Our project team has been fortunate to partner with a number of organizations. These partnerships have lead to funded initiatives that have impacted over 1000 teachers and their students over the previous ten years. Our R&D team has received close to $20,000,000 in funding from foundations, federal support, and other donors over the past 10 years. Our successful proposals can be downloaded below (the ones we are allowed to share.
Converge Science Theater: Where Art and Science Intersect
Dates: Expected Nov 1st, 2018
Award Number: forthcoming
National Science Foundation
Amount:$300,000
Mike Barnett (C0-Principal Investigator)
Meghan Hill (Principal Investigator, Watertown Childrens’ Theatre)
Belle Liang (Co-Principal Investigator)
Helen Zhang (Co-Principal Investigator)
In this Exploratory and Pilot proposal we are bringing together a diverse set of partners that include the Watertown Children’s Theatre (WCT), science educators, and positive youth development experts from Boston College to design and develop the Converge Theatre Project for middle school-aged youth. Converge Theatre will engage youth in expressing their beliefs, passions, and their own identities in regards to STEM by examining how the intersection of skills and practices used in both domains (science and theatre) can enable them to development science-focused identities. Middle school youth will be engaged in a three-week summer program where they will be led by science teachers, playwrights, and high school students to develop ten-minute plays around a specific scientific theme with a social and environmental justice focus (i.e. heavy metals in water, air quality). The middle school-aged youth will perform their ten-minute plays at the end of the summer program. Following this showcase event, they will revise their plays throughout the academic year in preparation for a youth science festival, where their plays will be performed by professional adult actors as a part of the Cambridge Science Festival taking place in the spring.
Contact Info: meghanhill.wct@mosesianarts.org
Additional Information and Links
- NSF Award Summary
- Converge Theater Plays
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching Computational Environmental Science
Dates: Expected Nov 1st, 2018
National Science Foundation,
Award Number: forthcoming
Amount: $1,496,000
Mike Barnett (Principal Investigator)
Ludovico Cademartiri (Co-Principal Investigator)
Ben Shapiro (Co-Principal Investigator)
David Blustein (Co-Principal Investigator)
In this project we will engage high school aged youth in a three-year pathway framework that will engage the youth in conducting authentic scientific research. The project will involve emerging agricultural technologies like transparent soil (a recent discovery which is a hydrogel that behaves like soil), a near-peer and college-focused mentoring model, and interaction with scientists. The youth will learn to build and code Raspberry Pis (small and affordable computers that students can use to learn programming) to share their data with agronomists and plant scientists.
Contact Info: barnetge@bc.edu
Additional Information and Links
Change Makers: Urban Youth Food Justice Ambassadors
Dates: August 2017 – August 2020
Award Number:1713460
National Science Foundation
Amount:$1,998,290.00
Mike Barnett (Principal Investigator)
Belle Liang (Co-Principal Investigator)
David Blustein (Co-Principal Investigator)
Most urban youth (and adults) have little knowledge of where their food comes from and have limited opportunities to learn how to grow produce as well as develop related skills that can lead to a career in a STEM field. This is particularly disconcerting as 55% of African Americans live inside central cities (90% in metropolitan areas) and over half of all Latino/as live in central cities. This project entails the recruitment of low-income youth from populations underrepresented in science into a program where social justice concerns (food justice, food security) are illuminated, analyzed, and acted upon through the development of STEM knowledge and skills. Specifically, this project recognizes the potential for urban youth to become deeply knowledgeable citizens who can mobilize their STEM knowledge and skills to resolve social injustices such as food deserts. If successful, this project will provide a model that should be transferable to similar contexts to help broaden participation in STEM.
Contact Info: barnetge@bc.edu
Additional Information and Links
Seeding the Future of STEM researchers through emerging agricultural technologies
Dates: March 2018 – February 2021
National Science Foundation,
Award Number: 1759152
Amount: $1,198,658
Mike Barnett (Principal Investigator)
Ludovico Cademartiri (Co-Principal Investigator)
David Blustein (Co-Principal Investigator)
Helen Zhang (Senior Researcher)
In this project we will engage high school aged youth in a three-year pathway framework that will engage the youth in conducting authentic scientific research. The project will involve emerging agricultural technologies like transparent soil (a recent discovery which is a hydrogel that behaves like soil), a near-peer and college-focused mentoring model, and interaction with scientists. The youth will learn to build and code Raspberry Pis (small and affordable computers that students can use to learn programming) to share their data with agronomists and plant scientists.
Contact Info: barnetge@bc.edu
Additional Information and Links
Change Makers: Urban Youth Food Justice Ambassadors
Dates: August 2017 – August 2020
Award Number:1713460
National Science Foundation
Amount:$1,998,290.00
Mike Barnett (Principal Investigator)
Belle Liang (Co-Principal Investigator)
David Blustein (Co-Principal Investigator)
Most urban youth (and adults) have little knowledge of where their food comes from and have limited opportunities to learn how to grow produce as well as develop related skills that can lead to a career in a STEM field. This is particularly disconcerting as 55% of African Americans live inside central cities (90% in metropolitan areas) and over half of all Latino/as live in central cities. This project entails the recruitment of low-income youth from populations underrepresented in science into a program where social justice concerns (food justice, food security) are illuminated, analyzed, and acted upon through the development of STEM knowledge and skills. Specifically, this project recognizes the potential for urban youth to become deeply knowledgeable citizens who can mobilize their STEM knowledge and skills to resolve social injustices such as food deserts. If successful, this project will provide a model that should be transferable to similar contexts to help broaden participation in STEM.
Contact Info: barnetge@bc.edu
Additional Information and Links
Seeding the Future of STEM researchers through emerging agricultural technologies
Dates: March 2018 – February 2021
National Science Foundation,
Award Number: 1759152
Amount: $1,198,658
Mike Barnett (Principal Investigator)
Ludovico Cademartiri (Co-Principal Investigator)
David Blustein (Co-Principal Investigator)
Helen Zhang (Senior Researcher)
In this project we will engage high school aged youth in a three-year pathway framework that will engage the youth in conducting authentic scientific research. The project will involve emerging agricultural technologies like transparent soil (a recent discovery which is a hydrogel that behaves like soil), a near-peer and college-focused mentoring model, and interaction with scientists. The youth will learn to build and code Raspberry Pis (small and affordable computers that students can use to learn programming) to share their data with agronomists and plant scientists.
Contact Info: barnetge@bc.edu
Additional Information and Links