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2007 Earth Expeditions News
Local educator to conduct research overseas
06/22/2007
OXFORD, OHIO - Round Valley Middle School educator Thomas Chilcott of St. Johns has been selected as a 2007 Earth Expeditions participant and this summer will travel to the Central American country of Belize to study conservation and marine ecology.
The Earth Expeditions program, established by Miami University's Project Dragonfly and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, recognizes outstanding educators throughout the country and provides them with research experiences at conservation hotspots around the world. (www.EarthExpeditions.org)
In July, Chilcott will travel to Belize with a group of U.S. educators and Miami and Zoo instructors to conduct field research projects investigating manatee population dynamics, sampling aquatic mangrove species and exploring human influence on coral reefs. While in-country, the group will travel alongside Belizean educators to begin long-term conservation projects linking efforts in both countries. When Chilcott and the Belizean educators return to their home institutions, their work will continue on Dragonfly's Web platform, created specifically for educator collaboration. Educators on some expeditions will be joined by professionals from zoos across the United States as part of Miami and the Cincinnati Zoo's new collaboration, Wild Research.
The Earth Expeditions program provides graduate credit to classroom teachers and educators from zoos, museums and other informal settings through direct study experience at research sites in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The project's mission is to build an alliance of educators with firsthand knowledge of inquiry-driven, community-based learning for the benefit of ecological communities, student achievement and global understanding. "We need to go beyond textbooks and engage educators and students in the real world," said Earth Expeditions Co-Director Dr. Chris Myers, director of Project Dragonfly and Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University, Oxford. "We envision every educator as an ambassador who creates as well as transmits knowledge, who promotes needed dialogue at all levels of society, and who inspires their students to do the same."
"Reading about the rainforest is one thing," said Dave Jenike, co-director of Earth Expeditions and vice president of Education and Facilities at the Cincinnati Zoo. "But it can be transformational for students to hear about the rainforest from their own teacher who's experienced it firsthand. Through Earth Expeditions, teachers become the conduit for their students to engage more deeply in their studies, for their schools to become centers of investigation, and for all to advance a powerful conservation ethic to help preserve our natural world."
All Earth Expeditions participants earn tuition-free graduate credit from Miami University. The Earth Expeditions program is supported by funding from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.
©WMICentral 2007
Source: http://www.wmicentral.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18505945&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=505965&rfi=8


