Danielle Frank Lawson

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at Pennsylvania State University

Outdoor recreationists represent a key population to educate for pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Given that previous research has found a mixed relationship between outdoor recreation and PEB, this research merges several concepts to better understand the social psychological nuances of this relationship. Specifically, this study explores how spe...

Polarization around climate change viewpoints – including climate change concern and commitment to action – continues to be a persistent challenge to collective action in the United States, and across the globe. Multiple studies have found that K-12 science teacher perceptions of climate change reflect that of the general population, raising concer...

Although environmental education (EE) has increased focus on how to best serve diverse populations, one understudied area is how linguistically diverse learners may engage with EE programming. Linguistic diversity is on the rise across the United States; for instance, nearly one-third of all children between the ages of 0 and 8 have at least one pa...

Blending agricultural education (AE) and environmental education (EE) frameworks is a promising pathway towards the goals of boosting environmental engagement and support for local agricultural systems among broad public audiences. However, thoughtful and intentional collaboration between researchers is needed to facilitate these outcomes. We feel...

Youth can impact environmental attitudes and behaviors among adults. Indeed, research on intergenerational learning has demonstrated the influence of young people on adults in their lives for myriad environmental topics. Intergenerational learning (IGL) refers to the bidirectional transfer of knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors from children to thei...

The pressing nature of climate change and its associated impacts requires a climate literate citizenry. Climate change education in K-12 settings may provide a unique opportunity to make inroads towards climate literacy. However, many K-12 teachers avoid teaching climate change because they are uncomfortable with the subject or do not see its relev...

Science and environmental education may promote life-long engagement in science and environmental conservation. We used hierarchical multiple linear regression to investigate how childhood participation in science education, environmental education, and outdoor science education interact to encourage long-term participation in science and support f...

The internet serves as a dominant source of information and may shape tolerance of wildlife species. Our experimental study examined how respondents’ tolerance for wolves (i.e., attitudes, acceptance, and behavior) changed after viewing wolf related YouTube videos. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three video treatments where wolves wer...

Environmentally literate citizens capable of making informed decisions are essential to successfully managed fisheries. Fisheries‐focused environmental education programs may help build environmental literacy, but experimental evaluations are needed to determine the effectiveness of fisheries education programs. We begin addressing this need with a...

Environmental problems can be resolved when the public is no longer willing to accept their risks and demands change (i.e., Reflexive Modernization). Notable examples include responses to the ozone hole and acid rain, but in an emerging post-truth world, politicization of conservation can result in adults ignoring risks and accepting the status quo...

The collective action that is required to mitigate and adapt to climate change is extremely difficult to achieve, largely due to socio-ideological biases that perpetuate polarization over climate change1,2. Because climate change perceptions in children seem less susceptible to the influence of worldview or political context³, it may be possible fo...

Although research suggests that family dynamics likely play a role in shaping children’s behaviors, few studies focus on environmental behaviors, and none to our knowledge investigate how parents shape climate change mitigation behaviors among their children. We begin to fill this gap through a quantitative case study using matched household-level...

Agroforests have been observed to have more biodiversity than typical monocultures. This illustrated guidebook is designed for farmers to be able to use to start growing environmentally and bird-friendly, shade grown cacao. By using these practices in this guidebook, farmers have the ability to transform secondary growth forest or agricultural land...