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1. Teaching Nutrient Cycling and Climate Change Concepts Using Excretion Experiments with Common Fish

   https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2023.85.9.500  

   Sharitt, Carrie Ann; Vanni, Michael J. (November 2023, The American Biology Teacher)

   Many high school students learn about nutrient cycling during biology, environmental science, and agriculture classes. These lessons often focus on soil and plants, and nutrient cycling is usually taught independently from climate change. Scientists know that animals, including fish, can have strong effects on nutrient cycling (i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) in ecosystems. Additionally, research has shown that nitrogen and phosphorus excretion rates of animals increase with water temperatures. We worked with high school students to design and conduct nutrient excretion experiments using common fish (zebrafish) to explore the impact of climate change on nutrient cycling. This allowed students to have hands-on laboratory experience. In 2021, we worked with students participating in a residential summer program in Georgia. Meanwhile, in 2022, students enrolled in the local high school visited the university campus on two occasions to participate in the experiments, and we once again worked with students in Georgia. Students from all three groups showed an increased understanding of the role of animals in nutrient cycling and ways climate change may impact these processes, despite variable results from the excretion experiments. Students also showed increased understanding of science processes and were more likely to feel like part of the science community. We believe that these experiments can be done in high school classrooms to expand students’ understanding of the scientific process, nutrient cycling, and climate change. 

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2. What Are the Beliefs and Misconceptions about Climate Change of Students Pursuing Careers in Civil and Construction Engineering?

   Coleman, E.; Shealy, T.; Godwin, A. (April 2018, Construction Research Congress)

   The overwhelming consensus in the scientific community is that anthropogenic climate change will irreversibly affect future generations. Engineering professionals who design and construct our built environment can protect society against the effects of global warming through implementation of building strategies that reduce climate changing emissions. There is little research to assess if students who intend to pursue careers in the design and construction of our built environment hope to address such important environmental and societal challenges. To advance understanding, a survey instrument was developed and validated to measure undergraduate engineering students’ climate change literacy, career motivations, and agency to address climate change in their career. Preliminary results compare responses of engineering students intending to pursue a career in civil and construction industries to those of engineering students intending to pursue other engineering careers. The results indicate that civil and construction engineering students are more likely to take sustainability courses and learn about climate change in the classroom, but they do not excel above other engineers in their knowledge of climate science. The educational gap in engineering sustainability courses must be closed to ensure those who will design and construct our built environment are properly equipped to succeed in the sustainability-related careers they desire. 

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3. How do departments support their underrepresented minority doctoral students? Are they doing enough?

   Brent, R; Schimmel, KA; Gumpertz, M. (January 2021, CoNECD - Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity - Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   A major barrier to increasing the percentage of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in STEM fields is the small number of URM applicants for academic positions. One factor contributing to this situation is that the two-year attrition rate of URM doctoral students is nearly 50%, substantially greater than the rate for non-URM students at most institutions. Many efforts have been made to decrease the attrition, most involving direct work with doctoral students and others concentrating on institutional changes such naming a high-level administrator to coordinate recruitment and retention efforts. Often lacking in these efforts are attempts to change faculty attitudes and practices that negatively affect student retention. Three public universities including one HBCU are currently carrying out a five-year project to develop and pilot-test a department-level process to fill this gap. Why the focus on the department level? Since URM students spend most of their time in their departments as they take classes, attend seminars, conduct research, and interact informally with department faculty, staff, and other graduate students, the climate they experience and the support they receive can have a major impact on their success. In addition, changes in a department can last well beyond the end of a grant. When interventions address students directly, once they graduate there may be no lasting change in the department. When faculty attitudes and mentoring practices change, on the other hand, the changes may last and continue to help students succeed long after the grant expires. The project seeks to help department faculty increase their understanding of the issues facing underrepresented minorities in doctoral programs, identify and remedy the departmental practices that may be hindering URM student success, and examine and improve their own mentoring practices. In the project, six cohorts of faculty members and both URM and non-URM doctoral students—two cohorts at each participating university—will be assembled and surveyed. The faculty members will be asked how their departments address recruitment and retention of URM students, how they personally support and mentor their URM students, and how welcoming and supportive of URM students they perceive their department to be. The students will be asked to express their level of satisfaction with their coursework and their relationships with faculty and other graduate students, describe the learning opportunities and mentoring they have received, and discuss how welcoming and supportive of URM students their departments have been. To initiate the gathering of baseline information, the first cohort—79 faculty members, 16 URM students, and 94 non-URM students from six STEM departments at one of the universities—was surveyed. This presentation will report and discuss the results. 

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4. How do departments support their underrepresented minority doctoral students? Are they doing enough?

   Brent, R; Schimmel, KA; Gumpertz, M. (January 2021, CoNECD - Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity - Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   A major barrier to increasing the percentage of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in STEM fields is the small number of URM applicants for academic positions. One factor contributing to this situation is that the two-year attrition rate of URM doctoral students is nearly 50%, substantially greater than the rate for non-URM students at most institutions. Many efforts have been made to decrease the attrition, most involving direct work with doctoral students and others concentrating on institutional changes such naming a high-level administrator to coordinate recruitment and retention efforts. Often lacking in these efforts are attempts to change faculty attitudes and practices that negatively affect student retention. Three public universities including one HBCU are currently carrying out a five-year project to develop and pilot-test a department-level process to fill this gap. Why the focus on the department level? Since URM students spend most of their time in their departments as they take classes, attend seminars, conduct research, and interact informally with department faculty, staff, and other graduate students, the climate they experience and the support they receive can have a major impact on their success. In addition, changes in a department can last well beyond the end of a grant. When interventions address students directly, once they graduate there may be no lasting change in the department. When faculty attitudes and mentoring practices change, on the other hand, the changes may last and continue to help students succeed long after the grant expires. The project seeks to help department faculty increase their understanding of the issues facing underrepresented minorities in doctoral programs, identify and remedy the departmental practices that may be hindering URM student success, and examine and improve their own mentoring practices. In the project, six cohorts of faculty members and both URM and non-URM doctoral students—two cohorts at each participating university—will be assembled and surveyed. The faculty members will be asked how their departments address recruitment and retention of URM students, how they personally support and mentor their URM students, and how welcoming and supportive of URM students they perceive their department to be. The students will be asked to express their level of satisfaction with their coursework and their relationships with faculty and other graduate students, describe the learning opportunities and mentoring they have received, and discuss how welcoming and supportive of URM students their departments have been. To initiate the gathering of baseline information, the first cohort—79 faculty members, 16 URM students, and 94 non-URM students from six STEM departments at one of the universities—was surveyed. This presentation will report and discuss the results. 

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5. Action for Climate Empowerment through Art−Science, Community-Based Learning and Sustainability Outreach

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00458  

   Blatti, Jillian L (November 2025, Journal of Chemical Education)

   Education plays a critical role in the fight against climate change, offering educators an opportunity to inspire and empower students to take meaningful climate action. This Perspective explores how Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) can be integrated into chemistry and environmental science education through a combination of art−science projects, community-based learning (CBL), and sustainability outreach. By implementing equitable and empowering pedagogies, such as CBL and creative expression through art, we can inspire empathy and care for planet Earth. This article provides practical examples of using visual exploration tools and sustainability-focused STEM outreach, which includes projects on bioplastics, algae biodiesel, and DNA nanotechnology. These projects help students understand how chemistry can contribute to solutions for climate change and environmental justice. By fostering creativity, empathy, and collaboration, educators can create impactful learning experiences that equip students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to take climate action. Through authentic scientific research projects centered on sustainability, education becomes a means of empowerment and liberation, inspiring students to advocate for the environment as they imagine and build a sustainable future. 

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