On December 2, 2015, INOGO researchers Austin Cruz (M.A., 2013) and Samantha Selby (M.A. candidate, Graduate School of Education, 2016) presented a poster with the initial results from the environmental education program that they Co-Coordinate, the Stanford Environmental Leadership and Language (SELAL) program, at the annual Young Environmental Scholars (YES) conference hosted by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Among 13 presentations and 26 posters, Cruz and Selby’s was one of six that were voted “best of class” by conference attendees. The presentation and poster winners included:

Oral Presentations

• “Engineering the infinite metropolis: Mexico City’s water resource engineers and the crisis of urban growth” by Dean Chahim (anthropology)
• “Adapting with trees in the mountains of Tajikistan” by Igor Rubinov (anthropology, intimate climate)
• “Engaging diverse stakeholders for conservation solutions” by Julia Mason (biology, Hopkins Marine Station)

Poster Sessions

• “Biodiversity preservation through innovative bioenergy production” by Tomasz Golinski (civil and environmental engineering)
• "Hand and object mouthing of rural Bangladeshi children 3-18 months old” by Laura Kwong (civil and environmental engineering)
• “Public-private educational partnerships: Environmental education in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica” by Samantha Selby (education) and Austin Cruz (Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and INOGO)

Cruz and Selby’s poster presented IRB-approved environmental education research collected over six months in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, which included data on environmental responsibility, attitudes toward high school, leadership, ecotourism education, ecology education, and social capital. In each of these six categories, INOGO researchers found an increase in post-survey measurements relative to before the program. Cruz and Selby will soon be analyzing the mixed-methods educational data from the most recent program, SELAL III which took place in January 2016, to further measure the program’s impact in each of these domains.

For more information on SELAL, please contact Austin Cruz (austincr@stanford.edu), Samantha Selby (sselby@stanford.edu), or Emily Arnold Mest (ebarnold@stanford.edu).

For more information about next year’s YES conference at Stanford and event updates from the Stanford Woods Institute, click here, or reach out to Woods Communications Manager, Paige Miller at (paige.miller@stanford.edu), or by phone 650-498-0607 (U.S.).