Peter Bower, Environmental Science, Receives TEAGLE Grant
September 2, 2009
Peter Bower, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Environmental Science, and the Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF) have been jointly awarded a $240,000 TEAGLE Grant under the auspices of the College-Community Connections program. The project, HEAF at Barnard: Brownfield Action, unites Brownfield Action (BA), an award-winning, inquiry-based, environmental learning tool, with HEAF’s College Prep program. The project runs for three years and will provide weekly enrichment sessions during the fall semester to help New York City high school students prepare for college and succeed once there.
HEAF’s College Prep program provides an extended continuum of educational and youth development and leadership opportunities to high-potential, underserved students from Harlem, Washington Heights and the Bronx, from middle school through college, with the goal of preparing students to matriculate and graduate from challenging four-year colleges and universities. HEAF’s raison d’etre is to ensure that students, despite their surroundings, gain the competitive edge that will prepare them to attend and graduate from a challenging four-year institution of higher learning. At Barnard, the program adds an important dimension to the many initiatives already in place that help increase access to a liberal arts education for underserved populations. Both institutions also share a commitment to interdisciplinary learning, and HEAF@Barnard: Brownfield Action will not only give students a good grounding in science, but will also bring to the discussion questions of sociology, history, ethics, urban planning and economics.
HEAF@Barnard: Brownfield Action will enroll approximately twenty students and will be taught in one of Barnard’s environmental science laboratories, though many of the educational activities will be outdoors. The curriculum is specifically designed to involve movement, and the exercises will be interactive, hands-on, and inquiry-based. An important component of HEAF@Barnard: Brownfield Action will be students’ work with writing tutors and peer mentors. The tutors and peer mentors will be drawn from Barnard students who are involved with the writing program or the Department of Environmental Science. Within the Department of Environmental Science students will also be drawn from the Mellon Minority Research (MMR) initiative that Dr. Bower has run for over eight years. The MMR initiative provides experiences in environmental science, encouragement, and support for Barnard students who are traditionally under-represented in the sciences. Angelica Patterson is active in MMR with Dr. Bower and is the Program Administrator for HEAF@Barnard: Brownfield Action. Dr. Joe Liddicoat, who has over ten years of experience teaching BA at Barnard, will be the primary classroom teacher. Dr. Bower created BA the digital simulation and curriculum with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL).
