Search

In San Francisco (SF), many environmental factors drive the unequal burden of preterm birth outcomes for communities of color. Here, we examine the association between human exposure to lead (Pb) and preterm birth (PTB) in 19 racially diverse SF zip codes. Pb concentrations were measured in 109 hair samples donated by 72 salons and barbershops in 2018-2019. Multi-method data collection included randomly selecting hair salons stratified by zip code, administering demographic surveys, and measuring Pb in hair samples as a biomarker of environmental exposure to heavy metals. Concentrations of Pb were measured by atomic emission spectrometry. Aggregate neighborhood Pb levels were linked to PTB and demographic data using STATA 16 SE (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX, USA). Pb varied by zip code (p < 0.001) and correlated with PTB (p < 0.01). Increases in unadjusted Pb concentration predicted an increase in PTB (β = 0.003; p < 0.001) and after adjusting for poverty (β = 0.002; p < 0.001). Confidence intervals contained the null after further adjustment for African American/Black population density (p = 0.16), suggesting that race is more indicative of high rates of PTB than poverty. In conclusion, Pb was found in every hair sample collected from SF neighborhoods. The highest concentrations were found in predominately African American/Black and high poverty neighborhoods, necessitating public health guidelines to eliminate this environmental injustice.

A "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column interviewing the paleontologist and educator Dr. Lisa White, who is one of the few African American women in the field of geoscience.

A "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column on how taking joy in nature is an essential part of good health.

A "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column on how collaborative conservation programs must address common social, ecological, and economic goals and not emphasize merely one of these areas. To truly engage all stakeholders, public involvement must be inclusive.

A "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column on the relationships between systemic racism / power inequities and access to parks and other public lands and open space.

A "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column.  A review of organizations who pioneered the involvement of persons of color in park stewardship, outdoor recreation, historic preservation, and other forms of place-based conservation.

A "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column.

This "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column makes connections between the experience of multiracial people and marine conservation.

Outdoor adventure may improve body image. However, minimal research exists on the effect outdoor adventure has on body image in adolescent girls, a demographic continually plagued by negative body image. In response, this exploratory study considered the influence of one outdoor adventure program in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through questionnaires and focus groups, 13 high school-aged GirlVentures, Inc. (GV), alumnae discussed body image in the context of "healthy living" and the effect their course had on personal body image. Results show key influences included instructors, other girls on course, and the natural environment. All participants perceived their program as positively influencing their body image during and directly following their course, and most (n = 9) perceived their program as still positively influencing their body image up to 3 years postcourse. Findings offer insight to GV and can provide new information for other outdoor adventure organizations to promote healthy development in adolescent girls.

Outdoor experiential education has often been critiqued for its White, male, middle/upper-class, able-bodied history, thereby causing professionals and programs to consider issues of social justice. This state of knowledge paper will review the literature on social and environmental justice, identify gaps in current social justice literature and practice, and offer recommendations for creating a new history.

India's National Green Corps (NGC) Eco-Clubs are a unique opportunity to educate youth about environmental issues. NGC objectives include: (1) educate children about their immediate environment by increasing awareness; (2) impart knowledge about eco-systems, their interdependence and need for survival, through visits and demonstrations; (3) mobilize youth by instilling a spirit of scientific inquiry into environmental problems; and (4) involve youth in active environmental preservation efforts. In 2005-2006, Eco-Clubs existed in nearly 68,000 schools across India representing 150 Eco-Clubs per district. During the 2007-2008 school year, the number of Eco-Clubs increased to approximately 97,000 in 519 districts. The purpose of the study reported here was to document and evaluate the effectiveness of Eco-Clubs and assess their organizational framework. An extensive document review of secondary data was employed and focus group interviews were conducted in two locations. Findings show that the partnership programs developed by schools with non-governmental organizations to propel the Eco-Club concept forward have contributed greatly to their ability to provide ongoing, quality programs for students. Recommendations include directing different agencies to work cohesively towards program success, clarifying the future NGC vision, and addressing existing operational shortcomings. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

A total of 24 self-identified women of color took part in focus groups and interviews concerned with attitudes toward the outdoors and involvement in outdoor activities. Analysis focuses on social support for participation, family influence, peer influence, role models, perceived isolation, sociocultural influences, discomfort and fear, personal concerns, and social stigma and stereotypes. Contains 31 references. (SV)

The recruitment and retention of faculty and students of color is a long-standing challenge in academic programs focusing on leisure studies, parks, recreation, and tourism. However, when confronting the predominantly white composition of educational programs, many evade or, at most, acknowledge the situation as a "deficit." Few offer specific strategies for reversing this pattern, if that is the desired outcome. The purpose of this essay is to extend the discourse beyond traditional diversity initiatives by undertaking a field-wide initiative focused on the disparities in faculty and student representation. First, the essay examines systems that have created and supported the persistence of "white" as privileged in academia. Next, a summary and critique of institutional faculty demographic data over the 5-year period from 2006-2011 from four diverse institutions are presented. This analysis illustrates patterns that have resulted in presumably less than desirable numbers of faculty and students of color. Concrete suggestions for recruiting, retaining, and promoting people of color in academic leisure studies programs are included. Increasingly, today's students are attracted to academic programs in which they will be exposed to faculty representing the diversity they will encounter as professionals. This essay offers a call to bridge the perceived gap between practitioners and academia by recommending systemic changes informed by the lived experiences of communities of color that are effectively served by various leisure service providers.

Understanding outdoor recreation participation and national park visitation by members of ethnic minority groups has been a particular focus of outdoor recreation researchers for the past twenty years. Attracting ethnic [...]

Dixie-based Educators as a distinct group, however, had higher levels of responses, suggesting I Dixie i Educators might have a greater level of self-awareness vs. I Not from Dixie i Educators. However, field experiences can also demotivate, or dissuade learners from underrepresented minorities (URM) who, at times, have reported feeling isolated and discouraged from continuing in the ecological sciences (Haynes and Jacobson 2015, Hansen et al. 2018, Morales et al. 2020, Bowser and Cid 2021). Field experiences become pivotal moments for many learners (i.e., students) in the environmental sciences (Lertzman 2002). [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate the experience of underserved fourth- grade students participating in the National Park Service's Every Kid in a Park (EKIP) initiative through the Into the Redwood Forest (IRF) education program at Muir Woods National Monument. The project's aim was to understand the experience of underserved diverse students (i.e., race and ethnicity, gender, and Title I schools) participating during the 2015-2016 school year. The study included six teacher interviews and document review procedure of 60 student journals. The findings reveal that the EKIP exposed students to parks, the inquiry-based learning proved effective for outdoor learning, and the impact of the nature experience encouraged environmental stewardship. Implications and recommendations for further implementation of both the EKIP initiative and IRF at Muir Woods are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Public Health Association (APHA) recently recommended that health professionals partner with park agencies in order to use nature for health promotion. We aimed to 1) determine the capacity of a local public health system to implement the APHA recommendations, 2) test the hypothesis that the likelihood of implementation is associated with health professional knowledge and beliefs, and 3) identify a framework for facilitating implementation. We surveyed all staff members at the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Branch. SFDPH, like many health departments, provides services for underserved and marginalized populations. The results of 108 quantitative surveys and the qualitative analysis from small group discussions with 120 public health professionals are presented in this paper. The majority of those surveyed (81%) agreed that patient health would improve if they spent time in nature. However, few health professionals believed that patients regularly visit parks (11%) or would follow a practitioner's recommendation to visit a park (16%) in order to experience nature. We found that if public health professionals knew of a specific location and activity to do in nature, and if they were confident that their low income patients would be welcome at parks, they were more likely to recommend a park visit. In group discussions, health professionals showed enthusiasm for collaboration with park agencies, pragmatism that their patients will need multiple supports in order to sustain outdoor behaviors, and a perspective that time in nature for underserved communities is the product of a socioecological system. This socioecological system includes factors to be considered at the individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. Participants engaged in a rich discussion on how health departments can partner with park agencies and community-based organizations to encourage nature for health at each of these levels. We turned to public health professionals for suggestions about how nature can be integrated into public health systems. The resulting discussions came together in the form of a framework that provides insight on public health priorities, a roadmap for those who seek to initiate interdisciplinary alliances, and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dynamic educator and well-known, vibrant speaker, Nina is a professor in the department of Recreation, Parks, & Tourism at San Francisco State University. She is a Fulbright Scholar and experiential educator whose social science research in cultural diversity and parks has been vital to public land managers and community partners. Nina is also director of the Pacific Leadership Institute, an outdoor adventure program in partnership with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Her perspectives on diversity, national parks, and use/non-use of public lands have been widely shared through interviews with CNN.com, Boston Globe, L.A. Times, NBC News Bay Area, New America Media, The New York Times, and Public Radio International. She is featured in the landmark book Black and Brown Faces in America's Wild Places, and is well published including numerous journal articles and book chapters about constraints to park use, social and environmental justice, women and girls outdoors, and youth development. Her work provides leaders, park managers and partners with ideas and resources needed to respond more effectively to changing demographics and social trends across the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of gender and ethnicity on evaluations of leader effectiveness involving a short-term wilderness education programme in the United States. Data were obtained from adolescents (ages 15 to 19, n = 503) participating in the Student Conservation Association's national Conservation Work Crew summer programme (CWC). There were two objectives: 1) to determine how the CWC experience differs for female and male participants, and those from varying ethnic backgrounds, and 2) to examine the impact of crew leaders in mediating the perceived quality of the experience. Although the majority of participants rated the experience favourably, females gave the SCA experience a more positive evaluation (on average) than males, and white participants indicated higher ratings than non-whites. As predicted, the perceived quality of the crew leaders mediated the relationship between gender and ethnicity, and the impact of this outdoor experience on participants. Results of this study highlight the importance of not only recognising differences across ethnic and gender lines among programme participants, we must also emphasise effective communication skills if outdoor leaders are to be effective with a diverse audience. Results also emphasise the need to better understand the role of leaders in providing quality wilderness experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue on "outdoor adventure education" contains seven articles focused on varied topics in outdoor adventure education (OAE) from the impact of COVID-19, creating a mobile App and girls outdoors to urban programming, systems of privilege and more. Additionally, what are typical outdoor adventure education instructors' inclusive praxis and the conditions that influence their praxis on their courses and in their instructing experiences? The contributors examine how a wide range of OAE programs and services have influenced participants' worldview and enhanced their quality of life through reflection, personal growth, social and physical challenges, and beyond. [Extracted from the article]

In San Francisco (SF), many environmental factors drive the unequal burden of preterm birth outcomes for communities of color. Here, we examine the association between human exposure to lead (Pb) and preterm birth (PTB) in 19 racially diverse SF zip codes. Pb concentrations were measured in 109 hair samples donated by 72 salons and barbershops in 2018-2019. Multi-method data collection included randomly selecting hair salons stratified by zip code, administering demographic surveys, and measuring Pb in hair samples as a biomarker of environmental exposure to heavy metals. Concentrations of Pb were measured by atomic emission spectrometry. Aggregate neighborhood Pb levels were linked to PTB and demographic data using STATA 16 SE (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX, USA). Pb varied by zip code ( p < 0.001) and correlated with PTB ( p < 0.01). Increases in unadjusted Pb concentration predicted an increase in PTB (β = 0.003; p < 0.001) and after adjusting for poverty (β = 0.002; p < 0.001). Confidence intervals contained the null after further adjustment for African American/Black population density ( p = 0.16), suggesting that race is more indicative of high rates of PTB than poverty. In conclusion, Pb was found in every hair sample collected from SF neighborhoods. The highest concentrations were found in predominately African American/Black and high poverty neighborhoods, necessitating public health guidelines to eliminate this environmental injustice.