The University of Delaware School of Education (SOE) colloquium series on “Community and Informal Approaches to Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education” continues on Wednesday, Feb. 14 with a presentation on “From ‘Reddit’ to Reality: Our Informal Connections with Nature” from Leah M. Melber, Knight Vice President of Education at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.

The School of Education is part of the College of Education and Human Development.

For many learners, informal science learning experiences play a critical role in developing an understanding of nature and conservation. Some of these experiences are deliberate, such as visiting a zoo or hiking on a nearby trail. For others, these experiences may be subtle, such as exposure through social media or crossing paths with urban wildlife. Whatever the pathway, the research base articulating the impact of these experiences on individuals, as well as the natural environment, is expanding.

This presentation will jump-start a conversation on how formal and informal educators can better support this type of engagement with the environment with positive outcomes for the learner and for the environment. It hopes to examine educator awareness, engagement, and action related to these informal science learning environments and consider how belief systems and practice influence instruction.

The series will be held on select Wednesdays throughout the semester, beginning at 1:25 p.m. in Willard Hall room 207. A discussion and question-and-answer period will follow each speaker’s presentation at 2:25 pm.

Students, faculty, and community members with interests in education, teacher preparation, community engagement, and educational partnerships are encouraged to attend. These events are free, and no advance registration or RSVP is required.

About the speaker

Leah M. Melber is the Knight Vice President of Education at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science. She holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of New Hampshire, a master’s degree in education from Pepperdine University, and a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Southern California.

Her research centers on improving public understanding of scientific research through effective program design within informal learning environments. Most recently, she has focused on connecting learners to science through the study of plants and animals both in zoo and aquarium environments and in the field.

She has held positions at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Washington State History Museum, Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, and the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

She credits the start of her career to early experiences with identifying male and female earwigs, locating sand crabs in beach environments, and prying open the seedpods of jacaranda trees.

Upcoming speakers in the series

Mar. 7: Melissa Gresalfi, associate professor of mathematics education and of learning sciences and learning environment design, Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University, presentation title to be announced.

May 2: Laura Justice, College of Education and Human Ecology Executive Director of the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy and Education and Human Ecology Distinguished Professor, Department of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University, “Fostering Reading at Home: Overcoming Barriers that Impede Parent-Child Reading.”

May 9: Sasha Palmquist, Senior Research Associate, The Learning Institute for Innovation, presentation title to be announced.

For more information about this series, please visit the SOE colloquium series webpage.