Credit: K.Stepnitz, Michigan State University

LTER recognizes the value of sustained interactions between students, teachers, and scientists, and strives to integrate LTER science with K-12 education. Most LTER sites conduct individual programs at the local level, and the network supports centralized approaches to educational initiatives.

Education/Outreach goals include:

  • Utilizing LTER resources to enhance hands-on science learning for students
  • Developing long-term research sites on or near school yards
  • Facilitating communication between LTER scientists, formal and informal science educators, and school teachers
  • Helping ecology education make best use of long-term studies
  • Fostering understanding of the Earth’s ecosystems, including local ones
  • Promoting outdoor, inquiry-based learning
  • Stimulating interdisciplinary, collaborative science learning
  • Integrating long-term and multi-factorial studies into education reform
  • Promoting broad understanding of long-term ecological processes and the earth’s ecosystem

Committee membership is identified by sites (at least 1 per site). Meetings are scheduled monthly and attendance is voluntary and dependent on individual members’ schedules and availability.

2018-2019 Accomplishments:

Major activities or accomplishments for the year: EOC developed multiple ASM workshops focused on education / outreach topics, including data literacy, stakeholder engagement and social science research, children’s book series curriculum, and integration of sciences and humanities. EOC also supported the initiation of a cross-site REU program, including introductory webinars, sponsored ASM attendance, and the first Schwarzschild Memorial Award for Science and Communication.

2019-20 Planned activities:

Planned activities for the coming year: synthesis paper/book chapter about LTER education history, expansion of cross-site activities including webinar and common K-12 data collection on soil decomposition, development of cross-site Children’s Books as a new initiative in the series.

2019 Subcommittees:

  • 40-Year Review
  • Assessment and Metrics
  • Children’s Book Series
  • Citizen Science / Common Data
  • Data Literacy
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • Professional Development
  • Research Experiences For…… (RET, REU, higher ed)
  • Synthesis Paper

2018 Subcommittees:

  • Ecological Data Literacy
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • Children’s Book Series
  • Assessment
  • Citizen Science
  • Higher Education

2017 Subcommittees:

  • Ecological Data Literacy:  Alan Berkowitz (BES), Kari O’Connell (AND)
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):  Steven McGee (LUQ)
  • Children’s Book Series:  Adrian Howkins (MCM)
  • Higher Education:  vacant
  • Citizen Science:  Elena Sparrow (BNZ)
  • Professional Development:  Kara Haas (KBS)
  • Guide to the Education and Outreach Committee:  Jill Haukos (KNZ), Marty Downs (NCO)

Graduate Student Representative:  Alix Conway (BNZ)

Description: Committee of education representatives from each LTER site.  

Updated