Are You Interested in Environmental Education and Interpretation?
Environmental Education and Interpretation Research Lab
Coming to terms with the “human-environment” interface presents an enormous challenge to humanity. As population rises and pressures on the environment increase, the urgency grows for people to become knowledgeable, motivated, and equipped to make intelligent choices regarding lifestyles and their resultant environmental impact. This is a challenge that increasingly places importance on environmental education and interpretation occurring in formal settings (e.g., classrooms) and non-formal educational settings (e.g., parks, recreation areas, and visitor centers). Within this lab we focus our efforts on examining issues of global sustainability as addressed by environmental education and interpretation. In addition, current topics in educational philosophy including place based education, academic standards, and youth leadership development are addressed.
Sample Research Projects – In Progress or Planned
- Shaver's Creek Holistic Watershed Study: Spanning Age, Community, Disciplines, and Time (Vahoviak)
- Day Camp Participation Differences Between Members and Nonmembers of an Environmental Center (Mowen)
- Perceptions and Potential Effects of a User Fee at Bald Eagle State Park (Graefe)
Contributing Faculty
- Alan Graefe
- gyu@psu.edu
- Andrew Mowen
- amowen@psu.edu
- Ralph Smith
- rsmith@psu.edu
- George Vahoviak
- grv1@psu.edu
- Harry Zinn
- hcz2@psu.edu