Learning with and within City Ecosystems: Studying Children’s Changing Understandings of Socio-ecological System in Richmond, VA

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Kathryn Lanouette

Student Researcher

Sydney Foxx '28, Majors: Environmental Science and International Relations

Project Description

Sydney Foxx worked with faculty from William & Mary School of Education and Blue Sky Fund to explore how young students learn about social and ecological systems in Richmond Virginia. 

Connection to nature is recognized as contributing to the well-being of children, but there lacks a clear framework for evaluating how programs inspire unique connections  among youth. The Blue Sky Fund is a non-governmental organization that aims to foster connections between children and nature, thereby promoting their well-being, by engaging school children in outdoor education trips in Richmond Virginia. This research project investigates how children's understanding of socioecological systems is supported through data practices such as collecting data, building visualizations, analyzing patterns, and telling data stories. Under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Kathryn Lanouette and Joshua Bearman from Blue Sky Fund, Sydney examined how children learn about socioecological systems through Blue Sky’s Explorer’s Program, an outdoor environmental education initiative that organizes 4-5 day trips each year for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders throughout the city, including locations like Belle Island along the James River Park System, Shalom Farms, and other outdoor spaces.

Through observational research and embedded assessments, Sydney explored how children understand the socioecological systems in which they live, learn, and play, and their place within them. She also explored children’s understandings of these systems and themselves evolve over time through participation in outdoor environmental education, particularly in urban spaces. Sydney's work provided applied research to support Blue Sky Fund develop an evaluation strategy to understand and track the ways that their programming is influencing children's connection to nature.

Project ID - Format

25-003-25 - CRP Year