A RESEARCH INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF STUDENTS' SENSE OF PLACE ON INTEREST, KNOWLEDGE, AND BEHAVIORAL CHANGES WITH RESPECT TO THE 2010 DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL

Throughout the Deepwater Horizon (Macando Well) oil spill (April 20 – July 15, 2010) news agencies reported spill data and interest stories on a daily basis, some of which conflicted between stations. Individuals had to determine the oil spill’s importance in their lives, and whether to make behavioral changes as a result. Each individual’s sense of place has an effect on his or her environmental awareness of a particular geographic area, overall environmental interest, and behavioral changes within the given geographic area. Therefore, we hypothesized that an individual’s geographic location and sense of place may have influenced interest and knowledge level of the Macando Well oil spill. In August 2010, geographically diverse students (N=77) enrolled in a master’s level online environmental science course voluntarily participated in a 24-question survey concerning their interest, emotional impact, knowledge, and potential behavioral changes with regards to the spill. Questions were grouped into study related categories, and a MANOVA analysis was performed to determine significance. The results indicate that an individual’s geographic association with the Gulf Coast played a significant role in his or her Macando Well oil spill interest level [Pillai’s Trace = 0.265, F(5, 58) = 0.4.174, p = 0.003, η² = 0.265]. However, an individual’s age had no significant effect on any category.