‘You really see it’: environmental identity shifts through interacting with a climate change-impacted glacier landscape

Abstract

The global climate crisis continues to endanger the well-being of natural environments and the people who depend on them. Building elements of environmental identity may better connect youth to the changes underway. However, little work has investigated how experiencing a climate change-impacted landscape may support environmental identity shifts. This study explores such shifts in the context of a wilderness science program for youth in a glacier-dominated landscape with visible signatures of long-term change. We use a qualitative approach to investigate environmental identity development, relying on Clayton's (2003) environmental identity model as a theoretical construct. We find that two aspects of environmental identity shifted the most: (1) relatedness to the natural environment and (2) pro-environmental motivation. Emergent themes from the analysis reveal that these changes arise from better understanding how ecosystems are interconnected, understanding human impacts on the environment, and witnessing first-hand the scale and rate of glacier loss. Our results imply that educators can privilege these aspects to support environmental identity shifts. Ultimately, our findings highlight that personally witnessing a visibly climateimpacted landscape may be powerful in promoting better environmental stewardship in response to the climate crisis.

Environmental Self-Identity and Pro-Environmental Behavior in Climate Change Issue: Mediation Effect of Belief in Global Warming and Guilty Feeling

“…People who strongly consider themselves environmentalists tend to behave pro-environmentally because they want to show who they are [25]. One of the approaches to establishing prior knowledge is to directly experience the effects caused by climate change [26]. This approach can also form an environmental self-identity in someone [26].…”

“…One of the approaches to establishing prior knowledge is to directly experience the effects caused by climate change [26]. This approach can also form an environmental self-identity in someone [26].…”

Investigative Research Projects for Students in Science: The State of the Field and a Research Agenda

“…Liao et al, 2017). While many projects are undertaken in laboratory settings, some are undertaken outdoors, in the field (Carsten Conner et al, 2018;Houseal et al, 2014;Young et al, 2020).…”

Removing Barriers to Science and the Outdoors for Teenage Youth and Early Career Professionals in the US Arctic and Beyond

“…Young was also a member of the global Inspiring Girls* Steering Committee from 2015 to 2022, and has been the Director of Inspiring Girls* Expeditions Alaska since 2020. Young's graduate degrees (MS and PhD) were in Geophysics and included interdisciplinary elements, including as first author on an environmental education publication on the impacts of Inspiring Girls* programs (Young, Conner, and Pettit 2020), further described below.…”

“…This framing emphasizes that humans are an integral part of the environment and not separate from it (Chapin III et al 2009). A study on the outcomes of the glacier-based expeditions hosted by Inspiring Girls* indeed revealed that interacting with the glacier environment helped participants understand humans' ability to influence the natural world, in turn deepening their sense of connection to the environment and promoting pro-environmental motivation (Young, Conner, and Pettit 2020). These findings are promising given previous research that has shown, for underrepresented students in particular, that the personal relevance of science to students' lives has a significant impact on their sense of comfort within a science program of study (Hurtado et al 2010).…”