Local People, Scientific Inquiry, and the Ecology and Conservation of Place in Latin America (original) (raw)

In rural landscapes across Latin America, local people are learning to apply firsthand scientific inquiry to answer their own questions about the ecol-ogy of place. Their investigations follow the scientific method of the ba-sic or applied inquiry cycle. In "community inquiry, " local residents such as subsistence farmers or fishermen propose their own concerns, develop research questions to address them, design and carry out the complete investigations to answer the questions, reflect on the results, and finally apply the reflections to their decision-making. In "park guard inquiry, " park rangers and other personnel of protected areas follow a similar sequence to 404 C H A P T E R e i g h t e e n answer questions that arise from observations they have made during their considerable time in the field. In "schoolyard ecology, " children perform hands-on scientific investigations on the ecology of the place most acces-sible to them—the schoolyard—and the...