Science:
We begin our respective journeys home to different parts of the country carrying far more than we traveled here with. We may have packed our bags with our material items and personal effects, but each of us will carry something far more valuable home with us– a wealth of knowledge about owl habitats, an exposure to a vast variety of regional species in the southwestern US, and unique experiences that will translate into fascinating stories and inspiring tales. We are by no means leaving this excursion as raptor experts, but we are leaving as valuable and contributing members of the scientific research community.
We begin our respective journeys home to different parts of the country carrying far more than we traveled here with. We may have packed our bags with our material items and personal effects, but each of us will carry something far more valuable home with us– a wealth of knowledge about owl habitats, an exposure to a vast variety of regional species in the southwestern US, and unique experiences that will translate into fascinating stories and inspiring tales. We are by no means leaving this excursion as raptor experts, but we are leaving as valuable and contributing members of the scientific research community.
Although I began this trip with an open mind, eager for the unique opportunity, I honestly didn’t know why I had been chosen for this particular scientific expedition. As a ninth grade ELA teacher, I had but surface-level knowledge about the scientific process and little understanding about how to connect it to my own curriculum. I didn’t consider myself a scientist by any definition of the term and wondered about my ability to contribute to the team in a meaningful way. My view of what makes a scientist stems from looking up to my own mother, a research scientist herself with a PhD in herpes virology. I now know that my fears were for naught. Scientists are not all-knowing retainers of knowledge, and don’t live on the lofty platform I had placed them on. Instead, scientists are relentless pursuers of inquiry, and that’s what I now recognize myself to be. This trip has allowed each of us to transform into citizen scientists, and to support the work of experts in the field. I haven’t just learned a new, very specific, skill set. I have reimagined who I am in relation to the natural world and what I can offer others in terms of discovering and preserving the wonders of this world. I have transformed myself into a citizen scientist.
You, too, can become a citizen scientist. Take an interest in your natural world. Think about your role in creating a sustainable environment, even if that environment is just the everyday one surrounding you. Ask questions– so many questions! Be okay with searching for answers, even if you never arrive at them. Find ways to reawaken the curiosity so oft stomped out after the imaginative beauty of early childhood. Reimagine and redefine your own self-perception. The world out there is big and beautiful, and it is up to each one of us to learn about and protect it.
Personal Blog:
I am so grateful for the opportunities this trip has provided me, and for the curiosity and drive towards inquiry and exploration that it has reawakened within me. I wonder, how is it that I have spent my entire life not caring about the very trees that are all around me? I can’t wait to get home and start identifying tree species in my own neighborhood. I am excited to rethink my own urban garden with more consideration to pollinators and native plants. I can’t wait to take my own children, aged 2, 4, and 6, into the woods at night to listen for owl calls, estimate 50 meters by foot (for me, it is 66 steps), and to spot the tellingly reflective dots of spider eyes that carpet this world. I can’t wait to start planning for the next school year with a focus on sustainability and environmental education, with trips to the arboretum, place-based writing opportunities, and maybe even the creation of a classroom-based indoor vertical garden. The world is only as small as we allow it to be, and in one week it seems to have grown so much bigger, full of renewed possibility and intrigue.
I am so grateful for the opportunities this trip has provided me, and for the curiosity and drive towards inquiry and exploration that it has reawakened within me. I wonder, how is it that I have spent my entire life not caring about the very trees that are all around me? I can’t wait to get home and start identifying tree species in my own neighborhood. I am excited to rethink my own urban garden with more consideration to pollinators and native plants. I can’t wait to take my own children, aged 2, 4, and 6, into the woods at night to listen for owl calls, estimate 50 meters by foot (for me, it is 66 steps), and to spot the tellingly reflective dots of spider eyes that carpet this world. I can’t wait to start planning for the next school year with a focus on sustainability and environmental education, with trips to the arboretum, place-based writing opportunities, and maybe even the creation of a classroom-based indoor vertical garden. The world is only as small as we allow it to be, and in one week it seems to have grown so much bigger, full of renewed possibility and intrigue.
Did You Know?
You, too, can join an Earthwatch expedition and become a citizen scientist! Earthwatch has hosted participants ranging in age from 14-84. There are many excursions to choose from, so you should be able to find the project, region, trip length or activity level that best accommodates your needs and interests.
You, too, can join an Earthwatch expedition and become a citizen scientist! Earthwatch has hosted participants ranging in age from 14-84. There are many excursions to choose from, so you should be able to find the project, region, trip length or activity level that best accommodates your needs and interests.
About the Author:
Oriana Nir, MEd (certified ELA/SPED/ESL) is a high school ELA teacher and freshman advisor for the Boston Public Schools. A teacher since 2007, Mrs. Nir incorporates her love of art, theater, and advocacy into all aspects of her trauma-sensitive classroom.
Oriana Nir, MEd (certified ELA/SPED/ESL) is a high school ELA teacher and freshman advisor for the Boston Public Schools. A teacher since 2007, Mrs. Nir incorporates her love of art, theater, and advocacy into all aspects of her trauma-sensitive classroom.