Major challenges in geography education have existed and continue to exist today. Through three significant challenges, this dissertation examines how geography pedagogy can be changed to help fight university geography enrollment declines. The first challenge analyzes an introductory geography course and the motivational impact of gamifying the class grading scale. In particular, this research examines student responses to questions related to a point-accrual approach. The second challenge looks to K-12 teachers who teach geography but have no official university geography training. This research strategy is two-fold: first, surveys taken by participants and their individual developed lessons in the 2018, 2019, and 2022 Alliance Summer Geography Institutes (ASGIs) were analyzed; second, pathways of out-of-field retired teacher consultants (TCs) who have gone on to teach “social studies methods” courses in Arizona’s colleges of education were examined. The third and final challenge investigates the use of a K-12 educational website before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The study focuses on the Arizona Geographic Alliance resource heavy website which provides lesson plans, maps, activity books, and more to educators around the globe. Two research questions incorporated into this section of the dissertation are: (i) generally, how did the COVID-19 pandemic impact use of the Arizona Geographic Alliance website? and more specifically, (ii) could the analysis of the website usage be used to help the recruitment of new college geography students by providing K-12 teachers appropriate resources about geography as a career? The results of this research identify and address weak links facing the future of geography education, with the hope that encourages education intervention to increase the number of interested geography students and inspires further geography education research to continue developing solutions to these and other ongoing challenges.

Promoting human wellbeing is a core tenet of human development and sustainability research and practice. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to examine drivers of distinct aspects of wellbeing in an urban setting. Understanding how nature interactions impact human wellbeing is pertinent during the pandemic given the abrupt changes in lifestyle and anxiety experienced by many people. Through a quantitative analysis of 2021 survey data in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, I explored how distinct nature recreation activities, along with nature satisfaction and social capital in their neighborhoods, affected residents’ wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. To conceptualize wellbeing holistically, I employed a tripartite model of health encompassing subjective wellbeing, physical health, and mental health. Data from the 2021 Phoenix Area Social Survey were analyzed coupled with geospatial environmental factors that linked to survey respondents. With linear and logistic regression models, I examined how different types of nature recreation, along with local environmental and social factors, influence Phoenix residents’ life satisfaction, common health diagnoses, and depression and anxiety. Results indicate that perceived social and environmental attributes of neighborhoods and proximity to desert preserves had a more significant impact on subjective wellbeing than nature recreation. Age and park visitation largely influenced physical health, while socio-demographic factors had the largest impact on mental health. Changes in nature recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly impact any dimension of wellbeing among the survey sample. This research demonstrates that distinct aspects of wellbeing have different drivers, and multiple environmental and social features should be considered when designing happy and healthy communities. Additionally, the design and management of human‒environment dynamics at the local level can improve residents’ subjective wellbeing. Research should continue investigating trends and drivers of human wellbeing to support sustainability goals into the future in order to promote wellbeing in urban communities.