SSI Past Programs

3D Vertebrates, From Museum Shelves to Classrooms

LOGISTICS:

• Program:  3D Vertebrates, From Museum Shelves to Classrooms
• Location:  VIRTUALLY from the University of Florida campus, Gainesville
• Dates:  Monday, June 21 - Friday, June 25, 2021
• Lead UF-based oVert scientists: Dr. David Blackburn, Dr. Jaimi Gray, and Dr. Edward Stanley
• There is no registration fee. 
• Application. Review begins May 15.

OVERVIEW:

The biology of vertebrate animals provides opportunities to students to learn about anatomy, function, evolution, and paleontology. Participants in this workshop will gain a hands-on introduction to vertebrate diversity through lectures, discussion with scientists and students, and virtual visits to the museum scientific collections to see rare specimens of both living and extinct species. While scientists visiting natural history museums around the world have access to these unique specimens to understand vertebrate biology, this is a resource that students and the public rarely see or even know about. Using three-dimensional imaging as part of the openVertebrate project (or oVert) funded by the US National Science Foundation (https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/overt/), we are creating digital specimens that can be viewed in the classroom, digitally dissected, 3D-printed, and more. Participants in this program will learn about working with these resources and develop teaching modules that convey key concepts in anatomy, function, and evolution.

THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM:
Following a general introduction to vertebrate diversity, participants will learn how scientists and students investigate anatomy, function, and evolution using digital three-dimensional anatomical data. During the week, brief presentations from and discussions with research faculty and graduate students highlight the diversity of studies utilizing museum collections as well as provide context to develop classroom lessons. Working in small groups, participants and scientists will work together to brainstorm ideas for translating the oVert project into classroom materials and fully developed learning activities for implementation during the 2021/2022 school year. Emphasis will be placed on translating principles in functional anatomy and evolution into effective teaching materials incorporating digital 3D objects. The workshop will conclude with presentations by participants on the teaching materials they developed during the course of the week.

OUR SCIENTIST COLLABORATORS INCLUDE:

From the University of Florida oVert team and leading the project:
Dr. Dave Blackburn, Florida Museum of Natural History:  https://www.blackburnlab.org/ 
Dr. Jaimi Gray, Florida Museum of Natural History:  https://www.blackburnlab.org/
Dr. Ed Stanley, Florida Museum of Natural History:  www.EdwardStanley.org, www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/digital-lab  

Dr. Kory Evans, Rice University: https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/kory-evans
Dr. Todd Green, New York Institute of Technology: https://www.nyit.edu/bio/tgreen09
Dr. Hillary Maddin, Carleton University: https://earthsci.carleton.ca/people/faculty-members/hillary-maddin
Dr. Al Savitzky, Utah State University: https://biology.usu.edu/research/lab_sites/savitzky-lab/savitzky_lab
Dr. Stephanie Smith, Field Museum of Natural History: https://www.stephaniemariesmith.com/
Dr. Katie Stanchak, University of Washington: https://www.katiestanchak.com/

EDUCATOR EXPECTATIONS:

• Develop a learning activity based on the oVert project addressing at least one of the following topics: anatomy, function, evolution, paleontology;
• Implement the oVert learning activity you develop in your classroom/s by the end of the 2022 spring semester;
• Agree to administer a brief survey to your students after implementation;
• Submit a brief report summarizing the implementation of your oVert learning activity; and
• Provide feedback to the oVert project team. 

OVERT EDUCATORS:

Acceptance to the Summer Science Institute: 3D Vertebrates, From Museum Shelves to Classrooms is a competitive application process. We are looking for phenomenal secondary teachers who are leaders in the classroom, particularly with the use of innovative pedagogical approaches and technologies. We welcome applicants from across the United States and Canada. Participants will receive a stipend depending on level of participation throughout the program and paid by semester.

TO APPLY:

Interested educators are invited to apply using the on-line application portal. You can return to the on-line application and continue working from the same computer. However, we suggest you draft your personal statements in word processing software and paste them into the text boxes. This will allow you ample time to compose complete responses and edit as necessary.

Applications will be reviewed, and invitations extended on a rolling basis. Interested educators are encouraged to submit their application by May 15.

 
For questions, please contact Dr. Julie Bokor at julie@cpet.ufl.edu or 352.392.2310.

More information can also be found at:  http://bit.ly/overt2021 and https://www.cpet.ufl.edu

Scientist Bios

Dr. David Blackburn, University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History:  https://www.blackburnlab.org/ 

Dr. David Blackburn is the Associate Curator of Herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, overseeing research and curation of amphibians and reptiles. Dave and his lab ask questions related to diversity and evolution, especially in frogs. They have conducted field research in sub-Saharan Africa for nearly 20 years, resulting in discoveries of natural history and evolution. To date, Dave has described 27 new species of frogs, mostly from Africa. His work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, National Geographic, the magazine Science, and the recent book The Lost Species. In addition to their research, Dave and his lab have worked with museums and educators to make museum specimens and their research broadly accessible to students and the public.

Dr. Ed Stanley, University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History:  www.EdwardStanley.org, www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/digital-lab  

Dr. Ed Stanley is an evolutionary biologist and oversees the Florida Museum’s 3D lab, where he helps coordinate digitization efforts using CT, 3D printers, blue light scanners and Virtual Reality systems. His research interests focus on lizards, and he is particularly interested in armor variation in African girdled lizards and Cretaceous lizards preserved in Myanmar amber. His work in the 3D lab and oVert incorporates a wide variety of animal and plant systems and he works closely with the other researchers to ensure this data is available to as many people as possible. Ed teaches a CT-based graduate class at the University of Florida each year and has developed imaging workshops and research programs for the University of Florida, American Museum of Natural History, and the California Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Jaimi Gray, University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History:  https://www.blackburnlab.org/

Dr. Jaimi Gray is an Australian Postdoctoral Researcher working on the oVert project at the Florida Museum of Natural History, digitizing vertebrate diversity in natural history collections. She is an evolutionary biologist who specializes in digitizing 3D anatomy of all animals, but has a particular fondness for reptiles. She completed her PhD research in South Australia on dragon lizard skull evolution in 2019. Since then, she has conducted postdoctoral work on vertebrates (snakes) and invertebrates (harvestmen), in New Zealand and Oklahoma. Throughout her journey, she has always worked on outreach projects and with educators to broaden the reach and understanding of scientific research and resources beyond the scientific community.

Dr. Kory Evans, Rice University: https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/kory-evans

Dr. Kory Evans is an Assistant Professor at Rice University where he studies the evolution of fishes. The Evans lab focuses on how different aspects of morphology have changed over the long evolutionary history of fishes. Kory has worked in the Peruvian Amazon for nearly ten years and has described two new species of fish from this region. His work has been featured in publications like Newsweek, CNN, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Evans Lab works closely with museums to make their research accessible to the general public.

Dr. Todd Green, New York Institute of Technology: https://www.nyit.edu/bio/tgreen09

Dr. Todd Green is a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. Todd studies functional and comparative anatomy of archosaurs, a group that includes birds, non-avian dinosaurs, crocodilians, and pterosaurs. His most recent work aims to understand development and function the bizarre cranial casques of modern cassowaries through the use of micro-CT imaging, shape analysis, and gross dissection. Todd seeks to decipher how the headgear of these flightless Australian birds can be used as analogs for interpreting the biological roles of horns, crests, and frills of extinct dinosaurs. Aside from his research, Todd has worked as an educator for public programs at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a coordinator for numerous K–12 STEM events, and a specimen preparator for educational displays.

Dr. Hillary Maddin, Carleton University: https://earthsci.carleton.ca/people/faculty-members/hillary-maddin

Dr. Hillary Maddin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Hillary and her team's research aims to understand the origin and evolution of animal diversity over large time scales. Her team takes a broadly comparative approach, combining the fields of paleontology and developmental biology, using primarily extinct and living amphibians as models. Hillary runs annual field expeditions to the Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia, including the UNESCO World Heritage site of Joggins. There, Hillary’s team has made several discoveries including new species that are among the oldest relatives of mammals and reptiles. The lab also maintains colonies of salamanders and frogs, including green fluorescent varieties, to better study development as a source of evolutionary change. Hillary and her team's research has appeared in over 40 scientific publications, and numerous national and international media outlets. 

Dr. Al Savitzky, Utah State University: https://biology.usu.edu/research/lab_sites/savitzky-lab/savitzky_lab

Dr. Alan H. Savitzky is a Professor of Biology at Utah State University, to which he moved in 2011 after 29 years at Old Dominion University. He has served as President of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) and the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH), and is presently Treasurer of the World Congress of Herpetology. Al’s research focuses on the integrative biology of snakes, with a particular interest in the evolution of novel anatomical features associated with feeding and defense. For over two decades he has been working with Japanese colleagues and others to unravel the complex chemical defensive system of a lineage of Asian snakes that store toxins from toads and firefly larvae consumed as prey and later deploy those toxins for their own defense. Al’s field studies have taken him to several countries in East Asia and Latin America. He also directed an ecological study of a state-endangered rattlesnake in Virginia for 19 years before moving to Utah. He is a co-author, with five colleagues, of the textbook Herpetology.

Dr. Stephanie Smith, Field Museum of Natural History: https://www.stephaniemariesmith.com/

Dr Stephanie Smith is the Women in Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the Field Museum of Natural History, researching the evolution of bone shape and function in small mammals. She is especially interested in how tiny body size affects the way bones function, and the way that bone structure can give hints into how animals use their bodies during life. Her recent work has focused on morphology and function of the weird and beautiful backbone of the Hero Shrew, and she has also begun investigating the relationship between body size and bone function in cloud forest rodents from the Philippines. Her work has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine and National Geographic, and she makes frequent appearances in online educational content produced by the Field Museum. She loves museum collections and wants everyone to know how much there is to be learned from them!

Dr. Katie Stanchak, University of Washington: https://www.katiestanchak.com/

Dr. Katie Stanchak is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington. Her scientific interests are at the intersection of evolutionary novelty and animal locomotion, and she is especially interested in anatomical "mysteries" -- the enigmatic anatomical structures found throughout nature with unknown functions and evolutionary histories. Katie's current and recent projects include the study of a novel skeletal element in bat feet and a set of unique features in the bird spinal cord. Prior to her career as an organismal biologist, Katie spent a few years working as a mechanical engineer, and she particularly enjoys working with interdisciplinary groups of scientists to solve enduring problems in biology. 

Summer Science Short Courses

Coastal and Environmental Engineering:  July 17, 2020; Astronomy:  July 24, 2020

The 2020 Summer Science Shorts are one-day immersion courses in different focus areas. On Friday, July 17, explore coastal and environmental engineering to consider the impact of severe weather events on our fragile coastlines. Friday, July 24 will explore the skies with an in-depth look at astronomy. Educators can chose to attend one or both. Stipends, support, and additional resources are available for educators to develop and  implement learning modules to translate the UF experience back to the classroom.

To apply:

Apply online!

You can returnto the application and continue working from the same computer. However, we suggest you compose your personal statements in word processing software and paste them into the text boxes. This will allow you ample time to compose complete responses and edit as necessary.
 
Program Description: Informal and formal educators from all grade levels are invited to join us on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville for one-day summer short courses. These immersive experiences will place participants side-by-side with UF faculty and graduate researchers as we explore  our shifting coastlines (Friday, July 17, 2020) and the universe (Friday, July 24, 2020).
 
The program will take place on the University of Florida campus, Gainesville on Friday, July 17 and July 24, 2020. Educators can select to attend one or both Summer Shorts!
Lead instructors are from the Department of Astronomy, Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, and UF CPET.
There is no registration fee. Participants selected to attend are responsible for their own travel to and from Gainesville and meals other than those provided by the program.
 
Acceptance to the Summer Science Institute: Summer Shorts! is a competitive application process. We are looking for phenomenal educators who are leaders in the classroom, particularly with the use of innovative pedagogical approaches and technologies. Participants are eligible to receive a stipend upon successful completion of all program components including the summer workshop, submission of a complete learning module, and implementation report. 
 
Educators selected to participate are expected to:

• Develop a learning activity based on the Summer Shorts! project addressing at least one of the following topics: astronomy or coastal engineering (dependent on the day/days you attend);
• Implement the Summer Shorts! learning activity you develop in your classroom/s by the end of the 2020 spring semester;
• Agree to administer a brief survey to your students after implementation;
• Submit a brief report summarizing the implementation of your Summer Shorts! learning activity; and
• Provide feedback to the Summer Shorts! project team. 

Applications will be reviewed and invitations extended on a rolling basis. Interested educators are encouraged to submit their application by April 15.
 
For questions, please contact Dr. Julie Bokor at julie@cpet.ufl.edu or 352.392.2310. 

3D Vertebrates, From Museum Shelves to Classrooms 

A week-long professional development program for secondary science teachers held at the University of Florida, June 17 – 21, 2019.

Funding provided by grant # DBI-1701714 from the National Science Foundation.

Program Description 

The biology of vertebrate animals provides opportunities to students to learn about anatomy, function, and evolution. Participants in this workshop will gain a hands-on introduction to vertebrate diversity through lectures, discussion with scientists and students, and visits to the scientific collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History to see rare specimens of both living and extinct species. While scientists visiting natural history museums around the world have access to these unique specimens to understand vertebrate biology, this is a resource that students and the public rarely see or even know about. Using three-dimensional imaging as part of the openVertebrate project (or oVert) funded by the US National Science Foundation (https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/overt/), we are creating digital specimens that can be viewed in the classroom, digitally dissected, 3D-printed, and more. Participants in this program will learn about working with these resources and develop teaching modules that convey key concepts in anatomy, function, and evolution.

Following a general introduction to vertebrate diversity, participants will learn how scientists and students at UF investigate anatomy, function, and evolution using digital three-dimensional anatomical data. During the week, brief presentations from and lunch time discussions with research faculty and graduate students highlight the diversity of studies at the museum and UF as well as provide context to develop classroom lessons. Working in small groups with graduate and faculty mentors, participants will select a vertebrate species from the museum collection and generate an open-access 3D model based on data from either CT-scanning or photogrammetry. Throughout the workshop, participants and scientists will work together to brainstorm ideas for translating the oVert project into classroom materials and fully developed learning activities for implementation during the 2019/2020 school year. Emphasis will be placed on translating principles in functional anatomy and evolution into effective teaching materials, including incorporating both 3D-printed and digital 3D objects. The workshop will conclude with presentations by participants on the teaching materials they developed during the course of the week.

Logistics

The program will take place on the University of Florida campus, Gainesville from Monday, June 17 to Friday, June 21. Lead instructors: Dr. David Blackburn, Dr. Catherine Early, and Dr. Edward Stanley.
On-campus housing, breakfast, and lunch are provided.
There is no registration fee. Participants selected to attend are responsible for their own travel to and from Gainesville, and meals other than those provided by the program.

Teacher Expectations

Acceptance to the Summer Science Institute: 3D Vertebrates, From Museum Shelves to Classrooms is a competitive application process. We are looking for phenomenal secondary teachers who are leaders in the classroom, particularly with the use of innovative pedagogical approaches and technologies. Participants will receive a $500 stipend upon successful completion of the workshop as well as access to materials for the classroom.

Educators selected to participate are expected to:

• Develop a learning activity based on the oVert project addressing at least one of the following topics for vertebrate animals: anatomy, function, or evolution;
• Implement the oVert learning activity that you develop in your classroom/s by the end of the 2020 spring semester;
• Agree to administer a brief survey to your students after implementation;
• Submit a brief report summarizing the implementation of your oVert learning activity; and
• Provide feedback to the oVert project team.

Please visit our curriculum section to see the learning activities our 2019 cohort created!

Coming soon!

Coming soon!