Teacher-Fellow teams are developing and delivering a roster of hands on experiences and workshops at the schools that promote student interest and awareness of the environmental sciences and current environmental issues in Puerto Rico. The Fellows are bringing environmental materials and tools to the classroom and helping teachers and K-6 students develop the ability to use these materials and tools. The teams are also bringing the classroom to the site of experimental fieldwork. The participants are working with and learning from a variety of partners in addition to the resources provided by UMET: the Institute of Tropical Forestry, an NSF-funded Long-Term Ecological Research project site, and the doctoral program in marine sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. Faculty participating include the Dean of the School of Environmental Affairs and represent a wide array of disciplines at UMET that have the environment as the central focus: marine sciences, oceanography, chemistry, toxicology, forestry, ecology, botany, geology, environmental education, coastal resources, natural resources, and environmental communication. These efforts to develop a comprehensive and cohesive effort in environmental sciences education for the island are enhanced by collaborating with the Mayaguez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico as UMET focuses on the northeastern part of Puerto Rico and the Mayaguez Program focuses on the west coast of the Island. The schools involved are in an area of the island that has a high degree of unemployment and only minimal access to basic services. The broader impacts of this project include the model it provides of bringing environmental sciences content knowledge and technical skills to a set of students and teachers who previously had little access to either and the opportunity it provides for the university involved to broaden and enrich its own program through cooperation with neighboring institutions. This project is receiving partial support from the Directorate for Biological Sciences
Project title: Fellows Enhancing Science and Technology (FEST) Institution: Universidad Metropolitana (UMET) PI/Co-PI: Juan Musa, Alberto Rivera Rentas Partner School Districts; Carolina Financing: $1,492,509 Number of fellows per year: 8 graduate, 8 undergraduate Setting: Rural Target audience of the project: elementary NSF supported disciplines involved: Environmental Sciences and Technology
