{"id":6964,"date":"2016-12-15T13:44:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T18:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=6964"},"modified":"2024-08-21T15:48:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T19:48:06","slug":"engaging-the-future-sciren-and-the-evolution-of-science-outreach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/engaging-the-future-sciren-and-the-evolution-of-science-outreach\/","title":{"rendered":"ENGAGING THE FUTURE: SciREN and the Evolution of Science Outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

It was after closing time, but the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores<\/a> was full of people. The light from tanks danced across faces of teachers and graduate students talking excitedly about ongoing research in particle physics and ocean acidification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiply that scene by four locations to appreciate the growing impact of the Scientific Research and Education Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better known as SciREN, the organization\u2019s framework is straightforward: Recruit scientists to create K-12 lesson plans based on their work. Then the magic happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SciREN
Organizers welcomed a roomful of educators to the 2014 SciREN Coast. Photo by Emily Woodward\/UNC IMS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At networking events, researchers connect with educators eager for the real-world lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing program,\u201d says Kate Price, an eighth-grade science teacher at Carnage Middle School<\/a> in Raleigh who has attended two SciREN Triangle events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s seamlessly done. I can slide the lesson plans right in because they\u2019re aligned to the standards. SciREN has also exposed me to research I wouldn\u2019t have learned about as quickly otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides using lessons in her classroom, Price attended three conferences through her SciREN connections. That extended impact complements the founders\u2019 vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur primary goals are to enhance science in the classroom and help make researchers more well-rounded by giving them an opportunity to translate their work,\u201d explains co-founder Justin Ridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth annual SciREN Coast will be held in early 2017, and it\u2019s in good company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SciREN now has four events in two states \u2014 and a SciREN Alabama currently is in the works. Propelled by excitement among researchers and educators, SciREN is enriching science education in classrooms across the Southeast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CREATING THE MODEL<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SciREN began at a Research Educator Exchange Forum<\/a>, or REEF, sponsored by the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-SouthEast<\/a> and the Sea Grant programs in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. REEF provided outreach training to scientific researchers and linked them with informal education centers to plan an event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ridge and Ethan Theuerkauf were doctoral students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u2019s Institute of Marine Sciences<\/a> in Morehead City when they attended REEF 2012. They were matched with Meredith Heaton Bruhn, an educator at the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor our outreach project, we wanted to present an easy way to get scientific lesson plans into the classroom that would be novel and inspiring for students,\u201d Ridge explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was immediately clear that those goals addressed a real need. \u201cWe put on the event, took surveys and everybody loved it. It was a massive, crazy hit,\u201d Heaton Bruhn recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, they could have congratulated themselves and moved along. Ridge and Theuerkauf did the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSciREN became a phenomenon because Justin and Ethan saw its value and wanted to keep going with it,\u201d notes Terri Kirby Hathaway<\/a>, North Carolina Sea Grant marine education specialist. \u201cThey recruited other people to help plan, and they continued to grow the organizational part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hathaway and Carrie Thomas of NC State University were among the organizers of REEF in North Carolina. Hathaway continues to help teachers use SciREN events and lessons to earn renewal credits for classroom-teaching licenses and certification as environmental educators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDING THE TRIANGLE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ridge recalls the early excitement surrounding SciREN. \u201cWe had our second Coast event, which turned out to be bigger and better than the first one, and we started thinking: It\u2019d be great to bring this to other areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heather Heenehan and Alyse Larkin, then doctoral students at Duke University, and Avery Paxton, a doctoral student at IMS, joined the SciREN Coast leadership team and were a pivotal part of the organization\u2019s expansion. They recruited more graduate students from their respective universities and NC State. The inaugural SciREN Triangle, or SciTri, was held at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences<\/a> in Raleigh in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a lot of success our first year,\u201d adds Eleanor Caves, a doctoral student at Duke and an organizer of SciTri. Lesson plans at the Triangle event moved beyond marine and coastal science to cover a range of STEM disciplines, drawing on the variety of local scientific research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Terri
Terri Kirby Hathaway of North Carolina Sea Grant provided opportunities for teachers to earn continuing-education credits at SciTri 2016. Photo by Diana Hackenburg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Triangle team took it upon themselves to keep the foundation of SciREN in mind, but make it their own and use the resources that are unique to the Triangle,\u201d Theuerkauf says. The museum is one of those resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur partnership with SciREN Triangle has been a natural match from the beginning,\u201d says Megan Chesser, teacher education specialist at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to work with a group of dedicated graduate students who are equally passionate about our shared goal of making real scientific research relevant for educators and students in local communities and classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been some additions to SciTri over the years. The leaders obtained funding from Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill to provide teachers with free lesson-plan kits containing materials to bring SciREN lessons into classrooms. Duke doctoral student and SciTri organizer Rebecca Lauzon supervised the creation of the kits, which have served more than 1,000 students so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spring 2016, Caves, Lauzon and Patrick Green, a Duke doctoral student and SciTri organizer, received a grant from Duke\u2019s Support for Interdisciplinary Graduate Networks. This enables collaboration with Master\u2019s of Arts in Teaching students to help SciREN researchers write stronger lesson plans. \u201cIt just takes a little bit of encouragement from a teaching student to say, it\u2019s not actually that hard to turn something like neuroscience into a lesson plan for kindergarteners,\u201d Caves says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAKING IT OFFICIAL<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As SciREN began to expand, Ridge and Theuerkauf realized they needed a new level of organization. In June 2015, SciREN officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with the original Coast team serving on the board of directors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to become a nonprofit to be able to manage multiple sites and keep them connected,\u201d Ridge explains. The board members serve as advisors, ensuring that SciREN retains its core mission while expanding to new locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe nonprofit provides a structure that operates outside of the academic institutions,\u201d notes Theuerkauf, now a coastal geologist at the Illinois State Geological Survey. \u201cIt provides a true pathway for SciREN to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teams interested in starting new SciREN events can contact its board of directors. They will receive the SciREN handbook with steps to jump-start new locations and suggestions for finding funding. New teams then work with the board to refine their plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an independent organization, SciREN is now expanding beyond its North Carolina origins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPREADING IN THE SOUTHEAST<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Maite Ghazaleh became a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, she remembered SciREN from her college days at UNC-Chapel Hill. \u201cThe teachers involved were so enthusiastic about SciREN that when I moved to Georgia, I thought I should start it here,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ridge recalls the email from Ghazaleh. \u201cThat was the first time that we\u2019d been contacted by someone looking to expand SciREN,\u201d he notes. \u201cIt was a great moment in SciREN history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghazaleh obtained the handbook and started assembling a team, including fellow graduate students Ruth Wangia and Courtney Thomas. \u201cWhat really brought SciREN to Georgia was teamwork,\u201d Ghazaleh says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2016, 31 educators and 10 researchers attended the first SciREN Georgia event at Sandy Creek Nature Center in Athens. For Thomas, the best part of the event was interacting with teachers. \u201cTheir faces just light up when they talk with the researchers,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see that spark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SciREN Georgia also filled a need in the broader community. \u201cThis is a college town, so SciREN was a bridge between the university and the local educators,\u201d Ghazaleh explains. \u201cIt\u2019s something that really connects the community.\u201d As in other locations, local businesses were eager to support SciREN with door-prize donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SciREN Georgia is planning another event for early 2017. \u201cIt\u2019s been a successful team effort,\u201d Ghazaleh emphasizes. \u201cAnd it\u2019s growing very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth also continues in North Carolina. Debbie Lichti and Amelia Helms, doctoral students at East Carolina University, initiated the inaugural SciREN Greenville in November. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that our event will help communities realize we have so much great research right here,\u201d Lichti noted in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping to include students from the ECU medical and dental schools too.\u201d The networking event, held at GO-Science in Greenville, included funding from the Biodiversity Initiative at ECU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the planning stages, Lichti was optimistic based on early connections. \u201cWe\u2019re going to make SciREN proud to have another location.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALL-AROUND ENTHUSIASM<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed the opportunity to work with SciREN,\u201d says Alexandra Solender, a physics teacher at Holly Springs High School who volunteers for the SciTri lesson-planning workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe what a great resource it is,\u201d she adds. \u201cThe connections with local researchers are perfect to launch problem-based learning activities and show students the relevance of the content that they\u2019re learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educators who attended SciREN Georgia also praised the event in follow-up surveys. \u201cThis provides new ideas and resources to use in my classroom,\u201d one teacher said. Multiple educators noted that meeting graduate students who were \u201cexcited and personable\u201d was one of the best parts of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSciREN provides a mechanism for researchers to support schools and educators,\u201d another teacher wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SciREN
Many came to the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences for the first SciREN Triangle in 2014. Photo by Eric Johnson\/UNC Chapel Hill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The impacts often transcend networking events. Justin Baumann, a doctoral student at UNC-Chapel Hill and SciTri organizer, shares a story about a teacher at a special-needs school. \u201cShe met us at SciREN and asked: \u2018Can I come to your lab and show my kids what research looks like?\u2019 We said yes, and so did several other people. They\u2019ve been all over the Triangle to five or 10 labs now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers benefit from participating in SciREN as well. Through writing lesson plans, scientists learn to effectively communicate research methods and results to a broad audience. Some researchers might consider a career in science outreach if they enjoy their experience with the teachers and museum partners, Hathaway notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SciREN team members agree. \u201cThe idea of us being a network is not only to connect educators with researchers, but to connect them with other opportunities for outreach in North Carolina,\u201d Green says. \u201cIt behooves us to work together to improve what we\u2019re all doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob Regensburger, a science and math teacher at the Seventy-First Classical Middle School in Fayetteville, enjoys using SciREN lesson plans. \u201cI used a game that was shared by the EPA in my seventh-grade science class, and it went great,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to go to another event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as it connects organizations across the state and beyond, SciREN maintains strong relationships with early partners such as the N.C. Aquariums and Sea Grant. \u201cNorth Carolina Sea Grant has been there from the beginning,\u201d Ridge says. \u201cThey\u2019ve always been extremely helpful with reaching out to educators and providing publicity. It\u2019s been a great relationship.\u201d Sea Grant is a financial sponsor of SciREN lesson-planning workshops, while Hathaway and the communications team also participate in networking events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ridge also notes that Katie Mosher<\/a>, North Carolina Sea Grant communications director, made introductions between SciREN Georgia and Georgia Sea Grant, which became an event sponsor and helped organizers connect with more educators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits are mutual, Mosher adds, noting that researchers often share results from North Carolina Sea Grant research. Ridge, who is completing his doctorate next spring, received a fellowship funded by Sea Grant and the N.C. Coastal Reserve. Ridge and Theuerkauf both were involved in other Sea Grant research projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe now see professors and students seeking fellowships regularly include SciREN as part of the outreach plan within a proposal for our research funding,\u201d Mosher adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRIGHT FUTURE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the enthusiasm for SciREN is contagious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SciREN
The SciREN Board of Directors, from left to right: Ethan Theuerkauf, Heather Heenehan, Avery Paxton, Alyse Larkin and Justin Ridge. Photo courtesy UNC IMS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSciREN sneaks up on you, and you fall in love with it, you really do,\u201d Heaton Bruhn says. \u201cEvery teacher who comes loves it. Every scientist who comes ends up having a blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even our security guards at the aquarium like it. Everybody loves it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SciREN leaders in other locations are quick to acknowledge the legacy of Ridge, Theuerkauf, Heenehan, Larkin and Paxton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing to think that seed money from Sea Grant and work from the Coast team have grown into this huge regional science event,\u201d Baumann notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green echoes those sentiments. \u201cAnytime we need anything, Justin and Ethan have really taken it on themselves to help out. This is something they\u2019re obviously passionate about, and they\u2019re willing to put in a lot of work to make sure that SciREN continues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SciREN\u2019s founders are optimistic about that future. \u201cThere\u2019s a need for SciREN, and people are engaged,\u201d Theuerkauf says. \u201cCharting the path forward is a big piece of where the organization is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on SciREN\u2019s history, it\u2019s likely that the journey ahead will be an exciting one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SCIREN CONNECTIONS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Register for two SciREN events in early 2017:<\/p>\n\n\n\n