Graduate teaching fellows in STEM high school education: An environmental science learning community at the land-lake ecosystem interface

Our GK-12 program, titled Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface, and based at the University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center partners advanced graduate students with high school teachers and their students. The objectives are to: 1) Generate student enthusiasm for science careers by engaging them in hands-on research, 2) Exchange knowledge and pedagogies between graduate fellows and teachers resulting in cutting-edge environmental science content and increased teaching and communication skills, and 3) Develop hands-on solutions to environmental problems along schoolyard stream ecosystems feeding the Great Lakes. Participants gain hands-on experience in the role of urban and agricultural influences on watersheds in the history, social development, and future vitality of the Great Lakes region; disseminated through the project website, science fair projects, presentations, and publications. High schools encompass an urban-suburban-rural gradient, and projects focus on augmenting an existing Student Watershed Watch program that samples water quality in schoolyard streams. Our fellows mentor science fair projects along this and other themes, with many winning regional and state awards. This program embraces the public scholarship philosophic concept of merging scientific research with civic responsibility to benefit the public and the community.