Resources
Here you can find a library of prior research on environmental education and interpretation.
Interpretation Research
Empirical Research
- Does strategic planning for interpretive services improve organizational performance across the NPS? (2024)
- Does interpretation influence elaboration and environmental behaviors? (2018)
- Interpretation training needs in the 21st century: A needs assessment of Interpreters in the NPS (2017)
- The role of context in the outcomes of interpretive programs (2013)
- The influence of program characteristics and interpreter attributes on visitor outcomes (2013)
- Bringing interpretive best practices to life (2013)
- What leads to better outcomes in live interpretation? (2013)
- Benefits of live interpretation to Great Smoky Mountains NP (2012)
- Views of NPS Superintendents and Interpretation and Education Supervisors on Interpretation and Education in the NPS (2011)
- Motivations and barriers to interpretation program attendance at Great Smoky Mountains NP (2011)
- Evaluation of the Great Smoky Mountains Junior Ranger Program (2010)
Reports & Frameworks
Environmental Education Research
Literature Reviews
- Environmental education outcomes for civic engagement (2023)
- Environmental education outcomes for positive youth development (2022)
- Environmental education outcomes for conservation (2020)
- Environmental education and K-12 student outcomes (2018)
- Environmental education program evaluation: what do we measure and what have we learned? (2014)
Empirical Research
- Principles for better environmental education field trips for youth in the US (2025)
- Appropriateness and use of civic engagement, advocacy, and behavior change techniques in environmental education across the US (2024)
- Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the US? Part 1: Exploration of outcomes (2024)
- Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the US? Part 2: Examining pedagogy (2024)
- What approaches are associated with better outcomes? Evidence from a national study of environmental education field trip programs in the US (2023)
- Availability and distribution of environmental education field trip programs in the US (2023)
- Benefits of participation in a community of practice for environmental educators (2023)
- Is naturalness associated with positive leaning outcomes during environmental education field trips? (2023)
- Environmental education, age, race, and socioeconomic class: An exploration of differential impacts of field trips on adolescent youth in the US (2022)
- What organizational factors motivate environmental educators to perform their best? (2021)
- Influence of the natural setting on environmental education outcomes (2020)
- Do pre-visit preparation and post-visit activities improve student outcomes on field trips? (2020)
- Influence of educator’s emotional support behaviors on environmental education student outcomes (2020)
- Identifying and developing crosscutting environmental education outcomes in the twenty-first century (EE21) (2019)
- Development of scales to measure environmental responsibility, character development, and attitudes towards school (2011)