Dr. Frances Brindle (shown at left with Jane Goodall in March2011) graduated from the University of Dublin, Trinity College,with a B.A. in Botany with Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in PlantPathology.She has a deep interest in Biology and teaches a range ofintroductoryandadvancedclassesatCFS, includingthisyearanEnvironmental Research course and Advanced Biology termelectivesinPlantBiology,Mycology,andBiotechnology.
In 2009, Frances received one of theSchool’sPACEGrantsforprofessionaldevelopmentandspenteightweeksstudyingpermacultureat theCamassia Institute, partof the LostValley EducationalCenterand eco‐village in the foothills of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. She initiated theUpperSchool’sEnd‐of‐YearExperienceintheGalapagosIslandsthispastspring.Thispastsummer,forasecondyear,shetaughtaForensicscampaspartofCFSSummerPrograms, and she took part in a summer institute for high school environmentalscienceeducators:
Thiscourseisdesignedasarigorous,interdisciplinaryclassfocusingontheapplicationofscientificconceptsandprinciplestotheunderstandingandsolutionofenvironmentalproblemsandissues.Envisioned as a broadly interdisciplinary course, it builds on scientific principles from chemistry,physics, biology, ecology, and earth science. The course includes substantial laboratory and fieldcomponents to help students learn about the environment through careful observation andexperimentationwhiledevelopingtheircriticalthinking,problemsolving,andcommunicationskills.
Below,Francessharesherreflections.
Thissummer,IcompletedanoutstandingweeklongworkshopinAdvancedPlacementEnvironmentalScienceatNorthCarolinaStateUniversity.Everyyear,wehavestudentswhositforAPexamsinthesciences (and typically earn very high scores). I want to offer all our students challenging andcompellingscienceoptions,includinghands‐onlaboratoryandfieldexperiences.AtEnoRiverStatePark,myworkshopcolleaguesandIinvestigatedbiologicalandchemicalindicatorsof water quality and completed mapping activities in the forest. We toured the Cary WastewaterTreatmentPlantandspenttimeattheNCSUSolarHouse.Thoughwewereoutonsomeofthehottestdaysof thesummer, theseexperienceswere“cool”becauseof theenthusiasmandexpertiseof theleadersofactivitiesandthedegreeofsharingofknowledgeandexperienceamongthegroupofthirtyteachers,mostofwhomteachinNorthCarolina.Ourtimeinthelabwasalsorich,aswecompletedextensiveactivitiestoinvestigatethenatureofsoilandidentifysoilmacroinvertebratesfromleaflittersamples.Weperformedactivitiesandcompletedshort experiments on topics in ecology, population determination, air quality, energy, andenvironmental health. Interspersed were interesting and sometimes provocative, lectures:Environmental Issues inNorthCarolina (Dr. RobertBruck),WasteManagement (Dr.MikeWilliams),SoilStudies(Dr.JoeKleiss),andLessonfromChernobyl(Dr.CharlesLytle).This workshop demonstrated the power of inquiry‐based learning and further committed me toprovidingauthenticexperiencesforourstudents.
