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Thesis Abstract – Baskir (2012)

Title:

Protecting the Last Tree: Environmental Education in the United States, 1990-2012

Author and college:

Liza R. Baskir, Pitzer College

Date:

May 12, 2012

Degree:

Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Analysis

Advisor:

Brinda Sarathy, Pitzer College

Abstract:

Having already been hired as an environmental organizer, I reflect on how my childhood experiences impacted me. I embark upon this vocational journey with youthful optimism, a good dose of realism, and just a touch of cynicism. An environmental organizer is someone who works mobilizing individuals around targeted environmental issues. They create policy changes that are environmentally positive… generally for little pay. What has motivated me, and scores of others, to willingly take on this seemingly impossible task? For me: was it the summer vacations to Yellowstone and The Rocky Mountains with my brothers and parents? Maybe it was being able to explore in “The Woods” behind my elementary school as a child? These questions have been central in my life this semester, as I am involved in two environmental education programs: the K-12 education component of Energy Service Corps (ESC) and the Leadership in Environmental Education Partnership (LEEP). My work within these organizations, which I will elaborate on in greater detail, compels me to contemplate the impact these programs have on children.

Thesis availability:

Scholarship@Claremont – http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/24/