Response to COVID-19 Field Research and Education Disruptions: Creating Virtual Field Experiences in Coastal and Estuarine Science

三所大学的野外工作站，包括威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的厄本伍兹户外学习中心、南卡罗来纳州大学的巴鲁克海洋野外实验室（BMFL）和格鲁吉亚大学海洋研究所（UGAMI），正在合作制作一套虚拟河口野外体验，以供本科课程远程教学使用。 UGAMI在Sapelo岛和BMFL在北入口-Winyah湾，将是两个拍摄地点，这些虚拟模块，因为他们有独特的访问相对原始的模型河口系统为主的互花米草沼泽，类似于低梯度，米草沼泽，边缘的大西洋和墨西哥湾海岸线从大约纽约通过得克萨斯州，除了南佛罗里达的红树林系统。虚拟实地体验将比传统的亲身实地体验更容易获得和公平，并有助于解决参与传统实地体验的障碍，如行动不便、经济限制、家庭义务，以及减少地理可达性的限制。视频、数据集和教育材料将可免费下载，并将与大学在虚拟学习中使用的平台兼容。厄本伍兹在环境教育方面的专业知识将有助于确保这些资产的质量和适用性。向更广泛的受众提供这些经验有可能拓宽学生在STEM领域从事职业的渠道。最终产品将包括不同科学家群体的研究和声音，以解决大学野外站社区的公平问题，并更好地代表生态领域的人类多样性，这些模块将广泛分发给本科院校，户外教育中心和学校。该项目将开发产品，以应对COVID-19大流行给海洋科学界带来的广泛教育挑战。疫情对美国的教育格局产生了巨大影响，从根本上限制了本科生和高中生传统的面对面体验式教育计划。这场危机突出表明，需要开发教育内容和经验，为所有学生提供户外实地学习的机会，而不仅仅是那些能够获得面对面课程的学生。该项目将通过为本科课程开发一套虚拟河口实地体验，为学习者带来方便，引人入胜和严谨的科学体验。这些经验将包括十个模块，每个模块侧重于一个特定的河口生态主题，并以研究项目，数据集，提示和支持科学学习的工具为特色。这些单元将涵盖一系列主题，如鱼类生态学、渔业研究实地技术、沿海物理海洋学、沿海沉积过程、沿海区的海洋地球化学过程、底栖和水柱过程、河口海洋地球化学研究的实地取样和实验室方法、人类与沿海生态系统的相互作用、研究伦理、制定研究问题和假设、设计实地研究、法律规范研究、收集和分析数据、科学写作和演讲技巧。这些模块也将被修改，以提供给高中生作为虚拟模块，可以纳入户外教育中心和学校的计划。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Three university field stations, including Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory (BMFL) at the University of South Carolina, and the University of Georgia Marine Institute (UGAMI), are collaborating to produce a suite of virtual estuarine field experiences polished for distance-delivery in undergraduate programs. UGAMI at Sapelo Island and BMFL at North Inlet - Winyah Bay, will be the two filming locations for these virtual modules because they have unique access to relatively pristine model estuarine systems dominated by Spartina alterniflora marsh that are similar to low-gradient, Spartina marshes that rim the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines from approximately New York through Texas, with the exception of the mangrove systems of South Florida. The virtual field experiences will be more accessible and equitable than traditional in-person field experiences and can help address barriers to participation in the traditional field experiences, such as mobility impairments, financial limitations, family obligations, as well as reduce limitations of geographic accessibility. The videos, datasets, and educational materials will be available for free download and will be developed to be compatible with platforms used by universities in virtual learning. Upham Woods’s expertise in environmental education will help ensure the quality and applicability of these assets. Providing these experiences to a wider audience has the potential to broaden the pipeline of students pursuing careers in STEM fields. The final products will feature research by and voices of a diverse group of scientists to address issues of equity in the university field station community and to better represent human diversity in ecological fields, and the modules will be distributed widely to undergraduate institutions, outdoor education centers and schools. This project will develop products that address widespread educational challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic for the marine science community. The pandemic has dramatically impacted the educational landscape in the United States, radically limiting the traditional in-person, experiential educational programs for undergraduates and high school students. The crisis has highlighted the need to develop educational content and experiences that provide access to outdoor, field-based learning to all students, not just those who are able to access in-person programs. This project will bring accessible, engaging, and rigorous science experiences to learners by developing a suite of virtual estuarine field experiences for undergraduate courses. These experiences will consist of ten modules, each focusing on a particular estuarine ecology topic and featuring research projects, datasets, prompts, and worksheets to support science learning. A range of topics will be covered in the modules, such as fish ecology, fisheries research field techniques, coastal physical oceanography, coastal depositional processes, biogeochemical processes in the coastal zone, benthic and water column processes, field sampling and laboratory methods for estuarine biogeochemistry research, human interactions with coastal ecosystems, research ethics, formulating research questions and hypotheses, designing field studies, laws governing research, collecting and analyzing data, scientific writing and presentation skills. The modules will also be modified for delivery to high school students as virtual modules that can be incorporated into programs at outdoor education centers and schools.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.