Dr. Myers is a professor of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University. His interests are in human-animal interactions, life-span development psychology, and mixed-methods program evaluation. In the last 8 years, Dr. Myer has increased his research emphasis involving facilitating intersections between conservation psychology and positive psychology, as well as exploring eco-justice and critical race theory as a lens for emerging environmental education ideas and programming.
Olin Eugene (Gene) Myers Jr., Ph.D.
Professor
Environmental Studies
Western Washington University
Publications
Myers, Jr., O. E. (Forthcoming). Psychology and conservation. In D. C. Miller, I. R. Scales & M. Mascia (Eds.), Conservation social science: Understanding people and the conservation of biodiversity. New York: Wiley / Blackwell Publishers.
Clayton, S. & Myers Jr. O. E. (2015). Conservation psychology: Understanding and promoting human care for nature (2nd edition). New York: Wiley / Blackwell Publishers.
Myers, G. & Park, C. (2013). Review of environmental education in the US National Parks Service according to social tradition: A case study on two Pacific Northwest National Parks. Journal of Environmental Science International 22(4), 385-396.
Myers, Jr. O. E. (2013). Children, animals, and social neuroscience: Empathy, conservation education, and activism. In M. Bekoff (Ed.) Ignoring nature no more: The case for compassionate conservation (pp. 271-285). University of Chicago Press.
Myers, Jr. O. E. (2012). Children and nature. In S. Clayton (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of environmental and conservation psychology (pp. 113-127). Oxford University Press.
Myers, Jr. O. E., Beringer, A. (2010). Sustainability in higher education: Psychological research for effective pedagogy. Canadian Journal of Higher Education 40 (2), 51-77.
Clayton, S. & Myers Jr. O. E. (2009). Conservation psychology: Understanding and promoting human care for nature. New York: Wiley / Blackwell Publishers.
Myers Jr. O. E., Saunders, C. D. & Bexell, S. (2009). Fostering empathy with wildlife: Factors affecting free-choice learning for conservation concern and behavior. In J.H. Falk, J.E. Heimlich & S. Foutz (Eds.), Free-Choice Learning and the Environment (pp. 39-55). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
Taylor, A., Lockhart, J., Myers Jr., O.E., Vidana, S., Simon, I., Kenny, C., DeLise, I., Packard, B. & Lind, B. (2008). “Green” eggs and ham: Target mapping makes university food more sustainable and unites disparate groups. Management Accounting Quarterly 10(1), 1-17.
Kahn, Jr. P. H., Saunders, C. D., Severson, R. L., Myers, Jr. O. E. & Gill, B. T. (2008). Moral and fearful affiliations with the animal world: Children’s conceptions of bats. Antrhozoos 21 (4), 375-386.
Myers, Jr. O. E. (2007). The significance of children and animals: Social development and our connections to other species (2nd revised ed.). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. (Original work published 1998)
Myers, Jr. O. E., Hagen, D., Russo, A., McMullin, C., Lembrick A., Silbaugh, B. Parker, K. (2006). Benefits of a campus transit pass: A study of students’ willingness-to-pay for a proposed mandatory transit pass program. Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1971, 133-139.
Myers, Jr. O. E. (2006). The significance of children and animals: Social development and our connections to other species. Second, revised edition. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press(originally published in 1998 as Children and animals, Westview Press).
Dear, C. & Myers, Jr. O. E. (2005). Recreationists’ understanding of subsistence in Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve, Alaska. Society and Natural Resources18: 821-837.
Myers, Jr. O. E., Saunders, C. & Birjulin, A. (2004). Emotional dimensions of watching zoo animals: An experience sampling study building on insights from psychology. Curator, 47(3), 299-321.
Myers, Jr. O. E. & Russell, A. (2004). Human identity in relation to wild Black bears: A natural-social ecology of subjective creatures. In S. Clayton & S. Opotow (Eds.), Identity and the Natural Environment (pp. 67-90). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Myers, Jr. O. E., Saunders, C. D. & Garrett, E. (2004). What do children think animals need? Developmental trends. Environmental Education Research, 10(4), 545-562.
Myers, Jr. O. E., Saunders, C. D. & Garrett, E. (2003). What do children think animals need? Aesthetic and psycho-social conceptions. Environmental Education Research, 9(3), 305-325.
Bott, S., Cantrill, J. G. & Myers, Jr. O. E. (2003). Place and the promise of Conservation Psychology. Human Ecology Review, 10(2), 100-112.
Myers, Jr. O. E. (2003). “No longer the lonely species: A post-Mead perspective on animals and the self.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 23(3), 46-68.(Invited refereed article for special issue on “Animals and the future of sociology.”)
Myers, Jr. O. E. (2002). Symbolic animals and the developing self. Anthrozoös: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Interactions of People and Animals, 15(1), 19-36.
Myers, Jr. O. E. & Saunders, C. (2002). Animals as links to developing caring relationships with the natural world. In P. H. Kahn Jr. & S. R. Kellert (Eds.), Children and nature: Theoretical and Scientific Foundations (pp. 153-178). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.