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Purpose: Higher education is uncertain which sustainability-related education targets should be sought and monitored. Accepting that something needs to be measurable to be systematically improved, the authors explored how measures relate to potential targets. This paper aims to focus on dispositions to think critically (active open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking in appraising reasoning) as measures and explored how they related to sustainability concern as an indicative educational target. Design/methodology/approach: This research included the development and testing of research instruments (scales) that explored dispositions to critical thinking and sustainability concern. Authors researched these instruments within their own correspondence groups and tested them with university students and staff in Pakistan, the USA, Austria, India and New Zealand. The authors also asked a range of contextualising questions. Findings: Respondents' disposition to aspects of active, open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking do predict their concern about facets of sustainability but their strength of religious belief was an important factor in these relationships and in their measurement. Practical implications: This research demonstrates the complexity of monitoring dispositions to think critically and sustainability concern in educational systems, particularly in circumstances where the roles of religious beliefs are of interest; and suggests ways to address this complexity. Originality/value: This research integrates and expands discourses on ESD and on critical thinking in diverse disciplines and cultures. It investigates measurement approaches and targets that could help higher education institutions to educate for sustainable development and to monitor their progress, in ways that are compatible with their culture and values.

Relationships to nature are important for the health and well‐being of peoples globally and should be actively protected. Indigenous Māori people in Aotearoa New Zealand recognize this important relationship to nature through narratives of lineage and express this through concepts such as kaitiakitanga; a cultural place‐based practice of stewardship that intertwines relationships of responsibility between people, nature and culture. However, many Māori now live outside of tribal areas in urban settings, putting relationships with nature into question.We asked how urban Māori people practice kaitiakitanga, and what factors might predict flourishing relationships with nature. We surveyed 214 urban Māori who shared their perceptions of kaitiakitanga, cultural practices and restoration activities. The data were analysed by identifying qualitative themes and using linear mixed effect models.Māori who were exposed to kaitiakitanga as children were more likely to attend marae and family restoration activities, and less likely to attend events led by local councils. Pressingly, young people in urban areas were more at risk of losing cultural knowledge and opportunities to practice cultural practices in urban areas. Age, distance from tribal area and early exposure all affected decision‐making and expression of kaitiakitanga in urban areas.Knowledge associated with kaitiakitanga can create inclusive and effective urban restoration activities. We suggest that partnership between Māori groups including local marae, and local councils, may provide accessible, best practice urban restoration models that attract local Māori and act to support cultural knowledge, in turn encouraging diverse pathways to nature restoration to develop in urban areas. Likewise, such partnerships will ensure that Māori in cities are supported to express and maintain cultural knowledge and practice into the future. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the important questions that higher education institutions ask concerning their impact on their students' sustainability-related attributes "How do our students" worldviews change as they experience higher education with us?" The process of monitoring such a dynamic entity is fraught with statistical complexity but may not be impossible for an institution willing to ask whether or not its educational efforts in "education for sustainability", "education for sustainable development" or "environmental education", and campus sustainability developments, are paralleled by changes in the attitudes of its students. We describe here a longitudinal survey process based on the revised New Ecological Paradigm scale, with two cohorts of students, in three programmes of study, operating over four years, with multiple survey inputs by each student. We implemented the longitudinal analysis using a linear mixed-effects model and describe here the development and testing of this model. We conclude that higher education institutions can benchmark the sustainability attributes of their students and monitor changes, if they are minded to. We invite higher education practitioners worldwide to join us in further developing suitable research instruments, processes and statistical models, and in further analysing the assumptions that link higher education to sustainability and to global citizenship.

This article shares and extends research-based developments at the University of Otago, New Zealand, that seek to explore how students' worldviews change as they experience higher education with us. We emphasise that sustainability attributes may be described in terms of knowledge, skills and competencies but that these are underpinned by affective attributes such as values, attitudes and dispositions; so that "education for sustainable development" is substantially a quest for affective change. We describe approaches to categorise affective outcomes and conclude that "education for sustainable development" objectives comprise higher order affective outcomes (leading to behavioural change) that are challenging for higher education to address. Our own work emphasises the need for student anonymity as these higher order outcomes are assessed, evaluated, monitored, researched or otherwise measured using research instruments that focus on worldview. A longitudinal mixed-effects repeat-measures statistical model is described that enables higher education institutions to answer the question of whether or not "education for sustainable development" objectives are being achieved. Discussion links affect to critical reasoning and addresses the possibility of documenting and assessing the development of lower and mid-order affective outcomes. We conclude that "education for sustainable development" objectives need to be clearly articulated if higher education is to be able to assess, or evaluate, their achievement.

Higher education is increasingly interested in its impact on the sustainability attributes of its students, so we wanted to explore how our students' environmental concern changed during their higher education experiences. We used the Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP) with 505 students and developed and tested a multinomial regression model to help us to understand what can be measured and how to interpret changes. Our results demonstrate that even small differences, not apparent when only mean NEP scores are reported for cohorts of students, can be modeled to reveal statistically significant trends. We advise further exploration of this instrument and its applicability to higher education's quest for sustainability-credibility.

We report the development and piloting of an evaluative instrument and process for monitoring the environmental literacy (EL) of undergraduate students in one large research-led university in New Zealand. The instrument addresses knowledge, affect and competencies in the general area of EL in line with this institution's adoption of EL as a graduate attribute (or in a US context, a general-education learning outcome, and something to be fostered throughout a student's education). The instrument and associated processes were designed to fit within conventional institutional mechanisms that manage student feedback on the quality of teaching. The instrument was tested with more than 600 students from more than eight programmes over the course of a year and its use stressed that students were anonymous within the survey. We conclude that evaluating (or in a US context, assessing) the extent to which students acquire EL is an achievable objective and is a reasonable expectation for any higher education institution that claims to foster this attribute.

Higher education institutions are interested in the impact that they and concurrent life experiences may have on students' sustainability attitudes, but they lack formal processes to monitor changes. We used the NEP to monitor changes in students' ecological-worldviews. We were interested in what variation there would be in a multidisciplinary group, if the NEP could detect changes in students' ecological-worldviews over a limited time period, and to learn more about the NEP and its use. We conclude that the NEP is a valuable research instrument for this study and that monitoring students' attitudes is a worthwhile precursor to debating the issues institutionally. (Contains 2 figures and 8 tables.)

When ecosystems are under severe pressure or environments change, trophic position and intraspecific niche width may decrease or narrow, signalling that conservation action is required. In New Zealand, alpine and subalpine ecosystems have been extensively modified through farming since 19th‐century European settlement, with consequences for indigenous species such as the kea Nestor notabilis.We investigated feather stable isotope values in the kea and predicted a lower trophic position in modern kea populations, to reflect reduced lowland habitat and a mixed diet with more plant material. We predicted that size and sex would influence trophic values in this sexually dimorphic species, with larger birds more likely to have a high protein diet.We examined potential dietary changes in 68 museum collected kea from 1880s to 2000s, first recording accession details including provenance and sex and measuring culmen length. We used bulk carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses (BSIAs) of feathers and a further feather subset using compound‐specific stable isotope analyses of amino acids (CSIA‐AA) to obtain isotopic values and estimate trophic position.BSIA showed δ15N values in kea feathers declined through time and could indicate that early century kea were highly omnivorous, with δ15N values on average higher than in modern kea. Variance in δ15N values was greater after 1950, driven by a few individuals. Few differences between males and females were evident, although females in the south region had lower δ15N values. There was a tendency for large male birds to have higher trophic values, perhaps reflecting dominant male bird behaviour noted in historical records. Nonetheless, CSIA‐AA performed on a subset of the data suggested that variation in BSIA is likely due to baseline changes rather than relative trophic position which may be more homogenous than these data indicate. Although there was more variability in modern kea, we suggest caution in interpretation.Stable isotope data, particularly CSIA‐AA, from museum specimens can reveal potential change in ecological networks as well as sexually dimorphic feeding patterns within species. The data can reveal temporal and regional variation in species trophic position and changes in ecosystem integrity to inform conservation decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree seedling establishment outside forest boundaries is controlled by many interacting factors. Understanding the relative importance of different pressures is essential for improving techniques for forest restoration and for understanding the potential of forest boundaries to shift and adapt to changing climate conditions.We investigated constraints on the spread of a key southern hemisphere forest type into grasslands by undertaking a multifactorial experiment sowing Nothofagus cliffortioides (Nothofagaceae) in a historically deforested retired pasture. We manipulated factors to determine the relative effects of sheltered microsites, competition with pasture species, availability of ectomycorrhizal fungi, soil nutrients and rabbit herbivory, on seedling emergence and survival.Overall survival was low (11.7% after 6 months and 1.5% after 10 months), but there were strong treatment effects on both seedling establishment and survival. The availability of shelter and competition with pasture species had strongest effects, with the presence of pasture species initially aiding seedling emergence due to a sheltering effect, but negatively affecting survival at later stages. Most remaining seedlings at the conclusion of the experiment had formed ectomycorrhizae regardless of whether inoculum was supplied, and seedling survival and health was positively related to ectomycorrhizal colonization. Fertilizing had less of an effect than other factors, and results regarding rabbit herbivory were inconclusive.Synthesis and applications. This study provides new insights into how factors interact to limit tree seedling establishment in grasslands and forest expansion into neighbouring ecosystems. This improves understanding of the ability of an ectomycorrhizal keystone forest species to migrate and adapt to climate change. This study also assists restoration practitioners in selecting techniques that will enhance seedling establishment, and highlights that direct seeding approaches in open grasslands are unlikely to result in high rates of Nothofagus establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death in men. Current methods for grading and determining treatment options are not as accurate as they need to be with some men either undergoing unnecessary, life-changing treatment or not being treated and developing late-stage disease. We assessed the effect of proteins called activins on the growth of prostate cell lines and examined their expression in prostate cancer biopsy samples from patients with different grades of tumor. Activin B and activin C were shown to have increased and decreased expression, respectively, in higher grade prostate cancer and to have opposing effects on prostate cell growth and migration. Therefore, these proteins are potential markers for distinguishing aggressive from indolent prostate cancer and may also provide novel targets for prostate cancer treatment. Current prognostic and diagnostic tests for prostate cancer are not able to accurately distinguish between aggressive and latent cancer. Members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGFB) family are known to be important in regulating prostate cell growth and some have been shown to be dysregulated in prostate cancer. Therefore, the aims of this study were to examine expression of TGFB family members in primary prostate tumour tissue and the phenotypic effect of activins on prostate cell growth. Tissue cores of prostate adenocarcinoma and normal prostate were immuno-stained and protein expression was compared between samples with different Gleason grades. The effect of exogenous treatment with, or overexpression of, activins on prostate cell line growth and migration was examined. Activin B expression was increased in cores containing higher Gleason patterns and overexpression of activin B inhibited growth of PNT1A cells but increased growth and migration of the metastatic PC3 cells compared to empty vector controls. In contrast, activin C expression decreased in higher Gleason grades and overexpression increased growth of PNT1A cells and decreased growth of PC3 cells. In conclusion, increased activin B and decreased activin C expression is associated with increasing prostate tumor grade and therefore have potential as prognostic markers of aggressive prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive acoustic detectors are widely used for monitoring distribution of cetaceans. Autonomous visual methods are less frequently employed; they are limited to detections during daylight and good weather, but offer potential advantages due to certainty of species' identification and longevity of deployment. To compare performance of acoustic and visual methods, temporal changes in distribution of southern right whales, Eubalaena australis, were monitored in the remote sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (50°31'S, 166°16'E). A time-lapse camera was deployed for 2 years from August 2010, taking an image every 70 min. The presence of whales was scored for each image taken during daylight (n = 8295). A passive acoustic recorder was deployed in August 2011, recording for 3.75 min every hour until battery life expired after 10 months. Each recording (n = 6978) was aurally reviewed. Both methods revealed a similar seasonal distribution; maximum detection rates were in the austral winter and no whales were detected in January or February. However, at the peak of right whale occurrence, the proportion of samples with whales detected was much higher for the acoustic recorder (93.9% in August) than the time-lapse camera (14.8%). A generalised additive model fitted to the visual data revealed significant effects of sea state and visibility. Acoustic detection rates were higher, probably because detection range is greater, and less affected by weather. The solar-powered time-lapse camera system, however, functioned effectively for much longer. We discuss the relative merits of visual and acoustic detectors and attempt to draw conclusions about their efficacy for different focal species and monitoring locations., Author(s): William Rayment [sup.1] , Trudi Webster [sup.1] [sup.2] , Tom Brough [sup.1] , Tim Jowett [sup.3] , Steve Dawson [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Marine Science, University of [...]

The global reach of zoos has enormous potential to raise awareness of conservation issues such as the amphibian extinction crisis. One mechanism of achieving this is through targeted, time‐limited campaigns. However, the longer‐term impact of such campaigns on conservation outcomes is rarely evaluated. The goal of this study is to evaluate how zoos view "The Year of The Frog," a campaign launched by zoos in 2008, with the aim of raising awareness of the global amphibian crisis and generating funds to support amphibian conservation initiatives. A questionnaire‐based survey of 43 zoos from fourteen countries was used to evaluate how zoo practitioners believed the campaign influenced amphibian conservation some 10 years after its launch. Survey results showed that the campaign not only contributed to the improvement of research into amphibian husbandry in zoos but also increased support of in situ conservation of amphibians. Zoos focused on exotic species, but developed countries led most of the actions of the campaign. The campaign has inspired and encouraged some zoos and other ex situ conservation organizations to embrace amphibian conservation. The next step is to increase collaboration with more organizations through, for example, AArk and IUCN SSC/ASG, particularly in countries that have high amphibian biodiversity. Highlights: The Year of the Frog Campaign contributed to the improvement of research into amphibian husbandry in zoos and also increased support of in situ conservation.Zoos focused on exotic species, but developed countries led most of the actions.The campaign has inspired and encouraged some zoos and other ex situ conservation organizations to embrace amphibian conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently little understanding regarding storm surge in New Zealand, particularly in the southern region. To date, there has been no attempt to establish the frequency and magnitude of storm surge using observed sea level data on the open coast. The aim of this study is to examine the nature of storm surge in southern New Zealand and explore the influence of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the frequency and magnitude of storm surge. Bayesian estimation is used through the 'extRemes' package in R to determine the return period for storm surge at three locations around southern New Zealand. The 100-year return level varied between 0.91 and 1.31 m. In addition, a statistically significant increase (2.88%) in storm surge intensity (SSI) on the south-east coastline was found. Applying cross-correlation to assess the response of SSI to ENSO and SAM, returned no detectable relationship, except a weak relationship between SAM and SSI on the south-east coast where a two-three month lagged response was present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commitment to nature-based recreation is important for health outcomes, to support the conservation of the natural environment, and for economic reasons. Committed participants are likely to continue to support the activity with their subscriptions and memberships, and to make other activity-related purchases. However, the relationship between the psychological and behavioural components of commitment remains contested. This research investigates the commitment-behaviour link to help us understand some of the outcomes of nature-based recreation. The study used a modified version of the Sport Commitment Model (SCM) to measure the psychological commitment of 1024 nature-based recreationists active in freshwater angling, mountaineering, hunting or tramping. We examined the relationship between their psychological and behavioural commitment, measuring this through the frequency of participation and activity-related expenditure. Findings suggest a positive relationship for both, although surprisingly stronger for purchase than participation. However, we also identified a confounding effect of income, with activity-related expenditure being related to both psychological commitment and income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the environmental attitudes (EA) of New Zealand's land surveying students and how they change during a four-year programme. We implemented a multi-cohort survey and developed a longitudinal statistical model of change. Findings suggest that although the EA scores of groups of students vary at different times within and between cohorts, there are no significant general trends when genders are combined. But females tend to start their studies with higher mean EA scores than males and this difference declines overtime. This occurs consistently across the four cohorts studied. This is discussed in relation to women's role within the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though sustainability is increasingly being incorporated into dietetic internships, there is a lack of literature documenting the teaching of environmental literacy in undergraduate nutrition. We report on how the implementation of a 2-week food sustainability module as part of an undergraduate second-year course in human nutrition affected students’ environmental literacy. We modified a previously published environmental literacy evaluation instrument to be nutrition specific, and this was adminstered to students before and after the module. Our research showed that, in a module as little as 2 weeks’ duration, it was possible to improve knowledge about food sustainability and shift attitudes in a “greener” direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive acoustic detectors are widely used for monitoring distribution of cetaceans. Autonomous visual methods are less frequently employed; they are limited to detections during daylight and good weather, but offer potential advantages due to certainty of species' identification and longevity of deployment. To compare performance of acoustic and visual methods, temporal changes in distribution of southern right whales, Eubalaena australis, were monitored in the remote sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (50°31′S, 166°16′E). A time-lapse camera was deployed for 2 years from August 2010, taking an image every 70 min. The presence of whales was scored for each image taken during daylight ( n = 8295). A passive acoustic recorder was deployed in August 2011, recording for 3.75 min every hour until battery life expired after 10 months. Each recording ( n = 6978) was aurally reviewed. Both methods revealed a similar seasonal distribution; maximum detection rates were in the austral winter and no whales were detected in January or February. However, at the peak of right whale occurrence, the proportion of samples with whales detected was much higher for the acoustic recorder (93.9% in August) than the time-lapse camera (14.8%). A generalised additive model fitted to the visual data revealed significant effects of sea state and visibility. Acoustic detection rates were higher, probably because detection range is greater, and less affected by weather. The solar-powered time-lapse camera system, however, functioned effectively for much longer. We discuss the relative merits of visual and acoustic detectors and attempt to draw conclusions about their efficacy for different focal species and monitoring locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]