Global Environmental Change Research Group

Educational and Public Outreach Activities

Invited presentations, lectures and university-level teaching:

• Department of Soil Science, Texas A & M University (Mora)
• Department of Geology, Smith College (Mora)
• Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio State University (Mora)
• Department of Geography, University of Tennessee (Driese)
• Department of Geology, University of Kansas (Driese)
• Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis (Driese)
• Knoxville Chapter of American Assn of University Women (Driese)
• Chirripó National Park Administrative Center, San Gerardo, Costa Rica (Horn)
• Soil and Paleosol Micromorphology Short Course, University of Kansas (Driese)
• Soil and Paleosol Micromorphology Short Course, University of Memphis (Driese)
• Latin American Studies, University of Tennessee (Horn and Harden)
• U.S. Arctic Research Commission (Cooper)
• Congressional briefings for Senator Murkowski (Alaska), staff for Senators Frist, Alexander, and Stevens (Alaska; Cooper and Grebmeier)
• International Graduate Colloquium, Norwegian Arctic Research Program, Sigulda, Latvia (Grebmeier)
• Polar Research Board, National Academy of Sciences (Grebmeier)

Outreach to K-12 teachers:

• In June–July 2002, Carol Harden took two Tennessee teachers on a three-week research trip to Cuenca, Ecuador to assist with field studies of water quality as part of research on relationships between land use change, water use, river channels, and watersheds. The teachers, Jane Luhn (second grade, Knox Co.) and Katye Couch (7th grade science, Chattanooga) were sponsored by the National Geographic Society with additional PITRS support from the GECRG. The trip has had the intended ripple effect: Besides sharing her experiences in her own school, Jane made several presentations at state-wide and local events for educators. Katye posted a set of photos on her web page, developed a PowerPoint presentation, and incorporated her experiences in her teaching of science to 7th grade girls. In September, Harden delivered the keynote address to the fall meeting of the Knox County chapter of the Tennessee Geographic Alliance. Her talk about the Ecuadorian research experience was attended by over 50 K–12 teachers. [Harden also received support from an AAAS/NSF program.]
   
• Harden’s field experience with Knox County school teachers is the third research project by GECRG faculty to involve teachers as field assistants. The latest and earlier projects have generated local and even international media coverage (a project by Horn and Orvis that took six teachers to the Dominican highlands was featured in National Geographic Magazine). A fourth research expedition involving a school teacher will begin June 9th, led by Horn in Costa Rica and also involving GECRG student Chad Lane.
   
• A secondary teacher from Burlington, Vermont, Betty Carvellas, joined Jackie Grebmeier on the US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy in July 2002 as part of the National Science Foundation’s Teacher Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic (TEA) program (http://tea.rice.edu). Daily summaries of research activities were communicated off the ship during the 40 day cruise and are available at http://tea.rice.edu/tea_carvellasfrontpage.html
   
• An elementary school teacher from Quincy, Illinois, Dave Brown, is also participating in the TEA program in 2003 with Lee Cooper in research at the Bering Strait Environmental Observatory, which is funded through the National Science Foundation. Mr. Brown’s web-based journal (http://tea.rice.edu/tea_dbrownfrontpage.html) also provides a favorable means of communicating global environmental change research funded through the University of Tennessee.

Local outreach:

• Presentation to West Knoxville Sertoma Club, Knoxville (Orvis)
• Presentation to CPCU (insurance underwriters’ group), Knoxville (Orvis)
• Presentation to Breakfast Rotary Club, Oak Ridge (Orvis)
• Presentation to New Horizons Group, Knoxville (Orvis)
• Presentation to Seniors for Creative Learning, Knoxville (Orvis)
• Presentation to Seniors for Creative Learning, Knoxville (Mora)
• Presentation to Talahi Garden Club, Knoxville (Horn)
• Presentation to Knoxville Montessori School (Cooper, Grebmeier)
• Open lab field trip for St. John Neumann School (Grebmeier)

Interaction with PITRS in Science Writing and Communication:

A graduate student in science writing and communication, Erin Demuth has also been working closely with our Research Group to communicate our results through media outlets such as the Knoxville News-Sentinel. She has published several articles about our research, including:

• Knoxville News-Sentinel, Dec 2 (2002), page B4, the Science page. An article about Henri Grissino-Mayer’s work.
• Knoxville News-Sentinel, Feb 10 (2003). An article about Jackie Grebmeier and Lee Cooper’s research in the Arctic.
• Knoxville News-Sentinel, May 5 (2003), page B8, the Science page). An article about Carol Harden’s research. Erin’s piece had initially been about involving the teachers in my Ecuadorian work, but grew to include elements of other Andean projects. The paper wrote and ran a second article on the same page about Harden’s work with undergraduate students monitoring the condition of urban streams in Knoxville.

In addition to these articles, several other media outlets featured researchers in our group:

• Knoxville News Sentinel, January 20 (2003), pages A1 and A3, Hayes-Hickman featured Cooper and Grebmeier in “Arctic ice shelf shrinking."
• Knoxville News-Sentinel, July 8 (2002). An article that featured Grissino-Mayer on the theme of the possibility of wildfires in the Smokies. This piece was picked up by The Associated Press wire on July 9, 2002.
• USA Today, August 27 (2002) “Scientists strive to understand Arctic’s global reach” (Cooper and Grebmeier) (http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/coldscience/2002-08-27-arctic-why-study_x.htm)
• USA Today, August 27 (2002) “Scientists struggle to learn Arctic Ocean’s secrets” (Cooper and Grebmeier) (http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/coldscience/2002-08-27-arctic-aboard-healy_x.htm
• CBS Evening News, August 28, 29, September 1 (2002) “Clues in the Arctic” (Cooper and Grebmeier) (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/29/eveningnews/main520240.shtml)
• Associated Press. August 2002 (including Baltimore Sun, The Juneau Empire, Fresno Bee, Orlando Sentinel, Fairbanks News-Miner, The Biloxi Sun Herald, and the St. Augustine Record) “Scientists study climate change in the Arctic” (Cooper and Grebmeier)