The Problem of Teaching Conservation Problem Solving

Touval, Jerome L.; Dietz, James M.

doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08030902.x

Cited by 24 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…to wait until all the research has been completed" may be applicable in this case. Curriculum planning and development could be left to each individual academic institution and conservation organization (see Packard & Schmidly 1991;Touval & Dietz 1994), or it could be initiated through the cooperative effort of a group of interested faculty and employers, perhaps facilitated by the Society for Conservation Biology and one or more of the major conservation organizations. A logical first step would be to convene a task force or focus group to rank the human interaction skills for which training programs need to be developed.…”

Section: Further Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training Conservation Biologists in Human Interaction Skills

Cannon

Dietz

1996

Conservation Biology

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Questionnaires were sent to 298 graduate programs in conservation biology and other areas of the biological and agricultural sciences and to 702 public and private organizations that employ, or might employ, conservation biologists. The focus of the questionnaires was on the need for training conservation biologists in human interaction skills (e.g., interpersonal communication, leadership, group decision making). Respondents were asked to indicate the current availability of such training at their institutions or organizations. Questionnaires were returned by 28.5% of the graduate programs and 21.1% of the conservation organizations. A majority of both groups of respondents indicated a high need for training in the following seven areas: written and oral communication; explaining science and values of biodiversity to the lay public; group decision making; interpersonal skills; group planning; leadership; and advocacy. Despite the high level of perceived training need, relatively few academic institutions and even fewer conservation organizations offer or require courses in human interaction skills (with the exceptions of written and oral communication and foreign languages). Sixty‐four percent of the graduate faculty respondents and 78% of the employer organization respondents indicated that human interaction skills are equally important or more important to the work of conservation biologists than science knowledge and skill. We suggest that follow‐up research should be conducted to delineate further the need for human interaction skills training and to assess the relationship between specific human interactions skills and conservation outcomes. We also recommend that a curriculum on human interaction should be designed and developed for conservation biologists, perhaps through a cooperative effort of interested faculty and employers facilitated by the Society for Conservation Biology and conservation organizations.

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Section: Further Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training Conservation Biologists in Human Interaction Skills

Cannon

Dietz

1996

Conservation Biology

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“…Other approaches to rapid assessments typically teach only a part of the skill set our course teaches, usually emphasizing only the technical components. For example, Fransworth et al (2001) describe a cooperative student training program in rapid ecological assessment that emphasizes technical skills by training students in broad ecological concepts and specific taxonomic skills (also see Ehrlich 1997, Maniates and Whissel 2000, Touval and Dietz 1994, Tombulak 1994. In contrast, our educational design follows Schön (1989), Lucas (1994), Schön and Rein (1994), Brunner (1994), Banner and Cannon (1997), and Sullivan (1995), which is a case study, empirical, systematic, and "hands-on" approach, explicitly guided by interdisciplinary theory that is proven in practice.…”

Section: Educational Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdisciplinary Rapid Field Appraisals

Clark

Ashton²

2004

Journal of Sustainable Forestry

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Rapid assessment is a tool to understand and address complex sustainability problems as well as a learning device for education of future professionals who need opportunity to develop their skills. and report preparation. The basic interdisciplinary educational approach is introduced, a list of basic questions to be researched and worksheets are provided, and an outline for writing reports is offered. Readings give explanation of the interdisciplinary approach and illustrate its use worldwide. Reports based on the field trip are published and circulated widely. At the invitation of The Nature Conservancy in Quito, the 2001 course assessed the Condor Bioreserve in Ecuador. Both students and instructors evaluated the interdisciplinary rapid assessment field trip as highly successful. Our problem solving and educational approach has been used in our classroom and in the field, as well as by other people in diverse contexts, to improve both substantive and process outcomes in sustainable natural resources policy and management.

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“…Graduate programs in conservation biology and training programs in federal and state natural resource agencies must train professionals in the social dimensions of conservation biology. The literature in conservation biology has reflected and explored this need (Touval & Dietz 1994;Cannon et al 1996;Saberwal & Kothari 1996;Clark 1997Clark , 2001Clark , 2002Meffe 1997Meffe , 1998Jacobson & McDuff 1998;Inouye & Dietz 2000). Until methods of problem solving and managing human interactions are an explicit part of the practice of conservation biology, mistakes, crises, and failures in the management of protected species programs will occur.…”

Section: Steps Toward Improving the Policy Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Influences on Conservation: Lessons from U.S. Recovery Programs for Marine Mammals

Wallace

2003

Conservation Biology

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Marine mammal recovery programs authorized by the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act and the U.S. Endangered Species Act face many challenges. In addition to biological uncertainty, social, organizational, and other conditions influence the decision‐making behavior of program participants. From 1996 to 1999, I analyzed the decision‐making behavior of participants in five marine mammal recovery programs. Based on a literature review and interviews with 90 program participants, I identified, described, and analyzed the principal influences on participant behavior. Results indicate that decision‐making and participant interactions are influenced strongly, and in some cases predominantly, by social factors such as leadership characteristics, communication, teamwork, the presence or absence of evaluation, organizational culture, and program participants' ideologies. These findings indicate the need to improve marine mammal recovery programs through training, evaluation, and the development of prototype programs that incorporate and explicitly apply social factors to problem solving and then use their experience as a model for future programs.

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The Problem of Teaching Conservation Problem Solving

Cited by 24 publications

References 1 publication

Training Conservation Biologists in Human Interaction Skills

Training Conservation Biologists in Human Interaction Skills

Interdisciplinary Rapid Field Appraisals

Social Influences on Conservation: Lessons from U.S. Recovery Programs for Marine Mammals

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