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Climate change is not only a scientific phenomenon, but also a cultural one. Individuals’ opinions on climate change are often based on emotion rather than on scientific evidence. Therefore, research into the emotional characteristics of the imagery that the non-expert public find relevant to climate change is important in order to build a database of effective climate change imagery, which can then be used by scientists, policymakers, and practitioners in mobilizing climate adaptation and resilience efforts. To this end, we collected ratings of relevance to climate change as well as emotional arousal and valence on 320 images to assess the relationship between relevance to climate change and the emotional qualities of the image. In addition, participants’ environmental beliefs were measured, to investigate the relationship between beliefs and image ratings. The results suggest that images rated highly relevant to climate change are higher in negative emotional valence and emotional arousal. Overall, images were rated as being more relevant to climate change by participants with higher pro-environmental disposition. Critically, we have compiled the mean relevance, valence, and arousal ratings of each of these 320 images into a database that is posted online and freely available ( https://affectiveclimateimages.weebly.com ; https://www.nmu.edu/affectiveclimateimages ) for use in future research on climate change visuals.

Designing interpretive signs for community natural areas is often an expensive endeavor, sometimes requiring the largest portion of an already small budget, but what do we know about the impact of these signs? How do visitors to neighborhood natural areas interact with and use the signs? This multiple-method study investigated how visitors interacted with interpretive signs in two neighborhood natural areas in a mid-sized urban area. Results of this study indicate that a majority of natural area visitors were repeat visitors; however, when tested, first-time visitors scored higher on a knowledge assessment of information presented on the interpretive signs than repeat. Similarly, visitors’ appreciation for the signs varied whether they were running, biking, or walking. This insight may be helpful as natural areas invest in interpretive signage during a time of tight budgets.

Rapid advances in tablet technology and the increasing availability of electronic survey applications provide opportunities to streamline on-site human dimensions data collection. This article compares response rates and cost efficiencies of an iPad interface used for on-site survey administration to other types of human dimensions of wildlife survey administration response rates and expenses. Results also illustrate respondents' interface preference from a recent survey administered at National Wildlife Refuges and National Parks across the United States. Refuge and Park visitors enjoyed taking on-sitesurveys on iPads more than traditional paper surveys, and indicated a preference for taking future surveys on iPads instead of paper (t = 21.64, p < .001, η = .39); iPad survey administration was more cost efficient for large (over 1,350) survey samples, and garnered a higher than average response rate than online and mail surveys, but similar to average response rates for on-site intercept survey administration.

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