Lake Erie College Research and Educational Center Planning Grant

伊利湖学院(LEC)和自然保护协会(TNC)已结成合作伙伴，参与区域研究和教育机会。这一合作关系的一部分包括翻新位于摩根沼泽的TNC大河校区的一栋建筑，作为研究中心，为STEM教师提供专业发展机会，并为学生和社区成员提供教育机会。伊利湖学院研究和教育中心(Lecrec)所在的地区面临着资金不足和表现不佳的学区，特别是在STEM领域，以及社区成员的环境意识和识字水平较低。我们打算提供空间和资源来满足这些需求，支持当地研究合作的发展，并鼓励后代具有科学素养和意识的个人。此外，在该地点开展的活动可以作为该国在STEM教育方面遇到类似挑战的其他地区的榜样。为了向Lecrec、LEC和TNC的发展提供信息，将举行一次规划会议，旨在收集突出区域成员需求的信息，并将制定一项战略计划来满足这些需求。目前，该地区的教育、研究、工业、社区和政府组织之间的互动很少。为此，本次会议的重点将是召集每个类别的代表，以促进团体之间的沟通，了解每个团体对Lecrec的需求，并促进团体之间的合作，以便更好地为该地区服务，最终制定一项战略计划，指导现有建筑的翻新规划，以满足这些需求。该战略计划将通过LEC和TNC公关渠道分发给整个地区的学区、社区组织、行业和政府组织。此外，战略计划、翻修过程的后续更新以及大河校区提供的活动将在www.lec.edu/tnc上公开提供，以提供持续的合作和共享。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Lake Erie College (LEC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have partnered to engage in regional research and educational opportunities. A part of this partnership involves renovating a building on TNC's Grand River Campus at Morgan Swamp to serve as a hub for research, professional development offerings for STEM teachers, and educational opportunities for students and community members. The region in which this facility, the Lake Erie College Research and Educational Center (LECREC), will reside faces under-funded and under-performing school districts, particularly in the STEM fields, as well as low levels of environmental awareness and literacy amongst community members. We intend to provide the space and resources to address these needs, to support the development of local research collaborations, and to encourage future generations of scientifically literate and aware individuals. In addition, activities conducted at this site can serve as models for other areas of the country suffering from similar challenges in STEM education.To inform the development of the LECREC, LEC and TNC a planning conference designed to gather information that highlights the needs of regional constituents will be conducted and a strategic plan will be developed to address those needs. There is currently little interaction between educational, research, industrial, community, and government organizations in the region. To that end, the focus of this conference will be to assemble representatives from each category to facilitate communication between groups, understand the needs for the LECREC of each group, and foster collaboration between groups to better serve the region to ultimately produce a strategic plan to guide the renovation planning of the existing building to meet those needs. The strategic plan will be distributed to school districts, community organizations, industries and government organizations throughout the region by LEC and TNC public relations channels. In addition, the strategic plan, subsequent updates to the renovation process, and activities offered at the Grand River Campus will be publically available at www.lec.edu/tnc in order to provide continued collaboration and sharing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.