CEED Updates

CEED Success and Needs 2006, an overview…

A Good Year of Environmental Education Programming at UMD!  The following list is designed to keep you abreast of the work of CEED as well as to enlist your participation in current and future projects.

Good News

• Tenure track position secured and hiring completed.  Dr. Mark Zmudy will join the team in Aug; Dr. Zmudy brings an emphasis on the intersection between outdoor education and physical education.
• CEHSP and Education have instituted an EdD program that will provide a new opportunity for doctoral studies that can include an environmental emphasis. Applications to the program are being accepted until June 15 and the first classes will begin in August, 2007.

Community Partnerships

• Graduate Student assistantships at GLA, MN Sea Grant, UMD-Education, UMD CEED, UMD HPER and Boulder Lake ELC, and US Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Continued recognition for the work of our graduate students. For example, one graduate student was recently accepted to present her work at the international meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
• Collaboration across the Great Lakes through participation in the Great Lakes COSEE (Centers Ocean Sciences Excellence Education) project.
• Strengthened relationship with Isle Royale Institute.  UMD hosted Isle Royale Institute Coordinator, Ann Mayo-Kiely, for discussions regarding reengagement of UMD with the Institute.  CEED received a commitment from CEHSP that UMD will re-assume full member status. Exciting plans are in motion for a strong UMD presence on Isle Royale!
• Exotics Education Project at Stowe Elementary School initiated.
• Ski Trail and Program Development at UMD/Woodland Middle School.
• Continued USFS-Outdoor Program efforts to provide interpretive programming while operating Superior National Forest campgrounds in the LaCroix Ranger District.
• G.I.S. Management Course taught by UMD faculty; this course was developed and previously team taught with MN DNR. (We are among few, if any, programs that provide this instruction specific to outdoor education majors.)
• Work with the USFWS on a Challenge Cost Share funded project to develop an evaluation tool that can be used to determine which programs to invest objectives/outcomes-based evaluation efforts in and which programs have outcomes that support the conservation/environmental education mission of an agency in order to make summative evaluation decisions.
• Civic engagement funding/efforts to allow EnEd 5855 Programming for Schools course to develop and implement a teacher workshop for local 4th-8th grade language arts teachers (Stories from Where We Live: Helping Elementary Teachers Integrate Reading, Writing, and Environmental Education in Their Classrooms through an Exploration of Place).
• Survey research conducted through Grant-In-Aid funding allowing nvestigation of influences on teachers' use of environment-based education and barriers to environmental education.
• Work with North American Association for Environmental Education and Earth Force to build more formal partnerships between the environmental education and the service learning/National Youth Leadership Council communities.
• Broad faculty and student involvement in planning, hosting, and participating in the North American Association for Environmental Education Annual Conference in Minnesota this past year.
• Unified early childhood majors planned and implemented weeklyenvironmental education lessons for families with infants, toddlers and preschool age children at the "Nature Nook" program at Hartley Nature Center as a part of ECH 3030.
• Educ 4234, Science, Technology and Society course, implemented numerous environmental based community outreach opportunities for students.
• $52,500 in grant funds was secured for collaborative programs (Boulder Lake ELC, Great Lakes Aquarium, Worm Watch, etc.).
• Hartley Nature Center naturalists trained in developmentally appropriate early childhood best practices in teaching.
• Student internships placement representing a broad range of professional collaboration with our program:  MN DNR, United States Forest Service, Municipal Park and Recreation Departments (e.g. Missoula, MT), Student Conservation Association, Hartley Nature Center, etc.
• Numerous other on-going course based partnerships with community organizations (e.g. Superior Hiking Trail, Great Lakes Aquarium, Northwood’s Children’s Home, etc.)

Student Achievement

• Graduate theses published—see accompanying list.
• Scholarships and awards in the past year:

• Matt Link Outstanding Outdoor Educator/James M. and M. Martha Ryan Scholarship: Laura Albert
• Hans Hicks Memorial Award: Patrick Hair
• Ken Gilbertson Leadership Award: Scott Ewen
• Dick Flint Scholarship: Jeremiah Kelley