This summer nine Kansas high school educators spent a week learning about ecosystems with ecological researchers at the University of Kansas.
Now in its fifth year, the Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute is funded by the National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research award #1656006. Facilitators for the summer program work at the Kansas Biological Survey, including Associate Scientist Peggy Schultz, Associate Professor Maggie Wagner, Post-doctoral Researcher Terra Lubin, Assistant Research Scientist Jennifer Moody, and Assistant Research Professor Ted Harris.
Working in teams of three, the teachers got the chance to explore aquatic, plant, and soil systems. They also used this knowledge to develop curricula to take back to their classrooms.
These teachers have roughly 300 high school students per semester who will potentially be impacted by this training. Similarly, the 2021 cohort of 10 teachers had roughly 900 students per semester who benefited from the training provided by the summer institute.
2022 Cohort:
- Bailey Bacon, JC Harmon High School, Kansas City, KS
- David Bennett, JC Harmon High School, Kansas City, KS
- James Burk, Trego Community High School, Wakeeny, KS
- Jim Cera, Riverside High School, Wathena, KS
- Tammy Greenlee, Onaga High School, Onaga, KS
- Duane A Knoll, Newton High School, Newton, KS
- Cara Snyder, Topeka High School, Topeka, KS
- Abigail Urban, Newton High School, Newton, KS
- Candice Van Allen, Weskan Schools USD 242, Weskan, KS