Contact Us
Institutional Communications
Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu
Published July 27, 2023
Exploring ideas about lifelong learning within the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) system is the topic of a Harlow Summer Seminar Thursday, Aug. 3, at the University of Wyoming-NPS Research Station. The facility is located at the AMK Ranch in Grand Teton National Park.
Ana Houseal, a UW Science and Math Teaching Center associate professor and science outreach educator, will present “America’s largest classroom -- what we learn from our National Parks.” The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a barbecue, followed by the 6:30 p.m. seminar. The events are free and open to the public, although a $10 donation is suggested.
Formerly called the AMK Ranch Talk Series, the Harlow Summer Seminar Series is named after retired UW Department of Zoology and Physiology Professor Hank Harlow, who helped make the UW-NPS Research Station a significant center for research and community outreach. Harlow began the popular weekly public seminars during the summer months.
Houseal, in her Harlow talk, says that, from the Golden Gate National Parks, Grand Tetons and the Great Smokies to Monticello, Civil War battlefields and Japanese internment camps, students of all ages are learning firsthand -- in motivating and authentic ways -- about climate change, U.S. history, biodiversity and cultural diversity. She adds that virtual field trips to the Grand Canyon, Alaska’s Katmai National Park and more than 40 NPS units became even more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These immersive, place-based experiences also lead learners to reconsider their own goals and abilities,” Houseal says. “Since educating the whole person should include experiential learning in local communities, states and regions, our national park system sites represent our nation’s most significant landscapes, ecosystems and historical and cultural sites.”
In her discussion, Houseal will share case studies and research findings from the book she co-wrote -- “America’s Largest Classroom: What We Learn from Our National Parks” -- that was released at the beginning of the pandemic.
Houseal and her team have facilitated responsive K-12 science teacher professional development throughout Wyoming since 2012, focusing on the implementation of the new science standards that use place-based phenomena and instructional storylines. Her work focuses on science education in formal (public schools) and nonformal (national park) settings.
The UW-NPS Research Station provides a base for university faculty members and government scientists from around the world to conduct research in the diverse aquatic and terrestrial environments of Grand Teton National Park and the greater Yellowstone area.
A cooperative effort between UW and the NPS for the past 66 years, the research station is located on the AMK Ranch historic district on a peninsula extending into Jackson Lake near Leeks Marina.
Contact Us
Institutional Communications
Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu