@article{reas_stevenson_gibson_beall_larson_2024, title={Nature or the outdoors? Understanding the power of language in elementary students' self-reported connection to nature}, volume={1}, ISSN={["1469-5871"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2024.2311190}, DOI={10.1080/13504622.2024.2311190}, abstractNote={Many previous studies have measured elementary-aged students' connection to nature (CTN), but few have explicitly considered how the use of different terminology (e.g. 'nature' versus 'the outdoors') can influence those connections. We utilized a quasi-experimental design to test for differences in affective and self-reported connections to nature among diverse groups of fourth and fifth grade students from two elementary schools in Wake County, North Carolina. We used Mann–Whitney U tests to compare these outcomes between two versions of a survey, one using the word 'nature' (n = 112) and one using the word 'outdoors' (n = 113), for (1) the whole sample (n = 225) (2) between boys and girls, and (3) between students of color and white students. Self-reported CTN did not vary significantly based on terminology used, but we did find some differences in levels of emotional affinity that students associated with each term. Our results suggest that the differences in which young audiences perceive the terms 'nature' versus 'outdoors' are nuanced and may offer insight into how language about the environment may invoke different emotions among children.}, journal={ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION RESEARCH}, author={Reas, Julianne and Stevenson, Kathryn T. and Gibson, Lauren and Beall, Justin and Larson, Lincoln R.}, year={2024}, month={Jan} }
 @article{gibson_stevenson_busch_cutts_seekamp_krementz_2024, title={Pushing toward systemic change in the Capitalocene: Investigating the efficacy of existing behavior prediction models on individual and collective pro-environmental actions in high school students}, volume={55}, ISSN={["1940-1892"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2023.2259853}, DOI={10.1080/00958964.2023.2259853}, abstractNote={Environmental education often advocates for individual pro-environmental behavior—which, while beneficial to a degree, fails to match the large scale of today's capitalism-fueled socio-ecological challenges. Rather, collective action holds promise as a means for the large-scale changes required in the Capitalocene. These actions can take the shape of encouraging group uptake of behaviors (collective non-activist behaviors) or through fostering system change (collective activist behaviors). This study works to understand how well the environmental literacy framework combined with the theory of planned behavior predicts collective environmental behaviors, using North Carolina high school students as a study population. We find that, while these models effectively predict student engagement in individual environmental behaviors (adjusted R2 = 0.39), they are less accurate at predicting engagement in collective non-activist behaviors (adjusted R2 = 0.17) and collective activist behaviors (adjusted R2 = 0.10). Thus, more research and theory-building are needed to understand what drives collective behavior among youth and beyond.}, number={2}, journal={JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION}, author={Gibson, Lauren and Stevenson, Kathryn and Busch, K. C. and Cutts, Bethany and Seekamp, Erin and Krementz, Sarah}, year={2024}, month={Mar}, pages={102–124} }
 @article{gibson_busch_stevenson_cutts_demattia_aguilar_ardoin_carrier_clark_cooper_et al._2022, title={What is community-level environmental literacy, and how can we measure it? A report of a convening to conceptualize and operationalize CLEL}, volume={5}, ISSN={["1469-5871"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2022.2067325}, DOI={10.1080/13504622.2022.2067325}, abstractNote={Abstract Environmental education research often emphasizes the importance of community context, but conceptualization and measurement of environmental literacy has mostly occurred at the individual level, often focusing on individual behaviors. The environmental problems facing the world today require collective action—communities coming together to address large-scale problems. Accordingly, understanding and encouraging collective action requires a shift in focus from individual to community-level environmental literacy (CLEL). Despite its importance, CLEL has been left largely undefined and unmentioned in environmental education literature. To understand the field’s current conceptualizations and measurement strategies around CLEL, the authors held a convening of 24 researchers to discuss the topic. Here, we report the findings of this convening and present a series of tensions that emerged in conceptualizing and measuring CLEL. We see this area of research as rich with opportunity for innovation and offer considerations for researchers engaging in this work.}, journal={ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION RESEARCH}, publisher={Informa UK Limited}, author={Gibson, Lauren M. and Busch, K. C. and Stevenson, Kathryn T. and Cutts, Bethany B. and DeMattia, Elizabeth A. and Aguilar, Olivia M. and Ardoin, Nicole M. and Carrier, Sarah J. and Clark, Charlotte R. and Cooper, Caren B. and et al.}, year={2022}, month={Apr} }