We often have little evidence of success to take to stakeholders in the preliminary stages of restoration projects. However, presenting initial monitoring data can allow for impactful science communication and stakeholder engagement around the early progress of restoration. We use reforestation monitoring in the Paulins Kill watershed to highlight…

Differences in attitudes, perceived behavioral control, social norms (i.e., influence of others), and intent to engage in good residential landscape fertilizer practices were examined among people with high- and low-exposure to water bodies (blue space). Florida's residential fertilizer users are exposed to stormwater retention ponds, lakes, and…

This study provided practical advice for energy and water conservation message design by examining the role of choice provision (a message feature), message elaboration (a situational factor), and issue involvement (an individual factor) on intentions to conserve. The data were collected through an online survey experiment (N = 857). Across…

Guided by Crano's vested interest theory (VIT), this study examined how vested interest moderated the relationship between individuals' attitudes and intentions in the context of energy and water conservation. Participants (N = 432) completed a survey on energy emissions (N = 215) or water scarcity (N = 217). Across topics, salience had a main…

This study presents findings from a residential survey that examines education and outreach programs and their impacts on adoption of best management practices (BMPs). Findings indicate that specific exposure to the BMP through a place-based experience facilitated by a local organization (ecology action center--EAC) has a positive effect, but the…

Water conservation in residential landscapes remains essential to mitigate projected global water shortages. Social media has seldom been used to drive engagement in conservation and may be an important channel for environmental change agents to communicate to clientele and promote behavior changes. We tested messages framed with real conservation…

When museums commission green buildings, those buildings are often covered in the press. To understand the educational potential of green building press coverage, we qualitatively analyzed 96 articles about eight U.S. green science museums. We found that journalists who cover green buildings highlight green roofs, material choices,…

Virtual reality (VR) and electronic field trips (EFT) can introduce youth to natural environments, climate change mitigation strategies, and related STEM careers. We developed a VR and EFT outreach program featuring scientists working on living shorelines for coastal restoration as a response to sea-level rise and examined the program's impacts on…

"You Live in a Watershed" is a state park exhibit about watersheds. We conducted a two-pronged assessment of learning and attitudes. Study 1 employed a pretest-intervention-posttest design with 30 children visiting the exhibit on a fieldtrip. We found significant increases in knowledge and attitudes. Study 2 was a quasi-experimental…

Sustainable use of freshwater is globally important. Yet implementation of changes in water management is poor, especially in developing countries. This is an indication that, despite our dependence on freshwater, we lack awareness of the need to protect these systems. Here we promote dragonflies as an easy-to-learn tool in environmental education…

As societies search for ways to deal with increasing environmental issues due to human impacts, the urgency increases for public schools to produce graduates who are environmentally literate and thus equipped to deal with the environmental issues that will face upcoming generations. This research presents a case study that examines the impact of a…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate ExxonMobil's social responsibility/social responsiveness (SR) communication to determine the company's social responsibility messaging in terms of the Social Responsibility themes of the Triple bottom Line Model (profit, people, planet) and to evaluate if the messaging changed in response to external…

Environmental campaigns provide information to encourage people to alter their behaviors but with mixed success. Terror Management Theory (TMT)--and the influence of mortality reminders--offers a useful framework for understanding environmentally significant behaviors, and provides critical insights for developing more effective environmental…

This mixed methods case study research evaluates the outcomes of a place-based experiential environmental education curriculum that incorporated environmental art and muralism to teach fifth to sixth graders about the Hudson River Watershed, environmental issues, and ecosystem recovery. Students showed a statistically significant improvement at…

This study was designed to collect formative information for the development of theoretically driven water conservation communication efforts targeting the business sector of water users. Members from a West Texas Chamber of Commerce were recruited for participation in an online survey. Questionnaire responses were collected from 176 commercial…