Study title

Soil invertebrates play a central role in terrestrial ecosystem functioning but public awareness about the importance of soil invertebrates is low and they are neglected in conservation research and policy. This study investigated children’s perceptions of soil invertebrates and the impact of an educational intervention, using a psychometric questionnaire, interviews and learner-generated drawings.Plants are essential for the survival of life on Earth. Humans rely on plants for food, medicine, and raw materials. Plant science plays a crucial role in food security, climate change adaptation and mitigation. Yet there is a widespread tendency in modern society to ignore plants, or fail to recognise their importance, a phenomenon known as plant blindness. Plant blindness has led to the 'green skills gap' in research and industry, as well as the neglect of plants in education and environmental conservation. The PhD research investigated the efficacy of a suite of novel teaching approaches for plant topics with adults and children, based on gamification, the creative arts and digital learning. It considered how these contributed to a theory and practice of learning to address plant blindness, alongside the existing literature. The findings were published as seven articles in academic journals from 2013 - 2020, with a further three studies currently under consideration. The post-doctoral phase of this work will focus on three areas. First, the dissemination of the research findings to a non-academic audience, including teachers and outdoor learning practitioners, through a programme of online courses and articles to increase awareness about plant blindness and to promote effective, evidence-based teaching approaches. The programme includes the first MOOC (open access course) about plant blindness, building on the success of a previous MOOC about sustainable food systems, which had more than10,000 enrolments. A plant blindness network with the British Ecological...