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2016 Spring | Arts & Humanities, Education & Outreach

Enriching the Human-Nature Bond

Student(s):

Shane Kelly

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Tim Billo

Partner(s):

  • Stillwaters Environmental Center

Faculty advisor(s):

Tim Billo, Program on the Environment, University of Washington

Encouraging strong connections between people and nature is the solution to changing the way humans treat the earth. Yet, urbanization is diminishing these opportunities. This study tries to determine if experiential outdoor learning fosters a deeper connection between students and nature. Methods used to determine this were the collection and analysis of surveys, interviews, and observations. Findings show each course had an overall positive impact on student-nature connectedness. Furthermore, nature immersion courses had a greater significance of instilling an understanding of sustainability. These findings could impact future course design.