Massive extinctions of animals and the arrival of the first humans in ancient Australia--which occurred 45,000 to 55,000 years ago--may be linked. Researchers at the Carnegie Institution, University of Colorado, Australian National University, and Bates College believe that massive fires set by the first humans may have altered the ecosystem of…

Biodiversity is an abstract concept, attracting various responses from different people according to where they have come from and what ecosystems they have been closely linked to. In theory, most people would agree that protecting biodiversity is an important process, but in practice, few people commit to actions on a local level. This paper…

In California, and elsewhere, faculty are being encouraged to create "service learning opportunities" for their students, such as having social work students volunteer at a local soup kitchen, or having environmental studies students reforest the local watershed. While these endeavors have obvious social value, their education value…

Many facilities are considering no-water urinals because they are regarded as an effective way to conserve water. Water must be pumped by electricity, some estimate that as much as $300 per year per urinal can be saved in utility costs. The installation of no-water urinals can help buildings achieve credits toward Leadership in Energy and…

When there's less rainfall, communities often restrict water use to conserve water. But as the U.S. population expands into more arid, drought-stricken areas, the increasing demand for water can stress water districts even in years that see average water supplies. As such, education facilities, which use large amounts of water, are placed under…

In this White Paper, the Business Roundtable recommends access to AMERICA 21, a 21st-century approach to lifelong learning for workers, as well as assistance for job dislocation. AMERICA 21 would channel funding from the myriad of existing initiatives into a modernized, streamlined system that leverages and builds on today's best private and…

The indigenous community of San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro in Mexico has been engaged in a successful Community Forest Enterprise employing sustainable management practices since 1981. These environmental practices do not seem to be reflected in the educational programmes developed at school. In this study, the environmental knowledge and interest…

At many universities, much of the learning in the undergraduate curriculum is discipline based, with very little integration of material from different subject areas. Furthermore, not all undergraduate business students have the opportunity to take courses with a diversity component that exposes them to the cultural and other differences that…

On August 1st, 2007, Indigenous nations from within the United States, Canada, Australia, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) signed a treaty to found the United League of Indigenous Nations. The Treaty of Indigenous Nations offers a historic opportunity for sovereign Indigenous governments to build intertribal cooperation outside the framework of the…

Frames theory has been widely used to explain the dynamics of group processes and decision-making. Some researchers have applied frames theory to policy adoption and implementation. Following from this, my research applies frames analysis to a regulatory program in coastal Louisiana. The data derive from a pre-Hurricane Katrina study of the…

This paper discusses the emerging field of place-based education or place-based pedagogy--an approach that seeks to enhance children's perspective of "place" via school and community related environmental projects. Place-based education is proposed as an approach that enables students to establish a connection to a place, its people, and…

Lifecycle assessment (LCA) is a valuable tool in teaching green engineering and has been used to assess biofuels, including ethanol. An undergraduate engineering course at Duke University has integrated LCA with other interactive teaching techniques to enhance awareness and to inform engineering decision making related to societal issues, such as…

Pairing dynamic out-of-school-time (OST) programs with zoos can encourage young people's relationships with and sense of responsibility for animals and the environment. The project presented in this article, Animal Rescuers, gave the authors the opportunity to examine how such a pairing can work. OST programs enable learning in settings that are…

While a number of excellent campus climate planning resources are available, this guide attempts to fill a gap by providing an abundance of "how-to" information. The goal of the guide is to assist climate action planning teams at schools that are well versed in campus climate issues and well along in the CAP (Climate Action Planning) process as…

This study explores the utility of employing knowledge management as a framework for understanding how public managers perform ecosystem management. It applies the grounded theory method to build a model. The model is generated by applying the concept of knowledge process to an investigation of how the urban ecosystem is publicly managed by civil…