SEAS Professor Ivette Perfecto (with arms raised) and EEB Professor John Vandermeer play an ecological game with the children during Ecodia. Image credit this page: Jonno Morris EcoDía is an educational outreach event developed each year since 2017 for the primary school students at the Finca Irlanda school (the coffee farm where the labs of…
Category: outreach
UM’s inaugural Biology Week celebration
by the Biology Week Organizing Committee* (names below) The pipette box stacking competition was neck and neck. Biology Week, which was originally started by the Royal Society of Biology in England, is an international celebration of the biosciences. However when Sarah VanDiepenbos, an undergraduate student at UM at the time, saw #BiologyWeek trending on Twitter…
8th Annual BioBlitz
by Naim Edwards, director, Michigan State University-Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation and University of Michigan EEB alumnus (MS 2014) On May 11, University of Michigan students and faculty partnered, with Michigan State University Extension, the Great Lakes Regional Center of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), and members of the Detroit Black Community Food…
With public engagement, it’s also okay to start small
From Dynamic Ecology by Meghan Duffy, a University of Michigan ecologist and professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Yesterday, I had a post about how it’s okay to start small when it comes to learning R or any other new technical skill. Today’s post takes that same “it’s okay to start small”…
The detour that led me to a bright future
by Xorla S. Ocloo, a University of Michigan graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology I can’t remember the first time I participated in a STEM outreach as a kid. Maybe it was because I wasn’t exposed to those opportunities or maybe because they weren’t as prevalent or maybe just because I…
Science that empowers
From 500 Women Scientists This week on #meetascientist, get to know urban ecologist and environmental justice advocate Tiffany Carey. As a young scientist and community organizer, Tiffany has a fresh perspective on how scientists can work with communities to empower and educate. She currently does just that as a Science Outreach Coordinator at University of…
First EcoDía engages Finca Irlanda students in rich ecology of their home
Pollination games. by Gordon Fitch, a University of Michigan graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology The John Vandermeer lab, along with the lab of Ivette Perfecto at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), has been conducting research in Finca Irlanda, an organic coffee farm in Chiapas, Mexico, for nearly 20…
Science outreach to politicians (i.e. lobbying)
Auteri receiving the ASM Graduate Student Science Policy Leadership award from AIBS Director of Public Policy, Dr. Robert Gropp. by Giorgia Auteri, a University of Michigan graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology From scientist to lobbyist The term “lobbying” is heavy with negative connotations. Yet, the simplest definition is citizens discussing their interests with…