a research and service institute of Colorado State University (CSU) in the Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Department of Warner College of Natural Resources (WCNR). We are Colorado’s only comprehensive source of information on the status and location of Colorado’s rarest and most threatened species and plant communities. We are actively engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in partnerships that work to ensure that Colorado’s biodiversity resources are not diminished. In this role, we are uniquely poised to offer novel opportunities for young professionals who are seeking careers in natural resources conservation, management, and research. As part of Colorado State University, we are also well poised to support and engage students in a wide range fruitful and rewarding opportunities. Professional positions can be extremely difficult to find for students finishing an undergraduate degree. Positions that open at state and federal agencies often receive hundreds of applications. Many recent graduates with strong academic achievement records become frustrated in their pursuit of these opportunities. Many students that we interact with cite the “catch 22” of needing experience to secure a position or get accepted to graduate school, but have limited means of getting that experience. We have developed an internship program to help students bridge the gap between their Academic and professional careers. This program is targeted toward early-career professionals that have not completed a graduate degree. This program is unique in offering a salaried position for one or more professionals geared specifically towards the development of skills, credentials, and contacts with which to launch into a career in natural resources. Because graduate school is an important step in securing a position within an agency, non-profit, or scientific organization, there is an emphasis on graduate school preparation in this internship program. Interns are also guided through a process of engagement with key professionals and leaders within the natural resource field. Our guidance is part of a strategic approach to connecting the intern with professionals within their specific area of interest.

How Service-Learning Can Support the Practice of, and Education About, Collaborative Natural Resource Management

Kimberly J. Coleman — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:30:00 PDT

Many researchers agree that contemporary natural resource management requires successful collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups. However, achieving successful collaboration can be challenging. So what makes stakeholder collaborations work and what models exist for educating the next generation of natural resource professionals about successful stakeholder collaboration? The Harwood Union Forest Project, a community-based forestry initiative in Vermont, provides such a model. By forming service-learning partnerships between a public high school and natural resources students at the University of Vermont, the Harwood Union Forest Project has successfully supported community-based forestry activities at the high school’s 180 acre forest, and educated both high school and university students about collaborative natural resource management. This presentation will described the Harwood Union Forest Project and present preliminary findings from a qualitative research study about the impacts of the project’s service-learning partnerships. Service-learning offers a means for academia to support communities in making difficult decisions about complex environmental issues while also educating students about those issues and providing them with hands on experience in the field. The Harwood Union Forest Project offers one model for accomplishing those goals.

GIS in Natural Resource Education: Where are we Headed?

Joseph K. Berry — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:30:00 PDT

Over the past three decades, GIS education in natural resources has evolved from a focus on automated cartography, to spatial database management, to geo-web applications. Within these contexts, curricula have emphasized the mechanics of descriptive mapping (“Where is What”) involving acquisition, storage, retrieval, query and display of spatial objects. However, the future of GIS education is moving from a “down the hall and to the right” specialist’s role for providing mapped data, to a broader and more active role of providing spatial information for natural resource research, policy, planning and management. The instructional emphasis is shifting from data–centric tools to application-specific constructs of prescriptive mapping (Why, So What and What If) that infuses consideration of geographic patterns and relationships within problem-solving contexts. The paradigm shift replaces spatially-aggregated tools and models that assume uniform or random distribution in geographic space with spatial reasoning and analytical procedures that capitalize on the variation within and among map variables. The result is a “map-ematical” structure that enables natural resource professionals to better understand and communicate complex spatial interplay of edaphic, topographic, biological, ecological, environmental, economic and social considerations. It provides a common foothold for integrating dialog among the seemingly disparate disciplines within natural resources, as well as across campus. This paper describes an comprehensive instructional approach, framework and classroom materials for teaching grid-based map analysis and modeling concepts and procedures as direct spatial extensions of traditional mathematics and statistics to students with minimal or no GIS background.

Assessing Geospatial Learning Outcomes: Results and Lessons Learned

John D. Carr et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:00:00 PDT

Geospatial tools and technologies have become core competencies for natural resource professionals. To equip undergraduates with the needed background, geospatial instructional activities have been integrated across curricula and courses in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University. The effectiveness of the integration and how well students are meeting geospatial objectives are unknown. At the 8th University Education in Natural Resources conference, we presented an outcomes-based assessment framework. Since that time, we have evaluated student attainment of geospatial learning outcomes using tracking questions, rubrics, pre- and post-assignment questionnaires, and incoming and outgoing longitudinal knowledge surveys. Analysis of students’ coursework shows forestry seniors met skills-based, information literacy, and conceptual knowledge outcomes. Natural resources seniors demonstrate adoption and internalization, desired affective outcomes, in their coursework. Analysis of pre- and post-assignment questionnaire data shows increased student learning; however, many improvements were not statistically significant or failed to meet the intended performance target. Analysis of longitudinal knowledge surveys shows students’ awareness of and confidence in their ability to use the tools increased significantly and met the intended performance standard for all curricula analyzed. Data indicate that students have more success with frequently repeated material, and success increases with higher levels of integration. The assessments have helped us identify instructional oversights and burdensome assessment practices. Overall, analysis of current assessment data indicates we are meeting some desired objectives; however, outcomes assessment, while important, is only part of a process for monitoring and improving student learning.

Site Planning Using GIS: University / Agency Service Learning Collaboration

Rob Porter — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:30:00 PDT

This case study presentation outlines an ongoing partnership between Western Illinois University and the Army Corps of Engineers Mark Twain Lake (ACOE) that allows students to integrate classroom knowledge into field-based work. While attending a series of classes students receive appropriate natural resource management curriculum, practice GIS skills through labs, and engage in the planning and implementation of an actual facility. First, the students visit the area, engaging in a tour giving them an overview of the area. Second, they create an open space plan for a recreation area that is devoid of facilities or underutilized. GIS is utilized in the classroom to display digital orthophoto quadrangles (DOQ) of the area and delineate possible activity/use zones. In the first project, the “Indian Creek” area open space plan resulted in the identification of a need for multi-use trails between campsites and beaches. Thus, in the third class, students performed on-site planning and layout by marking trails and using GPS units to map trails, again using the open space plan (budgets, etc.) and DOQ. In the final class, students will assist in on-site construction of trails, working in conjunction with ACOE personnel and contractors. Through this series of courses the students receive hands on experience with GIS/GPS and open space planning, while the ACOE benefits by receiving the opportunity to offer more services to park users. Similar projects with other agencies are in the planning stages. The presentation will also discuss challenges to alternative learning experiences. In context of service learning, challenges presented include finding agencies to collaborate with, scheduling time outside the classroom, and liability issues associated with on site work. The problem of managing the broad spectrum of the quality of student work in context of agency expectations will also be addressed. The challenges of integrating geospatial technology into the classroom will be discussed, including teaching techniques, student trepidation toward such technology, and time needed for adequate comprehension of the GIS software. The presentation will include time for discussion and sharing of experiences by conference participants using similar service learning pedagogies and geospatial technologies.

Technical Choices for Converting a Large Class in Wildlife Ecology into a Distance Education Program

Tom Seibert — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:30:00 PDT

If you are a Mac user that is on your own in creating a distance-web course, it is possible to do so inexpensively , with good quality results and a relatively small learning curve. My objectives in developing a distance education site for a Wildlife Ecology and Conservation course that had previously been delivered in classrooms with up to 230 students included: 1. Delivery in h.264 format to accommodate the then fledgling iOS ecosystem (i.e., no Flash); 2. Host the site inexpensively and still deliver streaming video to a reasonably large audience; 3. Develop a professional looking website with minimum site development expertise and in a rapid development environment; 4. Capture classroom and video podcast lectures of the screen and lecturer using built-in or external video camera(s); 5. Easily edit videos to produce clear results and to adjust content in the future without necessitating a complete redo; and provide a way to integrate . I also wanted to be able to add closed captioning as resources became available. In my presentation, I will discuss the Mac software suite used (PC equivalents will be mentioned wherever possible), hosting service, hardware that proved reliable and provided redundancy in sound and screen recording, and compare advantages & limitations to institutional services like Panopto and Echo360, or how this approach might be integrated with new tools like digital textbooks.

Civic Engagement in the Hybrid Classroom: Using the Virtual World to Connect Students to Solving Resource Issues

Pat S. Stephens-Williams — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:00:00 PDT

Our future professionals must be prepared to not only understand stakeholder attitudes concerning natural resource issues, but also know how to work with a team to manage both the people and the resources. The hybrid classroom can provide the opportunity for students to research the issues, connect directly to the stakeholders involved, and work with their classmates in the virtual world to reach consensus on how to manage the related controversy. This session discusses how undergraduate students build skills in civic engagement, leadership, communications, and conflict management in the hybrid human dimensions classroom through a progressive assignment exploring the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Students develop specific skills in communications and management, as well as critical thinking and higher order thinking.

Meeting Students Where They Are: Adapting Natural Resource Education to Emerging Digital Landscapes

Zachary D. Cole — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:15:00 PDT

For students, connecting through text, email, chat, and social media has become an integral part of their daily lives. The near endless supply of digital media outlets and information sources has created a new landscape at the interface of the student-professor relationship; incorporating these emergent platforms into hybrid educational environments can enhance student engagement with course material while improving communication between and amongst classmates, including the instructor. This new hyper-connected reality, however, presents both challenges and opportunities in educating tomorrow’s natural resource leaders and professors must “meet students where they are” by communicating and teaching in relatable ways (i.e. through emergent digital platforms). Students are increasingly being called upon to provide the “digital voice” for employers as new professionals, acquiring these requisite skills is now an essential component to a satisfactory education in the field of natural resources that must be met through adapting traditional classroom approaches. This presentation outlines the creation and use of a hybrid digital learning environment and provides a road map to start integrating various platforms into the classroom. Integrating digital media into traditional classroom dynamics can be difficult, confusing, and scary but also rewarding and beneficial. As such, the discussion answers two pertinent questions: how can natural resource educators utilize digital outlets to enhance the learning process? And, how can natural resource educators modify course requirements and expectations to better develop contemporary skill requirements? Considerations of privacy, content, digital lifespan, and communication are explicitly touched upon along with a review of current trends in the use of social media and other digital outlets amongst students and, increasingly, a wide variety of natural resource stakeholders (i.e. managers, environmental organizations, locals).

Impact of Extraordinary Experiences on Teachers Science Identity

Michael P. Marlow et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:45:00 PDT

Experiential science learning is all about personal close encounters with the content, processes, and emotions of science. It is a philosophy that emphasizes learning from direct first-person experience and a holistic perspective that includes the self-construction of knowledge as well as emotions, attitudes and beliefs that combine to form a learner’s “science identity.” The Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative (XSci) at the University of Colorado Denver provides extraordinary experiences, internship and professional opportunities in collaboration with a large number of community, academic and government partners. Activities include local, regional and international field studies, internships, conference group presentations and science identity research. Although many organizations offer such experiential learning opportunities, there is little in the literature about the value of science learning professional development approaches as lived experiences, how they are interpreted by educators, how meaning is made and communicated, how such experiences are integrated into the identities and practice of those who choose to participate in them, and the impact on student perceptions and outcomes. If a teacher goes to Africa and climbs Mount Kilimanjaro, how does it matter to them as professional educators? Does it impact their personal and/or professional identity and practice in ways that are meaningful to their students? If so, how is that meaning made? What is the role of a cohort in making such experiences valuable? What is the essence of these experiences that makes them extraordinary for the participants? The research agenda for XSci examines educators engaged in extraordinary professional development experiences in order to understand the processes that make them extraordinary and valuable as well as how they contribute to improved classroom practice and student outcomes. This approach considers the larger picture surrounding such experiences, including: the complete design process; pre-journey, journey, and post-journey components; and the formation of durable educator cohorts that extend into the future. The session will discuss the various components of this program, both real and virtual experiences, the use of documentary filmmaking in the research and how we link the range of experiences.

Conducting Mountain Lion Research: A Citizen Science Project

Barbara Patterson et al. — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 11:15:00 PDT

Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy, a Colorado-based conservation group dedicated to promoting wild cat conservation through research and community stewardship, seeks to mitigate human-mountain lion conflicts through an innovative community stewardship project that engages local students and volunteers in citizen science research. In addition to establishing a permanent, outdoor, wildlife-based curriculum at Front Range Community College - Larimer Campus, Communities, Cameras and Conservation establishes a connection to conservation through hands-on education where no such opportunity currently exists. It creates a new prospect for community members to engage in citizen science research and serve as conservation envoys by raising the level of awareness of the wildlife in their backyards. Front Range Community College, in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy, has implemented an innovative research method that generates valuable, quantitative data, and enables full community engagement in understanding the movements and behaviors of our local mountain lion population. Students analyze the habitat and then install digital cameras, hike to the camera locations, retrieve the memory cards and download the information into a computer data program. They map the vegetation and record the biotic and abiotic factors affecting the land, including the human use of the area. After one year of data collection, students are able to map patterns of movement and compare these trends with existing data on mountain lions from other research. This has provided students, community residents, and park managers with information at a critical time as development continues to encroach on wildlife habitat, increasing urban wildlife contacts. All classes involved in this project work with the wildlife biologists on this project, giving them an opportunity to experience firsthand a career in natural resources management.