The Society for Experiential Education Announces Inaugural Experience Matters Grant Recipients

Three projects receive nearly $15,000 to advance research and scholarship in experiential learning

The Society for Experiential Education announces the inaugural recipients of the Experience Matters Grant Program, a new initiative supporting collaborative scholarship that strengthens the evidence base and theoretical foundations of experiential learning.

The inaugural grants will support three projects where experiential teaching and learning provides a foundation for examining environmental education and behavior, globally connected and place-based learning, and student participation in non-credit workforce preparation. Collectively, the projects reflect the breadth of experiential learning and its potential to connect academic preparation with applicable skills, personal development, and meaningful career and civic outcomes.

The three funded projects were selected from a competitive pool of 20 proposals representing 26 colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations.

Advancing the Evidence for Experiential Learning

Experiential education transforms learning by engaging students as active participants in authentic experiences followed by reflection and meaning-making. As colleges and universities seek to demonstrate their value to students, families, policymakers, and the public, experiential learning serves as an important bridge between academic preparation, applicable skills, and meaningful career and civic outcomes.

Significant questions remain, however, about the long-term effects of experiential learning, the connections between specific pedagogies and outcomes, and the strategies that allow institutions to implement experiential learning effectively and equitably.

“The Experience Matters Grant Program was created to support the kind of rigorous, collaborative inquiry the field needs. Experiential learning is widely recognized as a powerful educational practice, but there is still important work to do to understand its long-term effects, identify which approaches are most effective, and demonstrate its broader value,” said Bill Heinrich, co-chair of the Experience Matters Grant program.

The grant program supports research, assessment, program innovation, training the next generation of scholar-practitioners, and knowledge synthesis that contribute to the field’s evidence base and advance the practice of experiential education.

Proposals were reviewed by an eight-member committee of SEE board members, practitioners, and researchers. Projects were evaluated on a range of data points including their research focus, approach, methodological rigor, and potential to advance the field.

“The strength and range of the inaugural proposals reflected the positive momentum promoting experiential education across higher education and beyond. The selected projects stood out for their thoughtful investigations, methodological rigor, efforts to train the next generation of scholar-practitioners, and potential to produce practical insights,” said Josh Meyer, co-chair of the Experience Matters Grant Review program.

2026 Experience Matters Grant Recipients

When the Forest Burns: Testing a Structured Experiential Learning Intervention on Climate Attitudes and Pro-Environmental Behavior in a Wildfire Burn Scar

Curt B. Davidson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Environment and Society
Utah State University Moab

Brock Gudeman, Co-Investigator
Adventure Programs Supervisor
University of California Santa Cruz

This project will examine how a structured experiential learning intervention conducted within a wildfire burn scar influences participants’ attitudes toward climate change and their intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The project has the potential to deepen understanding of how direct engagement with environmentally altered landscapes, combined with intentional reflection and meaning-making, may shape learners’ attitudes and actions.

Learn more about this project.

Place, Purpose, and Wellbeing: Scaling Global Experiential Learning through COIL, Citizen Science, and Campus Environments

Megan Lupek, Ph.D.
Co-Director of Environmental Sciences and Associate Teaching Professor
North Carolina State University

Elena Dawkins, Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Lecturer and Researcher and Surrey Future Fellow
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

This project will investigate an approach to global experiential learning that integrates Collaborative Online International Learning, or COIL, citizen science, and students’ engagement with their local campus environments. By connecting global collaboration with place-based experiences available on or near students’ campuses, the project may offer a more accessible and scalable model for global experiential learning.

Learn more about this project.

Examining How Degree-Seeking Students Participate in a Non-Credit Emergency Medical Technician Program

JoanMarie Schreiber
Assistant Dean for Academic and Student Affairs
Stony Brook University, State University of New York

Marianna Savoca, Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Associate Vice President for Career Readiness and Experiential Education
Career Center, Stony Brook University, State University of New York

Rudolph Princi, MA, EMT-P, TP-C, NCEE, CIC, Co-Investigator
Director, Stony Brook University Paramedic Program
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Health Science
Stony Brook University, State University of New York

As more students pursue non-credit credentials alongside their degree programs, institutions need a clearer understanding of how these experiences fit into students’ broader educational journeys. This study will explore how degree-seeking students engage with a non-credit Emergency Medical Technician program and what that participation reveals about the relationship between applied professional training, academic learning, career preparation, and personal development.

Learn more about this project.

Building a Shared Research Agenda

Each funded project was selected for its innovative approach, methodological rigor, and potential to advance the field of experiential learning. 

“These grants are an investment not only in three individual research projects, but in the future of experiential learning as a field. By supporting the knowledge gained through this work, it will deepen our collective understanding, inform future directions for research, and help strengthen the case for continued investment and growth in experiential learning,” said Rebekah Harriger, co-chair of the Experience Matters Grant program.

Findings from the inaugural projects will help inform SEE’s evolving research agenda and will be included in an annual synthesis of grant-supported research shared with the experiential education community. By examining findings across projects, SEE aims to identify emerging patterns, persistent gaps, and promising directions for future research and practice.

“The inaugural Experience Matters grants represent an investment in the shared knowledge needed to demonstrate how experiential education contributes to student learning, institutional priorities, workforce preparation, and higher education’s broader public value,” said Edwin Blanton, SEE Board of Directors President.

About the Society of Experiential Education

For more than 55 years, the Society for Experiential Education has connected educators, scholars, and practitioners engaged in experiential education. Through convening, scholarship, professional learning, and publication, SEE supports inquiry and practice grounded in experience across higher education and community settings.

SEE’s vision is to broaden the perspectives and voices shaping experiential education, so they reflect the practitioners and learners who engage in the field.