Marianne E. Krasny - US grants

The Cornell University Natural Sciences Interns Program will include three major components: 1) Training Segment--a four-dayresidential program to train 60 junior high and high school youths (30% of whom will be minority and/or disabled) and 10 adult educators in the natural sciences disciplines, and to expose youths and adult educators to research and career opportunities in the natural sciences; 2) Problem-Solving Segment--a five and one-half week residential program actively involving 12 minority and/or disabled high school youths in a forest science research project and exploration of natural sciences careers; and 3) Follow-up Activities--designed to create an awareness of natural sciences research and career options among 300 junior high and 300 high school students and their 24 teachers, 48 junior high and high school counselors, 520 4-H club members and their adult club leaders, and 12 4-H agents. Youths involved in the more in-depth Problem-Solving Segment will first participate in the Training Segment, thereby receiving the background necessary to begin their research projects.

Cornell University will initiate a six-week, residential Young Scholars project in the Environmental Sciences for 15 students entering grade 12. The Cornell Environmental Sciences Interns Program (CESIP) will include a one-week orientation at Cornell's Arnot Forest, a five- week on-campus experience focusing on research, careers, community outreach and science ethics, during which time the student interns will spend three days each week conducting research alongside Cornell scientists. Follow-up activities will be conducted in schools and in 4-H and other clubs.

Cornell University will initiate a six-week, residential, Young Scholars project in environmental sciences for 20 students entering the 12th grade and 4 high school teachers. This summer program will include a one-week orientation at Cornell's Arnot Forest, a five-week on-campus component focusing on research, careers, community outreach, and science ethics, and follow-up activities in schools, after- school science clubs, 4-H clubs, and other informal educational settings. A six-week MSTP component will be included, through which science teachers will design research curricula and kits which will enable them to continue their research with students in classrooms and after-school science clubs.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Institute for Learning Innovation, and several environmental organizations are merging existing bird-focused citizen science programs with gardening and online social networking activities to provide older adult learners (age 35 and up) with opportunities to investigate the environmental impacts of implementing landscaping and carbon-reducing practices in their backyards, community gardens, and parks. The YardMap Network project is developing learning resources that will help gardeners, birders, and novices learn bird-habitat improving and carbon-reducing living practices by joining a nationwide ecological social network composed of more than 100,000 people. The goal of the project is to create online learning communities that move people from basic and intermediate levels ecological understanding to advanced levels of understanding by providing experiences whereby YardMappers learn about, design, evaluate, share, and invent conservation practices in their backyards and other green spaces.

While developing the network, the project will gather data to test the hypothesis that coupling citizen science activities with social networking technologies to create online learning communities improves participants' understanding of project-relevant science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The project will track learning outcomes using standard evaluation techniques and by following individuals' routes of entry, network interactions, mapped garden practices, carbon-neutral behaviors, and their bird monitoring activities. YardMappers will divide naturally into treatment groups, creating a quasi-experimental design to test the importance of social networking for basic, intermediate, and advanced learning outcomes.