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- Editor's Note
Authors: Christopher Meindl
Abstract: What is in this issue, and more from the editor.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- Upham Beach
Authors: Marilyn Polson
Abstract: A description of Upham Beach, one of several public beaches on the west side of Pinellas County’s barrier islands.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- La Chua Trail: A Gator’s Reflection
Authors: Michael Salisbury
Abstract: La Chua Trail is about three miles round-trip and provides an excellent opportunity to follow in the footsteps of historic naturalists John Muir and William Bartram. The trailhead begins on a paved path and then meanders through clusters of oak and palm trees, eventually intersecting the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail, another popular Paynes Prairie hike.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- An Enchanted Place – Boyd Hill Nature Preserve
Authors: Rebecca Johns
Abstract: Just a few miles south of downtown St. Petersburg, one of west-central Florida’s booming coastal cities, is a relatively unknown city park called Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. Consisting of 245 acres along the shore of Lake Maggiore and close to the southern tip of Pinellas County -- where the currents of Tampa Bay run under the Sunshine Skyway and out to the Gulf of Mexico -- this park is, indeed, an enchanted place.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- Juvenile Justice in Florida: Spatial Variation in the Use of Punitive and
Rehabilitative Measures
Authors: Ray Oldakowski, Shelly Grant, Kristin Haycock
Abstract: This paper examines the spatial variation in the use of arrests, civil citations, and post-arrest diversion programs to respond to juvenile crime in the state of Florida. We hypothesize that local law enforcement officials utilize these measures based on preferences of the populations they serve. We utilize several demographic and socioeconomic variables to characterize these preferences and explain why certain parts of the state prefer punitive measures while others prefer rehabilitative measures. Our findings first describe the spatial patterns of these different approaches to juvenile justice and reveal that standard regional patterns such as north, central, south or urban, suburban, and rural are not without exception. Regarding the potential determinants of these spatial patterns, age and race, as well as local crime rates, are most influential. The research questions examined in this study represent an exciting new avenue of study for those interested in the geography of crime.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- Evaluating Forms of Engagement with Environmental Education in Florida
Authors: Kelley McKenna, Rebecca Johns, Barnali Dixon
Abstract: This research expands understanding of weaknesses and strengths in non-formal environmental education in Florida by comparing a variety of programs for effectiveness in raising awareness, changing attitudes, increasing connectedness, and prompting pro-environmental behavior among adults. Environmental education (EE) is a broad category that includes classroom programs, outdoor education, experiential education, and education for sustainability. Using qualitative research methods, we identify various opportunities and challenges for adult, non-formal EE at nature preserves and through non-governmental organizations in Pinellas County, Florida. We apply a theoretical approach within experiential learning called engagement theory to assess the effectiveness of several types of educational activities in changing participants’ attitudes toward the environment. The engagement theory of learning is a multidimensional concept that combines different learning strategies to increase student participation and overall success. There are three components of student engagement: behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement. Participant observation and surveys were used at four study sites: two non-governmental organizations and two nature preserves. Results of fieldwork and analysis indicate complex patterns of impact on participants. Interestingly, events that emphasize emotional connection –- a much lauded concept in EE -–did not show an increased level of commitment to solving environmental issues or instill feelings of empowerment to solving the problems. Behavioral type events appeared to lower connection to nature for some people but had a strong impact on commitment and empowerment. Adult EE in Florida might be improved through collaborative efforts to create general standards, through the development of educational programs that effectively combine cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement and through the incorporation of a wider range of emotions beyond the positive.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- Disasters in Paradise: Natural Hazards, Social Vulnerability, and
Development Decisions
Authors: Paul Parris
Abstract: Disasters in Paradise: Natural Hazards, Social Vulnerability, and Development Decisions is a collection of essays by several authors, including the editors, Amanda Concha-Holmes and Anthony Oliver-Smith. Concha-Holmes is a Courtesy Professor of anthropology at the University of Florida, and she specializes in ecological and visual anthropology. She has written about environmental issues, the Caribbean and Latin America. Oliver-Smith is a Professor Emeritus of anthropology at the University of Florida. His research spans involuntary resettlement, disasters and vulnerability in the Caribbean, Latin America, and United States. He has written over 70 journal articles and co-authored seven books.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- Disaster Vulnerability, Hazards and Resilience: Perspectives from Florida
Authors: Rachelle Pontes
Abstract: Fernando Rivera and Naim Kapucu have teamed together to write Disaster Vulnerability, Hazards and Resilience: Perspectives from Florida. Published as part of Springer’s seven-book Environmental Hazards series, this 218-page volume contributes to rural vulnerability discourse by presenting disaster vulnerability and resilience theoretical frameworks and implemented policies and procedures, which are complemented by the perceptions of disaster management practitioners and residents in rural central Florida.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
- About the Cover
Authors: Cindy Maria Shaw
Abstract: Information about some of the impacts of Hurricane Ian on the west coast of Florida, September 2022.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 1 (2022)
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