Through this award-winning outreach program, 2,000 students in 75 schools across the Phoenix metro area conduct real scientific research in their own backyards. Ecology Explorers creates a community of scientists among university researchers, K-12 students, and their teachers. Students collect data that is helping us to understand the workings of an urban ecosystem while learning about scientific inquiry and the environment.
> Learn more...In this program, middle-school students in south Phoenix are helping to revitalize a Sonoran Desert riparian area in the heart of the city with the Rio Salado project. Rio Salado is creating a natural oasis easily accessible to city dwellers.
> Learn more...SCENE’s popular Research Experiences for High School Students program provides academically talented sophomores, juniors, and seniors the chance to participate in real-world scientific discovery and see what it takes to be a professional scientist. Students are immersed in cutting-edge research, investigating original scientific questions. They work for six–eight months with Arizona State University scientists, engaging in their mentors’ research projects and undertaking their own related research. Students also enter the Central Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (CARSEF), where they have garnered top honors. Juniors and seniors who complete the program receive a small scholarship to the college of their choice.
> Learn more...Sustainable Schools teams graduate students, sustainability researchers, high-school teachers and students, and district administrators in a project designed to address the challenge of becoming a "sustainable school."
Each of the three partnering school districts will identify the aspects of sustainability they wish to measure, such as campus sustainability (food, facilities, landscaping, energy), community (safety, health, quality of life), or curriculum (graduation rates educational achievement, learning opportunities). Graduate-student researchers, under the supervision of faculty scientists, will help students and teachers develop a sound scientific method for assessing the sustainability of their schools on these multiple environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Fellows will also provide training on sustainability to teachers, career counselors, and community members.
2009-2010 Fellows: Andrea Baty, Erin Frisk, Braden Kay, Chris Mercer, Riley Smith, Mark Wood
Leadership Team: Charles Redman, PI; Monica Elser, Co-PI, Project Manager (K-12); Matthew Fraser, Co-PI; Susan Ledlow, Co-PI, Project Manager (Fellows, Faculty); Harvey Bryan, Co-PI
Indicators Team: Joshua Abbott, Bonny Bentzin, Harvey Bryan, Hallie Eakin, Jonathan Fink, Matthew Fraser, Jay Golden, Aaron Golub, Nancy Grimm, Sharon Harlan, Christopher Martin, Agami Reddy, Edward Sadalla, Arnim Wiek, Eric Williams
Curriculum and Instruction Team: Monica Elser, Susan Ledlow, Rob Melnick, Jim Middleton, Margaret Nelson, Charles Redman, Jill Schiefelbein
Evaluation Team: Lenay Dunn, Shelly Potts, Gerald Blankson, Jared Chamberlain
Administrative Team: Nikol Grant, Brenda Shears
GIOS/SOS Leadership: Rob Melnick, Dan Childers, Matt Fraser, Chuck Redman, Kate Spielmann
Contact: Project Coordinator- Rebekka Goodman rgoodman@asu.edu
Sustainable Schools program is in partnership with the National Science Foundation