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Environmental and conservation education programs are commonly offered in the rapidly expanding network of protected areas in developing countries. There have been few evaluations of these programs and their impacts on participants. At Serra Malagueta Natural Park in Cape Verde, we assessed changes in environmental knowledge, opinions, and behaviors among visiting school children and a comparison group that did not visit the park. Participation in the park's conservation education program has a positive impact on environmental knowledge after the visit. The program may also contribute to student knowledge by influencing classroom teaching in anticipation of the park visit.

Significant life experience research suggests that the presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools.

The Great Recession contributed to major budget cuts for natural resource Extension programs in the United States. Despite the potentially large cuts, their impacts and how Extension has adapted their programs have not been evaluated. We begin addressing these needs with surveys of Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals members and State Extension Service Administrators in 2011. Results indicate that Extension programs have adapted to cuts by increasing reliance on grants, fees, and partnerships. We suggest the need to better understand the implications of cuts for natural resource Extension and its customers.

Young learners benefit from learning and engaging in nature, but nature-based outdoor learning impacts on teachers are less understood. The present study examined elementary school teachers' learning experiences with science instruction in outdoor natural settings. An Outdoor Science Education (OSE) program partnered with schools in the southeastern U.S. to provide standardsaligned outdoor science lesson expeditions for fifth-grade students. Teachers reported their participation in expeditions improved their own content knowledge in science and contributed to their confidence teaching science and teaching in the outdoors. In addition, teachers reported their perceptions of students' performance in their science classes and on standardized science tests. The teachers described their perceptions about how the expeditions improved their students' engagement for learning and behavior in outdoor settings when compared to indoor science instruction. They discussed how these changes were most obvious for students who struggled with traditional classroom instruction. Using survey and interview data, we discuss the potential for teacher learning related to outdoor science instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]