Department of Zoology

A new NSF grant awarded to the "GK-12 Bioenergy Sustainability Project" at Kellogg Biological Station enables fellows to share their leading-edge scientific research in rural K-12 classrooms in Michigan. Professor Thomas Getty, Co-PI and director of the project, shared news of the NSF grant earlier this week.

The goal of the project is to create a network of "schoolyard science research plots" geared towards the study of sustainable bioenergy.  Graduate fellows in the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior (EEBB), Environmental Science, and Public Policy programs will participate in the program, bringing their skills and research into the classrooms, for present and future generations of students and their teachers.  Kellogg Biological Station is working in partnership with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), and the NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project on the Ecology of Agricultural Lanscapes.

The GK-12 projects will mimic the GLBRC research plots, while providing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) development opportunities for K-12 teachers, and give fellows an opportunity to develop their communication skills for learners in a variety of diverse educational settings.  By bringing together scientific, environmental, social, and economic issues to the classrooms, the project ensures the responsible stewardship and continued vitality of the environment.

Says Professor Getty, "By working with K-12 teachers and students, the fellows will learn to put their research into broader intellectual and social contexts.  This will help them understand and communicate why their research matters to society in general, as well as to their academic peers.  The graduate students are very excited about the program."

To learn more about programs at KBS, including the NSF GK-12 project, click here

Kalamazoo Gazette article - May 18, 2010