The out-of-doors apparently offers benefits well beyond fresh air and scenery, as a story in the Los Angeles Times today reports.

According to a recent study of at-risk fifth- and sixth graders in schools in rural areas in Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Diego, California, children who participated in a week-long outdoors environmental studies program not only improved their science scores and showed a great appreciation for the environment, but also demonstrated increased confidence, were more cooperative, and showed a greater openness to conflict resolution.

The study, Effects of Outdoor Education Programs for Children in California, was conducted by the American Institutes for Research on behalf of the California Department of Education.

You can view the executive summary of the study by clicking here.

A couple of weeks ago I recommended George’s Employment Blawg as a valuable resource for workplace ADR specialists. Not that I want to embarrass George (who, by the way, is not just a great blogger but is also a really nice guy), but I do want to call attention once again to George’s blog. Here’s why.

George has an uncanny facility for sniffing out useful web sites. As he reported recently on his blog, George hit paydirt when he discovered HRGopher, a human resources directory listing over 50,000 web sites covering employment and HR issues. Its topics include (dispute resolution practitioners, take note) Arbitration, Mediation & Conflict Management, Diversity in the Workplace, and Labor Relations & Employee Assistance, just to name a few. (Nice work, George–and thanks for sharing your discovery with the rest of us.)

HRGopher should be a valuable resource for anyone who deals with workplace issues, as so many dispute resolution professionals do. (And don’t forget to pay George’s blog a visit.)