Evanston Biology Teacher Awarded Fellowship For Owl Expedition

From Beacon Academy: A Beacon Academy Biology Teacher has been selected as one of 8 teachers nationwide to receive a Project Kindle fellowship to preview an Earthwatch expedition and be trained to lead high school students on such a trip. Earthwatch is an international organization that engages people in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.

As part of the fellowship award, Dr. Irene Moore, a high school teacher at Evanston’s Beacon Academy, will participate in an Earthwatch expedition this summer to study owl ecology in southeastern Arizona. While there, Dr. Moore will learn about leading a student group expedition, receive training about data collection methods and research, and collaborate with other Project Kindle teachers from a wide range of schools across the United States. She’ll also keep a blog documenting her experience.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have been awarded this fellowship by Earthwatch and Kindle,” said Dr. Moore. Other than previewing an Earthwatch science expedition (an amazing opportunity in itself), I will be able to brainstorm with other teachers who also plan to take students on an expedition. We will be able to trade ideas about logistics, curriculum, and general teaching strategies as a whole.”

Armed with knowledge and experience from her week-long summer training session, Dr. Moore will team up with Earthwatch again in February to lead a group of seven Beacon Academy high school seniors on a hands-on scientific field expedition to study climate change and caterpillars in Costa Rica. The students, all of whom are enrolled in an International Baccalaureate (IB) science class at Beacon, will look for caterpillars in the forests of Costa Rica and take lab specimens for state-of-the-art chemical analysis and observation. Their research will help scientists gain a better understanding for caterpillars and the food they eat as well as changes in the rain forest climate.

“I currently try to integrate primary paper work with the IB curriculum in order to reinforce concepts, which so far has been working well,” said Dr. Moore. But with the kids being able to read primary papers about the Earthwatch research, and then actually collecting the data for the scientists, and then to hear what the data will be used for from the principal investigator, is invaluable. I hope that these real-world experiences with how science actually works not only helps with understanding science as a whole, but to give insight into a future career path may come out of it.”

Dr. Moore, who earned her BS in Biology from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati, completed post-doc work at Yale University and worked as a lab manger and scientist at Northwestern University prior to joining Beacon in 2015.

“We are so pleased that Dr. Moore is participating in EarthWatch, said Jeff Bell, Head of School at Beacon Academy. “She is deserving of such a prestigious award as it matches her significant prowess as an educator. Her care and concern for her students and subject knowledge are incredible assets to Beacon Academy.”
Biology is one of several IB science courses offered to juniors and seniors at Beacon. The school’s downtown Evanston campus includes three fully equipped, state-of-the-art science labs. Beacon Academy is an independent Montessori school serving 200 students in grades 9-12. Beacon students experience a learning community that inspires selfmotivation and personal challenge and celebrates intellectual and cultural diversity. For more information, visit beaconacademyil.org

Photo via Beacon Academy