Catskill Environmental Research & Monitoring (CERM) 3rd Biennial Conference October 23 – 24, 2014 Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, Highmount, NY Abstract Book CONFERENCE SPONSORS: Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program/Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, Bard College Center for Environmental Policy, Catskill Institute for the Environment, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, Roundout Neversink Stream Program & United States Geologic Survey This page left intentionally blank. Session: 1 – Environmental Science & Society Title: Citizen Science: Science Literacy Education to Improve Future Decision Making Presenter: Amy Savage Presenter Affiliation: Citizen Science, Bard College Corresponding Amy Savage Author: Corresponding
[email protected] Author Email: Co-Authors: Abstract: Bard College is a selective private liberal arts institution in New York’s Hudson Valley. Bard emphasizes mandatory curricular components, with the goal of preparing students for a lifetime of thoughtful engagement with complex issues. These issues are often scientific in nature, and thus necessitate an ability to engage with frequently unfamiliar scientific concepts in a thoughtful and appropriate way, the essence of scientific literacy. Inability to do so can lead to disempowerment and lack of engagement. In recognition that scientific literacy is both a key feature of, and pathway to, an engaged and informed citizenry, Citizen Science was added to the College’s first year core curriculum in 2011. The Citizen Science program is an intense 3-week course held over the January intersession, during which all first year students participate in common processes of scientific inquiry.