Renee Lopez Swalls, Ingrid Felsl, David Gibson, and Karen Renzaglia
Educators are faced with the challenge of training future decision makers to identify and develop sustainable solutions that maintain our standard of living while protecting dwindling natural resources. To help meet the need for highly qualified STEM teachers in the region, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) developed an NSF-funded Robert Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship program that focuses on environmental sustainability. The program provides training and support in four core experiences: content enrichment, scientific research, innovative pedagogy, and leadership. Through classroom activities designed around local environmental issues, our master teacher leaders engage students in evidence-based inquiry activities that improve knowledge and cultivate curiosity in the natural world around them. Our teacher professional development program follows a progression of topics through environmental sustainability, toxicology, biodiversity, global environmental change and energy, culminating in a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Sustainability designed specifically for teachers. During the annual Summer Research Immersion, teachers engage in authentic research mentored by SIUC faculty and students. Over the past three years, teachers developed and administered 45 different research-based lessons to over 1,800 students, engaging them in environmental problems that are pertinent to their lives and their communities. Lessons focused on topics including sustainable agriculture, water toxicology, waste reduction, energy efficiency, and environmental impacts on biodiversity. As we enter our fourth year, we highlight the innovative ways teachers use their research experiences and training to transform STEM education and promote environmental sustainability in their classrooms, schools, and communities.