The Mark 0. Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC)
public education opportunities include interpretive programs
offered along the Estuary Nature Trail. The purpose of this
study was to determine the effectiveness of three informal
education programs, interpretive signs, a self-guided trail
brochure, and guided naturalist walks, in imparting
information on the ecology of estuaries to visitors. A
second objective was to determine visitors attitudes towards
estuarine and wetland conservation issues.
A questionnaire including knowledge and attitude
statements and demographics was distributed to 901
participants. Results show that the three programs are
effective in teaching visitors about estuarine ecology, with
the naturalist walks being the most effective. Knowledge of
estuarine ecology and attitudes towards estuarine and
wetland conservation issues were associated with visitor
characteristics such as level of education, membership in a
conservation organization, residence proximity to wetlands,
awareness of local wetland controversies, and previous
visits to an estuary trail.
Observations of visitor behavior along the estuary
trail showed that visitor groups spent an average of 16
minutes on the trail. At each interpretive sign between 54
and 77% of the visitors were observed reading the
information; those reading times ranged from 16 to 33
seconds per sign. / Graduation date: 1994
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35289 |
| Date | 02 August 1993 |
| Creators | Osterman-Sussman, Irene |
| Contributors | Weber, Lavern |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Relation | Lower Columbia Explorer, Explorer Site :: Oregon Explorer |
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