Project Title: One Life-Changing Hour
BASIS Advisor: Dr. Neff
Internship Location: Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Onsite Mentor: Ms. Hope Presley
Could the world be changed in just one hour? If everyone spent one hour learning about the environment, the world could be a very different place. The numerous environmental education programs at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge aim to make that dream a reality. However, for optimal results, the programs at the wildlife refuge must be the best they can be. Thus my project will determine how effective the interpretive programs at the Environmental Education Center are in eliciting eco-friendly behavioral changes within program attendees. By working with surveys, I will receive direct information from participants on their lifestyle choices before, immediately after, and one month following a program. Though the surveys are concise, they will provide me with invaluable information on the quality of the programs and potential areas of improvement. Additionally, the surveys will allow me to make correlations between demographics and eco-friendly behavior tendencies. The project’s significance goes beyond the wildlife refuge, as it will provide insight on which specific groups should be targeted so that environmental awareness rates can be increased in the Bay Area and beyond.
My Posts
Week 12: Conclusion
May 12, 2019
Week 12 was the week that I wrapped up my project and reflected upon all my work. I started this week by completing my Senior Project presentation. I compiled the most important parts of my project into a small, 10-minute presentation. Mid-week, I did a presentation run through with my Senior Project internal advisor’s students, […]
Week 11: Results & Analysis
May 05, 2019
Week 11 was the week of answers, as many of my long-time questions were finally solved! In my last blog post, I spoke about my three main data spreadsheets – each of which was able to give me lots of fascinating results. To recap, my first sheet focuses on the main question of my project, […]
Week 10: Leading & Looking
Apr 29, 2019
Week 10 was a week filled with new experiences and lots of looking through data! I started this week by continuing my past week’s analysis. Thus far I have created three data spreadsheets on Google Sheets, each spreadsheet with a different goal. My first sheet focuses on the general question of my project, “Do the […]
Week 9: Zip Codes, Visuals, & Surveys
Apr 21, 2019
Week 9 was without a doubt a busy week filled with lots of progress! As I began this week, I continued my data analysis from week 8 through a zip code tabulation site. I searched for and uploaded relevant public data (e.g., median income, age distribution, and racial makeup) associated with the most popular zip […]
Week 8: One Month’s & Analysis
Apr 14, 2019
Week 8 was a more quiet week than usual at the refuge since there were no public programs to survey or attend. Thus most of my work was conducted from home. I spent most of this week continuing my basic data analysis I had started in week 7. I focused on observing links between environmental […]
Week 7: Data & Programs
Apr 07, 2019
This week was a busy week filled with data analyzation and public programs. I started week 7 utilizing the zip code tabulation site I had previously found. This week I simply gathered basic demographic data from the most popular zip codes of participants. This collection will enable me to easily compare survey answers to the […]
Week 6: Analyzing & Searching
Mar 31, 2019
This week I completely devoted myself to searching for resources that will aid me in my data compilation and analyzation aspect of my project. Though I had a tough time last week while searching, this week I came across some interesting options. One resource that immediately caught my eye was a zip code database which […]
Week 5: Third of the Series
Mar 24, 2019
Week 5 officially marked my first ever administration of my one-month post-program survey! Week 5 was also the week that I attended a public program to gather additional qualitative data. At the start of this week, I emailed the one-month post-program survey to participants in the program called “Restoration Work Day” which was held in […]
Week 4: Round Two & Three
Mar 17, 2019
My main focus for week 4 was administering the pre-program and immediate post-program survey at two different public programs; I also began conducting some outside research for online resources that will aid me in the data analysis portion of my project. At the beginning of this week, there was a habitat hike. At this program, […]
Week 3: Ups & Downs
Mar 10, 2019
Week 3 was definitely a week characterized by many ups and downs for my project. My main focus of the week was to attend two programs: one where I would collect qualitative data and the other where I’d gather quantitative data. The first program this week was a service learning program for 5th graders. I […]
Week 2: Analyzing Round One
Mar 02, 2019
My focus for week 2 was analyzing the results that I retrieved in week 1 since there were no public programs eligible to be surveyed this week. In week 1, I administered my first round of pre-surveys and post-surveys at the RWD program. Both surveys have a decent completion rate; there are fourteen responses to […]
Week 1: Creation & Administration
Feb 17, 2019
As a brief recap, the goal of my project is to determine whether the interpretive programs held at the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge (in Alviso) elicit positive environmental behavior changes within program participants. Quantitative results for my project are gathered through a series of surveys administered to program attendees. These brief surveys serve as an indicator […]