Yue Li
Research Associate, Natural Resources and the Environment
Yue Li is a research associate in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University. Her research focuses on professional development for formal and non-formal educators, Massive Open Online Course participants’ learning and actions, and university students’ community-engaged learning to address sustainability challenges. She bridges quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct interdisciplinary research in both online and face-to-face settings, and in different cultural contexts. Yue has taught or co-taught sustainability courses for high school students in China, undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell, and for a global audience. Her online courses have brought high quality and equitable learning opportunities to teachers and other professionals from all over the world.
Education
Recent Research
Yue’s current research focuses on online education and community engagement to help achieve sustainable development goals. She collaborates with scholars across disciplines to conduct experiments by embedding social-psychological interventions in MOOCs designed to enhance local educational practices and climate actions. She also applies the cultural dimensions of learning framework to explore learning preferences of the course participants from different countries. Further, Yue has been working on several research projects to explore students’ engaged learning through working with community organizations to address climate and sustainability challenges.
Yue has been involved in the development and teaching of sustainability and environmental education MOOCs for university students, formal and non-formal educators, and other professionals around the world. The online courses include Civic Ecology, Climate Change Science, Communication and Action, Network Climate Action: Scaling Up Your Impact, Environment-STEM Education, Introduction to Environmental Education, Environmental Education Outcomes, Urban Environmental Education, Global Environmental Education and Nature Education. Each online course offering attracts 500-2000 participants from over 50 countries. The courses are not simply offering materials online for participants, but encourage deeper thinking and empower participants to contribute to the resilience of their local communities.
Selected Publications
- Krasny M. E., Y. Li, D. Gonzales and A. Bartel. E-Engagement: Approaches to using digital communications in student-community engagement. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. In press.
- Cho J., Y. Li, M. E. Krasny, A. Russ and R. F. Kizilcec. (2021) Online learning and social norms: Evidence from a cross-cultural field experiment in a course for a cause. Computer-based Learning in Context. 3(1): 18-36. doi: 105381/zenodo.4781808.
- Li Y., and M. E., Krasny. (2021) Relationship between networks and practice change in environmental education. The Journal of Environmental Education. doi: 10.1080/00958964.2021.1899107
- Krasny, M.E. and Y. Li. 2020. Scaling Up Environmental Actions through Global Online Learning Communities. Blue DOT. UNESCO. 12: p 36-39.
- Li Y., and M. E. Krasny. (2020). Development of professional networks among environmental educators. Professional Development in Education. 46(2): 337-353. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2018.1562957
- Li, Y., and M. E. Krasny. (2019). Practice change in environmental education: Lessons from professional development. Environmental Education Research. 25(7): 1119-1136. doi:10.1080/13504622.2018.1540033
- Li Y., M. E. Krasny, and A. Russ. (2016). Interactive learning in an urban environmental education online course. Environmental Education Research, 22(1): 111-118. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2014.989961
- Li Y., Q. Gao and X. Xu. (2012). Landscape pattern and spatial feature of land use in Taips County in Inner Mongolia. Journal of Beijing Normal University (Natural Science). 48 (3): 306-312. [Chinese]
Awards & Honors
Courses Taught
ENVS 4940 Climate Solutions Capstone; NTRES 4940 Sustainability and Community: Introduction to Civic Ecology
Contact Information
G-02A Fernow Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
yueli [at] cornell.edu
Additional Links