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The Enhancement of Climate Change Science Communication and Understanding Through Glacier Tourism

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The Enhancement of Climate Change Science Communication and Understanding Through Glacier Tourism Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Masters Theses & Specialist Projects Graduate School Spring 2020 The Enhancement of Climate Change Science Communication and Understanding Through Glacier Tourism Natalie Jean Kincheloe Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses Part of the Environmental Education Commons, Geography Commons, and the Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration Commons Recommended Citation Kincheloe, Natalie Jean, "The Enhancement of Climate Change Science Communication and Understanding Through Glacier Tourism" (2020). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 3218. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/3218 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses & Specialist Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ENHANCEMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND UNDERSTANDING THROUGH GLACIER TOURISM A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Geography and Geology Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science By Natalie Kincheloe May 2020 $$$#%$ %"#$$"%"$%"# (;,",*644,5+,+'''''''''''''''''''July 15, 2020 Digitally signed by North, Leslie ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''North, Leslie Date: 2020.07.22 23:05:35 -05'00' ,:30,69;/09,*;696-$/,:0: ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' (:65 663232 Digitally signed by David J. David J. Keeling Keeling '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Date: 2020.07.27 20:09:34 -05'00' (=0+,,305. 07/30/2020 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Ranjit Koodali Associate Provost for Research and G9(+<(;, Education ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Leslie North, for her continuous guidance, support, encouragement, and motivation while being in this program. This thesis would not have been possible without you. In addition, I would like to thank my committee members Dr. Jason Polk and Dr. David Keeling. Dr. Polk, thank you for the abundance of opportunities you’ve given me these past two years. Dr. Keeling, thank you for your wisdom and additional perspective you’ve provided for this thesis. I would also like to thank Into the Glacier, Glacier Lagoon, and Icelandic Mountain Guide for being so welcoming whilst in Iceland and letting my team and me collect data at your tour sites. Additional thanks to CHNGES and the Department of Geography and Geology for supporting this project, and the WKU FUSE Grant for the much-needed funding. To Cara, my research partner and long-time friend, thank you for being so willing to tackle Iceland with me; your support and friendship over the years means more to me than you could know. Chase, thank you for your constant patience through this entire process - for listening to my frustrations and watching me write for hours on end, and still being my biggest supporter these past two years. iii CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................1 1.1: Research Purpose and Questions .....................................................................3 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................6 2.1: Climate Change.................................................................................................6 2.2: Globalization ...................................................................................................10 2.3: Tourism ...........................................................................................................12 2.3.1: Nature-Based Tourism ...................................................................15 2.4: Tourism in the Arctic ......................................................................................19 2.4.1: Last-Chance Tourism .....................................................................22 2.4.2: Glaciers and Glacier Tourism ........................................................26 2.4.3: Tourism in Iceland .........................................................................30 2.4.4: Icelandic Glaciers and Glacier Tourism .........................................32 2.5: Environmental Education ...............................................................................33 2.5.1: Informal Learning ..........................................................................36 2.5.2: Environmental Interpretation .........................................................39 2.6: Conclusion ......................................................................................................41 Chapter 3: Study Area ......................................................................................................43 3.1: Physical Geography ........................................................................................43 3.1.1: Climatic Influences ........................................................................45 3.1.2: Glaciers ...........................................................................................46 3.2: Cultural Geography.........................................................................................48 3.2.1: Economic Influences ......................................................................49 iv 3.2.1: Tourism in Iceland .........................................................................50 3.3: Study Sites ......................................................................................................51 3.3.1: Sólheimajökull ...............................................................................51 3.3.2: Langjökull ......................................................................................53 3.3.3: Jökulsárlón .....................................................................................55 Chapter 4: Methodology ...................................................................................................58 4.1: Participant Recruitment ..................................................................................59 4.2: Data Collection ...............................................................................................61 4.2.1 Pre- and Post-Outcome Assessments ..............................................62 4.2.2 Semi-Structured Interviews .............................................................64 4.2.3 Observational Data ..........................................................................65 4.3: Data Analysis ..................................................................................................65 4.4: Limitations ......................................................................................................68 Chapter 5: Results and Discussion ...................................................................................71 5.1: Sample Characteristics ....................................................................................71 5.1.1 Semi-Structured Interviews .............................................................71 5.1.2 Pre- and Post-Assessments ..............................................................73 5.2: Sólheimajökull ................................................................................................76 5.2.1 Semi-Structured Interviews .............................................................79 5.2.2 Pre- and Post-Assessments ..............................................................83 5.3: Into the Glacier ...............................................................................................92 5.3.1 Semi-Structured Interviews .............................................................93 5.3.2 Pre- and Post-Assessments ..............................................................97 v 5.4: Jökulsárlón ....................................................................................................106 5.4.1 Semi-Structured Interviews ...........................................................107 5.4.2 Pre- and Post-Assessments ............................................................110 5.4.3 Guided Tour ..................................................................................118 5.5 Site Comparisons ...........................................................................................123 Chapter 6: Conclusion ....................................................................................................133 6.1 Recommendations for Development ..............................................................138 6.2 Future Research .............................................................................................140 References ......................................................................................................................142 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Impact of Climate Change on Glacier Landscapes .........................................10 Figure 2.2 Contribution of Tourism Sector to World Economy and Employment ..........13 Figure 2.3 Environmental Interpretation Behavior Change Model ..................................40 Figure 3.1 Map of Study Sites ..........................................................................................44 Figure 3.2 Sólheimajökull Glacier ...................................................................................53 Figure 3.3
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