Minnesota science teacher receives Fulbright Research Fellowship with help from UMN Phenology Workshop

From Duluth to Fulbright research in Greece

Alison Wood, a science teacher at Duluth Denfeld High School, has earned a rare distinction: she is one of just 14 teachers nationwide selected for a Fulbright Research Fellowship. Wood’s research focuses on outdoor science education and she thanks the Phenology Investigations for Minnesota Schools (PIMS) for guiding her in choosing the research topic of how schools in Greece incorporate citizen science and outdoor data collection into their curriculum. She will spend February through May in Greece conducting research. 

Seasonal phenology teacher training

PIMS is a year-long professional development workshop for 6-12 grade science and agriculture teachers in Minnesota, a project of the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology. Wood explains, “PIMS caught my eye because it’s seasonal. It was a commitment, but it was not just in the summer or a huge number of days, or short enough where you forget everything.” Focusing on seasonal phenology investigation (the study of timing and recurring biological events such as plant and animal life cycles), PIMS holds meetings four times a year to help Minnesota teachers brainstorm and create a phenology curriculum that can be practiced in every season. PIMS is instructed by a team of phenology professionals with diverse specialties and experiences. “When I saw that PIMS was going to have all of these different experts, it was really appealing. I liked that we were going to have experts teaching us about many different aspects and parts of phenology,” Wood said. PIMS receives funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

Shaping a global research vision

Practicing science research abroad has always been on Wood’s bucket list, but she wanted help figuring out specifically what she wanted to research and how she could have the greatest impact. Through conversations with PIMS instructors, other PIMS participants and by completing sessions of the program, Wood was able to narrow down a science research topic that was meaningful to her. “At meals and during some conversations, I kept asking everybody, what do you think would be the best method to do citizen science and data collection across the ocean? That’s how we came up with the idea. I had this spark of what I wanted to have happen and then I just kept asking everybody there,” Wood said. The time Wood spent at PIMS is when she solidified her Fulbright Fellowship Proposal, inspired by the research done in the four seasonal sessions.

Advice to science teachers

Wood is excited to research citizen science and outdoor data collection across the ocean, where the outdoor conditions and culture vary greatly from Minnesota. “Here we talk so much about freshwater, forests, invasive species and bird migration. I’m curious if those are on the forefront of what they [Greeks] are worried about or wanting to pay attention to. Or are they more into the water part of science,” Wood said. Wood encourages other teachers to find community or inspiration like she found at PIMS, so when teachers get confused, lose motivation, or are not sure how to do something, they can ask others for help and gain insight. Wood has just begun her research in Greece and has already found creative ways to include phenology in her teaching. In her newsletter, Wood explains how she used the twigs, weeds, pebbles and leaves in a concrete schoolyard to complete a computer science lesson. Read more as Wood begins her research in Greece by subscribing to her newsletter.