This NSF-funded project (NSF-DRL 1713359 and NSF-DRL 1713351) investigates outreach programming at field stations. Field stations are important environments for informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning because field stations provide learners with opportunities to engage with nature and expose learners to ongoing, usually long-term, scientific research with associated STEM professionals.
This project catalogues outreach programs hosted by field stations across the US. By exploring the educational underpinnings of these programs and connecting them to desired science-learning outcomes for participants, this research establishes field stations as centers for informal STEM learning.
In the News
- BioScience published a second article from this project! Biological Field Stations Promote Science Literacy through Outreach (October 2021). This article shows that outreach programs based at field stations promote conservation and environmental stewardship in addition to disseminating place-based knowledge and/or skills. The results indicate that if programs focus on learner engagement, science learning, and participant outcomes, field stations and other place-based informal education venues can better support conservation and science literacy among the general public.
- The Center for Advancing Informal Learning (CAISE) has published Informal STEM Learning at Biological Stations featuring some of the research team’s publications and findings. (January 2021).
- Science Advances published Spatial inequalities leave micropolitan and Indigenous populations underserved by informal STEM learning institutions. This article presents the geographic landscape of informal learning institutions in the United States to help identify gaps and opportunities for reaching populations underrepresented in the sciences. Read more about the paper at Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Today, Colorado State University’s Health and Human Sciences Media Page, and Texas A&M Today. (October 2020).
- The Environmental Monitor profiled the CICHAZ field station and the outreach activities of co-PI Rhonda Struminger (July 2019).
- The Environmental Monitor featured our work in an article, “Learning at Biological Field Stations Across America.” (January 4, 2019)
- BioScience published, A Framework for Informal STEM Education Outreach at Field Stations. This article shows that field stations prioritize outreach by dedicating personnel and fiscal resources, but such initiatives are highly variable in magnitude and scope. We propose an informal STEM education framework to guide outreach efforts by aligning place-based activities with outreach goals, strands of science learning, and learner engagement theories. Such intentional program design can help stations focus on meaningful learning outcomes for their outreach participants. (October 2018)
- Read more about the BioScience publication and our ongoing research at Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Today and Colorado State University’s College of Health and Human Sciences Media Page. (October 2018)
- This Outreach Project was featured on the Colorado State University’s College of Health and Human Sciences Media Page. (October 9, 2017).
Acknowledgments: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this research are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.