In this Issue:
- NABT Thanks Our 2017 Leaders
- 2017 NABT Ecology/Environmental Education Award Goes to Robert Hodgdon
- NABT Members in the News: Anne Haley MacKenzie Named Fulbright Specialist
- Assistance Needed: HS Teacher Survey for NGSS Receptivity
- Applications Being Accepted for Project Dragonfly's 2018 Earth Expeditions
- NABT's Winter Sale Ends December 31st!
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The NABT Office will be closed on January 1st.
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NABT Thanks Our 2017 Leaders
Since being established almost 80 years ago, the National Association of Biology Teachers has depended on a dedicated group of volunteers to coordinate NABT programs and support our community. We want to take a moment to say thanks to everyone that worked throughout the year to make our association the leader in life science education.
In 2017...
NABT
Committees and
Sections reviewed hundreds of conference proposals, evaluated numerous award applications, conducted professional development workshops, welcomed new
BioClubs, and helped biology teachers from all levels all over the world engage with NABT.
The editorial staff and reviewers of
The American Biology Teacher continued to highlight the methods, PCK, and research on learning that enhances our collective knowledge as a professional community.
By all accounts, it was an eventful year, and in addition to overseeing the governance and strategic vision of NABT, the
NABT Board of Directors worked with the Executive Director to “stand up for science” in 2017. They joined other organizations to advocate for STEM education, endorsed the
March for Science, and worked with local teachers to protect state science education standards.
December 31st marks the official end of terms for some of our elected leaders, and we want to thank Lin Andrews (Region IV Coordinator) and Beth Dixon (Region IX Coordinators) for their service as Regional Coordinators. We also want to recognize and thank
NABT Board Members Brenda Royal (Director/Coordinator), Margaret Carroll (Director-at-Large), and Bob Melton (NABT Past President) for their leadership and guidance. We look forward to working with these individuals as they continue to serve and support NABT in different capacities.
NABT continues to thrive because we work with each other for each other. Thank you to all of our leaders - and to all of our members – for your commitment to empowering educators to provide the best possible biology and life science education for all students.
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2017 NABT Ecology/Environmental Education Award Goes to Robert Hodgdon
Robert Hodgdon usually offers the same statement when someone asks him about his Field Studies Program at Richmond Hills Middle School. "Most students don't develop a passion for environmental stewardship through reading or through media clips alone. They develop passion through doing. And so we do." he says.
How and where his students "do” is sometimes in the classroom; it's sometimes at the campus-based 5000 sq. ft. container/research garden (complete with 720-foot winterized greenhouse); it's sometimes in a converted 26 ft. trailer that serves as a mobile lab.
Robert Hodgdon has made environmental education remarkably accessible for his students, his school, and his community and NABT was proud to name Robert the 2017 recipient of the
Ecology/Environmental Teaching Award
. The award, which is sponsored by
Vernier Software and Technology
, is given annually to a secondary teacher who successfully develops and demonstrates an innovative approach in the teaching of ecology/environmental science and has carried their commitment to the environment into the community.
Robert has a BS in secondary education from the University of Maine and a MEd from St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont. Although he has been teaching for almost 30 years, he started teaching science only 13 years ago. In 2004 Robert joined the faculty at Richmond Hills Middle School in Richmond Hills, Georgia as a 7th grade life science teacher. He currently teaches Advanced Content Life Science at Richmond Hills and is the creator and coordinator of the Field Studies Program there.
“I grew up along the coast of Maine on the doorsteps of Acadia National Park, so a love of the outdoors was embedded in me at a very young age,” said Robert. That love for the outdoors, and the desire to give his students the opportunity to participate in real-world scientific activities, led Robert to establish the Field Studies program in 2013. The program not only complements the standards-based curriculum for his 7th grade students, it has an extracurricular component that is open to students in grades 6 – 12. Robert plans activities on weekends and during school breaks, allowing parent volunteers and school staff to also be involved. In addition to coordinating the program and developing the necessary partnerships, Robert is also an avid fundraiser who has raised almost $35,000 for supplies and equipment. As a result, the Field Studies program is currently contributing to 18 different survey, monitoring, and research projects with agencies from the local, state, and federal levels.
The program has also garnered a number of awards and has been recognized by 26 different organizations i
ncluding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, White House Council on Environmental Quality, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Captain Planet Foundation, Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia, and SeaWorld Busch Gardens Conservation and Education
.
“We believe our ecological studies program is the most comprehensive middle or high school based program of its kind in our state and perhaps in the Southeastern US,” said Robert, who added that the accolades are “a reflection of the tremendous collaborative efforts at all levels of stakeholders to support the development of a world class ecological studies program for students in grades 6 -12.”
Robert Hodgdon will be the first to tell you launching a program like this is not easy, but it can be done on a smaller scale almost anywhere if you have committed stakeholders. And the effort is well worth it.
“Students benefit from an academic perspective, but we are also raising a formidable army of citizen scientists and environmental stewards who are learning the power of the individual and the collective in protecting our natural resources.”
The NABT Ecology/Environmental Science Teaching Award is sponsored by
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NABT Members in the News:
Anne Haley MacKenzie Named Fulbright Specialist
Congratulations to Dr. Ann Haley MacKenzie, who recently received Fulbright specialist distinction. The Fulbright Specialist Program is part of the larger Fulbright Program, and "pairs highly qualified U.S. academics and professionals with host institutions abroad to share their expertise, strengthen institutional linkages, hone their skills, gain international experience, and learn about other cultures while building capacity at their overseas host institutions."
Dr. Mackenzie, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Miami University, will be working with North-West University in South Africa where she will be
providing professional development "focusing on infusing case study methodology into STEM coursework for both university educators, scholars, and STEM teachers," according to a statement from Miami University.
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Assistance Needed:
HS Teacher Survey for NGSS Receptivity
Please see the message below from Lesley Shapiro, a doctoral candidate at Northeastern University.
Dear High School Science Teacher,
I would like to invite you to participate in a web-based online survey that is part of a research study whose purpose is to identify and compare the factors that influence high school science teachers’ receptivity to the curricular shifts necessitated by the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
The survey will take approximately 15 minutes and is anonymous. In the survey, you will be asked if you would like to volunteer for an interview.
Your participation in either the survey or the interview is voluntary.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Lesley Shapiro
Doctoral Candidate
Northeastern University
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Applications Being Accepted for Project Dragonfly's
2018 Earth Expeditions
Miami University’s
Project Dragonfly
is currently accepting applications for
2018 Earth Expeditions
graduate courses. This popular program supports university courses, degree programs, and collaborative projects that are making a difference in Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
Learn more about the extraordinary opportunities that are currently available in 16 countries by downloading the
2018 brochure
or visiting
www.earthexpeditions.org
- Earth Expeditions can build toward the Global Field Program (GFP), a master's degree that combines summer field courses worldwide with web learning communities so that students can complete the GFP master's part-time from anywhere in the United States or abroad.
- Project Dragonfly also offers the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) master's degree that combines web instruction from Miami University with experiential learning and field study through several AIP Master Institutions in the U.S. Applications for Miami's 2018 cohorts are being accepted now with place-based experiences provided at zoos in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, New York, San Diego, and Seattle.
Earth Expeditions courses can be taken as stand-alone, graduate credit courses, or may be taken as part of the foundational course work for the Global Field Master's Program.
Applications for
Earth Expeditions
are due January 28, 2018
Tuition for these programs is greatly reduced because of support from
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NABT
P.O. Box 3363
Warrenton, VA 20188
Phone: (888) 501-NABT
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2017 NABT Professional
Development Conference
November 9-12, 2017
St. Louis Union Station Hotel
St. Louis, MO
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Notices that appear in
News & Views
are announcements only and do not indicate an endorsement by NABT. Permission is granted by the National Association of Biology Teachers for libraries and other users to make reproductions for their own or their client's personal, noncommercial, or internal use.
copyright © 2017 All rights reserved
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