Browsing by Author "Shapiro, Bonnie L."

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    Evaluation of Experiences in the Canadian Conservation Corps: A Qualitative Content Analysis
    (2020-11-05) Butt, Nicholas; Shapiro, Bonnie L.; Lund, Darren E.; Alonso-Yanez, Gabriella
    A qualitative content analysis study was conducted in partnership with the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) and Mitacs to explore the experiences of participants involved in the Canadian Conservation Corps (CCC) program. 27 semi-structured interviews conducted with 14 interviewees were audio-recorded and transcribed. Interview data were analyzed using an inductive qualitative content analysis of latent data. The analysis identified seven themes which are: Theme 1: Participants Discussed the Importance of Community Theme 2: Participants Learned Through Difficulty Theme 3: Participants Experienced Personal Growth Theme 4: Participants Developed a Range of Skills Theme 5: The CCC Supported Participants’ Career Development Theme 6: Stage 2 Leaders Described Benefits to Their Organizations Theme 7: Interviewees Offered Suggestions for Improvements to the CCC Findings were shared with CWF and stakeholders of the CCC to inform funders and to support future development of the program.
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    Recreating Parks as Places for Restoration, Reconnection, and Reconciliation
    (2018-04-27) Carruthers Den Hoed, Donald Gordon; Quinn, Michael S.; Wolbring, Gregor; Lysack, Mishka; Shapiro, Bonnie L.; Draper, Dianne L.; Wright, Pamela A.
    This integrative research study builds on the emerging theme of valuing parks for providing health benefits through experiences in nature, and explores how transdisciplinary inquiry can inform the role parks play connecting people to nature in the face of current global environmental challenges. The iterative research process drew upon several academic disciplines including environmental studies, health, social work, and education, and co-created knowledge with park managers and through conversations with Indigenous (Stoney Nakoda) elders. The study centered on a quasi-experimental field experience where 34 members of the public spent one hour in urban and remote natural sites—the latter presented as either sacred, undesignated nature, or as a park. Participants completed surveys on place preference and perceived health effects, attention restorativeness, and completed the Connection to Nature Scale instrument. Salivary cortisol samples were collected to assess physiological impacts of nature experiences. Though sample size was small, results provided a rich picture of how people perceived and were affected by experiences in natural settings. The study reveals a preference for remote natural sites, especially when presented as a park, and a spiritual connection with those places. It also reveals potential health effects of elements such as wind and rain, expands the definition health effects of nature to include contributions to wellbeing, and reveals a gap between health benefits of nature and reciprocal care of nature as well as a gap between park managers and the agencies they represent. Though challenging, transdisciplinary inquiry is shown to be a fruitful approach to exploring the role of parks in the Anthropocene. Finally, Indigenous collaboration in transdisciplinary park research offers a possible roadmap for connecting people to nature and a potential role for parks to play in reconciliation.