We believe that current education and extension efforts could be
improved by targeting knowledge gaps and misperceptions among
current and future streamside landowners in the risk-based
context of degraded watersheds. The purpose of the project
proposed here is to identify these knowledge gaps through a
mental models research approach. Such an approach is based on an
in-depth assessment of the web of beliefs, or "mental model"
that affects how an individual defines a problem and ultimately
makes decisions about issues that are communicated to them. The
results from the research component of the project will be used
to develop a targeted watershed-based curriculum with high
school educators, which will then be used to remediate knowledge
gaps among students and their parents (i.e., current and future
landowners in the watershed). Knowledge gaps among the larger
community will be remediated through tailored on-going web
support of landowner decisions and development of streamside
land management plans. It is ex