BES Quarterly Project Meeting 24-25 January 2013

24 JANUARY 2013

The Role of Environmental Education

In the Sustainability of the Baltimore Urban Ecosystem

Time: 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM
Location: University of Maryland Baltimore County, Room 206, Technology Research Center (TRC)

AGENDA-24 January

Time	Topic		Presenters
8:30 AM	Light breakfast
Background, setting the stage.
9 AM	The changing landscape of education standards and the implications for environmental education in Maryland.		Gary Hedges - Maryland Dept. of Educ.
9:20 AM	From the Sanitary to the Sustainable City: what is/could be the role of environmental education?		Steward Pickett  - Cary Institute [with City or County Sustainability Office representative]
Insights from education research. Each speaker will share current research related to environmental literacy in Baltimore.
9:40 AM	Student understanding and learning of key environmental science principles		Bess Caplan, Lia Harris and Eric Keeling – Cary Institute and SUNY New Paltz
10:00 AM	What supports and constrains use of effect teaching practices		Alan Berkowitz, Gel Alvarado, Molly Van Appledorn, Natalie Crabbs Mollett, Tammy Newcomer – Cary Institute and UMBC
10:20 AM	Public understanding of the environment		Michele Romolini (invited)
10:40 AM	Break
Insights from practice.  Each speaker will address these questions: 1. How is your sector contributing to the sustainable city/county/region and its resilience via education? 2. How could this sector play an even more important and substantial role via education?
11:00 AM	K-12  education		George Newberry or representative, Baltimore County School System
11:15 AM	Informal  education (youth programs, etc.)		David Christopher, National Aquarium at Baltimore
11:30 AM	Community outreach efforts and impacts		Seema Iyer, Baltimore Energy Challenge, University of Baltimore
11:45 AM	Higher Education		Ali Whitmer, Georgetown University
Noon	Lunch
1:30 PM	Small Group discussions.
	Charge: 1. Identify possible areas of synergy or new activity to improve the role of EE in the sustainability of the Baltimore ecosystem 2. Brainstorm ideas for an education research agenda to support and guide work in EE and Baltimore’s sustainability.	Possible Group Topics and facilitators: 1. K-12 initiatives – A. Berkowitz (Cary/BES) 2. Informal/outreach initiatives – 3. Higher education initiatives – J. Wolfson (Towson), A. Whitmer (Georgetown) 4. Public education initiatives 5. other
2:45 PM	Plenary – Reports from small groups
3:45 PM	Evaluation and reflection
4:00 PM	Adjourn

  1.     Education Meeting Goals

a.      Explore the conceptual underpinnings for understanding the current and potential future roles of environmental education in urban ecosystem sustainability and resilience.

b.      Consider the opportunities and challenges posed by new education standards (Maryland’s Environmental Literacy Standards and the national Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards) for urban environmental education in and around Baltimore.

c.      Consider the opportunities and challenges for environmental education posed by the new commitments and vision for achieving sustainability among local and regional governments.

d.      Highlight, synthesize and learn from research about environmental education practices and outcomes in Baltimore.

e.      Consider what a coordinated and targeted research effort could accomplish in guiding and assessing environmental education’s contributions to ecosystem sustainability and resilience.

f.       Identify opportunities for collaboration and promising directions for programs to foster environmental literacy and citizenship among students and the public.

2.      Potential Products

a.      One or more articles, possibly for the local press or EE venue, summarizing current work and future opportunities.

b.      A research agenda and/or specific plans, e.g., for a coordinated teacher –school-school system survey or assessment.

c.      Ideas for new, collaborative initiatives or programs involving but not limited to BES.

3.      Co-Conveners

a.      BES – Alan Berkowitz, BES Education Team Leader, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

b.      Green Teaching Network/BES – Bess Caplan, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

c.      Towson/MAEO E – Sarah Haines, Towson University

d.      Baltimore County Schools – George Newberry, Science Director

e.      Baltimore City Schools – Keisha Mathews

f.       Maryland State Department of Education – Gary Hedges

BES Quarterly Project Meeting –24-25 January 2013

25 January 2013

BES III Conceptual Structure

Time: 8:30 AM – 12:30

Location: USGS Conference Room, 5522 Research Park Drive, Baltimore MD, 21228 (UMBC BWTech)

  Agenda-25 January

8:30-9:00             Light breakfast

9:00-9:15             Goal statement and overview (Pickett)

9:15-9:30             Outline of planning meetings

                              Between-meeting interactions and mechanisms (Pickett/Walsh)

9:30-10:15          The BES synthesis volume; update and time-line (Pickett, Grove, Irwin, Swan)

10:15-10:30        Break

10:30-11:00        BES III Guiding Question (Pickett)

                              Discussion of BES III Theory Domains:

                                             Locational Choice (Irwin)

                                             Urban Metacommunity (Swan)

                                             Urban Stream Dis/continuum (Kaushal)

11:00-11:15        Group Discussion: Relating among the domains and with the Guiding Question      (How does your project advance the domains and their integration?)

11:15-11:45        Role of modeling in project integration (Band)

11:45-12:00        Summary of Action Items

Goals: All BES members must have a clear and integrated understanding of BES III for the Midterm Review, and to ensure the longer-term success of our conceptually unified but spatially and disciplinarily diverse project.  It is extraordinarily important that all members of the project, including students, postdocs, and Co-PIs, understand and can articulate the conceptual structure of the project and can effectively state how their work, whether it be in research, education, or community engagement, contributes to that structure.

This meeting is intended to:

1.      Reinforce and advance understanding of the conceptual structure of BES III.

2.      Lay out the strategy for preparing for the BES Midterm Review by NSF in October.

3.      Articulate the culture and mechanisms that will facilitate these preparations.