Weedon Island Nature Preserve in Florida houses an educational center, which displays a visual and rhetorical narrative of local ecology and the lifeways of the region's Indigenous inhabitants. We conduct rhetorical and narrative analysis to examine how the exhibits construct the relationship between Indigenous people and the land. We conclude…

This research shows that employing critical thinking (problem-solving and scientific reasoning) skills when learning about climate change helped undergraduate biology students to understand the subject matter better. In this post hoc analysis of pre- and post-test scores from a public Florida undergraduate college, we identified significant…

Anthropogenic climate change and recreational use of coral reefs has led to the degradation of essential ecosystems globally. Over half of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed causing a loss in biodiversity due to overfishing, sea level rise, intensifying storm activity, and habitat destruction from human activity, making reefs one of the…

Historically, science education has not adequately addressed the concerns and values of BIPOC individuals and women, especially those who fall into both categories. One way that educators are addressing this disparity is by incorporating social justice into their curricula. Climate change is one of today's most pressing issues, and youth have much…

Leaders in education must focus on improving teacher attrition because teacher turnover contributes to lower student academic achievements by disrupting the learning environment for both students and teachers (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). This study took place in a North Florida School district where school and district leaders are…

Developmental disability rates may vary by the season or month in which children are born. However, the seasonal mechanisms, such as climate, underlying these variations are unclear. Previous studies focused on high-latitude regions, leaving this climate hypothesis only partially tested. We analyzed rates of developmental disabilities in 3- to…

We reflect on the use of photovoice methods in a hybrid classroom environment for an interdisciplinary course titled Climate and Society at the University of Miami. The activities, based on our team's hyperlocal method of community-based climate adaptation engagement, create opportunities to engage with the complexities of climate science and…

Background: College students need the ability to generalize and apply solutions through reflective practice. University faculty need professional development to use authentic cases to prepare students for the future. Purpose: This study was to explore the experiences of faculty through a year-long professional development program that included a…

As storms become more intense and sea levels rise, coastal cultural institutions are seeking ways to protect and preserve their collections within the challenging context of limited budgets and human resources. These institutions are not alone in their consideration of climate change risk; coastal colleges and universities, which are also…

Previous research showed that the Great Recession of 2007-2008 had negative effects on student test scores. These declines were linked, in part, to the negative effects of states' educational budget cuts or less spending per student. Using individual student test scores, this paper examines whether the level of school quality (as measured by…

Biodiversity loss and rising global challenges are directly linked to the current climate crisis. Peoples' behaviors and lives are being negatively impacted daily, ushering in a new wave of physiological and emotional distress referred to as eco-anxiety, which is being experienced by young people. Urgent concerns for the need for environmental…

The article explores how a dearth of job opportunities in the broader economy affects teacher quality--a key question, as teachers affect student outcomes during school and well into adulthood. It is a timely question as well, since jobseekers are likely to outnumber openings for some time. That may benefit U.S. schools and students in the long…

Hope is an important component that helps engage people in solving problems. Environmental educational resources addressing climate change effectively should ideally nurture hope as well as increase understanding about the issue. However, hopefulness about resolving climate change challenges is a relatively new construct in the literature and…

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…

School boards remain one of the most powerful forces in American education, helping to set curricula, evaluate teachers, and direct hundreds of billions of dollars in education funding. Yet teachers' unions play an outsized role in determining who serves on these boards. If the interests of teachers are perfectly aligned with those of students,…