Our planet is facing many environmental challenges, including climate change, loss of biodiversity and habitat, and pollution, while many of our populations are also experiencing marginalization due to poverty, race, gender, language, ability, and environmental injustices. Environmental hazards and policies often impact those in society who are…

Due to increasing urbanization, wetlands and streams within city limits are being altered, filled in, and degraded. The habitat that remains is critical for providing urban areas with ecosystem services and maintaining biodiversity, yet is often insufficiently monitored by environmental agencies due to a lack of resources. To help fill this void,…

Scientists, related professionals, and the public have for decades called for greater interaction among scientists, policymakers, and the media to address contemporary environmental challenges. Practical examples of effective "real-world" programs designed to catalyze interactions and provide relevant science are few. Existing successful models…

Encouraging nonprofessionals to participate in ecological research through citizen science programs is a recent innovation and an effective strategy for gathering ecological information across broad geographical areas. In this paper, we demonstrate how reporting field-based observations through eBird, a citizen-based birding and data-recording…

Widespread and continuous spatial and temporal environmental data is essential for effective environmental monitoring, sustainable natural resource management, and ecologically responsible decisions. Our environmental monitoring, data management and reporting enterprise is not matched to current problems, concerns, and decision-making needs.…

Describes the Children's Zoo Design Project, the purpose of which is to provide a central resource to which zoos contemplating design change might turn. Reports on surveys of zoos, site visits, and the thinking and conclusions of a workshop/seminar participated in by students, zoo professionals, and others involved in zoo design and education.…

The Building Migratory Bridges (BOMB) program--a collaboration between the Marvel wood School and Audubon Sharon in Connecticut and Conservation Research Education Action (CR EA), a U.S. not-for-profit in Panama--uses nontropical migratory bird research in the United States and Panama to demonstrate how negative environmental impacts in one…

A Water Celebration is a free one- to three-day event to entertain and educate communities about the importance of water. Celebrations organized for school children include classroom activities, exhibit areas, contests, games, and teacher networking opportunities. Celebrations for adults range from water conservation conventions to forums on wise…

This publication gives an overview of the problems caused by plastic debris in the marine environment and describes how citizens and public officials are working together to solve these problems. Chapter I introduces the reader to the problems caused by plastic debris in the marine environment. Chapter II examines the types of debris that are…

This paper describes how a water monitoring program uses a science research paper to help students apply knowledge learned from the field, the lab, and class discussion. The application consists of examining water quality data of a river and determining what factors had an impact on the river, either biotic or abiotic. Students are asked to…

Describes water-related activities in an elementary school science project. Activities focus on mini aquaria, permanent aquaria, water toys, sea power, imagination, and village ponds. (DH)

Describes an interpretive program designed to generate excitement about natural resources in teens. Teens are involved in everyday routines at the preserve to instill a sense of stewardship. Repetition reinforces the importance of these tasks for the preserve. Examples of projects include bird census work, stream sampling, and exotic plant…

Environmental education and training have been key elements of Unesco's Program on Man and the Biosphere (MAB) since its inception in 1971. The MAB Program is an intergovernmental program of research, training, demonstration and distribution of information, aimed at providing the scientific background and the trained personnel to deal with…

Four students at St. Louis University High School developed a project to clean up the environment while saving energy and natural resources. Aluminum and steel cans were recycled and the money was used to buy and plant trees. Students learned about recycling, organization, money management, and improving the environment. (JMM)

Describes water-related activities in an elementary school science project. These activities focus on electric generators, rainfall, erosion, floating, water conservation, and other areas. Brief comments on developing such a project are included. (JN)