DOCSLIB.ORG

Building & Measuring

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Building & Measuring Department of Environmental Studies DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PAGE The undersigned have examined the dissertation entitled: “Building & Measuring Psychological Capacity for Biodiversity Conservation”, presented by Kayla A. Cranston, candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and hereby certify that it is accepted* Committee Co-Chair: Carol D. Saunders, Ph.D. Research Faculty Antioch University New England Committee Co-Chair: Beth A. Kaplin, Ph.D. Core Faculty Antioch University New England; University of Rwanda Committee Member: Jean Kayira, Ph.D. Core Faculty and Associate Director of Doctoral Program in Environmental Studies, Antioch University New England Committee Member: Raymond De Young, Ph.D. Associate Professor, University of Michigan Defense Date: May 13, 2016 Date Submitted to the Registrar’s Office: *Signatures are on file with the Registrar’s Office, Antioch University New England. Building & Measuring Psychological Capacity for Biodiversity Conservation by Kayla A. Cranston A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England 2016 © 2016 by Kayla A. Cranston All rights reserved. Acknowledgements Thank you to Dr. Carol Saunders for offering the wisdom and guidance that made this dissertation possible. Because of you, I have found my true calling in Conservation Psychology. Thank you to Dr. Beth Kaplin for encouraging me to apply my expertise to real-world challenges in capacity building and for introducing me to the leaders and organizations that made that possible. Thank you to Dr. Raymond De Young for your expertise and keen eye for nuance throughout this process. Thank you to Dr. Jean Kayira for offering your critical perspective and at the most essential time. Thank you to the members and staff of the Regional Network for Conservation Educators in the Albertine Rift for your inspiration and participation, which allowed my research to be grounded in reality. Thank you to Dr Rosie Trevelyan, Anthony Kuria, and Francine Madden for guiding my data collection with the Tropical Biology Association and Human Wildlife Conflict Collaboration alumni. Thank you to Tropical Biology Association and Human Wildlife Conflict Collaboration training alumni for the insight you offered into your personal experiences of the capacity building process. Thank you to Dr. Michael Sutherland for guiding and supporting me with alacrity throughout the data analysis process. I am grateful to my fellow classmates, faculty, staff and administration at Antioch University New England for your encouragement and support. I could write an entire dissertation on the many ways in which I am grateful for my family’s support throughout this process. I extend special thanks to my sisters, Elli and Jennie, for fielding my many existential crises calls throughout the years and to my partner, Gabriel, for his love and support every day on the front lines with me. i Abstract Capacity building has become the centerpiece of recent attempts to strengthen regional biodiversity conservation. Many conservation organizations aim to increase this capacity by training local conservation professionals. While many practitioners will agree that these trainings presumably have a psychological effect on their participants that may benefit long-term local action toward conservation goals, there also seems to be a resignation that these effects are difficult if not impossible to measure and target, especially within diverse cultures. The common result is a perfunctory evaluation of observable behaviors or basic knowledge, which may be easy to count but undoubtedly fails to represent the nuance of complex psychological variables associated with long- term capacity to conserve biodiversity. My dissertation is fundamentally aimed at investigating capacity for biodiversity conservation at this psychological level. Specifically, I explored the current understanding of capacity for biodiversity conservation and how this understanding can be supplemented by psychological theory to strengthen the development, evaluation, and prediction of this capacity over time. I did this within the context of case studies that focus on three separate populations of conservation professionals who participated in capacity building trainings in Africa and North America between 1994 and 2014. I administered surveys to these conservation professionals to create and validate an instrument that measures the construct I call psychological capacity for biodiversity conservation (PCBC). PCBC includes psychological dimensions such as meaningful ownership, effective autonomy, being needed, group effectiveness, and understanding. I administered the PCBC survey instrument to training alumni and conducted interviews with their trainers to the evaluate ii the effectiveness of the capacity building methods at increasing PCBC directly after and two to ten years after a training. I found that meaningful ownership, effective autonomy, and being needed predicted 34% of the variance in long-term capacity behavior in conservation professionals after training. I recommend specific training methods that I found to significantly increase these dimensions of PCBC. Together, these results offer a novel approach to capacity development and evaluation and a psychometric instrument that can be used to predict long-term capacity for biodiversity conservation in a diverse population of conservation professionals. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... i Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 References for Chapter 1 .......................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2. Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 13 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13 Defining Capacity Building for Biodiversity Conservation ..................................................... 17 Individual Capacity for Biodiversity Conservation .................................................................. 23 A Psychological Lens on Individual Capacity for Biodiversity Conservation ......................... 28 References for Chapter 2 .......................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 3. Willing & able: Measuring the effectiveness of training methods to build psychological capacity for biodiversity conservation .................................................................. 40 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 40 Literature Review...................................................................................................................... 44 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 50 Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 51 Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 56 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 58 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 73 References for Chapter 3 .......................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 4. Building durable capacity: Training methods to increase the psychological dimensions that predict long-term capacity for biodiversity conservation ................................... 93 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 93 Literature Review...................................................................................................................... 94 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 97 Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 100 Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 103 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 106 Discussion ................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Conservation Psychology: a Gap in Current Australian Undergraduate Psychology Education?
    Sustainability 2013, 5, 1266-1281; doi:10.3390/su5031266 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Article Conservation Psychology: A Gap in Current Australian Undergraduate Psychology Education? Elissa Pearson School of Psychology, Social Work & Social Policy, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +61-8-8302-4843 Received: 20 December 2013; in revised form: 7 March 2013 / Accepted: 7 March 2013 / Published: 19 March 2013 Abstract: Human actions have contributed to numerous environmental challenges, including climate change and a significant loss of the world‘s biodiversity. As the scientific study of human thought and behaviour, psychology has much to offer in better understanding these issues, as well as fostering greater sustainability in human actions. Yet, despite this recognition, and increasing calls from leaders in psychology education to produce graduates capable of applying their disciplinary knowledge to such real-world issues to solve worldwide behaviourally-based problems; this may not be adequately addressed in current psychology training. The present study assessed the content of all APAC (Australian Psychology Accreditation Council) approved psychology programs within Australia to determine the proportion which offered a psychology-focused course (unit) specifically in conservation or sustainability. Based on the data advertised through each university website, it appears that only one of 39 programs currently offers such a course, with one other university implementing a conservation psychology course in 2013. Thus 95% of current APAC-accredited programs in Australia do not have a strong focus on training psychology graduates to contribute to addressing these important issues.
    [Show full text]
  • To Download the Full Report
    June 10, 2013 This report was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. We thank the foundation and project officers Kate Wing, Meaghan Calcari Campbell, and Eric Jacobsen for their support. The final draft has benefitted enormously from the expertise of our reviewers—Michael Mascia (World Wildlife Fund), Carol Saunders (Antioch University), and Diana Liverman (University of Arizona). Thank you also to Karin Schwartz (George Mason University) for her research assistance, and Ryan Richards for his editorial review. All errors are those of the authors. Karen Akerlof, PhD Center for Climate Change Communication George Mason University 4400 University Dr., MS6A8 Fairfax, VA 22030 [email protected] Chris Kennedy, PhD Department of Environmental Science and Policy George Mason University 4400 University Dr., MS5F2 Fairfax, VA 22030 [email protected] Cover photo ‘Earth & Sky’ by Marco Beltrametti (www.mbeo.ch) under Creative Commons license 2 Contents Executive summary .......................................................................................................................... i Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Traditional policies for changing behavior ..................................................................................... 3 "Soft" policies for behavioral change ............................................................................................. 6 Distilling lessons for evidence-based practice
    [Show full text]
  • Psychological Knowledge Relevant to Leadership in Wildlife Conservation
    Open Journal of Leadership, 2019, 8, 114-141 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ojl ISSN Online: 2167-7751 ISSN Print: 2167-7743 Psychological Knowledge Relevant to Leadership in Wildlife Conservation Simon A. Black Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK How to cite this paper: Black, S. A. (2019). Abstract Psychological Knowledge Relevant to Lea- dership in Wildlife Conservation. Open Jo- This study aims to identify whether a published leadership framework rec- urnal of Leadership, 8, 114-141. ommended for conservation professionals aligns with knowledge established https://doi.org/10.4236/ojl.2019.83007 in the wealth of literature relating to the New Psychology of Leadership. Received: July 19, 2019 Wildlife conservation involves the protection and recovery of endangered Accepted: September 20, 2019 species, landscape protection or ecosystem reconstruction and is a sector in Published: September 23, 2019 which leaders face complex systems of resource constraints, socio-political Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and resistance and technical challenges. The literature on conservation leadership Scientific Research Publishing Inc. has grown in recent years but is rarely linked to an understanding of psy- This work is licensed under the Creative chology. Studies have shown difficulties arising when a traditional power-based Commons Attribution International leadership approach is applied to conservation. Current psychological litera- License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ture addressing leadership offers suitable alternatives to the traditional ap- Open Access proach. This review identifies practical psychological research relating to competences including budgeting, planning, experimentation, training, gov- ernance and performance measurement as well as more obvious personal competences of interpersonal skills, vision, empowerment, cultural sensitiv- ity.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Psychology -- Fall 2015 V.1 Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling
    Syllabus: Conservation Psychology -- Fall 2015 v.1 Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling Course Number: CPSY-590-03 / CECP-866-03 Term: Fall 2015 Department: Counseling Psychology / Center for Community Engagement Faculty Name: Thomas Joseph Doherty, Psy.D. Faculty Contact Info Cell/Text: 503-866-1323 / [email protected] Course Calendar & Meeting Times: Days: Class Meetings • Sat 11/7/15 from 9:00 AM - 5:00PM • Sun 11/8/15 from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Location: York Graduate Center, Room 115 / 107 Catalog Description: Conservation psychology is an interdisciplinary field that explores the psychological basis of human’s care for nature and motivation toward conservation and sustainability. The course provides a background on the development of conservation psychology and survey of topics including psychological benefits of contact with nature, nature and lifespan development, environmental identity and behavior, social justice, influencing conservation action, hope and resilience, and strategic messaging and communications. The instructor will provide examples from the US and abroad. Conservation roles for mental health counselors, environmental educators and sustainability professionals will be explored. The course includes online, in-person and field-based activities. Background: Conservation psychology is an interdisciplinary field that applies psychological knowledge and research to promote people’s care for nature and their motivation toward environmental conservation and sustainability. The field coalesced in the
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Psychology
    COMMUNITY ORGANIZING FOR WATERSHED RESTORATION: The Cotati Creek Critters Outreach Program by Jenny Blaker A project submitted to Sonoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in Interdisciplinary Studies : Conservation Psychology May 2006 COMMUNITY ORGANIZING FOR WATERSHED RESTORATION The Cotati Creek Critters Outreach Program by Jenny Blaker A project submitted to Sonoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in Interdisciplinary Studies : Conservation Psychology _______________________________________ Dr. Debora Hammond, Chair _______________________________________ Dr. Ardath Lee _______________________________________ Dr. Anna Warwick Sears _______________________________________ Date i Copyright 2006 By Jenny Blaker ii AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S PROJECT Reproduction of this project is permitted with the condition that credit be given to the author. DATE:_______________________________ _______________________________ Signature _______________________________ Street Address _______________________________ City, State, Zip iii COMMUNITY ORGANIZING FOR WATERSHED RESTORATION The Cotati Creek Critters Outreach Program Project by Jenny Blaker ABSTRACT The Cotati Creek Critters is a watershed group conducting a habitat restoration project along the Laguna de Santa Rosa in Cotati. In June 2005 the group was awarded an Urban Stream Restoration grant from the California Department of Water Resources to involve the local community in planting 2,000 native trees and shrubs along the Laguna de Santa Rosa in Cotati over a two year period. The purpose of the Outreach Program is to recruit volunteers for the planting project and to foster a sense of stewardship in the local community by raising awareness of related issues in the Cotati area. This project embodies the intent of Conservation Psychology to understand and encourage behavior that promotes environmental sustainability.
    [Show full text]
  • April 2002 [PDF]
    Population and Environmental Psychology Bulletin Vol. 28, No.2, Spring, 2002 THE FUTURE OF THE DIVISION IN THIS ISSUE FEATURE ARTICLES Feature Articles Is the Marriage Over?......…………................Severy 1 Responses to Severy Statement……...……...Multiple 2 Is the Marriage Over, or is Division 34 Letter from APA President………………….Zimbardo 11 Salvageable? APA Convention Symposia Abstracts Larry Severy, Conservation Psychology……………………Brook 13 University of Florida Open-Plan Offices……………………………Veitch 15 Collaborative Program There have been troubling trends in the last several Social Justice…………………………………Solarz 16 years for Division 34 of the American Psychological Division 34 Program Overview……………………….. 16 Association. At one time or another, I, along with recent APA Business………………………………....Walsh 17 division presidents Bob Sommer and Marie Harvey, have told Book Reviews myself that as the incoming president “something has to be Stress at Work........................……………......Masters 18 done” to preserve a scholarly home base for our interests within Two Out of Three Ain't Bad.………………...Tassinary 19 the APA. The fact of the matter is that perhaps the problems Announcements……………………………………… 19 are not with the division per se, but with the American Future of the WTC Site Psychological Association itself. The three of us, along with Six Concept Plans…Lower Manhattan Development Corp 13 others such as Henry David, view the current situation as absolutely critical and in need of immediate action. So, I NEWSLETTER NEWS agreed to write this open invitation to the membership. I shall PEPB is an unrefereed forum for sharing news, ideas and opinions detail some of the problems, list a few alternative courses of in population and environmental psychology.
    [Show full text]
  • 26Th International Congress for Conservation Biology
    Program SocietySociety for for Conservation Conservation Biology Biology 26th International Congress for Conservation Biology Connecting Systems, Disciplines, and Stakeholders Baltimore, Maryland, USA • July 21-25, 2013 www.conbio.org/2013 Baltimore,2013 Maryland, USA Auckland,2011 New Zealand Edmonton,2010 Alberta, Canada Beijing,2009 China Chattanooga,2008 Tennessee, USA Port2007 Elizabeth, South Africa About the International Congress for Conservation Biology San2006 Jose, California, USA Welcome to our international forum for addressing conservation challenges. The International Congress for Conservation Biology Universidade2005 de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil is the global gathering spot for presenting and discussing new research and developments in conservation science and practice. From North America to Asia and Oceania to Europe, ICCB Columbia2004 University, New York, New York, USA moves around the world and is recognized as the most important global meeting for conservation professionals and students. University2003 of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, USA Most importantly, the ICCB connects conservation professionals and serves as the premier networking opportunity for anyone University2002 of Kent at Canterbury, United Kingdom interested in conservation. University2001 of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii, USA About the Society for Conservation Biology Dedicated to advancing the science and practice of conserving University2000 of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA Earth’s biological diversity, SCB is a global community of conservation professionals
    [Show full text]
  • Course Code HP3203 Course Title Conservation Psychology Pre
    Course Code HP3203 Course Title Conservation Psychology Pre-requisites HP1000 Introduction to Psychology HP1100 Fundamentals of Social Science Research or ES1001 Environment and Society for ASE students No of AUs 3 Course Aims Designed for students interested in how social sciences apply to present-day environmental concerns, this course aims to examine our psychological relationship with the natural world, key characteristics of that relationship, and the underlying psychology behind our ecological impact. You will learn the important role psychology has for understanding human behavior towards the environment, and how to apply a social science perspective towards sustainability issues. You will learn how people respond to nature, various ways that people interact with the environment, why people behave unsustainably, and what kinds of approaches can help foster improved sustainable behavior. The course is relevant to key current issues and will provide useful background for a wide variety of careers working on social problems, management, and research. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO) By the end of this course, you (as a student) should be able to: 1. Explain our relationship with the natural environment 2. Evaluate the psychology behind human-nature interactions 3. Recognize basic societal and ecological issues facing the sustainability of our future 4. Apply psychological theory to environmental problems 5. Review studies on the psychology of environmental issues 6. Explain the influence of natural environments on mental health and wellbeing 7. Design sustainability programs using social science models 8. Discuss the role of social sciences in solving environmental problems 9. Critically evaluate environment-related propaganda through psychology 10. Advise on behavioral solutions to sustainability issues 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Psychology SYLLABUS Fall 2015 Instructor
    University of Southern California Psych 456: Conservation Psychology SYLLABUS Fall 2015 Instructor: Nicole Sintov, Ph.D. Classroom location: SGM 226 Email: [email protected] Class Meetings: Tu Th 6:00- 7:50pm Office: VPD 201 Office Hours: Tu 3:30-5:30 or by Appointment Course Description Welcome to Conservation Psychology! The field of psychology is the scientific study of behavior. This course will introduce you to Conservation Psychology, that is, how psychological processes influence behaviors that help or hurt the environment, and how psychology can be used to help encourage environmental conservation. Conservation Psychology is an applied field, meaning that it involves the use of psychological principles, theories, or methods, to understand and solve a social issue. Readings will be drawn from all areas of psychology. At the end of this course, you should know several psychological theories that are relevant to environmental conservation, be able draw up on them to design interventions that promote conservation, and be able to design studies to evaluate whether those interventions are effective in achieving conservation goals. Class discussions, assignments, and projects will give you the opportunity to practice applying psychology to promote environmental conservation. The course will be divided into roughly three sections. In the first section, we will examine the scientific evidence regarding a number of environmental issues, including climate chnage, ozone depletion, and depletion of natural resources like fresh water, oil, and metal deposits. For each of these issues, we will examine specific behaviors that lead to these problems. The second section of the course will examine psychological factors associated with conservation behavior.
    [Show full text]
  • The Psychology of Community-Based Conservation Programs: a Case Study of the Sumatran Orangutan
    The psychology of community-based conservation programs: A case study of the Sumatran orangutan Danielle Louise Nilsson Bachelor Behavioural Sciences (Psychology) Masters Animal Studies (Majoring Animal Science and Management) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2015 School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management Abstract Globally, dramatic declines in wildlife populations continue due to anthropogenic pressures. Many of these declines are linked to unsustainable human behaviours. In developing countries, community-based conservation programs are essential for arresting these declines. However, many programs are not effective and require substantial improvements if they are to deliver sustainable conservation outcomes. The social sciences, including conservation psychology, provide an opportunity to understand the social dimension of conservation problems and improve the effectiveness of community-based conservation programs. The Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelli) is a suitable case study for this approach. The species is critically endangered due to habitat loss and degradation, the illegal wildlife trade, hunting, and human-wildlife conflict. The future of the species relies heavily upon effectively engaging with local communities to support the conservation of the orangutan and its habitat. This thesis aims to inform community-based conservation strategies that effectively incentivise and motivate local communities in the context of developing countries to adopt conservation
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Means Behavior
    Conservation Means Behavior P. WESLEY SCHULTZ California State University, Department of Psychology, San Marcos, CA 92069, U.S.A., email [email protected] Most instances of deteriorating environmental conditions are caused by human behavior. Although there are certainly instances of such environmental conditions developing from natural processes, most are largely the result of human activity. Drivers of phenomena such as climate change, loss of species’ habitats, and ocean acidification rarely are the result of malicious intent, but rather the con- sequence of the lifestyles of billions of humans. Accordingly, efforts to promote conservation must change behavior (Ehrlich & Kennedy 2005; Schultz & Kaiser 2012). This fundamental link between conservation and behavior has been noted in a number of recent publications. Mascia et al. (2003) state that “Biodiversity conservation is a human endeavor: initiated by humans, designed by humans, and intended to modify human behavior.. ..” Cowling (2005) calls this realization “an epiphany for.. .natural scientists.” And Balmford and Cowling (2006) note that “conservation is primarily not about biology but about people and the choices they make.” Here I would go one step further and propose that conservation is a goal that can only be achieved by changing behavior. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Schultz, P. W. (2011). Conservation means behavior. Conservation Biology, 25, 1080-1083., which has been published in final form at 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01766.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving." Progress in Conservation Biology In celebrating the 25th anniversary of Conservation Biology, it is instructive to look back and assess the progress of efforts to promote conservation.
    [Show full text]
  • Committing to Conservation the World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy Mountain Gorilla Rwanda Mission Statement
    COMMITTING TO CONSERVATION THE WORLD ZOO AND AQUARIUM CONSERVATION STRATEGY MOUNTAIN GORILLA RWANDA MISSION STATEMENT WAZA is the voice of a global community of zoos and aquariums and a catalyst for their joint conservation action GENERAL | Credits | Contributing Authors CREDITS Title Copyright Committing to Conservation: © 2015 World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy Citation Editors Barongi, R., Fisken, F. A., Parker, M. & Gusset, M. (eds) (2015) Rick Barongi, Fiona A. Fisken, Martha Parker & Markus Gusset Committing to Conservation: The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy. Gland: WAZA Executive Office, 69 pp. Publisher World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Executive Office, Gland, Switzerland WAZA Executive Office IUCN Conservation Centre Layout and Design Megan Farias, Houston Zoo, TX, USA Rue Mauverney 28 CH-1196 Gland Cover Photography Switzerland Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) © idreamphoto Grey-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix cinerea) © Joel Satore, Photo Ark [email protected] www.waza.org Print Chas. P. Young, Houston, TX, USA ISBN 978-2-8399-1694-3 CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Rick Barongi Lesley Dickie Heribert Hofer Houston Zoo, Houston, TX 77030, USA IUCN Asian Species Action Partnership Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife (ASAP), UK Research (IZW), 10315 Berlin, Germany Jeffrey P. Bonner Saint Louis Zoo, St Louis, MO 63110, USA Fiona A. Fisken Susan Hunt Zoological Society of London, Zoological Parks Authority, Perth Zoo, Paul Boyle London NW1 4RY,
    [Show full text]