Linking Indigenous Knowledge and Observed Climate Change Studies

We present indigenous knowledge narratives and explore their connections to documented temperature and other climate changes and observed climate change impact studies. We then propose a framework for enhancing integration of these indigenous narratives of observed climate change with global assessments. Our aim is to contribute to the thoughtful and respectful integration of indigenous knowledge with scientific data and analysis, so that this rich body of knowledge can inform science, and so that indigenous and traditional peoples can use the tools and methods of science for the benefit of their communities if they choose to do so. Enhancing ways of understanding such connections are critical as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment process gets underway

The state of capacity development evaluation in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management

Capacity development is critical to long-term conservation success, yet we lack a robust and rigorous understanding of how well its effects are being evaluated. A comprehensive summary of who is monitoring and evaluating capacity development interventions, what is being evaluated and how, would help in the development of evidence-based guidance to inform design and implementation decisions for future capacity development interventions and evaluations of their effectiveness. We built an evidence map by reviewing peer-reviewed and grey literature published since 2000, to identify case studies evaluating capacity development interventions in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. We used inductive and deductive approaches to develop a coding strategy for studies that met our criteria, extracting data on the type of capacity development intervention, evaluation methods, data and analysis types, categories of outputs and outcomes assessed, and whether the study had a clear causal model and/or used a systems approach. We found that almost all studies assessed multiple outcome types: most frequent was change in knowledge, followed by behaviour, then attitude. Few studies evaluated conservation outcomes. Less than half included an explicit causal model linking interventions to expected outcomes. Half of the studies considered external factors that could influence the efficacy of the capacity development intervention, and few used an explicit systems approach. We used framework synthesis to situate our evidence map within the broader literature on capacity development evaluation. Our evidence map (including a visual heat map) highlights areas of low and high representation in investment in research on the evaluation of capacity development

Primate ecology and conservation : a handbook of techniques

xvi, 425 p. ; 24 c

Teaching for Higher Levels of Thinking: Developing Quantitative and Analytical Skills in Undergraduate Science Courses

This talk was given during the Association of Program Administrators for CSTEP and STEP Annual Meeting

Linking indigenous and scientific knowledge of climate change

We explore the connections among indigenous climate-related narratives, documented temperature changes, and climate change impact studies from the scientific literature. We then propose a framework for enhancing synthesis of these indigenous narratives of observed climate change with global assessments. Our aim is to contribute to the thoughtful and respectful integration of indigenous knowledge with scientific data and analysis, so that this rich body of knowledge can inform science and so that indigenous peoples can use the tools and methods of science for the benefit of their communities if they choose to do so. Improving ways of understanding such connections is critical as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report process proceeds

Developing Quantitative and Analytic Skills in Undergraduates Using Conservation Examples

This talk was given during the North American Congress for Conservation Biology

Student Interpretation of Conservation Data: Does Their Reach Exceed their Grasp

Background/Question/Methods: The fast pace of biological data generated nowadays calls for our biology students to be proficient in quantitative skills such as data analysis. This study examined how well undergraduate students can develop data analysis skills relevant to ecology and conservation biology over the course of a single semester. Students completed two data analysis exercises, pre and post self-assessments of confidence in data analysis skills, a classroom discussion, and pre/post content assessments. The two data analysis exercises were adapted from the free online teaching modules on the Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners website (www.ncep.amnh.org). Between the first exercise (a demography problem involving palm harvests and parrots) and second exercise (calculating diversity indices for spider communities), a data analysis teaching intervention was administered in all classes. Instructional and assessment materials were created and validated by 24 conservation educators led by the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at AMNH. Results/Conclusions: Results from one semester show that students scored significantly higher on post-content assessments for both conservation exercises (N1 = 207 students; N2 = 199; P \u3c 0.01 for both). We also found significant increases in student self-assessment of confidence in data analysis skills (N = 87). However, when evaluated at the level of different skill dimensions, students’ ability to represent and interpret data improved between exercises (N = 257; P \u3c 0.01), but ability to complete calculations and draw conclusions was significantly worse on the second exercise (P \u3c 0.01). While our study demonstrates that direct instruction in data analysis does improve student performance overall, there is a disconnect between student self-assessment of their data analysis skills and their actual ability. This indicates that some aspects of data analysis may require different teaching intervention approaches

Student Interpretation of Conservation Data: Does their Reach exceed their Grasp

This study examined how well undergraduate students can develop data analysis skills relevant to conservation biology over the course of a single semester. Students completed two conservation data analysis exercises, pre and post self-assessments of confidence in data analysis skills, a classroom discussion, and pre/post content assessments. Between the first and second exercises, a data analysis teaching intervention was administered in all classes. Instructional and assessment materials were created and validated by 24 conservation educators led by the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at AMNH. Results from one semester (100+ students) show that students scored significantly higher on post-content assessments for both exercises. We also found significant increases in student self-assessment of confidence in data analysis skills. However, when evaluated at the level of different skill dimensions, students\u27 ability to represent and interpret data improved between exercises, but ability to complete calculations and draw conclusions was significantly worse on the second exercise. While our study demonstrates that direct instruction in data analysis does improve student performance overall, there is a disconnect between student self-assessment of their data analysis skills and their actual ability. This indicates that some aspects of data analysis may require different teaching intervention approaches