Environmental Education Research & Implementation Support Experts.
Research, Evaluation, Community Engagement, Professional Learning, Curriculum Development & Instructional Services
About
eeRISE is an educational consulting organization led by Dr. Steven Braun. eeRISE fills the need for professional services supporting the broad field of Environmental Education; and with particular attention to related to community engagement and issues of justice. Professional services include research, evaluation, community engagement, professional learning, curriculum development and instruction. Environmental Education connects and crosses many educational, social and ecological fields including: STEM education, Outdoor Recreation, Restoration Ecology, Health, Service-Learning, Resource Management, Social Studies Education and Youth Development
Dr. Braun serves as Chair of the OSU-Extension Research, Evaluation and Assessment Resource Group and sits on the Oregon Environmental Literacy Program Council. He has authored publications in Environmental Education Research, the Green Teacher and in the book Teaching About Invasive Species. He has developed research and evaluation tools for youth, adult and program-level audiences. He has taught as a certified teacher in four states, directed a STEM learning collaborative and environmental non-profit. He has led professional learning activities (regionally, nationally and internationally) for in-service and pre-service educators in STEM, Environmental Education, Special Education, Service-Learning and Inquiry.
Clients, Collaborators, & Financial Supporters
Program Evaluation and Community Engagement
Outdoor School for All! Diverse Programming and Outcomes in Oregon, 2019 full study details findings from a statewide, multisite participatory evaluation of outdoor school programs across Oregon.
Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Learning
Self-evaluation tool is designed to support outdoor education programs becoming more inclusive and accessible, specifically for students with exceptional needs. One of three culturally responsive self-evaluation tools which can all be found here.
Program Evaluation and Community Engagement
Impacts of Outdoor School on Building Environmental Literacy characterizes Oregon’s diverse set of outdoor school programs, their impact on youth and evaluation measures, with the goal of developing assessments that can be implemented for all types of outdoor school programs.
Professional Learning, Development and Community Engagement
Oregon Environmental Literacy Program: Standards Integration – A Framework for Incorporating NGSS, Social Sciences and Environmental Literacy into Classroom Curriculum. Community generated guiding document, co-designed by a team of Oregon educators to: define what environmental literacy looks like at each grade level; integrate the Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan with Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon Social Sciences Standards; and suggest classroom activities for K-12 educators to promote environmental literacy.
Curriculum Development, Instruction and Community Engagement
From Removal to Restoration. Details year long middle school formal environmental education program focused on restoration ecology, service-learning and inquiry. Provides some lesson plans, ecological site design and community engagement efforts.
Curriculum Development, Instruction and Community Engagement
Stormwater Stewards. Details 10-week middle school formal environmental education program focused on stormwater management and inquiry. Provides some lesson plans and discusses Low Impact Designs.
Program Evaluation
Program evaluation of four years (2011-2014) of the Gray Family Foundation’s competitive grant program, which supported outdoor school, teacher professional development and community field trips. Program granted over 3 million dollars and served nearly 80,000 Oregonians during four years.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Culturally Sustaining Framework. Comprehensive framework collaboratively developed calling for a paradigm shift toward an equity imperative for broadening access and improving STEM proficiency, knowledge and the skills of students who have been historically underrepresented and underserved in the STEM field.
Research and Data
Adult Stewardship in 25 Natural Areas in the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Area from September 2011 through June 2012. Publicly available dataset hosted by HJ Andrews Experimental Forest from a survey of volunteers who work in city parks in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington to understand natural area volunteer commitment and motivation, as well as the effect that volunteering has on participants’ behavior and attitudes toward the environment.
Research and Community Engagement
Environmental identity, pro-environmental behaviors, and civic engagement of volunteer stewards in Portland area parks. Community based research considering social dimensions of environmental restoration; in cooperation with Portland Parks and Recreation, Vancouver Parks and Recreation, Clark PUD and local watershed councils.
Research and Evaluation Survey Tool
5-10 minute environmental literacy survey designed for middle to high school audiences. Considers some formative experiences, attitudes (dispositions) and behaviors. Includes and/or informed by Environmental Identity Scale, Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale, New Ecological Paradigm, research on formative life experiences and Environmental Literacy. Please contact before utilizing this instrument.
Services
eeRISE provides research, evaluation, community engagement, professional learning, curriculum development and instructional services to organizations working in environmental and educational fields. These services are invariably connected – quality evaluation results from community engagement and leads to learning and development.