Tuesday, October 15, 2019

B. Troy Frensley, assistant professor of environmental sciences, is among a team of researchers who received a $1.94 million grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate what environmental education program characteristics matter and how they’re best delivered to maximize learning outcomes for youth participants. 

Frensley and researchers from Clemson University and Virginia Tech will visit more than 500 programs based out of numerous organizations to isolate what works in what context and for whom.

“Such field trips provide opportunities for diverse audiences to participate in shared learning experiences, but current understanding of what leads to success in these programs is limited,” said Frensley. “This large-scale study will result in the identification of evidence-based practices to inform future program design.”

A faculty member at UNCW since 2018, he is eager to incorporate findings from this project into the courses he teaches in environmental education and interpretation, as well as work with faculty members, a post-doctoral researcher, graduate student researchers and research associates from Clemson and VA Tech.

UNCW received the elevated designation of “Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity” institution from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in December 2018. The 2016-21 Strategic Plan emphasizes collaborative research.

-- Caroline Cropp

* This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (NSF 1906610). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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