BioRETS site: Urban Ecology Research and Environmental Justice

该BIORETS网站授予位于肯塔基州路易斯维尔的路易斯维尔大学，将在夏季和学年期间分别为24名教师提供为期六周和一周的培训。从2024年到2026年，教师将从杰斐逊县公立学校招聘，这是一个城市学区，为来自弱势群体和低收入群体的学生提供很大比例的服务。该地区历来被剥夺公民权的学生往往来自受到城市化负面影响的社区，而气候导致的环境退化进一步加剧了这一影响。项目成功与否将通过发展和整合与ngss相一致的教学单元来衡量，这些教学单元让学生参与到以城市生态和环境正义为重点的相关情境现象中。高中教师将与生物系经验丰富的科学家一起进行实验室和实地城市生态学研究，探讨以下主题：(a)人类干扰对鸣禽繁殖的影响；(b)昆虫应对气候变化的能力；(c)人类与野生动物的相互作用和蜱虫分布；(d)受干扰生境中入侵植物与节肢动物的相互作用；(e)城市和农村水生系统的温室气体排放；(f)城市热岛效应和光污染对当地公园洞穴蝾螈种群的影响。教师将参加强调研究伦理、实验设计和假设检验的暑期研讨会。此外，教师将准备通过创建教师领导联盟在学校中担任领导角色。研究和指导经验将在项目期间的不同时间点使用调查和焦点小组访谈进行评估。项目描述和研究经历的详细信息将发布在ETAP上，以帮助选择教师和审查申请。教师招聘将由一名调查员与地区领导合作领导，选择标准将包括当前使用或希望实施与实验室和实地工作中提出的主题相一致的概念。有关该计划的更多信息，请联系PI (Linda Fuselier博士linda.fuselier@louisville.edu或联合PI Justin McFadden博士justin.mcfadden@louisville.edu.This)，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This BIORETS Site award to the University of Louisville, located in Louisville, KY, will support the training of 24 teachers for six weeks during the summer and one week during the academic year. From 2024 through 2026, teachers will be recruited from Jefferson County Public Schools, an urban school district serving high proportions of students from underrepresented and low-income groups. Historically disenfranchised students in the district often come from neighborhoods that have been negatively impacted by urbanization, which has been further compounded by climate-mediated environmental degradation. Project success will be measured via the development and integration of NGSS-aligned instructional units that engage students in relevant, context-specific phenomenon focused on urban ecology and environmental justice. High school teachers will work with experienced scientists from the Biology Department on lab and field-based urban ecology research addressing the following topics: (a) impacts of human disturbance on songbird reproduction, (b) ability of insects to respond to climate change; (c) human – wildlife interactions and tick distributions; (d) invasive plant – arthropod interactions in disturbed habitats, (e) greenhouse gas emissions in urban and rural aquatic systems; (f) impacts of urban heat island effects and light pollution on cave salamander populations in local parks. Teachers will participate in summer workshops highlighting research ethics, experimental design, and hypothesis testing. Additionally, teachers will be prepared to take on leadership roles within their schools via the creation of teacher-leader alliances. Research and mentoring experiences will be assessed using surveys and focus group interviews at different time points during the project. A project description and details about the research experience will be posted on ETAP to aid in selection of teachers and review of applications. Teacher recruitment will be led by an investigator in collaboration with district leadership and selection criteria will include current use of, or a desire to implement concepts aligned with topics presented during the lab and field-based work.More information about the program is available by contacting the PI (Dr. Linda Fuselier at linda.fuselier@louisville.edu or the co-PI Dr. Justin McFadden at justin.mcfadden@louisville.edu.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.