On Thursday, February 22nd UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from NRE Dr. Morty Ortega met with a group of 32 UConn ECE certified NRE 1000E Instructors for a professional development workshop. Instructors went on "A journey through Ecotoxicology" with Anika Agrawal, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, UConn.

Anika Agrawal (she/they) is a third year PhD Candidate in Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Connecticut. Prior to this she received a B.S. in Environmental Toxicology from UC Davis, and an M.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M at Galveston. Anika is currently studying mercury in oysters in the Long Island Sound. They are passionate about contaminants in coastal ecosystems and finding ways to make science more inclusive and fun in the classroom. 

UConn NRE courses offered through ECE.

On Thursday, October 12^th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Natural Resources & the Environment, Prof. Morty Ortega met with certified NRE Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. The workshop was held at Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area in Burlington, CT. Presentations by the Sessions Woods staff included:

• The private life of bears – Melissa Ruszczyk (DEEP)
• The private life of bobcats – Jason Hawley (DEEP)
• Habitat – Peter Picone (DEEP)

The presentations were well received by the teachers, and they had many questions for each of the presenters.

UConn NRE courses offered through ECE.

On Tuesday, April 25th UConn Early College Experience Environmental Science Instructors met with faculty from UConn’s NRE Department. ECE Faculty Coordinator for NRE, Dr. Morty Ortega invited Dr. Cynnamon Dobbs to share her talk, “Urban Forests for a Resilient Future” with the group.

Dr. Dobbs is an Assistant Professor in Urban and Community Forestry with University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on urban forest ecosystem services and its link to the sustainability and resilience of urban areas. She uses quantitative data from biophysical and social factors to distinguish drivers of change, and to produce evidence for improving urban decision making. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Ecology at the University of Melbourne, Australia; her MS degree at the University of Florida; and her BS at the Universidad de Chile, Chile. Dr. Dobbs has a large number of publications in scientific journals, book chapters, and extension journals. As a teacher, she has instructed courses such as Forest and climate change, Urban ecology, Landscape ecology, and many others.

After the presentation, the group discussed class activities to teach about Urban Forest and their courses as they are dealing with post-covid student behavior and other struggles.

UConn NRE courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Wednesday, February 23^rd,  UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Environmental Science, Prof. Morty Ortega met with certified NRE Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

Guest Lectures:

• Evan Ward, Department of Marine Sciences, UConn: “Plastic pollution in marine environments: Knowns, unknowns, and uncertainties”
• Kelly Crandall, Molecular and Cell Biology Department, UConn: “Microplastics, the Microbiome, and how they relate to each other”

^{*slide from Dr. Ward's presentation}

The group also discussed their UConn NRE 1000E courses they are offering in their high schools with Dr. Ortega.

UConn Environmental Science courses offered through ECE.

On Tuesday, April 27^th  UConn Early College Experience and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Natural Resources and the Environment, Dr. Morty Ortega met with certified NRE 1000E: Environmental Science Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. The meeting was focused on “Environmental Justice in Your Community” with a special presentation by Parker McMullen Bushman Director of Extension for the City and County of Denver from Colorado State University.

Later in the morning Dr. Ortega spoke with the certified Instructors about COVID -19 and Wildlife and later how the pandemic has affected the class environment.

UConn ECE Environmental Science courses offered through ECE.