AUNE welcomes its first post-doctoral fellow, Yu-Chi, who’ll be spending time on campus through March. Her visit has been coordinated through the University of Florida. Yu-Chi received her doctorate from the Graduate Institute of Environmental Education, College of Science, National Taiwan Normal University. She has a scholarship from the Taiwanese government to further her dissertation research about a sense of connection to nature and its influences on environmental sensitivity, particularly among children.
Yu-Chi is at head of the table, surrounded by AUNE faculty and students.
“I know AUNE is an important base for place-based education and conservation psychology which is closely related to my focus in the post-doctoral research program,” Yu-Chi says. “With help from professors, researchers, graduate students, and instructors in related environmental education programs, I hope to conduct interviews, and revise and pilot test the research instrument that will help educators to measure children’s and teenagers’ connection to nature. I would love to cooperate with anyone who is interested in my research and wishes to try using this tool for program evaluation.”
While on campus, Yu-Chi is working closely with the Department of Environmental Studies to explore regional environmental education sites to further her research.
So, how is Yu-Chi enjoying her first weeks here in New Hampshire? “AUNE is just like a big, warm academic family. In my first week here, I spent at least an hour walking around the building because I needed to stop, greet, and talk to people I met in every corner. I felt surprised by the warmth of the AUNE family! I’ve attended some classes and found the teaching is high quality and I have a lot of fun in the learning process. Just yesterday, I met a group of lovely people here to help review my research instrument and they provided so much wonderful feedback. I believe these excellent experiences will become important references in my future teaching and research. Thank you all for taking care of me.”
