Engaged environmental science for underserved youth

Kirsch, Katie R.; Elizondo, Juan; Salazar, David De Hoyos; Washington, Steven; Burdick, Travis; Alvarez, Pablo; Horney, Jennifer A.

doi:10.1080/13504622.2019.1637822

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Our evaluation of the Mosquito Mappers internship was an opportunity to assess not only the success of a new, virtual internship opportunity, but to also investigate how place-based citizen science contextualized in a project of students' choosing may influence young people in STEM. Research in STEM learning has shown that place-based learning is an effective way to help students understand the real-world connections between scientific research and human lives (Avery 2013;Cruz et al, 2019;Kirsch et al, 2019). By coupling place-based citizen science to a virtual internship, Mosquito Mappers interns were able to connect to their communities while building the science process skills that can contribute to successful secondary and post-secondary STEM coursework and careers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The STEM Enhancement in Earth Science “Mosquito Mappers” Virtual Internship: Outcomes of Place-Based Engagement with Citizen Science

Cho

Low

Fischer

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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In this paper, we describe a virtual high school earth science enhancement program that embeds a citizen science experience within a scientist-mentored research internship. We demonstrate the success of the program as measured by knowledge of pertinent science concepts and processes, and changes in future career orientation, and explore the role of place-based citizen science in interns’ experience of their research projects. The STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) Mosquito Mappers Virtual Internship connected high school interns with research opportunities applying NASA Earth Observations to the global health threat of mosquito-vector borne diseases. The interns engaged in 120–150 h of research working closely with NASA subject matter expert mentors, and making use of the GLOBE Observer citizen science infrastructure to collect and analyse data. In the virtual format, interns were able to participate in activities synchronously or asynchronously through an online learning platform, web conferencing software and social media. Students developed and completed either an independent or small team research project leveraging data collected using the place-based citizen science mobile application, GLOBE Observer. We found that participants were motivated by conducting fieldwork in and around their communities using the GLOBE Observer app. Local fieldwork enabled the student researchers to apply their prior knowledge of their natural and built landscapes, while also contributing to the reduction of mosquito-borne disease risk in their communities. This finding highlights the benefit of coupling citizen science to a virtual internship. Interns shared that their interest in research, and research in the earth sciences specifically, increased as a result of participating in the internship program. By leveraging citizen science data collection and reporting tools, existing data, and analysis tools, the program represented a robust, cost effective research experience conducted in a virtual environment, lowering barriers to participation and broadening access to STEM enhancement opportunities for all.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The STEM Enhancement in Earth Science “Mosquito Mappers” Virtual Internship: Outcomes of Place-Based Engagement with Citizen Science

Cho

Low

Fischer

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Engaging youth also benefits researchers, as young people bring creativity, new ideas, and energy to research endeavors. 98 – 101 Returning research results: Returning research results to study participants and the broader community is critical to help people understand and reduce their exposures. Researchers should ensure materials and messages are culturally appropriate for the community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Engaging youth also benefits researchers, as young people bring creativity, new ideas, and energy to research endeavors. 98 – 101 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Broadening the Environmental Lens to Include Social and Structural Determinants of Women’s Health Disparities

Smarr,

Avakian,

Lopez

et al. 2024

Environ Health Perspect

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Background: Due to the physical, metabolic, and hormonal changes before, during, and after pregnancy, women—defined here as people assigned female at birth—are particularly susceptible to environmental insults. Racism, a driving force of social determinants of health, exacerbates this susceptibility by affecting exposure to both chemical and nonchemical stressors to create women’s health disparities. Objectives: To better understand and address social and structural determinants of women’s health disparities, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) hosted a workshop focused on the environmental impacts on women’s health disparities and reproductive health in April 2022. This commentary summarizes foundational research and unique insights shared by workshop participants, who emphasized the need to broaden the definition of the environment to include upstream social and structural determinants of health. We also summarize current challenges and recommendations, as discussed by workshop participants, to address women’s environmental and reproductive health disparities. Discussion: The challenges related to women’s health equity, as identified by workshop attendees, included developing research approaches to better capture the social and structural environment in both human and animal studies, integrating environmental health principles into clinical care, and implementing more inclusive publishing and funding approaches. Workshop participants discussed recommendations in each of these areas that encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, clinicians, funders, publishers, and community members. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12996

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“…In the last decade, there has been a growing body of peer-reviewed literature related to climate change and its associations with human and ecological health and safety-related issues, including EJ. However, to date, excluding studies and reviews about educating adults in colleges/universities and groups of professionals such as health care providers, there has been limited peer-reviewed research in English specifically about educating HS students [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Awareness of New Jersey Public High School Students about Concepts of Climate Change, including Environmental Justice

Shendell

Black

Way

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Increasing acknowledgement of climate change (CC) has encouraged various responses, such as education standard mandates. In 2021, New Jersey (NJ) became the first U.S. state to require K–12 CC education across subjects, effective fall 2022. This necessitated introductory science courses on CC to support high school (HS) curricula. Thus, NJ Safe Schools Program (NJSS) created a new course titled, “Introduction to HS Students to CC, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice (EJ).” Given that the COVID-19 pandemic continues (2020–2023 school years) and vaccination coverage varies, this course was developed and approved in an asynchronous online format. Its five modules cover environmental science, CC, natural disasters and extreme weather events, sustainability, including energy conservation and efficiency definitions, and EJ. A 20-question survey included at the end, modified/adapted from a larger nationwide U.S. Student Conservation Association (SCA) survey 2019–2020, examined the perspectives of HS students concerning CC. Selected volunteer NJ HS enlisted students (n = 82/128 finished) to pilot this course February–April 2022. Results such as average scores ≥90% suggested success regarding initial knowledge and awareness gained; for individual modules, two knowledge checks >80% and three knowledge checks >90%. The SCA survey results, overall and by region in NJ, highlighted how most students felt about CC and extreme weather events, plus issues such as EJ. This NJSS introductory course opened in July 2022 for NJ public county secondary school districts and comprehensive HS with approved career-technical education programs, and potentially elsewhere.

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Engaged environmental science for underserved youth

Cited by 4 publications

References 22 publications

The STEM Enhancement in Earth Science “Mosquito Mappers” Virtual Internship: Outcomes of Place-Based Engagement with Citizen Science

The STEM Enhancement in Earth Science “Mosquito Mappers” Virtual Internship: Outcomes of Place-Based Engagement with Citizen Science

Broadening the Environmental Lens to Include Social and Structural Determinants of Women’s Health Disparities

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Awareness of New Jersey Public High School Students about Concepts of Climate Change, including Environmental Justice

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