engaging undergraduates in environmental research through community-engaged partnerships jennifer l....

Engaging undergraduates in environmental research through community-engaged partnershipsJennifer L. BowenBiology Department

Course Description

COURSE: Ecosystems Ecology (Biology 336)

Description: The human population is increasing at an unprecedented rate and the end result is increasingly intense pressure on many of the Earth’s systems that are necessary to sustain life. This course introduces students to some of the major agents of change that are acting globally and the impact that these agents are having on biological systems.

Project Team

Jen Bowen (me!): Course instructor

Rick Kesseli: Biology Department Chair

Michael Tlusty: Director of Research, New England Aquarium

Patrick Kearns: Graduate student TA for the course

Project Goals

development of a laboratory that focuses on engaging students with community stakeholders to address research questions that serve the broader society.

This lab would engage the students in a semester-long research study in which they: 1) work with our partners at the New England Aquarium to

derive relevant research questions,

2) frame these research questions into testable hypotheses

3) derive and master the methodology necessary to test the hypotheses

4) analyze and interpret the results

5) present those results back to the interested stakeholders.

Possible Learning Outcomes

Generate a comprehensive understanding of the local scale effects of global environmental phenomena

Increase the environmental literacy of our student population

Prepare the next generation of voters to use sound science in future decision making

Inspire students to explore the extensive environmental resources in their local communities

What I want from CESI:

Help establish the infrastructure necessary to facilitate the adaptive nature of the class by creating a set of generalizable instructions for the course

Guidance on being a liaison between students and community groups so that the interaction is beneficial to all parties

Provide resources to cover the first year costs of implementing the lab, as lab fees would not likely apply until the laboratory has been approved through governance