SENCER-ISE Partner, Karen Tingley, Directs “Building Strong Community Networks”

2013-10-30-16-49-03Karen Tingley, Co-PI from the Wildlife Conservation Society, also served as the Building Strong Community Networks (BSCN) Project Director.

BSCN was a two-year action research project, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and The Rockefeller Foundation, which focused on identifying and creatively responding to Brooklyn’s community needs through the collaborative efforts of six Heart of Brooklyn cultural institutions, including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park, and the Prospect Park Zoo.

The project resulted in a number of successful community initiatives, as well as a free online workbook.

The “Project True” partnership between the Wildlife Conservation Society and Fordham University provided 25 New York City high school students with ten-week-long research internships to study either arthropod or bird diversity in an urban environment. The students produced a blog and also shared their research projects among themselves, with their school principals, family members, and others.

“Karen’s SENCER-ISE work, along with that of Amy Tuinaga of Fordham, and Karen’s work on the BSCN demonstrate the value of collaborative educational and cultural partnerships in addressing community or civic needs,” says Ellen Mappen, SENCER-ISE Project Director. She adds that “these efforts allow us to develop ‘new models to … generate greater access to information, or share resources,’ as a position paper retrievable on the BSCN website indicates.”

Visit the BSCN website to learn more about the project.

San Francisco Bay Area Wildlife Mobile App Arriving in June

App_Slide_2Saint Mary’s College of California and Lindsay Wildlife Museum partnered on an independent study research course offering at Saint Mary’s College that focused on the development of a mobile app about wildlife in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Saint Mary's College Students present their app design ideas to Lindsay Wildlife Museum Staff. Photo by Steve Bachofer

Saint Mary’s College Students present their app design ideas to Lindsay Wildlife Museum Staff. Photo by Steve Bachofer

Professor Steve Bachofer, Co-PI on the SENCER-ISE partnership says, “Saint Mary’s School of Science students and professors utilize their creativity and skills to develop the app which allows Bay Area residents to increase awareness of animal habitats and to protect local wildlife and this app represents first product of our partnership.”

The course was set up as if the students were part of a start-up company producing mobile apps for clients. The goal was for students to learn programming code and apply it to a real-world situation. Professor Weiwei Pan, instructor for the course says, “As a faculty member, you try to take a background roll when possible, to let the other team members actually do the work and develop their own ideas.”

Avalos.M_Quote2_SMCFor Lindsay Wildlife Museum, the goal of the mobile app is to engage local residents with their wild animal neighbors, and increase awareness about the museum. Lindsay Wildlife Museum developed and provided the content and images, as well as general direction and feedback regarding the style and use, but the creative direction of the mobile app can be attributed to the student programmers.

Michele Setter, Director of Animal Encounters/Interim Director, Wildlife Rehabilitation at Lindsay Wildlife Museum and Co-PI of the SENCER-ISE partnership, states, “This has been a very rewarding experience for me, both professionally and personally.” She does on to say, “I am very proud of the work done by the students – they really listened to their client, were very engaged in the project, and were a pleasure to work with. This is a great tool for our community to connect with our wild animal neighbors and we are very excited to share the app with the public.”

Duran.K_Quote_SMCThe mobile app was beta tested April 26-May 16 2014, and previewed publicly on May 31, 2014. It is currently in final review and should be available for download on iOS late June 2014.

Marco Avalos, a Saint Mary’s School of Science student, reflected on the experience, saying, “We were able to help each other in this app-building process. If one of us got stuck, another would step up and help us figure it out. It was a great learning experience.”

Watch a video about the making of that app and hear more from Michele Setter, professor Weiwei Pan, and Saint Mary’s School of Science students.

Communicating Climate Science to Gatekeepers in the Adirondacks

Rob Carr and Curt Stager with the Communicating Climate Science students. Photo by Rob Carr.

Rob Carr and Curt Stager with the Communicating Climate Science students. Photo by Rob Carr.

Paul Smith’s College’s new class offering, Communicating Climate Science, created in partnership with The Wild Center, completed its first semester in May 2014. The course, developed by Professor Curt Stager of Paul Smith’s College and Rob Carr of The Wild Center, not only teaches students about the effects of climate change on their local Adirondack region, it also provides them with the tools needed to effectively communicate this information to local “gatekeepers.”

 

Gatekeepers are people who, with current research-based information, can influence the public to make more informed choices based on the changes that are happening locally as a result of climate change.

The concept of “gatekeepers” was first developed by Demos, a think tank in Helsinki, Finland. The Wild Center connected with Demos through The Wild Center’s partnership with Hereka, a museum in Finland, which works with Demos to develop outreach programs. Recognizing the potential in applying this to a college course, Carr and Stager developed their SENCER-ISE project around the concept.

The course allowed students to explore concepts of climate science particularly related to the Adirondacks, and study interpretive educational methodologies to effectively communicate their research. The students also had the opportunity to Skype with Demos to learn more about the concept of the gatekeeper program, including its benefits and drawbacks, and tactics that have worked well in Finland.

During the course, students also prepared presentations for four different gatekeeper audiences that focused on how climate change has and will impact each group, and what they can do to spread the word to the public.

In a Paul Smith’s College press release about the course, Professor Stager said, “The point isn’t to indoctrinate people into a particular point of view or sow fear, but to empower people to make their own informed decisions about how to deal with changes that are already under way in the North Country.”

Gatekeeper audiences included a fish and game club in Saint Falls, NY, that was presented information on how climate change is closely tied to the hunting and fishing seasons; a group of local artists that learned about how regional climate change can be interpreted through paintings; a group of local musicians that explored to discuss climate change through songs, album art, and performances; and a group of Lyme disease researchers from the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, NY which was presented with the impact that climate change has had on ticks that serve as vectors for Lyme disease.

The researchers were so impressed with a graph that the students created using Center for Disease Control data showing that cases of Lyme disease have increased over the last 10 years, that the researchers have used the graph in a multi-million dollar National Institute of Health grant application.

The local musicians and artists, and researchers were given their climate science presentations at SAM Fest (Science, Arts, and Music Festival), a one-day festival held on the Paul Smith’s campus. The festival and climate change presentations were also open to the public.

Rob Carr said about the SAM Fest presentations, “Half the class is about creating entertaining, dynamic, thematic, audience-relevant presentations that wouldn’t only be enjoyable for the audience that it was for, but also for the community members that were looking in. It worked out really nicely.”

An example of one of the student presentations on using music in interpret climate change can be found here.

In addition to developing and giving presentations, students were responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of their own presentation by creating their own goals and measureable objectives. The student groups also developed their own methods to measure those objectives, whether it was through evaluation, or with follow-up activities with their audience groups.

Deepening Understanding of Forest Health in Central New Jersey

By Drs. Jay Kelly and Nellie Tsipoura

The Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) Spring 2014 semester included a redesigned Environmental Field Studies Course taught by Dr. Jay Kelly, Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science in the Department of Science and Engineering, with guest speakers Nellie Tsipoura, Senior Research Scientist, and Kelly Wenzel, Project Coordinator, at the New Jersey Audubon.

Student_Quote6Previous versions of the course focused on student-driven independent research projects and/or more structured modules, exposing students to the process of conducting scientific research through a variety of less directly related community-based field research and conservation or restoration projects. For example, community well water testing, superfund sites, amphibian road crossing surveys, and invasive and endangered species surveys.

Dr. Jay Kelly with RVCC students.

Dr. Jay Kelly with RVCC students.

The new version developed through SENCER-ISE funding helped focus and deepen the course content, providing a useful conceptual framework to integrate different course materials and an opportunity for students to participate in meaningful community-based research and outreach being conducted by NJ Audubon. In all, this exposed the students not only to the principles and practices of basic scientific research, but also to the relevance of research methods and results to solving real-world problems, and moral and civic values, roles, and responsibilities of science and scientists in matters of civic importance.

 

Students were introduced to basic ecological concepts related to forest structure and composition and how these can be applied to understanding and assessing forest health. Students conducted extensive field and library research on factors such as forest history, land use, invasive species, deer overabundance, endangered species, climate change, landscape context, public policy, and forest management.

Student_Quote4After personally delving into the causes and consequences of these factors, students engaged in the development of solutions to these problems, focusing on integrating invasive plant species into the citizen science training being conducted by NJ Audubon, as well as assessing the effectiveness of existing restoration efforts and forest management plans being applied to local forest preserves.

At the end of the semester, students and NJ Audubon staff conducted workshops for citizen science volunteers at the NJ Audubon. In preparation for these workshops, Kelly Wenzel met with the students and helped them understand how to create lesson plans for volunteers and brainstormed with them on a design for the field manual, which will be used to identify invasive plants. Dr. Tsipoura also spoke to Student_Quote7the class to explain the purposes of the citizen science project, what the students are expected to produce, and how to make the presentations tie in and flow with the rest of the workshop. The students also did a presentation in the class before the citizen presentation, in which they commented on each other’s presentations to strengthen their content.

RVCC students present a workshop on identifying invasive plant species to citizen scientists. Photo by Jay Kelly.

RVCC students present a workshop on identifying invasive plant species to citizen scientists. Photo by Jay Kelly.

During the workshops, citizen science volunteers were presented with background information on the citizen science at NJ Audubon and the collaboration between RVCC and NJ Audubon through the SENCER-ISE grant. Then they were introduced to the purposes of the project and the scientific and civic questions relating to forest health in New Jersey. This session was followed by training in bird and invasive plant identification. This is done in a classroom setting, where the citizen scientists were presented in learned in great detail about species identification with the aid of photos in a PowerPoint presentation, and in the case of birds an audio component with bird songs. The bird identification component was presented by NJ Audubon staff, while the invasive plant identification was presented by the RVCC students.

Finally, the last hour of the workshop was spent going through the protocols for data collection for birds and invasive plants. Since the Audubon uses rigorous scientific methodologies to collect data that can be used for conservation and management purposes, the speakers impressed upon the volunteers the importance of careful data collection and went into detail on what this involves.

Citizen scientists participate in a field research workshop at the NJ Audubon. Photo by Jay Kelly.

Citizen scientists participate in a field research workshop at the NJ Audubon. Photo by Jay Kelly.

Each citizen scientist received a packet with CDs of all the presentations and of bird songs, the protocols, any additional paper work, and the field manual that was developed by the RCVV students. These materials are also available online.

Each of these citizen science volunteers was assigned five to ten locations within a selected forest site and will conduct birds and/or invasive plant surveys and collect information on deer presence between late May and early July. Overall there are 375 locations throughout natural areas within the Raritan and Piedmont regions.

Once the citizen scientists complete their surveys, they will enter their data online and submit them to NJ Audubon.

In addition to reflections students- excerpts of which are included on this page, Dr. Kelly also conducted a quantitative pre- and post-assessment of student interest, concern, knowledge and engagement on issues related to forest health. The results found students to exhibit significant increase in each of these domains, averaging a 26% increase on scores (ranked from 1-5) on 16 questions overall.

John Falk Talks to New Mexico Informal Science Education Network

By Charlie Walter
Dr. John Falk joins twenty NM ISE Net members for a luncheon prior to his presentation. Photo by Charlie Walter.

Dr. John Falk joins twenty NM ISE Net members for a luncheon prior to his presentation. Photo by Charlie Walter.

On April 11, 2014, John Falk, Sea Grant Professor of Free-Choice Learning at Oregon State University and Director of the OSU Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning, spoke to the New Mexico Informal Science Education Network (NM ISE Net) as part of a SENCER-ISE funded initiative.  Dr. Falk presented an overview of what is currently known about when, why and where the public learns science, and shared the results from a variety of recent large-scale investigations of science learning to document the significant role that informal educational experiences have in building a scientifically-informed public.

During his presentation, Falk noted that collectively many factors – years of schooling, quantity of childhood free-choice learning experiences, work experiences, privilege and quantity of adult free-choice learning experiences – significantly contribute to adult science literacy.  His research results indicate a coefficient of determination (denoted R2). These factors are:

John Falk Speaks to seventy-five members of the informal science and higher education communities. Photo by Charlie Walter.

John Falk Speaks to seventy-five members of the informal science and higher education communities. Photo by Charlie Walter.

Schooling R2 = 17%

Childhood Free-Choice Learning R2 = 17%

Workplace R2 = 20%

Privilege R2 = 23%

Adult Free-Choice Learning R2 = 39%

 

 

Falk stated, “We need to broaden our mindset when we think of public education.  We should consider the whole ecosystem of learning including schools, museums, zoos, nature centers, state and national parks, television, after school programs and the internet.”

Seventy-five individuals ranging from museum directors, educators and board members, university faculty members and students, state park interpreters and a member of the state’s Public Education Department attended the program.  Twenty members of NM ISE Net shared information about their institutions and thoughts about the Network with Falk at a luncheon before the program.  Falk noted, “This network seems to be uniquely poised to make a real impact on statewide STEM learning.  Keep up the great work.”

Dr. John Falk joins twenty NM ISE Net members for a luncheon prior to his presentation. Photo by Charlie Walter.

Dr. John Falk joins twenty NM ISE Net members for a luncheon prior to his presentation. Photo by Charlie Walter.

NM ISE Network member, Gordon McDonough, from the Bradbury Science Museum stated, “As museum education practitioners, we spend so much of our time dealing with the demands of serving our audiences that we don’t often have time to wrestle with big ideas. John’s talk gave us the opportunity to step back from our day-to-day challenges and engage in the big questions about the value of museums and where we fit in the big picture of public education.”

Two additional national speakers will come to New Mexico as part of this SENCER-ISE project: James Bell, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education and Mark St. John, President of Inverness Research Associates (dates have not been set for these talks yet).  The goal of these sessions is to build capacity of the network members though dialogue with national thought leaders in informal science and learning research.

To watch a recording of Dr. Falk’s April 11th presentation, click here.

A Cross-Continental Partnership

Basic chemistry, such as chemical partitioning, is introduced early in the term to help students design strategies for separating toxins from various materials before quantification is possible. Photo: Karen Brewer

Basic chemistry, such as chemical partitioning, is introduced early in the term to help students design strategies for separating toxins from various materials before quantification is possible. Photo: Karen Brewer

Hamilton College and the Green Science Policy Institute (GSP) are partnering to develop research opportunities for undergraduate science students that meld analytical toxicology with public policy and civic engagement. Dr. Tim Elgren of Hamilton College, and Dr. Arlene Blum and Ms. Avery Lindeman of GSP, have transformed Dr. Elgren’s existing Introduction to Chemistry course (a 2010 SENCER Model course) into a toxicology lab, which includes civic engagement elements to provide students with opportunities to share their findings with the public.

Unlike the other SENCER-ISE partnerships, which are between locally situated organizations and institutions, Hamilton College (Clinton, NY) and GSP (Berkeley, CA) are unique in that they are based thousands of miles apart. Despite the geographic and time differences, Hamilton College and GSP have created a successful partnership and lab course that examines the real-world applications of chemistry.

Toxic Posters: The campus community is invited to a poster session in which students present the results from their analytical assessment of exposure to toxic chemicals from consumer products. Photo: Tim Elgren

Toxic Posters: The campus community is invited to a poster session in which students present the results from their analytical assessment of exposure to toxic chemicals from consumer products. Photo: Tim Elgren

The partnership’s use of technology during the fall semester allowed Dr. Blum and Ms. Lindeman to become involved remotely but directly in the course and the students’ learning. WebEx, a video conferencing service, was used throughout the course to maintain communication between GSP and the Hamilton students. Dr. Blum presented her lecture Principles of Chemistry in the Context of Health and Environmental Chemistry to the class using WebEx. Click here to watch a recording of that lecture.

Dr. Blum and Ms. Lindeman also held one-on-one meetings with students using the conferencing service. After making analytical measurements to quantify human exposure to various toxins found in common household products, the students developed projects to share their findings. Students then received individualized consultations with GSP before finalizing their projects and presenting them at “The Toxic Poster Session,” held on campus.

Introductory Chemistry (Chem 125) students learning to use the gas chromatography - mass spectrometer for analyzing toxins in consumer products. Tie-dyed lab coats are signature apparel for the Chem 125 toxicology lab students. Photo: Tim Elgren

Introductory Chemistry (Chem 125) students learning to use the gas chromatography – mass spectrometer for analyzing toxins in consumer products. Tie-dyed lab coats are signature apparel for the Chem 125 toxicology lab students. Photo: Tim Elgren

Projects included information on halogenated flame-retardants in campus furniture, bisphenol A (BPA) in instant soups and noodles, wine, packaged tuna, and infant formula, benzidine in imported garments, and perfluorooctanioc acid (PFOA) in pet food and microwave popcorn.

The partners intend for future Introduction to Chemistry students to reach beyond campus by communicating their results to decision makers in government and industry and, through contacts with media, citizens in the public, who can make or ask for changes to protect the public’s health and the environment.

 

Dr. Elgren says the partnership has been an extraordinary experience for both him, and the Hamilton students. Dr. Elgren explains,

The questions are beginning to extend beyond the simple act of measuring toxins to a broader consideration of the next important question, whether that be moving the science forward, considering the broader impact of the work and identifying important audiences that should be informed about the findings. GSP feedback on the structure of the projects has also been invaluable. During one of our conference calls, Dr. Blum and Ms. Lindeman suggested that each team should develop a “Fact Sheet” for their toxic compound (for “The Toxic Poster Session”).  This simple assignment has improved the quality of the presentations and allowed the presenters to hand useful information to people who stop by to view the poster.

The partners are beginning to discuss how Hamilton College can assist GSP in their efforts to develop other educational materials and curricula to make it easier for more educators to introduce these topics and strategies in their classrooms.

Mariel Schneider Reflections on “Science from the Start”

Graduate student from the Early Childhood Cognition Lab, Nadia Chernyak, conducts a study with child participant. Photo by Sciencenter.

A graduate student from the Early Childhood Cognition Lab, Nadia Chernyak, conducts a study with a child participant. Photo by Sciencenter.

Mariel Schneider, a senior at Cornell University working towards her Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development, has played an integral part in Cornell University and the Sciencenter’s project, Science from the Start: Engaging Researchers, Undergraduates and a Science Museum to Research Early Learners and Set the Stage for STEM Learning. The overall goal of the project and the partnership between the Sciencenter and Cornell University’s Early Childhood Cognition Lab (ECCL) is to develop and refine tools for parents, caregivers, and educators to engage their children in STEM learning, and to motivate young Sciencenter visitors to search, question and explore the museum.

Mariel was recently asked to reflect on her experience with the partnership and its project. She writes:

I have been involved with the SENCER-ISE project, taking place at the Sciencenter in Ithaca, NY, for over 6 months now. It has been a unique experience partnering with the Sciencenter through the Cornell University’s Early Childhood Cognition Lab (ECCL) because I have been a research assistant in the lab since my freshman year. The ECCL is a research lab in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. As stated in our lab’s website, we study how children develop their understanding of cause and effect through their everyday experiences. ECCL researchers play games with children in our lab, local schools, and day care centers, using toys and stories we design, to discover how children learn. I have been able to apply the ECCL’s findings, as well as the results found in other young childhood research studies, to the project at the Sciencenter.

Visitors at the Sciencenter splash around in a Curiosity Corner exhibit-an area specially designed for children 4 years and younger. This will be one of the water exhibits featuring the new signage. Photo by Sciencenter.

Visitors at the Sciencenter splash around in a Curiosity Corner exhibit- an area specially designed for children 4 years and younger. This will be one of the water exhibits featuring the new signage. Photo by Sciencenter.

One of the foundational ideas of early childhood cognition is that if a trusted adult labels two things with the same word, young children expect these things to have commonalities. We are applying this idea by labeling different exhibits at the Sciencenter, which have a common theme of “water,” with the same signage. I first collected initial observational data on child-caregiver interactions, the number of people visiting the Sciencenter, and which exhibits were visited most in a given area of the museum. Michelle Kortenaar, Director of Education at the Sciencenter and Co-PI on the SENCER-ISE partnership, and I designed potential new signage for these exhibits.

I have begun to get feedback from children on their understanding of the concepts we are working with. By showing child visitors pictures of the signs we want to use to demonstrate “water,” we can get an idea if the pictures and words we want to use are comprehended by young children. The purpose of the new signs is to indicate to visitors that there is a connection between the labeled exhibits.

Based on the children’s reactions, I am going to put up the sign they most consistently identified as “water.” The sign, which shows a picture of water and the word “WATER” spelled out, will go up in five exhibits that feature water.

The next step will be for the current students in Tamar Kushnir’s, Evalyn Edwards Milman Assistant Professor at Cornell University and Co-PI of the SENCER-ISE partnership, class to collect observational data on the use of the signage by visitors. Michelle and I have come up with guiding questions, with Tamar’s approval, on what the students should look and listen for from visitors regarding their interactions with the new signage, and the interactions between child and caregiver. Since regular museum visitors are being used in the study, the groups of children being observed interacting with exhibits labeled with old signs and new signs will be different.

The best part about working with Cornell University’s ECCL and Sciencenter is seeing how research is applied in a venue that serves the greater Ithaca community in educating its young children. The partnership has informed the direction I would like my career to take after graduation. I have learned that I enjoy designing projects after coming up with a vision that benefits the health and education of people –both children and adults. After graduation, I will be working in healthcare where some of my main responsibility will be in helping hospitals become more efficient in order to provide better care to patients.

Forest Restoration Underway at Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center

 

An OEC naturalist teaches 5th graders about bush honeysuckle as an invasive species. Photo by linda Fuselier.

An OEC naturalist teaches 5th graders about bush honeysuckle as an invasive species. Photo by Linda Fuselier.

The Biodiversity, Invasive Species, and Forest Restoration project is engaging groups from the Yellow Springs Senior Center, Antioch College, and grade schools from across the region in western Ohio in forest restoration at the Glen Heleh Outdoor Education Center (OEC).

Last year, adults at the Yellow Springs Senior Center propagated plants native to the OEC during two workshops offered prior to the inception to the SENCER-ISE grant. These workshops were funded by the Llewellyn Foundation and became the basis for the work now being done in the SENCER-ISE project.

Last fall, Antioch College students planted over 300 of the propagated native plants in the demonstration restoration area at the OEC. This first planting included spicebush, shagbark hickory, zig-zag goldenrod, bluestem goldenrod, heartleaf aster, bottlebrush grass, Greys sedge, tick trefoil.

Kelly and Katie Quigley participate in a native seed propagation workshop. Photo by Linda Fuselier.

Kelly and Katie Quigley participate in a native seed propagation workshop. Photo by Linda Fuselier.

The cycle is continuing with fifth and sixth grade students enrolled in the Outdoor School at the OEC. The students come from different schools across the region, many there on scholarship, to spend 3-4 days at the OEC studying various topics related to the environment and forest ecology. Last fall, students in the Forest Ecology lesson collected thousands of spicebush seeds for propagation, which students of the Environmental Problem Solving lesion will be planting this winter.

Corinne and Daniel Pelzl propagate plants in a workshop funded by the Llewellyn Foundation. Photo by Linda Fuselier.

Corinne and Daniel Pelzl propagate plants in a workshop funded by the Llewellyn Foundation. Photo by Linda Fuselier.

Forest restoration depends not only on the propagation and planting of native plants, but also on the removal of invasive species. Environmental Science students at Antioch College are learning about invasive species in relation to biodiversity, bush Honeysuckle being the most obvious and influential invasive species in Glen Helen. Areas that have been invaded by bush honeysuckle have been shown to have lower diversity in amphibian species, depleted growth of native plants due to resource competition, allelopathy, and depleted soil seed banks, altered patters of pollinator visitation, higher deer populations, which increases the risk of incidence of tick-borne diseases, and many other negative impacts on a forest.1-7

Antioch student, Sarah Goldstein, installs native plants in a restoration area in Glen Helen. Photo by Linda Fuselier.

Antioch student, Sarah Goldstein, installs native plants in a restoration area in Glen Helen. Photo by Linda Fuselier.

Over 80 community members participated in honeysuckle removal at Glen Helen and the work continues with field crews made up of land managers and students. In spring term, Plant Ecology students will work more directly with honeysuckle removal to create plots for their research projects.  They will examine the survival of the native plantings relative to biotic and abiotic features of the habitats.

This spring term, Environmental Science students will also become “assistant naturalists” in the workshops. To gain an understanding of formal science education, the work done at the OEC, and become experts on a particular native plant of their choice, students have been visiting the OEC and going on Naturalists hikes with grade school students and naturalists.

The Biodiversity, Invasive Species, and Forest Restoration project has several goals, including the restoration of biodiversity in Glen Helen, improved understanding on the parts of students and community members of the basic principles of ecology related to biodiversity and invasive species through hands-on intergenerational interactions, and the increase of strong community connections. Continued monitoring of the demonstration restoration area at the OEC, participants’ self-reported attitudes toward forest restoration, and formative and summative evaluation to track understanding of subject matter will be utilized in assessing the overall success of the program.


1-7 [1] Arthur et al. 2012. Plant Ecology 213:1571-1582. [2] Cipollini et al. 2008. American Midland Naturalist 160:117- 128. [3] Cipollini et al 2009. Invasive Plant Science management 2:45-54. [4] McKinney and Goodell. 2010. Biological Invasions 12:2751-2763. [5] Bauer et al. 2012. Plant Ecology 213:19-7-1916. [6] Watling et al. 2011. Biological Conservation 144:2597-2601. [7] Allan et al. 2010. PNAS 107: 18523-18527.

 

Teens Share Their Research on Project TRUE Blog

Project TRUE is a research internship program for high school students in the New York City area. The students choose between two fields of study, invertebrates or birds, to focus on during the ten-week internship.

Project TRUE teens search for birds in Prospect Park. Photo by Sabryna John-Charles.

A Project TRUE teen searches for birds in Prospect Park. Photo by Sabryna John-Charles.

The first cohort of teens participated in the project from October 2013 to mid-January 2014. A blog was created as part of the civic engagement aspect of Project TRUE. The teen interns generated the content for the blog and decided what should be posted.  Jason Aloisio, Fordham University PhD Candidate and City Zoos Urban Ecologist, and Debbie Dieneman, Coordinator of Volunteers a Prospect Park Zoo, facilitate the internship activities and manage the Project TRUE blog.

 

Blog posts include photographs of field research expeditions, video presentations, and open letters of thanks to visiting researchers. The Cohort 1 teens created much of the content for the blog using iPads, which were used “as journals, field guides, interview guides, mapping, and much more.” Karen Tingley, Co-PI from the Wildlife Conservation Society, says, “These tools helped them engage in ways that we don’t always see.”

The Project TRUE team is in the process of selecting the teens for the second cohort. These teens will also contribute to the blog using iPads and Go-Pro cameras. Tingley says, “We are really excited for the students to document their process and exploration through the use of photo and video. These videos and images will be uploaded to the blog, YouTube, and Instagram- all great placed for additional teens to learn more about what we are doing.”

To spread word about the work that the teens in Project TRUE are doing, the blog is featured on the WCS Project TRUE website page, found here, and is used in school presentations that each of the interns give at the end of the semester.