{"id":188492,"date":"2022-08-10T07:30:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T11:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=188492"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:58:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:58:36","slug":"e-steam-ahead-ct-high-schoolers-to-become-eco-digital-storytellers-through-interdisciplinary-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2022\/08\/e-steam-ahead-ct-high-schoolers-to-become-eco-digital-storytellers-through-interdisciplinary-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"E-STEAM Ahead: CT High Schoolers to Become \u2018Eco-Digital\u2019 Storytellers Through Interdisciplinary Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"

The science behind protecting the environment is only one piece of addressing the climate crisis; people need to communicate this information and the stories of those impacted by climate change to the public to inspire necessary action.<\/p>\n

With this understanding, a group of interdisciplinary UConn researchers are working on a grant that will support high school students in designing multimedia projects that focus on local environmental issues in their communities. This work is supported by a $1.35 million grant from the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n

This project will merge environmental science, geospatial technology, digital media and education through an ambitious collaboration between faculty across disciplines. Laura Cisneros, assistant extension professor of natural resources and the environment (NRE) and director of the UConn Natural Resources Conservation Academy<\/a> (NRCA), is the PI on this project. Other researchers involved in the project are Todd Campbell, department head and professor of curriculum and instruction in the Neag School of Education<\/a>; Cary Chadwick, extension educator with the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research<\/a> (CLEAR); Heather Elliott-Famularo, department head and professor of digital media and design; Anna Lindemann assistant professor of digital media and design; David Dickson, extension educator and interim director of CLEAR; and Nicole Freidenfelds, extension educator and NRCA program coordinator.<\/p>\n

The College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources<\/a> and the Neag School have been collaborating for a decade, working to bring learning opportunities to youth and adults so they can carry out local environmental projects through the NRCA. However, Cisneros says these efforts have missed a critical component: communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe missing piece here is how these individuals can reconnect projects back to their community in a creative and innovative way, and really, that science communication piece,\u201d Cisneros says.<\/p>\n

This led the extension team to connect with the Department of Digital Media and Design<\/a> over their shared interests in improving scientific communication skills and diversifying the voices of people telling environmental stories. Both STEM and digital media and design fields have historically been dominated by a white male perspective.<\/p>\n

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Josh F., a student at Marvelwood School, takes photographs of local fauna to create a field guide. (Contributed photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe thought that if we could bring people doing the scientific research together with the people telling the stories about that scientific research and do that by encouraging new perspectives and new voices, especially within the state, well, that was what got us all really excited,\u201d Elliott-Famularo says. \u201cThis is how we came up with the notion of developing ‘Eco-Digital Storytellers.'”<\/p>\n

With this grant, the team will work with high schools in New Haven, Hartford, and Willimantic, which serve diverse student bodies.<\/p>\n

Over the course of three years, the program aims to serve 270 high school students across 54 school pods. Each \u201cpod\u201d will include a small group of high school students and their teacher.<\/p>\n

The team will teach the pods how to engage in educational storytelling, using geospatial technology and digital media tools as vessels to convey their messages. Participants will be taught how to use a mapping application, called ArcGIS Storymaps, to create interactive online narratives using maps and digital media. They will also learn basic digital media and design skills, such as video and animation, to share engaging stories about their environmental projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really thinking about narrative structures as a way for people to express their identities and their thoughts and actions about environmental issues and then using technology to support those narratives,\u201d Lindemann says.<\/p>\n