Environmental literacy is becoming an increasingly important part of national and state curriculum standards. Scientists can assist teachers by providing citizen-science research opportunities and other educational outreach programs for local students. Middle school students from Summit Charter School in Cashiers, Jackson County, NC, in conjunction with a roadside litter cleanup community-service project, assisted researchers from the Highlands Biological Station who were examining discarded bottles as a source of smallmammal mortality. Students sorted and weighed recyclable materials and inspected open bottles for small-mammal remains. They collected approximately 141 kg of trash along 2 roads near their school, 59.4% of which was recyclable material consisting primarily of glass and plastic bottles. Students removed 8 specimens from 5 bottles, including 6 Blarina brevicauda (Northern Short-tailed Shrew), 1 Sorex cinereus (Masked Shrew), and 1 S. fumeus (Smoky Shrew). Students learned to distinguish small-mammal skulls based on dentition and other cranial characteristics while using dichotomous keys, and reconstructed skeletons using anatomical diagrams traditionally used for owl-pellet dissections. Educational programs that incorporate immersive, hands-on, real-world experiences, especially those that use the local community as a framework, can enhance students' appreciation for the natural world and provide the knowledge and skills they will require to make informed environmental decisions as future community leaders.

In 2010, the Marine Education Center collaborated with the Center for Fisheries Research and Development's Shark Research Program to design an educational program that combined research experiences and educational opportunities for teenage audiences. This program, Shark Fest, educates students about the sharks of the Mississippi Sound and engages them in scientific studies of shark populations and movements. This program has reached 398 participants in grades 7–12. During the program, students assist in conducting a population survey using a 152.4-m (500-ft) bottom longline with 50 hooks and fishing with a rod-and-reel. Students measure, weigh, determine sex, and identify to species all captured sharks, and tag those in good condition prior to release. Program participants also conduct water-quality sampling (salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and water clarity) at each sample site for addition to the database. Students take a pre-test and post-test to assess the level of knowledge gained during the program. Results of a paired-sample t-test on 2015 pre-test and post-test data reflected a significant difference in pre-test (mean = 6.16, SD = 2.36) and post-test (mean = 8.54, SD = 1.93) scores (t[83] = -9.172, P < 0.0001), indicating an increase in content knowledge. Written and verbal post-participation assessments also highlighted a positive student experience. We conducted opportunistic interviews with several students 4 years after they were in the program and found evidence of retained knowledge along with positive overall impressions. Some participants stated that the experience influenced their career pursuits.

Urbanization in Miami—Dade County has modified large tracts of suitable habitats into smaller patches and increased distance between habitats. As a result, the endangered Heraclides aristodemus ponceanus (Schaus Swallowtail), which historically inhabited subtropical dry forests in south Florida and the Florida Keys, is now restricted to several islands in the Florida Keys and its numbers are precipitously declining. Here we report on a project that combined a remote in situ restoration project with a communityoutreach component that brought the restoration effort to local urban elementary schools. The Schaus Swallowtail Habitat Enhancement Project in Biscayne National Park utilized volunteers to remove exotic plants and plant over 3000 Amryis elemifera (Sea Torchwood) and Zanthoxylum fagara (Wild Lime), which are host plants for the Schaus Swallowtail. After planting and initial establishment, we monitored growth and survival of host plants. We developed the Schaus and Coastal Hardwood Hammock curriculum unit in partnership with teachers and university faculty, and implemented it at 8 locations including 5 public schools in an ex situ outreach and education program. Lesson plans aimed to: (1) inform students about the Schaus Swallowtail, (2) increase the number and size of native-plant butterfly gardens at schools and homes, and (3) thwart “extinction of experience” in nature for school children. Teachers implement applied activities modeled on the habitat enhancement project in Biscayne National Park in the classroom and on school grounds, and used them to illustrate the butterfly life cycle, species' niche requirements, biodiversity, and restoration and conservation of south Florida habitats. Ongoing engagement with school gardens through maintenance and project-based assignments can help students achieve academically and become responsible environmental stewards.

Natural history collections offer unique physical and virtual opportunities for formal and informal progressive learning. Collections are unique data in that they each represent a biological record at a single place and time that cannot be obtained by any other method. Collections-based experiences lead to an increased understanding of and substantive interaction with the living world. Global biological diversity and changes in that diversity are directly tracked through specimens in collections, regardless of whether changes are ancient or recent. We discuss how collections, specimens, and the data associated with them, can be critical components linking nature and scientific inquiry. Specimens are the basic tools for educating students and interested citizens through direct or virtual contact with the diversity of collections. Such interactions include instruction in a formal classroom setting, volunteering to gather and curate collections, and informal presentations at coffee shops. We emphasize how the recent surge in specimen-based digitization initiatives has resulted in unprecedented access to a wealth of biodiversity information and how this availability vastly expands the reach of natural history collections. The emergence of online databases enables scientists and the public to utilize the specimens and associated data contained in natural history collections to address global, regional, and local issues related to biodiversity in a way that was unachievable a decade ago.

Inquiry-based instruction has been shown to increase student motivation, engagement, and achievement in biology education. In this paper, we describe how we used an open-inquiry—based approach to engage undergraduate and graduate students in an upper-level conservation-biology class. As part of this course, students designed and implemented a research project using camera traps to examine questions related to wildlife conservation on their local campus. Students derived their research question through introductory readings and discussion regarding on-campus conservation issues. This approach allowed students to take ownership of the project, fueling enthusiasm and motivation, and promoting the development of core scientific skills. The students organized themselves into research teams at the beginning of the semester, a technique that mimicked how realworld conservation biologists collaborate on large-scale projects that require a range of knowledge and skills. In addition, teamwork allowed students to develop collaboration and communication skills and made them accountable to their peers for class performance. Given the applied nature of this course, the students also engaged in public outreach related to their research via social media and public presentations. These activities gave students the opportunity to learn how to interact with multiple stakeholders and deal with controversial issues in conservation biology.

Since 2004, over 750 students have participated in Team Salamander, the longest-running group-studies experience at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Like most curricula, Team Salamander is based on predetermined benchmarks that have to be met. However, rather than following the traditional syllabus-based lecture/laboratory model, the program is a hands-on cooperative experience that encourages students to become independent and forward-thinking. Ultimately, we strive for participants to become natural-science practitioners and informed citizens, and several program participants have continued on to graduate or professional school in natural-science disciplines. The Team Salamander program has contributed to UTC by teaching students to think creatively and connecting them with community partners. Specifically, Team Salamander has constructed a framework that provides students with job skills through hosting workshops on wetland conservation, participating in regional bioblitzes, and training visiting scientists. Team Salamander equips and empowers its members to facilitate change by encouraging them to become practicing scientists and community leaders that positively impact others.

Many institutions of higher education have sustainability initiatives; however, not all consider the importance of proximity to nature in the psychological well-being of their associated human community. Florida International University (FIU) is near the Florida Everglades, and, thus, is strategically positioned to educate the community about South Florida's rich natural history. In the past, the FIU Nature Preserve was underutilized, under-managed, and even dangerous. With minimal visitation, investment, and administrative support, its future looked dim. By enhancing the facility to appeal to a larger target-audience and expanding educational programming for a wider array of participants, a dramatic increase in visitation took place. Visitation grew from <1000 people a year in 2010, to 30,586 in 2015. These changes led the university to invest in and protect this forested park, which has long served as an important outdoor classroom for the FIU community.

The Rocky River Conservancy, Anderson University, the City and County of Anderson, SC, and local environmental groups are working in partnership to rehabilitate, preserve, and develop ∼200 ha of forested and emergent wetland and contiguous upland located within the city limits of Anderson, SC. The goal of the project is to provide a natural resource usable by the local community for education, and passive and active recreation, while safeguarding this unique and dwindling natural habitat. The environmental advocacy organization, Upstate Forever (Greenville, SC), secured an EPA grant for a hydrology assessment and long-range planning for the site. The long-range vision includes plans for construction of boardwalks, observation platforms, and a discovery center. Anderson University faculty and students have been surveying the site's flora and fauna and collecting water-quality data. Vertebrates documented include 21 species of fishes, 18 species of amphibians and reptiles, 120 species of birds, and 11 species of mammals. A tree-frog mark—recapture program has begun. Clearing of overgrown trails, opening sites for access to wetland margins, removal of trash, addition of trail signage, and trail enhancement are underway. Community and civic groups such as local garden clubs are being made aware of the resources available to them. The Anderson University Life-long Learning program, and local teachers have visited and used the site. Fund-raising, stepwise development without harming or altering the flora and fauna, and continuing to raise community awareness and buy-in of the value of this resource represent ongoing challenges.

We discuss the first phase of development of the Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem, a teaching landscape on the grounds of the Gillespie Museum, on the DeLand, FL, campus of Stetson University. Since its initiation in 2011 with the planting of a canopy of 80 trees, undergraduates and community volunteers have contributed to the site's development as an urban-habitat fragment of the Pinus palustris (Longleaf Pine) forests that once dominated the sandy ridges of Central Florida. In the first 5 years since its establishment, the site has provided hundreds of undergraduate students opportunities to participate in site development and interpretation, including the design of new outdoor activities that have been incorporated into the museum's K—6 programming. The Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem is a case study for how, with volunteer labor and modest funding, a small but visible corner of a university campus has been developed as a community-based environmental project, a research site for the undergraduate curriculum, and an urban forest with environmental ben efits.

Field stations and marine laboratories (FSMLs) are essential institutions for natural history education and research. Recently, the National Research Council suggested goals for FSMLs and that a metric be administered for their evaluation. We surveyed a non-random cross-section of 8 southeastern US FSMLs in different ecosystems to evaluate how they provide educational opportunities in accordance with National Research Council recommendations pertaining to convergence, STEM education, and interdisciplinary education. Survey responses were provided as narrative responses and through the completion of a rubric. FSML representatives reported generally high mean scores in categories addressed in the rubric. We observed the greatest variation in responses regarding the number of interdisciplinary programs offered across FSMLs. Rubric responses associated with convergence across programs, station culture, and facilities were relatively uniform. Although the FSMLs surveyed exhibited variations in ecosystems serviced and programs offered, all of the institutions provide a collaborative environment for individuals from multiple ages and backgrounds.