Ed Yoo Report (2023)
Section 1: Summary: Fostering educational partnerships with New England regional organizations
With the support of the Cooke Fund, I was able to (1) Contribute macro photography of local flora/fauna of native and invasive species in a restored meadow at Holly Hill Farm (HHF), Cohasset, MA, (2) establish / support educational partnership with Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research (CSCR) , and (3) establish a new Codman Academy scuba diving program at Dorchester YMCA (Codman Try Scuba) through East Coast Divers (ECD).
The bulk of my activity this summer was spending a number of early mornings at Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset, MA in the "Long Field". This is a restored meadow where HHF staff and volunteers are actively removing invasive species (solarization and manual labor) and planting various native species. I then took time taking high quality macro photographs of the various insects and plants which were then uploaded and documented in an HHF project under iNaturalist.org. On two of these trips to Cohasset, I also visited Jack Buckley at CSCR and observed his summer programming where his high school students conducted independent research projects studying ocean water quality and ocean currents. I then had several followup meetings to discuss school year fieldwork for AP Environmental Science as well as possibilities of a long term partnership with CSCR and Codman Academy for summer research opportunities.
I also spent 4 weekends teaching Open Water scuba certification pool classes through ECD as an assistant instructor. I gained valuable experience teaching students the introductory skills needed to pass the Open Water scuba certification dives by taking students who have never used scuba equipment to being ready to demonstrate those skills in the ocean later this summer. This experience as well as setting up several 3-way meetings between Dorchester YMCA, Codman Academy, and ECD has now culminated in the first Try Scuba course for Codman Academy this fall (Oct 21, 2023).
In the short term, my work at HHF provides local expertise and familiarity with local species (both native and invasive) that can be found there to enhance Codman Academy fieldwork and directly benefits a local resource through iNaturalist in gathering high quality images for science teachers to use. Long term, learning how to use iNaturalist as a community science collaborative tool has been very interesting in potential projects at Codman Academy for other fieldwork and our Microforest. My visit and meetings with CSCR have an immediate impact on high quality fieldwork for AP environmental science. Long term benefit is that we are now working on a NOAA grant to support a multi year collaboration to create a summer enrichment program studying ocean acidification. The Codman Try Scuba program is an inaugural introductory scuba course Oct 21, 2023 for Codman Academy that will directly benefit 12 students. The long term benefit is that I now have an established professional partnership between East Coast Divers and Dorchester YMCA, which will open up future aquatics programs for Codman Academy and the larger Dorchester YMCA community for years to come.
Farmer Jon Belber, Bruce Frost (Director of Education), and Nick Lee collaborating on the upcoming year fieldwork between Codman and Holly Hill Farm
Jack Buckley checking in with his students about plankton tow.
Jack Buckley (CCSCR) and Nick Lee (Codman Academy) discussing potential fieldwork studies for marsh / estuary species
Section 3: Please answer the following questions based on your experience:
How have your knowledge, skills, and capabilities grown?
My work at Holly Hill Farm has given me deeper insight into the species (both native and invasive) that live in a restored New England Meadow as well as appreciation in the labor intensive practices to restore land to a more natural state. Both my ability to spot organisms and identify them has improved which in turn yielded a personal growth as a nature photographer. I now understand how to manage an iNaturalist project page and hope to include that to document our own Codman Microforest.
My work at CCSCR has been incredibly rewarding by having the opportunity to collaborate with the CCSCR director, Jack Buckely, who is enthusiastic about science education. Learning what his facility offers and then co-writing a NOAA grant to study ocean acidification has grown my abilities to understand the grant writing process.
While I have been scuba diving for many years, stepping up into the role as an assistant instructor and leading small groups of divers in the pool to teach and evaluate critical diving skills has been really been a rewarding experience. It is one thing to know how to dive and it is far different to support a brand new diver unique skills that can push students outside their comfort zone. Developing empathy, patience, and teaching skills to transfer what I know so that my dive students can become divers has been an incredible development in my own journey as a scuba diver and as an educator.
As a result, in what ways will your instructional (or other) practice change?
My HHF work has enhanced my ability to be a strong co-teacher for outdoor fieldwork to help identify plant and insect species and utilizing iNaturalist to setup project for community science work for the greater community as well as internal student projects run by our science teachers in our Microforest.
My work with ECD and Dorchester YMCA has established the first Try Scuba class at the Dorchester YMCA for Codman Academy and I will followup with additional programming for the Middle School in the spring of 2024. The investment in time and resources to setup this initial Try Scuba class in October is the first of what will become a series of scuba diving classes offered to the Dorchester.
In collaboration with Nick Lee and Jack Buckley (Director of CCSCR), we are establishing the foundation of a partnership to begin offering both fieldwork (school year) and summer marine science experiences for our students.
What is the greatest personal accomplishment of your fellowship?
On a personal level, I feel that my ability to take high magnification macro photography has grown tremendously. Some of my best nature photography work was done this summer with support of Cooke Fellowship and am incredibly proud of.
How will your experience positively impact student learning in new ways?
My greatest accomplishment is investing time this summer and establishing a relationship with like minded educators who are committed to supporting my students at Holly Hill Farm and Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research. I feel that these new roots we have established together will yield higher quality fieldwork across multiple grade levels for many years to come.
I am also deeply excited by the opportunity for my students to experience scuba diving for the first time and eventually begin supporting students to become officially certified open water divers one day.
What are your plans to work collaboratively with colleagues?
I am currently collaborating with Nick Lee (AP Env Sci) and Sasha Fraser (Harvard Graduate School of Education Teaching Fellow) in working with both HHF and CCSCR off campus fieldwork. In addition, I am continuing our existing partnership in having HHF teach lessons at Codman in our Grades 3-8 science classes to bring farm education into our classrooms.
I am collaborating with Danielle Durham (Director of Enrichment) and Chib Belonwu (Wellness Director) for our first Try Scuba Class at the Dorchester YMCA for our high school students in the fall and then will plan a followup session in the spring for middle school students.
Are there issues or challenges in your school, community or the world that you feel better prepared to address with your students?
Access to recreational aquatics is an issue that has troubling history of racism for the community I serve in Dorchester. Swimming is a fundamental skill that opens up access to green spaces. More specifically, scuba diving is a core experience that drives the passion for students to enter marine biology. However, access to both scuba diving and marine biology have resulted in these two endeavors to have very little diversity. Although my Cooke Fellowship was not focused primarily on scuba diving, I feel that I now have the partnerships with ECD and Dorchester YMCA to address access and potentially increase the diversity within the marine biology and scuba diving communities in Boston.
How would you describe to a friend the most fundamental ways in which your fellowship has changed your personal and/or professional perspective?
My experience has affirmed that it is absolutely worthwhile to look for passionate experts and educators working at local organizations right in our "backyard". These are individuals who are excited and deeply committed to partnering with me in providing amazing experiences for my students at Codman Academy. I have in the past looked to find resources far away but have realized that developing long term relationships with local organizations is a highly rewarding endeavor. This has held true with Holly Hill Farm by meeting one of their local experts (Jackson Frost) and joining their existing projects and now exploring wonderful possibilities through the Cohasset Center for Coastal Research with Jack Buckley.
