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Using experiential marine debris education to make an impact: Collecting debris, informing policy makers, and influencing students
Summary
Researchers developed an undergraduate experiential course in Connecticut in which students collected and catalogued over 1,600 pieces of marine debris from Long Island Sound, then presented findings directly to state legislators, with participants showing significant gains in environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior.
The Shore to Statehouse project supported the creation of an open-source, replicable, undergraduate experiential course on marine debris. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the course allowed undergraduate students in Connecticut, USA, to collect marine debris locally, then create a policy report for state legislators. Here we share the results of the project including data on four accumulation surveys on the Long Island Sound, as well as the impact on student motivation, attitudes, and behavior levels. Results include finding over 1600 individual pieces of debris totaling 19.4kg (42.8lb). In addition, the students experienced statistically significant improvements in knowledge and behavior scores. This open-source course can be replicated, empowering students to remove debris, provide important information to local policy makers, and improve knowledge and behavior.