Year of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Name

Environmental Studies

Department or School/College

College of Forestry

Committee Chair

Robin Saha

Commitee Members

Laurie Yung, Kate Brayko

Keywords

climate literacy, literacy, youth climate activism. climate education

Subject Categories

Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Environmental Studies | Language and Literacy Education

Abstract

This thesis examines youth climate activism in Montana as a site of literacy practice, civic learning, and critical climate engagement. Focusing on the University of Montana Climate Response Club, the study asks how youth climate activists use literacy practices to interpret climate issues and participate in civic action, and how those practices reflect elements of critical climate literacy. The study defines critical climate literacy as a set of socially situated practices through which young people read, interpret, question, and respond to climate change as both an environmental issue and a civic problem shaped by power. Rather than treating climate literacy as the acquisition of scientific knowledge alone, this project analyzes how climate understanding is enacted through communication, participation, and public discourse.

Using a qualitative discourse analytic design, the study examines two data sources: 61 public artifacts produced or circulated by the Climate Response Club, primarily Instagram posts and related organizational communications, and a focus group with five club members. The analysis draws on literacy studies, critical literacy, discourse theory, climate communication, and youth civic engagement scholarship. It codes for literacy practice, civic action, identity construction, power engagement, system critique, and critical climate literacy.

Findings show that youth activists use written, spoken, visual, digital, procedural, and multimodal communication to build participatory infrastructure, translate climate information, circulate civic opportunities, interpret institutions, and intervene in public discourse. Critical climate literacy appears most strongly when activists connect climate interpretation to institutional knowledge, structural critique, civic identity, and concrete pathways for action. However, the findings also show that critical climate literacy is uneven and context dependent. Many artifacts sustain belonging and participation without explicit system critique, while others engage institutions, dominant narratives, and systems of power more directly.

This thesis contributes to climate education, literacy studies, and youth activism scholarship by showing how activism functions as a literacy-rich educational practice. It argues for further operationalizing critical climate literacy in ways that attend to communication, power, identity, and civic action.

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© Copyright 2026 Tyler Moore