Outreach and Extension

The College of Human Ecology was founded over 100 years ago with a mandate to extend knowledge that improves the health and quality of life for the people of New York.

Working closely with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Human Ecology integrates leading edge research into programs that fulfill Cornell's Land Grant Mission to address critical challenges facing New York State's individuals, families, and communities. 

Today, Human Ecology's outreach and extension programs have an impact that benefits the state, the nation, and the world. 

Urban Forest Adventures Internship

Match up a college student who grew up in an outdoors family with a group of youngsters who haven’t explored beyond the playground in their back yard and let the fun begin. Rosalea “Rosie” Taam is currently a sophomore in the College of Human Ecology’s Human Behavior, Health, and Society (HBHS) major. She landed a summer 2008 internship working on a research project called Urban Forest Adventures with Nancy Wells, a faculty member in Design and Environmental Analysis. Nancy’s research is supported by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service.

The program targeted Tompkins County’s (New York) low-income youth and is part of the “No Child Left Indoors” movement, inspired by Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods. It explores the potential for an outdoors program to combat the symptoms of “nature deficit disorder.” Specifically, UFA is aimed at:

• increasing children’s time spent outdoors,
• reducing fear of nature,
• fostering pro-environment attitudes,
• increasing attachment to nature,
• bolstering outdoor survival skills,
• increasing environmental knowledge,
• enhancing awareness of nature-oriented career options, and
• bolstering levels of physical activity.

Urban Forest Adventures operated under the umbrella of the Tompkins County Cornell Cooperative Extension Primitive Pursuits Project. CCE educator and project leaders Tim Drake, Jordan and Melissa Mueller provided guidance to Rosie as she interacted with UFA participants.

The program for pre-teen youth took place weekly during the school year, and at a summer camp in July. The instructors helped the kids to feel comfortable outdoors by teaching them survival skills and nature appreciation. Many times the kids at UFA played games that mimic animals and survival. At the conclusion of each program session the participants used their new skills at a campout celebration.

Rosie’s role was to help evaluate the impact of UFA on the youngsters by interviewing them before and after their participation. She observed them doing their projects and joined the group and helped out. While she had grown up going camping, hiking, and skiing with her family, the kids had a lot to teach her. They carved spoons out of wood and were thrilled to use them. They made necklaces out of simple natural materials and were proud to wear them. They made shelters just from things around them in the outdoors. She says, “This was a whole new experience for me.”

To carry out her intern responsibilities she learned a lot about research methods. Journal articles and books helped Rosie not only with her summer experience, but also helped her see the larger picture of how the different foci in Human Ecology fit together. That’s important to her because of her goal to be a doctor who works in public health and with children. Her HBHS major includes a broader range of disciplines than just traditional biology. The UFA project brought that home for her. She even says, “I learned about different areas of health that I never would have thought of.” These include concepts like stress reduction from being outdoors and enhanced self esteem through the kids’ accomplishments.

Rosie loved interacting with the youth. Interviewing the kids gave her a glimpse of their world. She did pre- and post-program interviews and she, Nancy Wells, and a group of other undergraduates and graduate students are working on the data now. Even without hard numbers, she can report that the kids really got into the idea of camping. They had never done it before and said they would love to do it again. A Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H staff member who interacts with the youngsters said the experience gave the kids so much self-confidence. Even the “tough” boys were confident enough about themselves to hold hands when the group made a circle. That is high praise.

According to Nancy Wells, “Rosie was a tremendous help, not only as a research assistant, but also as a liaison between the on-the-ground nature intervention program and our focus, studying the effects of the program on a variety of outcomes related to the children's well-being and connection to nature. Her documentation—in both text and in photographs—of the Urban Forest Adventures program was also a great contribution, providing a record of a curriculum that has been evolving for years.”

Rosie’s summer internship was supported by Cornell Cooperative Extension funds through the College of Human Ecology. She has only one regret. It was hard to be indoors studying and entering data when the whole focus of Urban Forest Adventures was outdoors – where she really wanted to be!