Phenology Investigations in Minnesota Schools (PIMS)

Rob Blair is an ornithologist, conservation biologist, urban ecologist, wildlife biologist, citizen scientist, and environmental educator. He and his students study how human-dominated landscapes affect native birds including hornbills in the agricultural landscapes of Thailand, turkeys in suburban Saint Paul, and ovenbirds in northern Wisconsin. Currently, he is focusing on bird-building collisions in downtown Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Rob has devoted his career to helping educators use the outdoors in their science teaching. He developed the Minnesota Master Naturalist program, which trains adults to volunteer at nature centers, parks, and refuges. He has helped develop the Driven to Discover citizen science outreach programs for both informal and formal educators.

Lisa Curtis taught middle school life and earth science for 20 years, and loved taking her students outside to investigate nature! She also advised teacher candidates at Bradley University in Peoria, IL. Organizing ecology programs for teachers and their students to instill a love and appreciation for the environment is Lisa's current focus. In addition to PIMS, she has been the program coordinator for Pollinators in the Science Classroom; Driven to Discover: Citizen Science; Pollinator Ambassadors; Outdoor Investigations in the STEM Classroom; Migratory & Urban Bird Institute; North American Monarch Institute; and Advanced Schoolyard Ecology Explorations.

Jennifer Schultz has worked with middle school and high school students in both formal and informal settings as a classroom teacher and as an outreach coordinator for Minnesota Zoo afterschool programming. She also engaged community scientist volunteers in emerald ash borer detection with Wasp Watchers through the University of Minnesota’s Entomology department. She has worked on other U of MN science teacher professional development workshops focused on birds and pollinators. Through PIMS, she is excited to expose learners of all backgrounds and ages to the beauty and intricacies of nature while teaching valuable critical thinking skills.

Abbie Anderson's (she/they) career follows their deep interests in ecology, place-based learning, and art. Their graduate studies in conservation biology at the University of Minnesota examined data on bird-building collisions collected by Audubon Minnesota volunteers. As a staff person at the U, they helped develop Season Watch, an educational website about Minnesota phenology; trained over 100 volunteers to use Nature's Notebook; and led activities for professional development workshops for teachers, such as Driven to Discover and Migratory and Urban Bird Institute. As an artist-phenologist, they created Open Phenology and collaborate in Backyard Phenology. Currently, Abbie coordinates community events at Lakewood, the large, park-like garden cemetery and arboretum located near the chain of lakes in south Minneapolis.

Jolanda Dranchak is a curriculum integration specialist at an arts middle school. She believes that connecting life science with art allows students (and teachers) to engage with flora and fauna more intimately and see their beauty in a very different way.

She is a proud pollinator enthusiast and graduate of the Driven to Discover Citizen Science: Pollinators program. As an outcome of this program, not only did she coordinate the building of a school garden to engage life science students in outdoor learning, but she also has been converting her own backyard into a pollinator-friendly prairie.

Randy Hedlund is a high school science teacher at South High School in Minneapolis. He is an instructor for the University of Minnesota’s Physics by Inquiry as part of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and also teaches biology and general physics. Randy is fascinated by matter and energy interactions with a particular interest in integrating environmental concepts into the physics curriculum to broaden scope and make concepts more relevant to students. He promotes science and sustainability by involvement in Quarknet, We Share Solar, Edible Boulevard Gardens, South High Learning Group, and National Sustainability Academic Research Experiences for Teachers. Randy enjoyed participating in several versions of UMN Driven to Discover programs.

Josh Leonard is the Education Director at Belwin where he leads outdoor science programming for 10,000 students in Saint Paul Public Schools annually. Josh utilizes culturally responsive teaching to connect students and teachers to nature as a science classroom. Prior to working at Belwin, Josh taught AP environmental science and biology at Como High School. Josh guided in the BWCAW, taught Spanish at a Waldorf School, and biology in Costa Rica. Josh has also served the National Environmental Education Advisory Council, and the Advisory Board for the Bell Museum. Josh was named Minnesota’s Environmental Educator of the year, MN’s science teacher of the year and received the Alumni Service Award by the University of Minnesota “For increasing access to nature and removing barriers for communities of color.” Josh is a self-proclaimed nature nerd for life and marks the success of each season by how many days he can be out in the woods with his wife and kids.

Charlie Mitchell (she/they) is the phenology coordinator for KAXE radio in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Through her work, Charlie creates KAXE's Season Watch Newsletter, writes nature-related web stories, and coordinates with K-12 schools throughout the state as part of KAXE's Phenology in the Classroom program. Participating classes get outside each week to make observations about seasonal changes: they then record an audio report, which is aired on Tuesday morning for KAXE's staff phenologist, John Latimer, to provide his insights and feedback.

With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, aquatic invertebrates, or the short-tailed shrew (did you know they can echolocate?). Outside of work, she enjoys floating down the St. Croix River, admiring wildlife, and annoying hiking companions by stopping every three feet to get a closer look at a new plant. Her favorite month is May.