For most of us, our interest in urban ecology is rooted in the desire to better understand and conserve biodiversity. Once researchers better understand the science behind issues facing our urban species, the next step is engaging the wider public on how to beset conserve these species. This theme was present almost every talk I attended at the 2019 IUWC – how do conservationists engage communities to better protect urban wildlife?
One of the most broad-reaching ways to achieve this, of course, is outreach and education. However, arthropod species are often neglected in conservation efforts due to a lack of understanding and familiarity. Dr. Tara Cornelisse, a Senior Scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, shared research she published while an Assistant Professor at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. This work addressed student attitudes and behaviors towards various arthropod species.
Dr. Cornelisse recognized that attitudes towards arthropods can be shaped — these depend on factors including age, culture, and experiences. (Many environmental attitudes are formed before children are 12 years old!). When considering environmental experiences, she was curious whether urban vs. rural children would have different attitudes towards arthropods, due to varying experiences with these species. Ultimately, she wanted to understand: how we can increase positive attitudes towards insects for their conservation?
Together with an undergrad researcher, Dr. Cornelisse recruited 16 classrooms (about 400 students), half urban and half suburban. First, she gave students a survey, featuring a dragonfly, a butterfly, a bumblebee, a wasp, and a spider. This survey asked them to identify whether each species was an insect, and then assessed their attitudes and stated behaviors towards each species via a series of questions. Afterward, each class was given two follow-up lessons over the course of a week — either a basic lesson consisting of insect biology and behavior or a conservation lesson that also included ecosystem services and conservation topics. Afterward, students were given an identical follow-up survey.
After analyzing the results, they found less of a difference between students given the two different lesson types, and rather a much larger difference in correct responses between urban and suburban students. Overall, there was a statistically significant difference between correct identification responses between these two groups of students (particularly for the wasp).
There were also different attitudes and stated behaviors towards groups of arthropods. Students liked butterflies the most, spiders scored in the middle, while wasp and bumblebees scored the lowest. Students in urban schools had less positive attitudes and stated behaviors towards arthropods, overall.
However, after education students from both groups showed significantly more positive stated behaviors towards the bumblebee! Even students who said they didn’t like the bee, still wanted to save it. This highlights the important distinction between attitude and behavior. People are capable of disliking an insect, yet understand why it’s important to conserve it.
Another key finding is that both urban and students who answered the “What is this creature?” question correctly had a much higher mean attitude and behavior scores towards insects than those who responded incorrectly. This reflects the important link between knowledge and attitudes and behavior. Overall, these results show the power of education — especially its ability to change behaviors and attitudes. This has wide-reaching implications, for example how conservation topics are covered in the news media to better foster public engagement. Its also a reminder that all of us can be teachers, and that volunteering in classrooms and at field days can shape how students view the natural world!
The published results can be found here.
Featured image “Group of first-grade students 2” by All4Ed is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
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