Alison W Bowers
Biographic Data
| ID | 6018946 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alison W Bowers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alison W |
| FAMILY NAME | Bowers |
| SIGNATURE | BOWERS A W |
| AFFILIATIONS | Virginia Tech |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0667-3092 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Engaging people in educational processes that foster environmentally valuable outcomes
Alongside the rise of the evidence‐based conservation movement over the past 20 years, environmental education (EE) has emerged as a worthwhile strategy to achieve conservation goals. EE can help develop the societal attitudes, knowledge, skills, behaviours and norms that address conservation and environmental challenges and build deeper connections between nature and people. To better understand the effectiveness of EE in achieving such outcomes…
Identifying indicators, empathy, and anthropomorphism in zoo visitors' perceptions of animal wellbeing through qualitative interviews
To achieve their conservation missions, zoos and aquariums must understand how their audiences make judgments about animal wellbeing, as public trust and learning outcomes hinge on the extent to which animals living in these institutions seem well cared for. While previous research has investigated public perceptions of animal wellbeing, the majority of this work has focused on specific species or programs, with few studies employing qualitative …
Power and participation
Sociocultural learning theories for social-ecological change
A long history of theory exists to underpin our understanding of how to engage individuals and communities in more effective environmental conservation and sustainability practices. Yet rarely do we delve deeply into sociocultural theories of learning, which help demonstrate how learning and action are fundamentally intertwined in our interactions, our societies, and the world around us. To our detriment we ignore this compelling, well-grounded, …
Leveraging collective action and environmental literacy to address complex sustainability challenges
Developing and enhancing societal capacity to understand, debate elements of, and take actionable steps toward a sustainable future at a scale beyond the individual are critical when addressing sustainability challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, and zoonotic disease. Although mounting evidence exists for how to facilitate individual action to address sustainability challenges, there is less understanding of how…
A systematic mixed studies review of civic engagement outcomes in environmental education
Civic engagement is recognized as a critical process to address environmental and other societal issues. To examine the intersection between environmental education and civic engagement, as reported in the peer-reviewed literature, we undertook a systematic mixed studies review to identify environmental education program outcomes related to civic engagement. The environmental education programs included in the final sample (n = 56) occurred in a …
Core principles of grounded theory in a systematic review of environmental education for secondary students
Early childhood environmental education
Environmental education outcomes for conservation
Environmental education and K-12 student outcomes
Many practitioners and researchers describe academic and environmental benefits of environmental education for kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) students. To consider the empirical underpinnings of those program descriptions, we systematically analyzed the peer-reviewed literature (1994–2013), focusing on outcomes of environmental education programs with K-12 students. In the resulting sample of 119 articles, we identified 121 unique outc…
Media Review
Climate change communication insights from cooperative Extension professionals in the US Southern states
Climate change is often avoided in educational programming due to its perceived polarizing nature. Identifying areas of agreement may help educators introduce climate change topics and help audiences begin to listen. As part of a survey of Extension professionals in the southeastern US, respondents shared their thoughts about climate change. Based on methods used by Maibach, Leiserowitz, Roser-Renouf, and Mertz [(2011). Identifying like-minded au…
Nature-based tourism's impact on environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
Although nature-based tourism is often promoted as benefiting local destinations through income generation, employment, and direct conservation support, it is also believed to influence tourists’ environmentally friendly attitudes, knowledge, and ultimately their behavior. Yet, few studies have empirically documented these outcomes, and those that do are inconsistent in the variables measured and the time frame analyzed. This paper examines the e…
Sociocultural learning theories for social-ecological change
A long history of theory exists to underpin our understanding of how to engage individuals and communities in more effective environmental conservation and sustainability practices. Yet rarely do we delve deeply into sociocultural theories of learning, which help demonstrate how learning and action are fundamentally intertwined in our interactions, our societies, and the world around us. To our detriment we ignore this compelling, well-grounded, …
Leveraging collective action and environmental literacy to address complex sustainability challenges
Developing and enhancing societal capacity to understand, debate elements of, and take actionable steps toward a sustainable future at a scale beyond the individual are critical when addressing sustainability challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, and zoonotic disease. Although mounting evidence exists for how to facilitate individual action to address sustainability challenges, there is less understanding of how…
A systematic mixed studies review of civic engagement outcomes in environmental education
Civic engagement is recognized as a critical process to address environmental and other societal issues. To examine the intersection between environmental education and civic engagement, as reported in the peer-reviewed literature, we undertook a systematic mixed studies review to identify environmental education program outcomes related to civic engagement. The environmental education programs included in the final sample (n = 56) occurred in a …
Media Review
Nature-based tourism's impact on environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
Although nature-based tourism is often promoted as benefiting local destinations through income generation, employment, and direct conservation support, it is also believed to influence tourists’ environmentally friendly attitudes, knowledge, and ultimately their behavior. Yet, few studies have empirically documented these outcomes, and those that do are inconsistent in the variables measured and the time frame analyzed. This paper examines the e…
Climate change communication insights from cooperative Extension professionals in the US Southern states
Climate change is often avoided in educational programming due to its perceived polarizing nature. Identifying areas of agreement may help educators introduce climate change topics and help audiences begin to listen. As part of a survey of Extension professionals in the southeastern US, respondents shared their thoughts about climate change. Based on methods used by Maibach, Leiserowitz, Roser-Renouf, and Mertz [(2011). Identifying like-minded au…
Environmental education and K-12 student outcomes
Many practitioners and researchers describe academic and environmental benefits of environmental education for kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) students. To consider the empirical underpinnings of those program descriptions, we systematically analyzed the peer-reviewed literature (1994–2013), focusing on outcomes of environmental education programs with K-12 students. In the resulting sample of 119 articles, we identified 121 unique outc…
Media Review
Early childhood environmental education
Environmental education outcomes for conservation
Core principles of grounded theory in a systematic review of environmental education for secondary students
A systematic mixed studies review of civic engagement outcomes in environmental education
Civic engagement is recognized as a critical process to address environmental and other societal issues. To examine the intersection between environmental education and civic engagement, as reported in the peer-reviewed literature, we undertook a systematic mixed studies review to identify environmental education program outcomes related to civic engagement. The environmental education programs included in the final sample (n = 56) occurred in a …
Leveraging collective action and environmental literacy to address complex sustainability challenges
Developing and enhancing societal capacity to understand, debate elements of, and take actionable steps toward a sustainable future at a scale beyond the individual are critical when addressing sustainability challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, and zoonotic disease. Although mounting evidence exists for how to facilitate individual action to address sustainability challenges, there is less understanding of how…
Power and participation
Sociocultural learning theories for social-ecological change
A long history of theory exists to underpin our understanding of how to engage individuals and communities in more effective environmental conservation and sustainability practices. Yet rarely do we delve deeply into sociocultural theories of learning, which help demonstrate how learning and action are fundamentally intertwined in our interactions, our societies, and the world around us. To our detriment we ignore this compelling, well-grounded, …
Identifying indicators, empathy, and anthropomorphism in zoo visitors' perceptions of animal wellbeing through qualitative interviews
To achieve their conservation missions, zoos and aquariums must understand how their audiences make judgments about animal wellbeing, as public trust and learning outcomes hinge on the extent to which animals living in these institutions seem well cared for. While previous research has investigated public perceptions of animal wellbeing, the majority of this work has focused on specific species or programs, with few studies employing qualitative …
Engaging people in educational processes that foster environmentally valuable outcomes
Alongside the rise of the evidence‐based conservation movement over the past 20 years, environmental education (EE) has emerged as a worthwhile strategy to achieve conservation goals. EE can help develop the societal attitudes, knowledge, skills, behaviours and norms that address conservation and environmental challenges and build deeper connections between nature and people. To better understand the effectiveness of EE in achieving such outcomes…
Environmental Education and Sustainability (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Political science (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Climate Change Communication and Perception (4 works) · Environmental education (4 works) · Animal and Plant Science Education (3 works) · Ecology (3 works) · Environmental resource management (3 works) · Pedagogy (3 works)