Matthew T.J. Brownlee

A review of the foundational processes that influence beliefs in climate change: opportunities for environmental education research

Recently, many organizations involved in environmental education have initiated programs that aim to educate visitors or other publics who interact with nature-based resources about the impacts and landscape transformations occurring because of climatic changes. However, many psychological, human-evolutionary, and social–ecological processes that impede individuals’ ability to notice or respond to (e.g. adaptation and mitigation behaviors) climate impacts in nature-based areas, or in their urban-based home communities, may influence the educational process. By reviewing and examining these foundational processes and their potential influence on an audience’s attitudes and beliefs towards climate change, we outline and explain their importance for research. Based on these important psychological, human-evolutionary, and social–ecological processes, the authors conclude by identifying how researchers can investigate the influence of these processes and their potential impacts on environmental education outcomes.

Attitudes toward water conservation: the influence of site-specific factors and beliefs in climate change.

Areas affected by drought are increasing, and many lakes that provide potable water and recreation opportunities are located in drought-vulnerable areas. Understanding a populations attitudes toward conservation actions can improve communication initiatives, policy development, and education, which are all necessary for effective water resource management. However, little is known about stakeholders’ interactions with drought-influenced resources and the potential factors that form their water conservation attitudes. Using a mixed methods approach, we evaluated lake recreationists’ (n = 229) attitudes toward water conservation at a drought-impacted lake. We identified the relationships between two site-specific factors (place attachment and awareness of drought impacts), beliefs in climate change, concern for drought impacts, and water conservation attitudes. Results indicated concern for local drought impacts fully mediated the relationships between site-specific factors, beliefs in climate change, and attitudes toward water conservation behaviors. Implications for research, outreach, and water resource management are discussed.

Weather Studies in Outdoor Recreation and Nature-Based Tourism: A Research Synthesis and Gap Analysis

ABSTRACT The impact of weather on outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism has received increasing attention from the research community during the past ten years. This article synthesizes the results of those inquiries, categorizing their predominant themes and identifying knowledge gaps. One hundred eighty-four weather-related articles drawn from a cross-section of international journals served as the foundation for this work. The research synthesis identified three recurring themes: weather-related variables that influence outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism, the importance of geographic research context, and prevailing activity types. A gap analysis indicated an abundance of underinvestigated topics in weather-related studies in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. The article concludes with recommendations for future weather-related studies in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism developed from the predominant themes uncovered in the research synthesis and research needs discovered in the gap analysis.

Managers’ Perceptions of Illegal Marijuana Cultivation on U.S. Federal Lands

Illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands is a complex social and ecological concern increasingly encountered by managers and federal officials. The negative ecological impacts of remote marijuana grow sites are in the nascent stages of scientific understanding; therefore, systematic inquiry into management perspectives about this issue lacks examination. Using purposive sampling, researchers interviewed a diversity of administrators, ecologists, and law enforcement professionals (n = 29) from U.S. federal agencies involved in preventing and responding to illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands. Interview data were analyzed using common pool resource design principles (Ostrom 1990) to (a) understand managers’ challenges, successes, ideas, and experiences regarding illegal marijuana cultivation, and (b) highlight specific drivers that prohibit, assist, and influence the prevention, mitigation, and response to this issue. Salient themes from the interviews include management complexity, adequate funding, agency collaboration, ecological impacts, and unknown future challenges associated with legality.

Modelling travellers’ philanthropy: tourists’ motivations to donate at Sweetwater Chimpanzee Sanctuary

Parks and protected areas are often charged with addressing pressing conservation issues, but frequently face financial constraints. Travellers’ philanthropy is recognised as one form of ecotourism that can increase funding for conservation efforts, such as biodiversity preservation, within protected areas. While recent research has enumerated various factors that influence on-site donations in travellers’ philanthropy programmes, the strength of and relationships between these factors (e.g. messaging, trust, and caring) in influencing donation behaviour have not been studied. This exploratory mixed-methods study investigated factors influencing tourists’ motivations to donate to travellers’ philanthropy programmes, specifically at Sweetwater Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya. Researchers examined the relationships between on-site messaging, trust in an organisation, feelings of caring for chimpanzees, on-site donation behaviour, and intentions to donate in the future. Results indicate that not all factors have equal influence on donation behaviour, and certain factors led to visitors’ future donation intentions, as opposed to actual on-site donations. These findings have implications for park and sanctuary managers in diverse settings seeking to implement and assess travellers’ philanthropy programmes, as well as design effective fundraising and outreach efforts.

Lessons from the Legends: America’s Expanding Liberal Democratic Tradition

“Lessons from the Legends” is a series of 10 inspirational videos created for park and recreation classroom and staff training purposes. Each video depicts an important theme uncovered in a larger content analysis of a cross section of in depth interviews with park and recreation practitioners and educators selected as “Legends in Parks and Recreation” by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. We present each video’s script as an article with a link to its accompanying video that brings the story to life. Readers are invited to access the link and download the video for educational purposes as each article appears in “Legends and Legacies.” Subscribe to JPRA

The Dialectical Utility of Heuristic Processing in Outdoor Adventure Education

Heuristics—cognitive shortcuts used in decision-making events—have been paradoxically praised for their contribution to decision-making efficiency and prosecuted for their contribution to decision-making error (Gigerenzer & Gaissmaier, 2011; Gigerenzer, Todd, & ABC Research Group, 1999; Kahneman, 2011; Kahneman, Slovic, & Tversky, 1982). Recent research in outdoor adventure education (OAE) using the heuristic concept to diagnose field-based decision-making errors has ignored this duality, focusing solely on the negative potential of heuristic processing (e.g., Clement, 1997; McCammon, 2004a; Simenhois & Savage, 2009; Tremper, 2008; Wheeler, 2008) and neglecting positive and prudent uses of heuristic processing in field-based risk management. This conceptual manuscript follows the suggestion of Furman, Shooter, and Schumann (2010) to explore the dual-nature of heuristic processing in OAE. Using a dialectical method, the authors interrogate the dominant, negativistic interpretation of heuristic processing as well as illustrate the common uses of heuristics in risk management curricula within outdoor pursuits. In the resulting synthesis, the authors show that a symptom-prescription view of heuristic duality can reclaim the utility of heuristics as decision-making aids (e.g., scenarios, mnemonics, visual models) in OAE, as well as provide implications for decision-making scholarship and field-based practice.

‘I’d like to be just a bit closer’: wildlife viewing proximity preferences at Denali National Park & Preserve

ABSTRACT Proximity, the physical distance between visitors and wildlife, has been suggested as a potential factor contributing to high-quality wildlife viewing experiences. Managing visitor proximity to wildlife through interpretation and regulation is a recognized strategy to improve the safety of visitors and the species they encounter during ecotourism experiences in parks and protected areas. To further understand the important elements that influence proximity preferences for wildlife viewing, this study used an interpretivist approach to explore the experiences of visitors (n = 43) at Denali National Park & Preserve (Alaska, U.S.A). Results indicate that five interrelated themes influence visitors’ desired proximity to wildlife. Study findings also highlight the importance of park unit-specific management, and the need to manage at a unit-specific level the expectations for wildlife viewing proximity. Practitioners can use these findings to inform wildlife viewing management, increase visitor safety, and positively influence visitor experiences.

Lessons from the Legends: A Content Analysis of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration’s Legends Videos

This paper reports lessons learned from sampling 68 of 119 videotaped interviews with the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration’s (AAPRA’s) Legends in Parks and Recreation. The videos contain great insight into the history of the organized park and recreation movement in the United States, as well as the administrative, educational, and philosophical positions of its leading administrators and educators. The examination was prompted by our interest in whether there might be patterns of foresight in the videos that could serve present and future park and recreation professionals. We examined each of the 68 videos in teams of two, searching for common themes. Using a three-phase content analysis, we discerned three broad categories within which to discuss the results: becoming extraordinary, being extraordinary, and serving an extraordinary profession. Within each of the three categories, we also discuss several emerging sub-themes. We conclude the paper by directing the reader to a video link that brings the Lessons from the Legends to life, and discussing educational use of the videos.