Webinar Series hosted by NC State University to address Climate Change Adaptation

Posted on May 9, 2013 by rwgonzal

Climate Change Adaptation for States, Tribes and Local Governments –

June 3-12, 2013: A dynamic, interactive webinar series hosted by North Carolina State University, in cooperation with EPA’s Office of Strategic Environmental Management

North Carolina State University, in cooperation with EPA’s Office of Strategic Environmental Management, will host a virtual Symposium on climate change adaptation for states, tribes and local governments to be offered in a series of twelve on-line sessions. The series will bring together tribal, state and local stakeholders, EPA representatives, and experts from a variety of sectors to consider the impact of EPA’s new Climate Change Adaptation Plan on implementation of federal environmental programs, and to present case studies, tools and solutions to some of the most pressing climate change adaptation challenges.

Individual webinars are stand-alone educational opportunities for governments, planners and policy makers, and participants can attend one or more webinars as meets their particular needs. Participants will obtain the most current knowledge and information applicable to states, tribes and communities on adaptation practice and implementation to build community resiliency.

The opening webinar will be held from 11:30am-1:00pm EDT on Monday, June 3, 2013, and will introduce the EPA’s new Climate Change Adaptation Plan and what it means for states and tribes in implementing their own plans. Additional webinars will take place later that day as well as June 4, 10, 11 and 12.

Other sessions include Planning for Sea Level Rise; Water, Communities & Planning; Air Quality & Health Impacts of Climate Change; Achieving Resiliency to Drought; Tribal Climate Adaptation; Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation; Risk Management and Insurance Strategies; Adaptation and Equity for Vulnerable Populations; Decision Support Tools Café; Successful Response to Coastal Adaptation Challenges; and Climate Adaptation: The Way Forward. All webinars will allow for interactive Q&A with the presenters.

Registration for the webinar series is free and access to the sessions will be through the Web or toll-free telephone conference line. For more information on the series or to register for the webinars, please visit the Symposium Webinar Series website at www.climate-adaptation-symposium.org. For questions contact Susan Moore, Extension Associate Professor and
Director of the Forestry & Environmental Outreach Program, North Carolina State University, at 919-515-3184 or susan_moore@ncsu.edu.

Seymour Delivers 2013 Borlaug Lecture at NC State

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

On April 16, 2013, Frances Seymour delivered the 2013 Norman E. Borlaug Lecture at the Hunt Library at NC State University. The lecture, cosponsored by the College of Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was part of a week of festivities celebrating Earth Day. The following is an excerpt from an article in the student newspaper.

The Giving Trees by Liz Moomey, staff writer

FORESTS MATTER TO FOOD SECURITY, GROWING ECONOMIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Frances Seymour, former director of Center for International Forestry Research, spoke about the external influences on the conditions of forests and their roles in food security snd climate change at Hunt Library Auditorium Tuesday afternoon.

Forests have a significant impact on food security, although there is not a lot of talk about it, Seymour said. “The role of forests and climate regulations is even that much more important,” Seymour said. “You would think that given all of these contributions of forests to food security and to agriculture, more generally, and local landscapes, conserving forests would be an important part of food security policy, but they are not.”

Seymour said misconceptions about forests’ roles in food security often contribute to lack of policy dealing with forestry and regulating demolition of forests. “It serves the interest of some actors to have you believe that forestry protection and food security are incompatible,” Seymour said. “There are two convenient untruths. One is that you have to sacrifice forests to feed the world, and the other poor people are the main cause of deforestation.

Read the complete article in The TechnicianOnline

Learn more about the Annual Borlaug Lecture Series @ NC State University

Outdoor Education Helps Minority Students Close Gap in Environmental Literacy

Posted on March 25, 2013 by

Environmental education programs that took middle school students outdoors to learn helped minority students close a gap in environmental literacy, according to research from North Carolina State University.

Students at Centennial Middle School in Raleigh, NC learn about tree measurement

The study, published March 22 in PLOS ONE, showed that time outdoors seemed to impact African-American and Hispanic students more than Caucasian students, improving minority students’ ecological knowledge and cognitive skills, two measures of environmental literacy. The statewide study also measured environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavior such as recycling and conserving water. “We are interested in whether outdoor experiences can be part of a catch-up strategy that can help in narrowing the environmental literacy gap for minority students,” said lead author Kathryn Stevenson, an NC State graduate student who has taught outdoor education classes in California and high school biology and science in North Carolina.Researchers tested the environmental literacy of sixth- and eighth-grade students in 18 North Carolina schools in the fall and spring. Half of the schools studied had registered an environmental education program with the state.Using a published environmental curriculum, such as Project Learning Tree, Project WET or Project WILD, helped build students’ cognitive skills, researchers found. Learning in an outdoor environment improved students’ ecological knowledge, environmental attitudes and behavior.

“This is one of the first studies on a broad scale to focus on environmental literacy, which is more than mastering facts,” said co-author Nils Peterson, associate professor of fisheries and wildlife in NC State’s College of Natural Resources. “Being environmentally literate means that students learn cognitive skills so that they can analyze and solve problems, and it involves environmental attitudes and behaviors as well.”

Girls and boys appeared to have complementary strengths that contributed to environmental literacy. Boys scored highest on knowledge, while girls led in environmental attitudes and cognitive skills.

Sixth graders showed greater gains in environmental literacy than eighth graders, suggesting that early middle school is the best window for environmental literacy efforts, Stevenson said.

Teachers’ level of education played an important role in building environmental literacy. Those with a master’s degree had students with higher levels of overall environmental literacy.

Teachers who had spent three to five years in the classroom were more effective at building students’ cognitive skills than new teachers. Efforts are needed to engage veteran teachers in environmental education, Stevenson said.

In a follow-up to the study, Stevenson is studying coastal North Carolina students’ perceptions of climate change.

– ford –

Resources: Environmental Literacy Fact Sheet

Note: An abstract of the paper follows.

“Environmental, Institutional, and Demographic Predictors of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Children”

Authors: Kathryn T. Stevenson, M. Nils Peterson, Howard D. Bondell, Angela G. Mertig and Susan E. Moore

Published: March 22, 2013, in PLOS ONE

Abstract: Building environmental literacy (EL) in children and adolescents is critical to meeting current and emerging environmental challenges worldwide. Although environmental education (EE) efforts have begun to address this need, empirical research holistically evaluating drivers of EL is critical. This study begins to fill this gap with an examination of school-wide EE programs among middle schools in North Carolina, including the use of published EE curricula and time outdoors while controlling for teacher education level and experience, student attributes (age, gender, and ethnicity), and school attributes (socio-economic status, student-teacher ratio, and locale). Our sample included an EE group selected from schools with registered school-wide EE programs, and a control group randomly selected from NC middle schools that were not registered as EE schools. Students were given an EL survey at the beginning and end of the spring 2012 semester. Use of published EE curricula, time outdoors, and having teachers with advanced degrees and mid-level teaching experience (between 3 and 5 years) were positively related with EL whereas minority status (Hispanic and black) was negatively related with EL. Results suggest that school-wide EE programs were not associated with improved EL, but the use of published EE curricula paired with time outdoors represents a strategy that may improve all key components of student EL. Further, investments in teacher development and efforts to maintain enthusiasm for EE among teachers with more than 5 years of experience may help to boost student EL levels. Middle school represents a pivotal time for influencing EL, as improvement was slower among older students. Differences in EL levels based on gender suggest boys and girls may possess complementary skills sets when approaching environmental issues. Our findings suggest ethnicity related disparities in EL levels may be mitigated by time spent in nature, especially among black and Hispanic students.

Media Coverage:
RedOrbit
Newswise
CHANS-Net
Phys.org
KPCC, Southern California Public Radio

Registration Opens for 2013 Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy

Posted on March 5, 2013 by

The Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy, organized by NC State University’s Forestry & Environmental Outreach Program and NC Project Learning Tree, is currently accepting registration for two 2013 summer sessions. The Coastal Academy will be held June 17-21, 2013 in New Bern, NC. The Mountain Academy will be held June 24-28, 2013 in Asheville, NC.

The four-day residential program focuses on the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable forestry in North Carolina. Teachers visit a variety of forests and mills learning about forest management and the manufacturing of various wood products such as paper, furniture, plywood, and lumber.

Teachers participate in tours and hikes in forests under an array of ownership and management plans. Excursions to museums, state forests, experimental forests, and environmental learning centers round out the experience. Participants should expect a fast-paced week,with extended moderate walking, great food, networking, and lots of fun!

Extensive materials and discussions prepare participants to transfer what they have learned back to the classroom and to their students. To date, more than 500 North Carolina teachers have participated in the Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy.

Sponsors for 2013 include the NC Division of Forest Resources, the NC Forestry Association’s Forest Education and Conservation Foundation, and the NC Sustainable Forestry Initiative State Implementation Committee.

Meals and lodging are provided, however teachers selected to participate are required to submit a $100 deposit to hold their spot in the academy, which will be returned upon arrival. CEU renewal credits will be awarded.

More information and online registration : www.ncsu.edu/sfta. Registration will remain open until April 5, 2013.

Currently the Academy is only available to North Carolina teachers, however similar opportunities for teachers in other states can be found at http://www.forestinfo.org/forestry_tours/2013.

N.C. State Golf Management Students to Help Northgreen Country Club

Posted on February 13, 2013 by

N.C. State University has chosen Northgreen Country Club as a classroom case study for students this semester who are trying to make a career in the golf industry.

PGM students gain hands on knowledge through required internships and service projects

The PGA Golf Management course students have been analyzing Northgreen and its clubhouse and are offering suggestions for improving the business. The students, who are taking the course in the university’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, also are making site visits and will be assisting with clinics and other duties at the course.

The golf course was chosen for this semester’s case study after residents of the Northgreen Village Association sat down with course owner Ed Holloman to discuss ways they could work together to improve the course, which is considered a major selling point for their properties.

The partnership  between the university and course a win-win situation for everyone involved, Northgreen owner Wayne Holloman said. He said Northgreen Country Club gets free advice about how to improve the course and improve its bottom line. And students get a chance to work at a blue-collar course that is open to the public and similar to clubs some will be working at when they graduate, course instructor Andy Betz said. He said his upper- level students are putting together a marketing plan for Northgreen.

Holloman said (the partnership) resulted in what amounted to a free consultation. “It was amazing to see college kids put that much serious effort into something.” Residents said any  improvements to the course can only be a plus for the neighborhood.

Adapted from the “Rocky Mount Telegram”.
Read the complete article, written by John Henderson and published February 11, 2013