Read about actionable science here: Greater impacts through actionable science
Actionable science student opportunities at Wisconsin Sea Grant
Outreach staff at Wisconsin Sea Grant regularly participate in events that involve sharing the results and benefits of Sea Grant-supported research with the community.
We offer travel funding to Sea Grant- and Water Resources Institute-supported graduate students from around Wisconsin who want to participate in any of the following Sea Grant outreach events. Students will get the opportunity to work with and learn from our outreach staff by experiencing firsthand how Wisconsin Sea Grant approaches outreach. You will also get the chance to interact with different audiences and learn to communicate your work in ways that are accessible to them.
Please contact Jen Hauxwell at jennifer.hauxwell@aqua.wisc.edu if you are interested in participating in any of our outreach events or want details on available funding.
Actionable science student opportunities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Universities provide a multitude of options for students to participate in programs, events or activities related to actionable science and community engagement. If interested in improving your ability to communicate with various audiences and begin to engage stakeholders in your research, consider involvement with one or more of these programs. Here are some of the opportunities for students at UW-Madison:
1) The Wisconsin Idea STEM Fellows: Portal to the public at the University of Wisconsin- Madison
Description: “Portal to the Public” is a new NSF-supported program to help researchers and STEM professionals share science with the public to promote appreciation and understanding of current science research. Portal to the Public focuses on enhancing face-to-face interactions between you and a few people rather than emphasizing mass communications.
Requirements: Training involves a total of 10 hours over three sessions. Following the training, fellows will develop their stations and commit to three public programming events. Fellows will engage the public through Exploration Stations or public presentations at events such as UW Science Expeditions, Wisconsin Science Festival, Engineering Expo, Science Cafe, Nerd Nite and more. Through their training, fellows will develop their stations and presentations with the help of the training team.
2) The Delta Program
Mission: The Delta Program promotes the development of a future national faculty in the natural and social sciences, engineering, and mathematics that is committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of their professional careers.
The Delta Internship Program: The Delta Internship Program provides graduate students and postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to develop teaching and learning skills in real-world situations. Each semester, the Delta Program supports a new cohort of interns who partner with faculty and staff to improve teaching practices and learning environments through innovative teaching-as-research projects.
The Delta Certificate Program: The Delta Certificate in Research, Teaching, and Learning confers recognition of a student’s achievement in the following areas: Experience in teaching, broadly defined to include the college classroom and beyond (i.e. informal educational settings); awareness of how to promote successful learning with diverse participants; knowledge of foundational research and scholarship on teaching and learning; demonstrated application of research skills to the improvement of participant learning; engaged membership in a learning community that is focused on teaching and learning; development of a reflective teaching and learning portfolio.
Events: Events include the monthly roundtable forum, annual workshops and Delta discussions: Brownbag Buzz, among others.
3) Science Outreach on Campus
Science Alliance: The University of Wisconsin-Madison Science Alliance brings together researchers, outreachers, and volunteers who organize public science outreach events and programs here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and throughout Wisconsin.
4) WISCIENCE: Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement
Description: What used to be the Institute for Biology Education is now in the process of becoming WISCIENCE. The new mission extends across the natural sciences and expands responsibility for facilitating cross-campus collaboration and coordination in the areas of science outreach and support for groups underrepresented in science.
Adult Role Models in Science (ARMS): The Adult Role Models in Science (ARMS) program is founded on the basic idea that the best way to transform science education for children is to help adults—from teachers to undergraduates to researchers to parents—become and see themselves as competent scientific role models. Each trained role model can mentor many children, and that’s how ARMS is able to reach hundreds of kids each year.
5) The Network: Wisconsin Collaborative Education Network
Mission: We make connections that matter by facilitating relationships among researchers, leaders, educators, and community members to collaboratively innovate, advance and transform education through research, policy development, classroom practice, and community engagement.
Network Fellows: Through The Network Fellows Program, we connect skilled graduate students with education organizations across the State of Wisconsin to strengthen the UW-Madison connection with the broader community. These collaborations work across the areas of research, policy, and practice to inform one another and lead to transformative change in the field of education.
6) Morgridge Center for Public Service
Description: The Morgridge Center for Public Service connects University of Wisconsin-Madison students and faculty to local and global communities to build partnerships and solve critical issues through service and learning.
Resources for graduate students: The goal of the Morgridge Center for Public Service is to support any graduate student who wants to engage in community-based learning, teaching or research. They’ll connect you with the community and provide you with classes and resources to help your community-engaged scholarship flourish. http://morgridge.wisc.edu/students-graduate; http://morgridge.wisc.edu/students-graduate-other-opportunities
Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award: The Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award is given to a graduate student who has engaged with the community through service learning, engaged teaching, or leading or participating in community based research. The Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Graduate Student Award recipient will receive a $400 stipend and will be honored during the spring semester.
7) Morgridge Institute for Research
Discovery outreach programs: Discovery Outreach Programs offer literally hundreds of opportunities annually for people to experience the vibrancy of UW-Madison science. Through a partnership with the Morgridge Institute and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), these programs range from hands-on programs for school children to a four-day statewide science festival that showcases UW-Madison people and ideas. For a complete list of opportunities, please visit our featured program section below. https://morgridge.org/outreach/, https://morgridge.org/events/
Other events: Science Cafés: Community conversations with a panel of experts, Saturday Science at Discovery, DIY Science, and the Wisconsin Science Festival
8) UW-Madison Science Outreach: Wednesday Nite @ The Lab
Description: Experience science as exploring the unknown every week at Wednesday Nite @ the Lab. Discover the latest from UW-Madison researchers as they describe their investigations and inventions that are changing how we look at life and how we lead our lives. Join the discussion as learners of all ages find out more and share their ideas, questions and insights.
Actionable science student opportunities at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Graduate students at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences who are interested in participating in outreach activities may contact Outreach Program Manager Liz Sutton at emsutton@uwm.edu for information on upcoming events.
Some examples of outreach events are:
- The Lake Sturgeon Bowl, an academic tournament for high school students coordinated by the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences. Graduate students can get involved by mentoring students, volunteering at the event, or by acting as officials or judges.
- Graduate students can help organize booths and exhibits at science museums, elementary and middle schools.
- Graduate students are sometimes invited to speak to community groups on a variety of topics.
- There is potential for graduate students to assist in the development and teaching of an outreach curriculum at some school districts.
Note: Similar pages for other Wisconsin Universities and Colleges are being developed.
