Jadda Miller
Ph.D. Student - Science and Agricultural Education
Research Interests
Environmental Science Education; Place-based Education; Citizen Science; Participatory Action Research; Formal and Informal Learning Environments; Traditional Ecological Knowledge; Rural Community Development; Environmental Justice
Research
My research focuses on understanding how collaborative and community-based approaches to scientific research can address and potentially solve local environmental challenges. I am particularly interested in engaging youth in place-based science education research that serves to protect local ecosystems and how these experiences increase students’ agency for environmental action.
I am also interested in understanding 1) How place attachment (the connection that individuals have with their surroundings) is linked to pro-environmental behavior and environmental concern; 2) How attachment to place can differ depending on individual and cultural concepts of place and features that make a place meaningful; 3) How Traditional Ecological Knowledge can inform and create authentic connections for nonindigenous peoples to place; 4) How place attachment and agency may mediate climate anxiety, particularly in youth.
Education
Ph.D. in Science and Agricultural Education, In progress, University of California, Davis
M.S. in Environmental Studies, 2019, Green Mountain College
B.S. in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, 2014, University of California, Davis
Fellowships and Awards
North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Scholarship (2023)
U.C. Davis Graduate Group in Education Research Fellowship Award (Spring, 2023)
U.C. Davis Graduate Group in Education Fellowship Award (Spring, 2023)
U.C. Davis Public Scholars for the Future Fellowship (2023)
U.C. Davis Graduate Group in Education Fellowship Award (Winter, 2023)
National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Graduate Student Committee Scholarship (2023)
University of California Davis, First Year Fellowship Award (2022)
Coverdell Peace Corps Fellowship (2017)
United States Presidential Community Service Award (2014)
University of California Davis, Provost Award (2013)
Francis J. Saunders Scholarship (2012-2013)
American Association of University Women Scholarship (2012)
Contact
Related Links
Project Update: Back to the Matilija Dam
Discussion surrounding the removal of the 76 year old Matilija Dam started in the mid-1990’s, yet here we are today in 2023, and the Dam is still here. Initially constructed in 1947 for water supply and flood control, the dam is now considered non-functional due to structural deterioration and sediment accumulation. Classified in poor condition, the dam poses a significant impediment to species movement in Matilija Creek, notably impacting the federally-endangered Southern California Steelhead Trout.
