NSF & Smithsonian drone mapping project
As part of our NSF & Smithsonian Drone mapping project, we aim to build mutually rewarding partnerships with K-12 science teachers in the summer of 2020 and the 2020-2021 school year to transfer teachers’ experiences in cutting edge field-based research to educational lessons and content in their classrooms.
Application
We are hiring 2 K-12 teachers on our team this year! The application link for K-12 in-service teachers can be found in our Google Form at RET K-12 In-Service Teacher Application Form.
For K-12 in-service teachers applying to the RET Site, the 2-page personal statement must include: 1) a description of education and teaching interests, including how the fieldwork fits into these interests and 2) a discussion of how you and your students might benefit from lessons and data created in the program. Incomplete applications will not be accepted. Potential candidates may be contacted for a follow-up video interview within one month of the priority application deadline.
Teachers will be trained with our drone training materials for eelgrass mapping, including drone flying, image processing and analysis, and FAA part 107 regulations. We will work with teachers step-by-step to develop drone mapping and field research skills that can be included in their classrooms in the 2020-2021 school year.
Any questions to the application can be directed to. Dr. Timothy Hawthorne, Timothy.Hawthorne@ucf.edu or Dr. Bo Yang, Bo.Yang@ucf.edu.
Funding Support for RET Participants:
Teachers will receive a generous financial package from NSF as part of this work.
- All fieldwork travel expenses covered and a $5600 stipend for participating in the 7 week summer fieldwork experience.
- If teachers agree to incorporate the data and fieldwork into K-12 lessons in their classrooms, they will also receive the following:
- An additional $5000 stipend for the academic school year to work on continued incorporation of lessons and data into their classrooms.
- Classroom drone kits to support continued engagement with their students, including 1 DJI Mavic Mini fly more combo pack and 3 DJI Tello education packs.
- Teachers will also receive $2000 for travel support to co-present findings at a professional conference, such as Ocean Sciences, National Science Teachers Association, Esri Education, or National Council for Geographic Education.
Teachers will also be expected to complete the following as part of their additional stipend for the 2020-2021 school year.
- Co-author science education articles with our team for submission to high impact journals.
- Share their experiences and lesson plans at a 2021 UCF Citizen Science GIS teacher workshop to stimulate interest in the work with other U.S. teachers and networks.
- Co-author blog posts for our Citizen Science GIS website and social media channels and to a short education and technology series in Directions Magazine (a leading geospatial technology industry online publication).
In addition, we have ongoing collaborations with Esri Education (the world’s largest GIS company) that will benefit the collaboration. With both partners, we support teacher research activities, including free access to Esri ArcGIS Online, Drone2Map and drone mapping training modules, and Esri. These resources are available to our teachers through our partnership and technical support is provided by the UCF team.
More details about last summer's fieldwork. Similar locations will occur in 2020.
See below for the vlog (edit by Michael Feinman) of the field trip, follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook for #citizensciencegis