Fostering "Connectedness to Nature" through U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Education and Outreach Programming: A Qualitative Evaluation

Despite a recent increased emphasis on emotional connections to nature and their relationship to stewardship and health outcomes in the environmental education and other literature, there is a lack of understanding of what qualities of nature experiences actually influence emotional connections to nature, otherwise known as environmental sensitivity or connectedness to nature. In an effort to begin to explore this area, we conducted a qualitative study at three U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) sites with environmental education programs.