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Research professor Dominic Golding and student Ethan Moore collaborated on a study of visitor safety in the United States National Parks. |
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Meet the researchers:
Shaping the way you see things
Interview with Ethan Moore
Ethan Moore '02 is an Environmental Science and Policy major working with Professor Dominic Golding on a study of visitor safety in U.S. National Parks.
How did you get involved in environmental science and in working with Professor Golding?
In high school I really enjoyed environmental science-there it was synonymous with biology. So I came to Clark expecting to be a bio major and found out that biology was NOT the same as environmental science. I took Bio 101 and realized it didn't have the environmental emphasis that I wanted. But the process of settling on a new major made for a confusing couple of years. I considered computer science and government, and finally settled on Environmental Science and Policy.
Since I'd started as a bio major, I had a lot of the course work already in place for ES&P. And the courses in government and computer science weren't wasted. They gave me some of the experience and well-roundedness that I needed to appreciate the complexity of a topic like environmental science. For example, taking computer science courses gave me the background I needed to run complex environmental models, an essential skill.
Then this past spring semester I took Professor Golding's Environmental Hazards course. It was a simple process of him coming up to me one day after class and asking what I was doing this summer. He offered me an opportunity to get involved with his research.
I should also mention that I'm pre-law. This fall I'll be doing an internship with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. It'll help me figure out whether this is something I want to do, whether I'm comfortable with this kind of work. You can't know that just from taking classes, you can't know what its really like out in the real world until you try it.
So what will you be doing this summer?
I'm working on a project that Professor Golding is conducting for the National Park Service. It's a federally funded project focusing on visitor safety at the parks. Last summer project researchers visited 30 different National Parks and gathered information about visitor accidents/incidents, including injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. This past winter, project members distributed surveys at 7 of the 30 parks.
This summer I'll be talking to park visitors and handing out surveys to determine their perceptions about safety at the parks as a follow-up to last year's data gathering and analysis. I'll be in each park for 6 days to hand out approximately 400 surveys per park. I've been in touch with the park managers at each park to determine locations that will be most conducive to getting survey respondents.
I've spent the past few days setting up my itinerary for this summer. I'll be going to 8 parks in Texas, Florida, North and South Carolina, Delaware, Maryland and New York. I'll get two breaks so I'll have a chance to enjoy some of these beautiful locations. Of course, at some parks, like the Everglades, it'll be really hot and humid! The whole project is not only an interesting topic, but it's giving me a fantastic opportunity to travel around the country for 8 weeks.
The parks you'll be visiting cover a pretty diverse range of environments.
Definitely.
How will you approach potential respondents?
It's amazing. I personally thought that there would be resistance to taking the survey because it's a lengthy one-about 7 pages. However, given last winter's experience, most of the visitors that researchers approached seemed willing to help. I believe they viewed participation as something in their own interest. In visiting the parks they're taking advantage of a practically free resource and I think many see the survey as something that can help their own park experience, as well as something they can give back. In each park I'll have to get out 400 surveys in a few days and it's nice to know that people will respond to you in a positive way. There's not a lot of salesmanship involved. I'll have identification as an official park volunteer so visitors will know that I'm not just some guy off the street.
Are the surveys things that people will sit down and fill out on the spot, or will they take them away and mail them in?
I'll sit and talk with visitors for a little bit, and take down some basic information, whether they're male or female, do they live locally or are they coming from far away, the length of their park stay, and their address. They can take the survey away with them, fill it out, and drop it in the mail. Or if they want, they can fill it out on the spot. If they don't return it in a month, we do a postcard follow up asking them to please complete it. If we still don't get it back, we send out the survey again. Based on the surveys we did last year we're expecting a 90-95% participation rate, which is really good. I was shocked! It makes my job easier. That percentage means people are willing to help-I don't have to worry about coming off as a bad guy.
Is this your first research experience?
This National Park Service project is my first official research internship although I've done other things in the field. Last fall I went to Scotland on a Clark study abroad program and did a lot of field work in my program there.
What kind of field work did you do in Scotland?
I studied brownfield sites, derelict land restoration, and atmospheric modeling. In my course there I was able to focus more on application as opposed to theory. We'd get theory in the classes, but every week we'd also go to the field and see what it's like. In the field you get a whole different perspective on how things actually work and look. In one course we were learning geomorphology. It looks very neat on paper and you think "sure, I understand that, I can identify it." Then you get out in the field and you think, "how could that possibly be?" Being in the field shows you so much more and you learn so much more. That field work experience is incredibly valuable-it shapes the way you see things.
I think involvement in research projects has a big influence, not only by providing experience in the field as opposed to the classroom, but that experience is also fantastic to put on your resume after you complete school. If you can do a project in your field or area of interest while in school it's hugely beneficial later in on.
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Additional Resources
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Ethan Moore talks about learning outside the classroom