Future of the environment at risk from 'armchair biologists', experts warn
Future of the environment at risk from 'armchair biologists', experts warn
Date released 14 April 2005
Academics will warn today (Thursday 14 April) that society is in danger of producing a generation of 'armchair biologists' who can write scholarly essays about species that they would not be able to recognise if they encountered them in the wild.
Professor Stewart Evans, of the School of Marine Sciences and Technology at Newcastle University, carried out a survey of 217 Tyneside schoolchildren, aged seven to 16 years, between October 2000 and September 2001.
The survey found that children's ability to name species was extremely poor when shown colour illustrations of garden birds, such as the house sparrow, dunnock and starling, which are sufficiently common so as to be seen on a daily basis.
Conversely, the children were able to recognise 'charismatic' birds such as the puffin, robin, woodpecker and kestrel, because of their occurrence as motifs in advertising, on Christmas cards, or in cartoons and nursery rhymes, suggesting that the limited knowledge children do have appears to be unrelated to their experience of the environment at first hand.
All of the seven and eight year-olds involved in the survey were able to recognise the robin, while only half of the seven year-olds correctly identified a blackbird. Virtually none of the children of any age group were able to identify species such as the curlew, goldfinch, oystercatcher or golden plover.
The survey also revealed that the children's knowledge showed relatively little improvement with their age. The slight improvement appeared to be attributable largely to two species, the puffin and the kestrel. None of the children under 10 years old were able to identify the kestrel, while it was familiar to more than half of the 16 year-olds.
The findings of the study are published today* to coincide with a one-day seminar on 'Promoting Knowledge and Understanding of the Environment' as part of ENSUS 2005, an international conference on Environmental Sustainability organized by Newcastle University.
The seminar will address the growing concern that public knowledge of the environment and understanding of environmental issues is poor, and probably worsening.
Professor Evans comments: 'The reasons are undoubtedly complex, but it is likely that decline in the amount and quality of practical ecology in schools and universities, and the failure of scientists to communicate effectively with other members of society, are probably major contributory factors.
'Paradoxically, we seem to be producing a public that is environmentally illiterate at a time when environmental issues, like global warming and conserving the earth's biodiversity, figure high on the regional, national and international agenda. It is unrealistic to expect people to care for the local environment if they are unaware of the organisms that live in it', he added.
What is needed, says Professor Evans, are more initiatives which can reverse this trend and bring about changes in attitudes in society.
One such initiative, being highlighted at today's seminar, involved the newly-opened centre for music on Tyneside, The Sage Gateshead. Malcolm Green, of The Sage, led a class of seven and eight year-old children in a study of kittiwakes on the River Tyne.
He explains: 'The idea was to use the inspiration of the kittiwake's life cycle to increase the pupils' understanding of, and curiosity about, the natural world, while covering parts of the national curriculum. There is strong evidence that the children's interest in nature was increased beyond the life of the project.'
Amid growing evidence to suggest that science fieldwork in schools and universities across the UK is declining rapidly, Dr Steve Tilling of environmental education charity, the Field Studies Council, believes scientists and educators need to work more closely together to deliver a coherent approach to lifelong learning in the environment sector.
He said: 'Biology fieldwork need not be expensive, particularly if it is carried out locally. The lack of money is an excuse which often fails under close scrutiny whereas, in fact, ecology teachers could make more of the fact that theirs is a science research discipline which can deliver high quality work – very similar to that carried out at the forefront of scientific research – with basic equipment.
'By working more closely together, science teachers and research scientists could help to overcome these obstacles', added Dr Tilling.
Notes for Editors
1. The research paper 'Environmental knowledge: how good is it and where does it come from?' by S.M. Evans, PhD, Sarah Dixon, BSc and Justina Heslop, BSc, School of Marine Science and Technology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, is available in electronic format from the University press office. Contact 0191 222 5791 or e-mail
[email protected]
2. The ENSUS seminar, 'Promoting knowledge and understanding of the environment' takes place at the Assembly Rooms, Fenkle Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, on Thursday 14 April, 2005.
Newcastle University is committed to bringing about change for the better at international, national and regional level. Its Transforming Horizons document states that the University is committed to transforming the environment by bringing together its wide-ranging expertise to focus on the major environmental issues of the day.
For further information contact Melanie Reed in the University Press Office on +44 (0) 191 222 5791; e-mail
[email protected]
