Helpful Tools: Informalscience.org
Welcome to Insights & Opportunities: A Hub for Informal STEM Education! Insights & Opportunities is a twice-monthly newsletter for educators, administrators, legislators, and advocates who recognize the importance of informal STEM learning.
This newsletter is brought to you by me, Sarah Dunifon, and my team at Improved Insights. I’m a long-time STEM educator, researcher, and equity advocate. Along with my team, I now work on cutting-edge informal STEM learning research and evaluation.
Each edition of this newsletter offers exciting insights, resources, and opportunities for informal STEM learning professionals, including funding, jobs, professional development, informal STEM learning research, evaluation tips and resources, and so much more! We hope you find it valuable. Now, let’s get started.
Helpful Tools: Informalscience.org
The Reimagining Equity and Values in Informal STEM Education (REVISE) Center, funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, manages informalscience.org, a website offering a collaboratively built repository of resources specifically aimed at advancing equity across the informal STEM education field.
The site was initially founded in 2012 as the Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Learning (CAISE) to “strengthen and advance the informal STEM education field by providing infrastructure, resources, and connectivity for practitioners, researchers, evaluators, and other value-holders.” REVISE aims to take the resource center to the next level, focusing on equity within informal science learning research and practice. Alongside community listening sessions (like upcoming focus groups), REVISE is connecting with the informal science learning community to better understand the needs for the next phase of this work.
Informalscience.org is truly one of the best resources available to informal science learning practitioners, researchers, and evaluators. On it, you can find a multitude of helpful tools, research and evaluation reports, overviews of important terms, and equity resources.
These primers on informal STEM learning can be used to communicate with grantmakers and communities about what informal STEM learning is and its importance, two things that can be challenging to convey to folks not in our field.
The page linked above also includes a variety of toolkits and guides for those who are just getting started with informal STEM learning.
To read the full article, check it out in our Insights.
60-Second Suggestions
Here are a few of my favorite things this month, usually pertaining to informal STEM education and evaluation, but occasionally some fun personal stuff, too.
An exciting announcement from the STEM PUSH Network, a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research project, was recently released. Pending a comprehensive assessment, six Pre-College STEM program (PCSP) members are set to be the first-ever out-of-school educational programs accredited by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS). The accreditation system was designed by the STEM PUSH Network with evidence-based, equity-centered quality standards at its core. The accreditation represents a major step toward making out-of-school time STEM academic experiences for minority students more visible in the higher education admissions process.
This article by Amanda Sullivan for the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) highlights four ways to support girls in STEM in 2024. The article includes links to NGCP blog posts and webinars for further resources on what you can do to elevate women and girls in STEM.
With spring just around the corner, the Garden Plant Finder from Native Plant Trust might come in handy! If you’re in the New England area, use it to find native plants by name, or use the checkboxes below the quick search feature to find a variety of plants that meet certain criteria, like sun exposure and landscape use. We’re huge supporters of native plants here, and this could be a great way to find plants for your New England garden native to your region! Check out this screenshot of the search feature below:
Opportunities
Check out these new opportunities for the informal STEM learning community.
Funding:
Community Grants, Roanoke Women’s Foundation, $30,000+. High-impact grants of at least $30,000 will be awarded to nonprofit organizations in the Roanoke, VA area. Grants will support programs that focus on education, environment, arts and culture, and health and human services. Applications should be submitted by March 31, 2024.
Community Grants Program, Rhode Island Foundation, up to $10,000. Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to nonprofits, public agencies like libraries, and volunteer-led organizations that promote community-making efforts in Rhode Island. Examples of these efforts include urban farms, promoting accessibility to historic places and nature preserves, and enhancing the role of shared public spaces, among others. Applications are due March 22, 2024.
Gulf Research Program Grants, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, $75,000-$1 Million. Nonprofits, state, and local entities (excluding federal agencies) are invited to apply for grants of up to $1 million for programs that increase the scientific and environmental literacy and problem-solving skills of children and youth (K-8) in the Gulf of Mexico region. Applications should be submitted by April 10, 2024.
UWorld Cares Community Grants, UWorld. Nonprofit organizations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex (Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties) are invited to apply for funding. Grants will be directed toward programs that support middle and high school education, with a special emphasis on STEM. Applications are due March 31, 2024.
Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grants, NAAEE and NOAA, $25,000-$100,000. Informal STEM education institutions are invited to apply for partnership grants that facilitate work with Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), primarily in regions served by the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. Grantees will work with 21st CCLC site partners to incorporate elements of NOAA B-WET's "Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences" (MWEEs) into out-of-school time programming. Applications are due March 29, 2024.
Jobs and Fellowships:
Assistant Director, Center for the Future of Museums (Arlington, VA), $70,000. The Assistant Director will be responsible for the week-to-week operations of the Center and manage the logistics and budget for CFM activities. They will have primary responsibility for developing the CFM newsletter and blog; supporting research and production of CFM’s intellectual resources, products and services; contributing to public content (written and presentations); generating ideas for new CFM experiments; and helping foster relationships with outside groups. Applications are due March 18, 2024.
Education Program Manager - STEM Education Specialist, Montshire Museum of Science (Norwich, VT), $45,000. The Program Manager will serve as the programmatic lead for the development, delivery, evaluation, and administrative coordination of school-aged STEM programs (K-8) at the museum. Applications are due March 22, 2024.
Education Programs and Bilingual Spanish Specialist, Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (Chicago, IL), $42,000. The Education Programs Specialist will be a multi-dimensional bilingual educator with natural science content knowledge and a passion for teaching. The Specialist will implement onsite and offsite science and environmental education programming for audiences varying in ages from pre-K to adults.
Learning and Research Manager, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA), $41,000. The Learning and Research Manager will supervise Learning & Research team members, including youth researchers, interns, or other part-time or seasonal staff, centering equity and fostering curiosity for all learners.
Manager of Adult Education, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill (Boylston, MA), $61,000. The Manager will oversee all aspects of the programs, including planning, development, implementation, and evaluation. By implementing mission-focused learning opportunities, they will attract and serve a diverse population of new and existing adult audiences.
Professional Development:
2024 Science New Wave Festival Symbiosis Competition, Imagine Science Films (New York City). "Scientists & filmmakers are paired every year at the annual festival to make new forms of science cinema." Scientists and filmmakers will be paired to produce a film and compete at the October 2024 Science New Wave Festival in New York City. Selected pairs will receive a $2,500 production fund, and the winning team will take home a $1,500 cash prize. Applications are due July 15, 2024, but applicants are encouraged to submit as early as possible.
Call for Proposals, NAAEE Conference 2024: Building Bridges (Pittsburgh, PA). NAAEE is seeking proposals for presentations for their 53rd annual conference. Drawing inspiration from the conference location, Pittsburgh, PA, the conference theme is Building Bridges. "We seek to spotlight environmental educators as natural bridge builders. Focused on bridging gaps across borders, disciplines, and ideas, our event aims to foster mutual understanding and explore how to discover common ground." Proposals should be submitted by April 26, 2024.
Generation of Environmental Leaders Program (GELP), Commission for Environmental Cooperation (United States, Canada, Mexico). The Commission for Environmental Cooperation seeks youth leader applicants (ages 18-35) in the United States, Canada, and Mexico to support the new Generation of Environmental Leaders Program (GELP). GELP " provides a year-long mentorship, unique networking opportunities, the opportunity to present solutions to the three countries’ top environmental officials at the CEC Council Session and receive C$15,000 in seed funding to amplify the impact of solutions in local communities." Applications are due March 31, 2024.
National Sea Grant College Program Reviewers, NOAA (virtual). NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program seeks a diverse group of reviewers for three grant competitions funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. One of the programs specifically seeks reviewers with experience in creating coalitions and community partnerships. Reviews will occur between March 1 and May 7, 2024, and reviewers may be eligible to receive up to a $2,000 honorarium.
Science Talk '24, Association of Science Communicators (Portland, OR). “The Association of Science Communicators (ASC, formerly Science Talk) is a professional organization growing to meet the needs of the multifaceted science communication community so we can better address the challenges facing our society.” The Association of Science Communicators' annual conference will occur April 11-12, 2024.
Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Insights and Opportunities. While you’re waiting for the next edition, tell your friends! We appreciate you sending along a blog post you enjoyed, a job opportunity you think a friend should apply for, and resources you found valuable. Sharing this newsletter is the best way to support this work. Until next time - thanks!
