Evaluation Methods @ COSI
The following is a sticker survey that was facilitated for campers at COSI. The response rate was extremely high (over 90%) with 330 responses. Only 15 were incorrectly completed. Youth where aged 6-16.
Publication Shorts and Technical Reports
Dogru, T., Marchio, E.A., Bulut, U., and C. Suess. 2019. Climate change: Vulnerability and resilience of tourism and the entire economy; Tourism Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.12.010
Fluctuating and extreme weather patterns are acute indicators of climate change and these patterns modify tourist activities. The tourism industry is thus considered highly vulnerable to climate change. However, the effects of climate change on tourism have not yet been extensively quantified. Furthermore, the extent to which tourism is vulnerable or resilient to climate change has not been compared to other sectors of the economy. This study examines the extent to which vulnerability and resilience to climate change affect tourism and the overall economy. The results indicate the effects of vulnerability are much greater than those of resilience. The tourism industry is more vulnerable, yet more resilient, to climate change compared to the overall economy. The strength of these effects varies across countries with different income levels: countries with the lowest income levels are more vulnerable and less resilient, and those with the highest income are the least vulnerable and most resilient.
Figure 1. A challenging and unconventional miniature 1.5-gallon reef aquarium can be grown in a glass vase. Home aquaria offers the home aquarist a chance to get close to oceanic organisms, appreciate their natural beauty, and even propagate them for sale and trade. Photo reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder [Matt Pederson].
Marchio, E. A. 2018. The Art of Aquarium Keeping Communicates Science and Conservation. Frontiers in Communication. 20 April 2018. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00017
In technology-driven societies, scientists, and educators alike flounder in making science interesting and applicable. Communicating science, defined as communicating scientific facts as well as teaching and using the scientific process, can also be done informally though leisure activities. In this qualitative study, I examined the leisure activity of aquarium keeping and its ability to communicate relative aquatic facts and processes. This study examined aquarium keepers across the United States via interviews, participant observation, and an ongoing analysis of aquarium hobby literature. Thus, this study indicates (1) caring for a home aquarium communicates science latently, (2) over time, latent science communication becomes activated, and (3) long-term aquarium keeping leads to a personal response in science, as well as conservation. In addition, artistic expression and innovation intersect with scientific knowledge and application to create beautiful, biodiverse, ecosystems. Through the process of successfully maintaining an aquarium, continued participation leads to a proficiency in applicable scientific facts, a better understanding of scientific processes, and an improved conservation ethic for aquatic resources. Further, this intersectionality motivates participation by providing new challenges and various forms of satisfaction. The human dimensions of the aquarium hobby and the values of aquarists are important to understand for many purposes, most notably because it encompasses an enormous sample of the American population and is extremely lucrative to those along most of the supply chain. Aquarium keeping is not only a hobby, but because of the relationship between science and art, it can communicate, as well as spark conservation efforts in serious aquarists.
Technical Reports
Lower Colorado River Authority and Texas A&M University
Kyle, G., Marchio, E. A., Shafer, C. S., Bradle, T., & Richardson, J. (2017a). An Investigation of Recreational Boating on Inks Lake, Texas.
Kyle, G., Marchio, E. A., Shafer, C. S., Bradle, T., & Richardson, J. (2017b). An Investigation of Recreational Boating on Lake Buchanan, Texas.
Kyle, G., Marchio, E. A., Shafer, C. S., Bradle, T., & Richardson, J. (2017c). An Investigation of Recreational Boating on Lake Lyndon B. Johnson, Texas.
Kyle, G., Marchio, E. A., Shafer, C. S., Bradle, T., & Richardson, J. (2017d). An Investigation of Recreational Boating on Lake Marble Falls, Texas.
Kyle, G., Marchio, E. A., Shafer, C. S., Bradle, T., & Richardson, J. (2017e). An Investigation of Recreational Boating on Lake Travis, Texas.