Conservation Education The Neighborhood Nestwatch Program: Participant Outcomes of a Citizen-Science Ecological Research Project

Formal education is not enough to ensure scientific literacy in a w^orld where ideas and technology are changing rapidly (Hacker & Harris 1992). Projects that invite citizens to be involved in ecological research in their ow^n backyards or neighborhoods may provide rich opportunities for community members of all ages to improve their science literacy (TrumbuU et al. 2000; Brewer 2002&) and their sense of place. This learning about, and aw^areness of, the local environment may translate into tangible participant action on a local scale. Yet relatively fe^v data are available regarding science education outcomes of ecological research projects conducted ^vith the help of citizen research assistants in informal settings (Layton et al. 1986). Programs that have been assessed (e.g., several conducted by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Krasny & Bonney [2005]) have focused on science process and biological kno^vledge, not on attachment to an ecological "place" and the potential implications of that attachment to conservation behaviors. The Neighborhood Nestwatch (NN) program engages citizen scientists in the collection of scientific data and fosters scientific literacy and increased attachment to place in their local natural environment. Here, ^ve define science literacy as both an understanding of scientific content and ways of thinking such that citizens can make better sense of our increasingly technical and scientific w^orld. Skills of a scientifically literate citizen include critical and independent thinking, ability to interpret evidence and data, and understanding the role of uncertainty (AAAS 1993). But scientific literacy alone is not sufficient for understanding the influence of humans on ecological systems. People need to kno^v about the places in w^hich they live. We suggest that a sense of one's place has four primary components: know^ledge, skills, aw^areness, and disposition to care. The first two components are aspects of science literacy. Moreover, there are many feedback loops betw^een these four components.