POEMS Development Team

The POEMS Development Team

The multidisciplinary team responsible for developing this scale includes academic, research, and Cooperative Extension faculty from the areas of child development and landscape architecture, as well as a health and safety consultant. The team (listed alphabetically) consists of:

Karen DeBord , Professor & State Extension Specialist, Child Development
Department of Family & Consumer Sciences, North Carolina State University.
Karen provided leadership to the team in obtaining funding that was used to conceptualize the scale. She facilitated team meetings, organized a pilot process, and provided child development expertise to the design of the scale.

Robin C. Moore , Professor, Landscape Architecture The Natural Learning Initiative, College of Design, North Carolina State University.
Robin contributed technical and research expertise in site planning and in the design of childcare centers and children’s outdoor environments.

Linda L. Hestenes , Associate Professor Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Linda provided expertise in early childhood education and coordinated data collection for the purpose of documenting reliability and validity of the scale.

Nilda G. Cosco , Education Specialist, College of Design The Natural Learning Initiative, North Carolina State University.
Nilda contributed expertise on play, landscape design, and children’s use of the outdoor environment to the design, pilot, and review of the scale .

Janet R. McGinnis , M. Ed., CPSI, Consultant, Health Directions, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Janet McGinnis brought expertise in the area of child health and safety. She is a certified playground safety inspector and childcare health consultant. She is employed with the Governor's More At Four Pre-Kindergarten Program in Raleigh, NC.