Zoos, aquariums and other free-choice/informal education settings offer the public opportunities to interact with live animals in exhibits through animal encounters and/or touch experiences designed to carry a conservation mission. Many of these institutions are accredited by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the World Association of...
There is growing evidence that children develop science-related interests in early childhood, before they enter school, and that these interests may have long-term implications for science participation and achievement. Although researchers have made headway in describing interest development in the preschool years, little is currently known about the proximal processes...
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on identity and how it shapes visitor
experience in free-choice learning (FCL) environments. Inquiry into how visitor's sex
impacts identity and experience has yielded equivocal results. To date there has been no
research into how the psychosocial construct of gender and...
Human development researchers consider adolescence a rich time for interest development and identity exploration. A relatively new movement in the Free-Choice Learning (FCL) arena, the Maker movement, offers learners interest-driven, experiential, often collaborative, and process-oriented activities ranging from game design (computer-based and otherwise) and robotics, to sewing LEDs into clothing...
Aerobic heterotrophic bacteria associated with oyster larvae feed
algae Isochrysis galbana, Monochrysis lutheri and Pseudoisochrysis
paradoxa were isolated and enumerated. The bacterial numbers ranged
from 7.8x10³ to 3.9x10⁶ CFU per ml. The bacteria associated with
Pseudoisochrysis sp. were identified and the majority of isolates
belonged to genera Leucothrix (51%). Also...
Agricultural field burning in Oregon's Willamette Valley
has been an accepted farming practice for sanitizing fields and removing
stubble and residues left on fields after harvest since the
early 1940s. Unfortunately, the smoke and debris created by the
burning in combination with other pollutants have been causing health
and environmental...
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) is considered by many to be among the most powerful and most contentious environmental laws in the United States. Persistent challenges to the Act’s implementation make reaching conservation goals problematic. Most notably, the very nature of the law—providing protections for species already at...
Coastal marsh vegetation is an important component in maintaining marsh stability that is threatened by changes in sedimentation, sea level rise, natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and competition from invasive species. Vegetation has been demonstrated to reduce wave energy, increase sedimentation, and decrease erosion in tidal environments under a range of...