Gk 12 eval report 2010

Part I – Principal Investigator Report
A. Participants
Our GK-12 Program, Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An
Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface will
complete year two of NSF funding in May 2010. This document serves as our annual report for
the time period from April 2009-June 2010.
1. Senior Personnel (Table 1) The PI (Stepien) and the four co-PIs (Bridgeman, Gruden,
Fisher, and Moorhead) shared the project’s responsibilities throughout the year with each
assuming different roles. The program manager (Lohner) handled the logistics of the grant and
the program evaluator (Mentzer) handled our evaluation. The lead PI (Stepien) was in charge of
program coordination and teamwork, and led the fall 2009 course for the fellows and the
Environmental Science Learning Community and GK-12 group meetings throughout the year.
Gruden was the lead co-PI, led the spring 2010 course for the fellows, and also helped to
coordinate the summer training, focusing on teaching method development and fellow-teacher
teamwork. Fisher taught a very successful summer 2009 one-week training course for the
teachers and fellows, focusing on a glacial geology theme in relation to the schoolyard streams.
2. Graduate Fellows (Table 2a and 2b) Our second cohort of graduate fellows began in
May 2009, consisting of six returning fellows who continued from our initial 2008-9 cohort and
two new fellows. Specifically, we replaced a M.S. student fellow who graduated and a Ph.D.
student who relocated to Washington D.C. with her husband to write her dissertation. Seven of
our eight 2009-10 cohort fellows were Ph.D. candidates and one was an M.S. student. Each
fellow was paired with a science teacher from seven area high schools along an urban-suburban
gradient (including four school districts). All schools participated in Student Watershed Watch
and the Lake Erie Center’s high school student research poster gala. Most schools participated in
the regional Science Fair, which was not typical of those schools prior to our GK-12 program.
3. Organizational Partners (Table 3) Our fellows are all placed in Toledo, Ohio area high
schools, which span four school districts and are varied in terms of student composition,
diversity, socioeconomics, and academics as well as school setting. Each fellow-teacher team
has a unique interaction and designs his/her own plan for the best ways to utilize the fellow in the
classroom, with oversight by the management team. Each team has some required activities that
they participate in (including the Student Watershed Watch program), but they are free to be
creative with the rest of their time. All teams regularly develop creative hands-on activities and
participatory active learning exercises. They share these with the other teacher-fellow teams
during our monthly learning community meetings.
4. Other Collaborators (Table 4) A primary goal of our program is the establishment of an
exciting and stimulating Environmental Science Learning Community. All GK-12 team
members actively engage in a monthly meeting exchange, casual dinner, and seminar
presentation by an area scientist to the Learning Community, along our central program theme.
Our Learning Community members work for federal and state conservation and management
agencies, non-profit environmental groups, citizen conservation organizations, and other
universities. The program PI is the director of the University of Toledo’s field station, The Lake

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Erie Center (LEC), whose mission is research and education. The LEC provides extensive
support to the GK-12 program in terms of infrastructure, supplies, field trips, and the
coordination and funding of the Learning Community Lecture Series. Our university contributes
to our program in terms of infrastructure and tuition waivers. NSF provides the funding essential
to our GK-12 program.
B. Project Summary
1. Goals and Activities - A main goal of our program is to build an Environmental Science
Learning Community at the land-lake ecosystem interface. Through this learning community,
we build student STEM skills through developing hands-on solutions for environmental
problems in local schoolyard streams and waterways feeding the Great Lakes. We plan to
continue our work as a permanent, internally supported GK-12 program in the Departments of
Environmental Sciences and Civil Engineering. Our GK-12 program links collaborative
watershed research projects and builds on the existing high school Student Watershed Watch
program (SWW) (www.maumeerap.org/SWW) developed by the Toledo Metropolitan Area
Council of Governments (TMACOG) that originally was founded by a former University of
Toledo Professor (now deceased). Our GK-12 graduate fellows, teachers, and high school
students together gain hands-on environmental science research experience and appreciation of
the history, social development, and future vitality of the Great Lakes region. We have seen the
past two years of our GK-12 program develop into an inspiring synergy, resulting in a plethora
of creative activities.
Through their GK-12 experience, our graduate fellows develop inquiry-based methods to
improve their teaching competence, and build their communication, collaboration, mentoring,
and team-building skills. They translate research experience from their STEM graduate studies
into mentoring high school students in meaningful research projects towards resolving
environmental problems. For example, Ph.D. fellow Todd Crail built a running stream flow
model with his minority Scott High School student mentees on the positive role of vegetation to
decrease run-off. The students demonstrated and explained the stream flow model at our annual
GK-12 high school student research poster gala at the Lake Erie Center in April 2010. Another
example is that Ph.D. fellow Kristen DeVanna built a program at Ottawa Hills High School in
which all 9th
grade honors biology students conduct an independent research project and enter
the regional Northwest Ohio Science Fair competition. As role models, fellows exemplify the
excitement and the possibility of university studies and careers in STEM disciplines. In turn,
fellows are gaining an enduring professional working relationship with K-12 education,
broadening their career options and enhancing their ability to communicate their research to the
public.
Our GK-12 high school teachers, through extensive professional development
opportunities, are gaining experience in inquiry-based methods and exposure to state-of-the-art
developments in STEM research knowledge to help meet and exceed content standards. During
the summer, the teachers each spent a day shadowing their fellow through laboratory or field
research related to the fellow’s graduate work. They also partnered with the fellows in the week-
long summer training course on geology of streams. As a consequence of our program, many of
our teachers now are utilizing more advanced tools in the classrooms, including dichotomous
identification keys for macroinvertebrates (notably the inner-city Scott and Start High Schools),
classroom aquaria (Scott, Start, Northview), polymerase chain reaction diagnostics (TECHs and
Start), and hypothesis design and experimental methods (Bowsher, Scott, Ottawa Hills, TECHs,

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and Northview). Most of our schools now are participating in science fair projects, and many of
the students have won awards and scholarships. The teachers are establishing long-lasting
professional relationships with our professors, the graduate fellows, and the learning community
members, and are gaining increased appreciation for scientific research and its integration.
Our high school students are developing their STEM skills within the broader
environmental science learning community, gaining enriched learning experiences that lead to
greater understanding of the nature and conduct of science inquiry and its integration as a means
of exploring the world. They are engaging in hands-on environmental research and use of
cyberinfrastructure in their individual science fair projects and classroom activities, mentored by
the fellows. We reach ~420 high school students each year. The learning community links our
GK-12 program with federal and state environmental agencies and community organizations,
fostering change in society’s foundations and strengthened and sustained partnerships in STEM.
a. Training and Professional Development Graduate fellows in our program enroll in a
two credit hour seminar each semester throughout the academic year. Our Fall 2009 class
titled, Improving Student Watershed Watch for GK-12 was led by PI Stepien. The goal of
this course was to improve the Student Watershed Watch program, by rewriting the
instruction and background guide and developing a training power point presentation for
use by the entire SWW program. Specifically, our fellows developed a quick guide for
teachers entering the Student Watershed Watch program, and the data analysis procedure
was simplified and clarified.
Our Spring 2010 class titled Science Education Writing and Publishing of GK-12
Program results was led by co-PI Gruden. During this course, we worked on a science-
education publication by our program to submit for peer-review to a journal. Also, we
created additional assessments to be implemented by our program.
A key program feature is our summer training institute, which is a two week
themed course taught by our PI and co-PIs. Our 2009 Summer Institute, Environmental
Education Field Methods II, was led by co-PIs Fisher and Gruden and focused on the
geology of the land-lake interface through classroom lectures and many field experiences.
It featured geologic events, including stream and river processes, which have resulted in
our modern landscape. Contaminants and their potential sources and pathways were
covered as well. This intensive week-long summer course further enhanced
communication and team building amongst participants.
Our 2010 Summer Institute will be two weeks long and four credit hours, led by
co-PIs Bridgeman and Moorhead. Week one, titled Aquatic Ecology and Student
Watershed Watch for GK-12, will consist of field and lab activities, with lectures on
biology, chemistry, and physics of aquatic systems, concentrating on techniques for water
quality measurements. Week two, titled Diversity and Environmental Gradients, will
examine the effects of a local power plant on aquatic ecology.
b. Curriculum materials adopted/developed Our graduate fellows have developed 15
hands-on lesson plans. Teacher-fellow teams guide the rest of the team through their
activities during our monthly combined meetings. We have developed these lesson plans
into kits that can be checked out by members of our team and used in all of our schools.
Lessons presented to our GK-12 team during our weekly fellow and monthly large group
meetings include:

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An Introduction to Water Quality – P. Cole & B. Bodamer (TECHs)
Introduction to Solar Energy, Climate, and Ozone – J. Blosser & T. Crail
(Scott)
Macropolis Macroinvertebrate Game – T. Bollin and A. Haponski (TECHs)
Life in a Lake: Modeling the effects of phosphorus on aquatic organisms – K.
Singler & K. DeVanna (Ottawa Hills)
Invasive Species Game – C. Kolinski and C. Gorey (Clay)
Race to the drains: How your school returns rainwater to the soil – W. Wilson
& O.J. Sepulveda Villet (Start)
Lake Erie Center Fieldtrip – W. Wilson and O.J. Sepulveda Villet (Start)
Introduction to Experimental Design-The Paper Towel – K. Singler & K.
DeVanna (Ottawa Hills)
Beak of the Finch Activity: Natural Selection – K. Singler & K. DeVanna
(Ottawa Hills)
Creating a paper GIS: Interpreting watershed landscape patterns using Google
Earth imagery – J. Blosser & T. Crail (Scott)
Glacier Movement Activity – M. Bogue & B. Bodamer (Northview)
Great Lakes Fish Identification – P. Cole & J. Banda (TECHs)
What type of soil should be used for constructing landfills? – D. Bourland & K.
Barnswell (Bowsher)
c. Communication (Appendix 1) Our GK-12 team is actively engaged in the scientific
and educational communities; we have given 89 presentations during the first two years
of our program. We gave 21 research presentations in year one and 44 in year two.
Fellows gave 9 synergistic presentations in year one and 15 in year two.
We have been well-represented each year at the GK-12 Annual Meeting in
Washington, D.C. Eight members of our team attended the 2010 meeting: the PI, two co-
PIs, the Program Manager, two teachers, and two fellows. We led a well-attended
interactive break-out session in collaboration with the University of Louisville titled,
“Challenges to Implementing GK12 projects...Dos & Don'ts”. We also presented our
program poster and a poster highlighting the research of our fellows. Graduate fellow
Colleen Gorey presented her research at the Graduate Student Poster Session held at
NSF. As a result of this meeting Program Manager Lohner has been sharing our
contracts and other forms with Program Managers from other GK-12 programs and she
joined the newly formed Program Manager Task Force.
d. Published Articles (Appendix 1) Our fellows have published 18 scientific articles in
peer-reviewed scientific journals, 5 in year one and 13 in year two; all of which credit the
NSF GK-12 program.
e. Website Developed The homepage of our GK-12 website is
http://www.utoledo.edu/as/lec/GK12_grant/GK12_main.html. This site includes
information on all our current and past personnel and high schools. We also report on
our activities here and post pictures. Our program is represented via Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/lakeeriecenter) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/lakeeriecenter)
through the Lake Erie Center.

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f. Additional Program Activities PI Stepien facilitated “Darwin Day at the University of
Toledo” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the University of Toledo College of Arts
and Sciences, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the
Origin of Species", and the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin on November 7, 2009. The
day consisted of two presentations by three time Fulbright Award winning scientist and
presenter, Dr. Tim Berra. Dr. Berra led a lunchtime brown bag seminar at the Lake Erie
Center titled “Chasing nurseryfish and avoiding crocodiles in Northern Australia" that
was attended by much of our GK-12 team. That evening Dr. Berra presented his multi-
award winning talk (acclaimed by the journal Science and universities around the world),
"Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man", featuring the impact of
Darwin's life, thoughts, and work. Many of our high school students attended the event,
along with our GK-12 fellows and teachers. Ottawa Hills High School Biology Honors
class went to dinner at a restaurant preceding the talk, and were surprised there to meet
Dr. Berra (Dr. Stepien took Dr. Berra to dinner there, too, to meet the students).
Following his presentation Dr. Berra did a book signing of his book "Charles Darwin:
The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man". Over 600 people attended “Darwin Day”
including many local high school and college students, our GK-12 team, university
administrators, and members of the public.
Co-PI Gruden presented lesson plans developed through our GK-12 program to a
graduate level course (CI5950: Using Sustainability Engineering Activities to Teach
Math and Science), which is a distance learning course that targets K-12 teachers in Ohio
who have a high population of migrant students.
The signature event of our GK-12 program is an annual high school student poster
show held at the Lake Erie Center each April. The 2010 competition featured 28
presentations by 44 high school students from all eight teams of our GK-12 schools; 17
(43%) of the presenting students are minorities. Through this poster show our GK-12
program interfaced with the University of Toledo NSF-URM Program (“Undergraduate
Research and Mentoring in Environmental Biology at the Land-Lake Ecosystem
Interface”, PIs V. Sigler and C. Stepien) by using URM fellows as judges. Awards were
presented to the top three presentations in two different categories, individual projects
and group projects. We also presented “outstanding GK-12 fellow” and “excellence in
mentoring” awards to two of our fellows. The show was attended by over 130 guests
including high school and university administrators, teachers, politicians, graduate
students, and professors. See Appendix 2 for a table of presentations.
Our program has worked to increase Science Fair participation by our
participating schools. None of our seven schools had participated in the Science Fair for
at least a decade prior to our program. In 2010, one of our schools hosted its own science
fair featuring 30 projects mentored by a GK-12 fellow and sponsored by our program.
Several of our faculty and other fellows attended and served as judges. Three of our
schools presented at the Northwest Ohio District Two Science Fair this year. We
sponsored 34 projects and seven won sponsored awards, 13 received “superior” ratings,
and 15 received “excellent” ratings. Thirteen projects qualified for the State Science Fair
in Columbus, Ohio where they competed for additional awards and scholarships on May
8, 2010.

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Our GK-12 program also sponsored two high school student class field trips to
The Lake Erie Center. Graduate fellow Jhonatan Sepulveda-Villet and his partnering
teacher Wendy Wilson brought 40 students from Start High School for a day trip at the
Lake Erie Center. These students toured the building, sampled fish from Lake Erie, and
conducted various hands on activities. Graduate fellow Todd Crail and partnering
teacher Jahnine Blosser brought 8 students from Scott High School for an evening trip
prior to our poster gala. The students toured the building and then spent some one on one
time talking to graduate students about their research and what it is like to be a graduate
student.
Our fellows have won several awards this year. In October 2009, graduate fellows
Osvaldo Jhonatan Sepulveda Villet and Kris Barnswell each won 1st place awards in the
Environmental Sciences Division of the 2009 Sigma Xi/Scholars' Celebration Student
Research Symposium. In January 2010, graduate fellow Todd Crail was awarded the
$500 Robert Brundage Scholarship by the nonprofit Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper
Association. In April 2010 our program awarded an outstanding graduate fellow award
to Todd Crail and an Excellence in Mentoring award to Kristen DeVanna. In May 2010
graduate fellow, Amanda Haponski was awarded the $6000 Norman S. Baldwin fishery
scholarship award.
Our monthly Environmental Science Learning Community features a meeting,
dinner, and a public lecture by a professor/agency professional, which interact with our
GK-12 team. These monthly meetings give our entire GK-12 team an opportunity to
discuss our program activities and participate in a hands-on demonstration developed and
led by one of our teacher-fellow pairs. The seminar speaker attends a portion of our
meeting to interact with the group and is seated with our team, members during dinner,
allowing more interaction. These talks are attended by graduate, undergraduate, and high
school students, agency personnel, professors, members of the community as well as
teachers participating in a University of Toledo, U.S. Department of Education IMPACT
program (PI: D. Moorhead). The titles of our learning community talks during 2009-
2010, and their presenters included:
• Movie Screening, “Waterlife”, a Documentary by Kevin McMahon, June 18,
2009.
• Dr. Gary Winston, Director, National Center for Water Quality Research,
Heidelberg University, "Oxygen toxicity in aquatic invertebrates." Sept. 17, 2009.
• Dr. Steven N. Francoeur, Eastern Michigan University, "The stream, its valley,
and us: How landuse affects Michigan streams." Oct. 15, 2009
• Dr. David J. Schwab, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory,
"The role of weather in the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Nov. 12, 2009.Dr.
David B. Baker, Director Emeritus, National Center for Water Quality Research,
Heidelberg University, "Healthy Row Crop Agriculture and a Healthy Lake Erie:
An Impossible Dream?" Jan. 21, 2010.
• Dr. Richard Becker, University of Toledo, "Lake Erie from space: environmental
parameters and harmful algal blooms." Feb. 18, 2010.
• Dr. George S. Bullerjahn, Bowling Green State University, "Nitrification in the
Great Lakes -- microbes rule!" March 18, 2010.

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• Dr. Richard Moore, Ohio State University, "Bridging the social and natural
sciences in watershed ecology: The Sugar Creek case." April 15, 2010. (Dr.
Moore is the PI of the GK-12 Program at The Ohio State University’s –Wooster
Campus.
• Dr. Thomas Nalepa, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory,
"The offshore expansion of quagga mussels and its ecological impacts." May 13,
2010.

Table 1. Senior Personnel
Senior
Personnel
Description of
the Position
Time on
the Project
Institutional Affiliation
and Position Statement of Contribution
Carol
Stepien
PI Two years Director, Lake Erie Center
Professor, Department of
Environmental Sciences.
Dr. Stepien is in charge of the overall plan, coordination, and output
for the project as well as communication with NSF. She led teaching
of the 2-unit course for the fellows during fall semester. Dr. Stepien
also has coordinated the Environmental Science Learning Community
monthly seminar seminars that all GK-12 participants attend.
Thomas
Bridgeman
Co-PI Two years Assistant Professor,
Department of
Environmental Sciences
Dr. Bridgeman has the lead responsibility for training teachers and
fellows the theory and practice of water quality.
Timothy
Fisher
Co-PI Two years Professor, Department of
Dr. Fisher led the instruction of the summer 09 course for fellows and
teachers focused on glacial geology.
Cyndee
Gruden
Co-PI Two years Associate Professor,
Department of Civil
Engineering
Dr. Gruden served as the lead co-PI for the 2009-2010 academic year.
She coordinates the engineering interface for our program. She led
teaching of the 2-unit course for the fellows during spring semester.
Daryl
Moorhead
Co-PI Two years Professor, Department of
Dr. Moorhead participates in our summer courses for teachers and
graduate fellows emphasizing basic knowledge of aquatic ecosystems,
laboratory and field methods.
Rachel
Lohner
Program
Manager
Two years Education Program
Manager, Lake Erie Center
Rachel Lohner serves as a mediator between graduate fellows,
teachers, and the principal investigators of the project. She handles
program logistics including ordering supplies, budget management,
organizing meetings, and disseminating project information.
Gale
Mentzer
Evaluation
Consultant
Two years Director of Evaluation
Services, Curriculum and
Instruction
Dr. Mentzer is responsible for project evaluation and reporting.

Table 2a. Graduate students during year one (May 2008-May 2009)
Name
Year in
graduate
program Major Research Topic
Statement of graduate location
& nature of graduate work
Ethnicity
& gender
Betsy Bodamer 2nd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Yellow perch response to aquatic
anoxia
Department of Environmental
Sciences & doing Ph.D. research
White,
female
Melinda
Campbell
2nd year
of M.S.
Geology Mapping the surficial geology of the
Oak Openings Region
Sciences & M.S. data collection
and writing thesis
White,
female
Todd Crail 2nd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Community assemblage, niche and
interspecific interactions in North
American lotic aquatic systems
White,
male
Kristen DeVanna 2nd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Interaction of mayflies and dreissenid
mussels in the Great Lakes
White,
female
Colleen Gorey 3rd year
of PhD
Chemical and
Environmental
Engineering
Post-synthesis modification of water
filtration membranes
Department of Chemical and
Environmental Engineering &
doing Ph.D. research
White,
female
Amanda
Haponski
2nd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Molecular genetics of temporal stock
structure of yellow perch and walleye
in the Great Lakes
White,
female
Olga Mileyeva-
Biebesheimer
4th year
of PhD
Civil
Engineering
Developing a membrane-based
sensor for selected bacteria in
drinking water
Department of Civil Engineering
& post-qualifying exams,
writing Ph.D. dissertation
White,
female
Osvaldo Jhonatan
Sepulveda-Villet
4th year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Population genetics of yellow perch Department of Environmental
Sciences & post-qualifying
exams, Ph.D. data collection
Hispanic/Latino,
male

Table 2b. Graduate students during year two (May 2009-May 2010)
Name
Year in
graduate
program Major Research Topic
Statement of graduate location
& nature of graduate work
Ethnicity &
gender
Jo Ann Banda 3rd year
of M.S.
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Examining the temporal and spatial
genetic patterns among Lake Erie
walleye spawning groups
Sciences & data collection,
writing thesis
White, female
Kristopher Barnswell 5th year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Restoration ecology and design of an
alternative cover for landfills in
northwest Ohio
Sciences & defended Ph.D.
dissertation
White, male
Betsy Bodamer 3rd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Yellow perch response to aquatic
anoxia
exams, doing Ph.D. research
White, female
Todd Crail 3rd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Community assemblage, niche and
interspecific interactions in North
American lotic aquatic systems
exams, doing Ph.d. research
White, male
Kristen DeVanna 3rd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Interaction of mayflies and dreissenid
mussels in the Great Lakes
White, female
Colleen Gorey 3rd year
of PhD
Chemical and
Environmental
Engineering
Post-synthesis modification of water
filtration membranes
Department of Chemical and
Environmental Engineering & &
post-qualifying exams, doing
Ph.D. research
White, female
Amanda Haponski 3rd year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Molecular genetics of temporal stock
structure of walleye in the Great
Lakes
White, female
Osvaldo Jhonatan
Sepulveda-Villet
5th year
of PhD
Biology
(Ecology Track)
Population genetics of yellow perch Department of Environmental
Sciences & writing dissertation
Hispanic/Latino,
male

Table 3. Organizational Partners
GK-12 School Statistics Bowsher St. John's Northview Scott Start TECHS (1) TECHS (2) Ottawa Hills
Total Students 1423 823 1349 1353 1732 202 202 490
Teacher:Student Ratio 1:17 1:9 1:16 1:18 1:18 1:19 1:19 1:14
White 64% 84.4% 93% 2% 61% 44% 44% 91%
African American 27% 8.1% 2% 97% 32% 43% 43% 0%
Hispanic 7% 2.7% 1% 1% 4% 8% 8% 1%
Asian 1% 3.7% 2% 0% 1% 0% 0% 7%
Unknown 1% 1.1% 2% 0% 3% 0% 0% 1%
Unspecified 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 6% 6% 0%
Economically Disadvantaged 34% 15% 7% 53% 34% 21% 21% N/A
Attendance Rate 93% 98% 95% 79% 93% 98% 98% 96%
Eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch 22% 12.4% 6% 67% 24% N/A N/A N/A
Location Urban Suburban Suburban Urban Urban Urban Urban Suburban
Fellow Kris Barnswell Colleen Gorey Betsy
Bodamer
Todd Crail O.J. Sepulveda
Villet
Amanda
Haponski
Jo Ann Banda Kristen
DeVanna
Teacher Dave Bourland Todd Aseltyne Michelle
Bogue
Jahnine
Blosser
Wendy Wilson Tim Bollin Paulette Cole Kathy Singler
Subject Environmental
Science
Environmental
Science
Environmental
Science
Environmental
Science
Honors
Biology
Science
Research
Biology Biology
Grade(s) 11, 12 11, 12 11, 12 11, 12 10 11, 12 9, 10 9
N classes fellow interacted with 2 2 4 2 2 1 1 5
N students fellow interacted with 20 35 95 38 42 19 13 90
N of these students who are
minorities
10 10 3 37 16 5 12 1
N of students who were involved
in research projects
2 1 2 8 4 18 7 28
N of students who participated in
SWW activities
2 35 95 22 40 15 12 28
Description of Fellow’s
Activities
Mentored Sr.
interns in
environmental
engineering
research
methods, led
data collection
& analysis for
SWW;
implemented
special
activities.
Led hands on
activities
involving
nature, basic
science, and
introductory
engineering
principles; led
data collection
& analysis for
the SWW
Guided student
research
projects;
facilitated a
guest speaker;
assisted with
class activities
& SWW;
presented
water pollution
lesson.
Led SWW
data collection
& analysis;
mentored 8
students on
projects;
created two
lessons to
examine the
landscape
scale and
resources
usage.
Collaborated
with teacher in
lesson plan
design and
enrichment;
supplemented
class material;
participated in
SWW; led
field trips to
the Lake Erie
Center.
Taught
students about
water quality,
their local
watershed,
conducting
scientific
research and
presenting
their findings;
led students in
the SWW.
Guided
students
through
standard water
quality
techniques, the
scientific
method, and
presenting
their results in
a professional
setting.
Created labs
and lesson
plans; led field
data collection
and data
analysis for the
SWW; and
mentored 30
science fair
projects.

Table 4. Other Collaborators
Name Description of activities/contribution
Toledo Metro Area Council
of Governments
A major component of our project is built upon the 'Student Watershed Watch' (SWW) framework created by the
Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) and Ohio EPA, and originated by a (now
deceased) University of Toledo Faculty member ~20 years ago. TMACOG staff members have assisted our
project by providing contacts with their local network of teachers, providing us with their knowledge of local
stream sites located near participating schools, and facilitating our participation in the annual Student Watershed
Summit meeting. SWW director Matt Horvath visited our program several times in 2009-2010, providing
feedback, and served as a judge at our April 2010 high school student poster gala.
Ohio EPA The Ohio EPA has been helping with our program by participating in the Environmental Science Learning
Community, and as a likely end user for our stream monitoring program.
Partners for Clean Streams
& Maumee RAP
PCS and Maumee RAP (Remedial Action Program) are members of our Environmental Science Learning
Community and end-users of our data.
American Rivers & Joyce
Foundation
Non-profit environmental organizations American Rivers and the Joyce Foundation are participating in our GK-
12 Environmental Science Learning Community, helping to restore the Maumee River.
Lake Erie Center (LEC) The LEC provides numerous resources including support staff, supplies, and infrastructure that our essential to
the facilitation of our GK-12 Program. Our monthly Environmental Science Learning Community features a
meeting, dinner, and a public lecture by a professor/agency professional, which interact with our GK-12 team are
held at the LEC. All of our GK-12 courses as well as our annual poster show are held at the LEC. Many of our
graduate fellows are members of labs housed at the LEC.
University of Toledo (UT) UT provides graduate fellow tuition and fee supplementation for our fellows. Additionally, UT provides tuition
waivers for teachers in our program as well.
National Science
Foundation
NSF provides the majority of the funding for our program as well as the framework for the program. NSF offers
professional development for our team through National and Regional GK-12 meetings.

Part II: External Evaluator’s Report
A) NSF GK-12 Programmatic and Project Goals (revised for 2009-10)
1) Goals and Measures
Fellows’ Goals Measures
Enhanced understanding of one’s own
research subject area
Presentation skills protocol & number of
presentations made
Its societal & global contexts
presentations made
Improved communication skills
presentations made
Improved leadership skills
presentations made
Experience working on teams Semi-annual reflections
Enhanced teaching capabilities
Direct observation of teaching inquiry-based
lessons
Teachers’ Goals Measures
Professional development in STEM content Summer program content tests
Professional development in hands-on science
activities
Student Watershed Watch training and
implementation observations
**Establish long-lasting professional
relationships with the Environmental Science
Learning Community
Teachers will provide a record of collaborative
activities in May.
Students’ Goals Measures
Energize students to pursue STEM careers Attitude towards science survey
Become better prepared for STEM education
opportunities Standardized tests (OAT, ACT)
**Improve understanding of the nature and
conduct of science inquiry Items 1 - 17 of Student Survey
**Increase participation in hands-on
environmental research
Items will be added to Student Survey to
explore amount of hands-on research students
have experienced over the previous year.
**Increase participation in SWW and science
fairs SWW & science fair participation numbers
**Increase interest in science-related careers
Items 18 - 39 of Student Survey--Items added
to explore future education and career goals
University/Community Goals Measures
Create strong and enduring partnerships with
K-12 schools.
Participation of local schools in LEC
sponsored poster session
Transform graduate programs Feedback from graduate advisors & fellows
Enhance the impact of graduate education on
society Combination of all outcomes
**Indicates project only goal

14
2) Explanation of Measures and Instruments
We used a quasi-experimental design to measure project effects. Each teacher participant and the
teacher’s science class(es) that interacted with a fellow were carefully matched with a control
teacher and classroom using teacher, student, and content demographics. Pretests were compared
to verify group equivalencies. While there was no control group for the fellows, we plan to add a
graduate assistant control group next year in order to measure the effects of working with K-12
schools has on fellow perceptions of education and outreach (see graduate faculty survey below).
Data gathering from graduate student faculty advisors also utilized a quasi-experimental design
with all faculty from the two departments participating in the project (Environmental Science
and Chemical Engineering) providing data. Since only some of the faculty members in the
departments participate in the project, the remaining faculty members serve as the control group.
Fellow data was gathered using three instruments. First a performance assessment based upon
research on effective science explanations (Sevian and Gonsalves, 2008) was used for direct
observations of the fellows as they presented their research to a variety of audiences (mostly
high school students) throughout the year. The rubric includes assessment for the following
categories: Organization, delivery, relevance to the audience, appropriate language, use of audio-
visual aids, and fielding of questions. The rubric is divided into three basic levels of
measurement—proficient, developing, and needs attention—with subcategories within each to
allow for degrees of achievement. Fellows’ ability to provide inquiry-based instruction was
measured through direct observation of the training and implementation of the Northwest Ohio
Student Watershed Watch program (SWW). We used the Horizon Research Inc., “Inside the
Classroom Observation” protocol which measures the quality of an inquiry-based lesson through
the examination of design, implementation, content, and classroom culture. A qualitative
analysis of fellow reflections of the experience was used to triangulate data collected from the
two instruments as well as to provide information that is relevant but may not have been directly
sought out. By examining themes and language and comparing with reflections collected during
the first year, changes in fellow perspectives of community outreach and working with K-12
schools were documented.
Teacher gains were measured using a content test developed by the faculty teaching in the
summer institute. We used a pretest/ post test design in order to examine both fellow and teacher
content knowledge gains. Evidence of content validity was provided by the project
environmental science faculty and the test was examined by the external evaluator prior to
administration to assure sound assessment techniques were followed. Like the fellows, the
teachers were observed as they led students in the SWW program using the “Classroom
Observation” protocol. In the case of teachers, content proficiency was of particular interest. To
validate improved networking and awareness of community science resources, teachers will be
asked in May to provide a list of collaborations in which they have engaged over the past year.

15
At this time they will also be asked to provide examples of lessons that integrate summer science
content into the classes they taught to illustrate long-term effects of the summer program.
Project effects on students were examined through a project developed Student Science Interest
Survey based upon an adaptation of the “Conceptions/Nature of Science” survey used by the
NSF DUE project, Creation of an Interdisciplinary Earth Materials Testing Laboratory to
Enhance Undergraduate Science Education, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Our
version of this survey has been edited to make it appropriate for high school students and pared
down from the original 105 questions to 38. It has two subscales—nature of science and interest
in science. Reliability is 0.864. Nature of science subscale had a reliability index of 0.76 and
science interest reliability was 0.88. This survey was administered to over 500 students for both
the pretest and the post test. The post test will not be administered until April and results will be
included until next year’s report. Additional items on the survey explored student education and
career goals/plans as well as engagement in extra-curricular science activities. Student
performance on the science portion of the Ohio Graduation Test will be examined when
available (summer) and included in next year’s report.
Impact on university faculty was explored using a project-developed survey that asked how
active each faculty member is involved in K-12 education. It also asks how active their graduate
students are in this activity and provides several typical graduate student duties or
responsibilities and asks the graduate advisor to delineate the amount of time each of their
advisees spends per academic year on the duties. It also asks them to provide, for comparison,
their own ideal delineation of time spent on these duties. Feedback gathered from the fellows
was used to verify faculty responses.
B) Executive Summary of Findings
1) Fellows: In addition to 44 research presentations and 13 published or pending scholarly
articles, the fellows made a total 15 presentations to the general public (high school classrooms
and community groups). Fellows scored consistently in the proficient category on the
performance assessment with only minor areas of needed improvement (providing a summary at
the conclusion, some questions asked of the audience were too general or too advanced for the
audience to grasp). Overall, however, the audiences were engaged and asked many questions
illustrating that the fellows were effective in presenting their research to the public in an
interesting and thought-provoking manner. Direct observations of the fellows during the SWW
lessons showed that fellows followed effective instruction practices by engaging students
actively in meaningful work (average score on Horizon protocol a high 3 out of 5). While we did
not have a goal to increase fellows’ content knowledge, we did measure that as part of the
summer program. This past summer the content area was Geology of the Land Lake Interface.

16
The fellows showed a statistically significant knowledge gain going from a mean score of 17
prior to the summer course to a 26 on the post test (total possible points = 29).
The fellows completed an exit survey this year as most are completing their time with the
program. Fellow plans include four hoping to teach at a college or university, three interested in
a research or post doc position, and one interested in pursuing a career in private industry. Four
fellows felt that the GK-12 experience has made them more open-minded about teaching careers
and three felt that the program has made them more amenable to working on teams. One fellow
provided the consensus: “I'm much more apt to work with people than do everything myself.”
Fellows gained the most in the area of sharing their research with the public. Prior to working on
the project, most fellows were immersed in scientific jargon and the minute mechanisms of their
research but this experience has opened their eyes to the fact that the general public is interested
in scientific research but not at such a detailed level. Now the fellows feel they can relate to a
wider audience outside of their scientific community. As one fellow noted, “Before I was really
stuck on scientific jargon, but through my interactions with not only the students, but the
teachers as well I feel I can make my research relatable.” This is supported by the presentation
observation findings reported above. The fellows felt that by sharing their research they were
able to interest the public in environmental issues and debunk common stereotypes about science
and scientists. In general, they agreed that working with the students and teachers has brought
them some humility and has given them more respect for the knowledge and experience of non-
scientists on scientific topics. They found the experience especially valuable in developing their
ability to talk to non-scientists. To encourage more students to pursue science-focused fields in
higher education and beyond, there was a consensus that students need to see the relevance of
science through hands-on activities as well as understand the broad range of careers that are
related to science (rather than just being a scientist). Fellows were also asked how they would
change the typical undergraduate science class if they could (all agreed a typical class consists of
lecture and note-taking unless a lab is involved). All suggested including more current topics,
more interactive, problem-based learning opportunities, and more relevant to the students. All in
all, the fellows felt participation in this project to be rewarding and valuable and would
recommend it to other graduate students.
2) Teachers: Teachers also showed a significant gain in content knowledge as a result of the
summer coursework. Their mean scores rose from 17 to 25. It was interesting that both the
teachers and the fellows scored similarly on the pretest. All of the teachers felt that the content
covered in the summer could be adapted and incorporated into their classrooms. Teachers will
provide examples of how they incorporated both summer content and other content provided by
the fellows in their exit interview in May. Teachers were also observed during the SWW
activities and, like the fellows, employed inquiry-based instructional strategies that encouraged
students to not only learn about science but to make sense of it as it applies to them. Teacher
average scores on the Horizon were also a high 3 of 5 possible points. Teacher science resource
networking data will be gathered in May and reported next year.

17
3) Students: Because of the timing of the annual report, data not reported last year will be
presented first. Student responses on both the nature of science and the interest in science
subscales showed no statistically significant difference between the control and treatment groups.
Because we only conducted a post test last year, we were unable to determine group equivalency
or measure growth. This year we did administer a pretest in September and statistical
comparisons showed the 2009-10 groups to be equivalent. The post test will be given in April
and findings will be reported next year. Further investigation into responses to the Student
Attitudes about Science survey revealed some interesting misconceptions held by both groups as
well as some differences. The control group students were much more likely to agree with the
following statement about the nature of science: “If one scientist says an idea is true, most other
scientists will agree with it.” Both groups tended to agree with these statements about the nature
of science
1. Scientists sometimes de-emphasize or overlook evidence that does not support their
favored ideas.
2. Scientific beliefs do not change over time.
3. Scientists discover laws which tell us exactly what is going on in nature.
4. Personal bias, preferences, and opinions can play a role in scientists’ findings.
This year the teachers and fellows have worked to address these misconceptions. Results of their
efforts will be measured in April. An examination of responses to the science interest scale
showed that students need a deeper understanding of the following or perhaps our science
educators need to adjust their methods of instruction:
1. Scientists have to study too much. (most agreed)
2. I would like to work with other scientists to solve scientific problems. (disagreed)
3. Scientists do not have enough time for their families or for fun. (agreed)
4. I want to be a scientist. (disagreed)
5. I have to work hard to understand scientific concepts. (agreed)
Our 2010 post test has been adjusted to include items that address gaps in our data collection
including education and career goals and perceived amount of hands-on science instruction
experienced in the classroom.
Increased student interest in science activities has continued this year as evidenced by the
number of students who have participated in science fairs. Twenty-three students participated in
the Ohio science fair this past year. Three students working with GK-12 fellows earned superior
ratings and took first, second, and third place in the Governor’s Award for Energy Research; 15
students earned an “Excellent” rating and the remaining 5 earned “Good” ratings. Additionally,
22 students participated in the Northwest Ohio District Science Day held at the University of
Toledo. Three projects received a Superior rating and are now qualified for the State Science
Day in Columbus, OH where they will compete for scholarships. We also surveyed students who
participated in the SWW as well as equivalent control groups of students with no interaction with

18
fellows and groups who interacted with fellows but did not participate in the SWW to compare
knowledge of the local watershed and its ramifications on the community. Results of this
analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in responses from the three
student groups. The test ranged from a 23 (best possible score) to a 92 (worst possible score) All
three groups scored slightly above the midpoint at 50.87 (SWW), 51.17 (control), and 47.82
(control with fellow). There were some questions about the unidimensionality (and therefore
validity) of the test (using Rasch analysis) and therefore the findings cannot be conclusive. In
addition, this was a posttest only design and therefore group equivalency could not be verified.
Student scores on the Ohio Graduation Test will be collected in June when made available and
reported next year.
4) University faculty & sustainability: All of the fellows felt their faculty advisors supported
their participation in the GK-12 project although one fellow qualified that with “as long as I
complete my research”. Examination of faculty responses to our survey supports this.
C) Recommendations
This project continues to reap positive results at all levels of engagement—fellows, teachers,
students, and university.
Sevian, H. and Gonsalves, L. (2008). Analyzing how scientists explain their research: A rubric for measuring the
effectiveness of scientific explanations. International Journal of Science Education, 30 (11), 1441-1467.

Part III – Collaborative Response Report
The Principal Investigator (Stepien), Lead co-PI (Gruden), and External Evaluator (Mentzer)
collaborated on the Annual Report.
A. Respond to recommendations focusing on how to incorporate them into practice.
In 2009-2010 we implemented more teamwork activities into our GK-12 program, and
will continue to do so in 2010-2011. These activities are designed to enhance the relationships
amongst program participants, particularly between paired fellows and teachers. We also
provided time and opportunity for the fellow-teacher teams to develop lesson plans and engage
in team-building. During the monthly learning community group meetings at the Lake Erie
Center, in 2009-2010 we capped the meeting with a classroom exercise activity led by one of the
fellow-teacher teams. These were highly successful and very fun, and all led to adoptions of the
activity/lesson plan by other teams. We are also committed to incorporating constructive
feedback on a regular basis. Specifically, we provided more education-oriented activities in the
2009 summer institute, including a session led by Dr. Charlene Czerniak, one of our university’s
leading education professors.
Based upon a better understanding of the NSF GK-12 goals, we encouraged our fellows
to present their research to a variety of audiences. The project evaluator modified a presentation
rubric so that the fellows would first know what was expected of them as they presented, and,
second, could get formative feedback in order to improve. As a result, the fellows not only
improved their presentation skills but also gained a better understanding of the importance of
science and scientific research to the community.
We fine-tuned our fellow, teacher, and advisor contracts for 2009-2010 and again for
2010-2011, incorporating feedback. These have proved popular at the GK-12 annual conference
in D.C., leading to many requests by other teams. We redesigned our summer institute to be
more hands-on and less repetitive, and it was very well-received by our teachers and fellows.
It was very valuable to take two of our teachers to the Washington D.C. annual GK-12
conference each year, and their feedback to other teachers about the program was important both
times. It seemed less valuable to take graduate fellows this year who were ending their two-year
GK-12 term, with the one who presented her research at NSF appearing to have a more valuable
experience than the other. We will take this into consideration next year, and also stress to them
that they are our “ambassadors”. We took a co-PI this year who has been only peripherally
engaged in our program, and he appeared to enjoy the conference and offered insightful feedback
toward improving our program. We would thus like to continue to take different members of our
team each year.
In 2010-2011 we plan to incorporate a GK-12 teaching assistant, who will be a “veteran
fellow” to help train and engage the new fellows. The teaching assistant will help to plan the
activities of the spring and summer fellow seminar courses and will make some classroom visits
to provide constructive feedback to the fellows.
Based upon evaluation findings, we will add more university outreach in order to affect
change in university policy and practice concerning engaging the community in our research and
with our graduate students. We will do this formally through university forums and informally
through departmental meetings.
B. Develop timeframe for the appropriate actions

20
Summer Institute 2010: Incorporate teacher and veteran fellow feedback from the
previous years. We redesigned the original water quality course for new fellows to be more
useful for Student Watershed Watch (SWW) training, and also will have the fellow-teacher
teams “practice” SWW data collection on Friday of the first week. That exercise will be
enhanced by having one of our teachers with a long-running SWW program lead us by teaching
her approach to our group. We also met with the other co-PI to help him restructure the 2nd
summer institute course in order to ensure that it will meet the needs and goals of our program.
This may be challenging as he is also involving another teacher training program (IMPACT)
simultaneously, in this dual research training course. We thus have agreed to have the PI and
lead co-PI (Stepien and Gruden) lead some specific GK-12 team-only activities that week to
ensure that the GK-12 teams develop teamwork skills.
Fall Seminar Course 2010: We plan to have a veteran fellow serve as the teaching
assistant, in order to help mentor and train the new fellows. The TA also will make classroom
visits to give the new fellows tips. The fall 2010 course will focus on Student Watershed Watch
and accompanying classroom activities. It also will focus on presentation skills, oral and poster,
along with teaching methods and ways to effectively partner with teachers.
Spring Seminar Course 2011: This course will focus on the new fellows developing
lesson plans and presenting them to the others. It also will focus on their research presentation
skills, in relation to techniques for effectively presenting them to high school students. The third
goal will be in developing skills for their mentoring of high school science fair projects.
C. Discuss project goals and measured outcomes and the potential impact on the issues
surrounding sustainability.
This year we concentrated on improving our program through incorporating feedback
from the teachers, fellows, and our evaluator. We changed the timing of our monthly meeting so
that we no longer meet with just the fellows for an hour before the teachers arrive. We thus
changed to begin with the group meeting, which was a suggestion by our teachers. We also
moved the lecture time up ½ hour to shorten the evening. Our new schedule thus was: 4-5:15
group meeting, discussion, and classroom activity/lesson demonstration by a GK-12 fellow-
teacher team, 5:45-6:15 dinner with learning community speaker and discussion, 6:30-7:30
Learning community public lecture and question and answer session.
We also concentrated on improving the summer institute training course to incorporate
more group interactions and planning time. The feedback we obtained indicated that year 2 was
much better received than was the summer institute in year 1. In 2009-10, the summer course
was for 1 week (as opposed to the 2 weeks during year 1), and then the continuing fellows
trained the two new incoming fellows in Student Watershed Watch approaches and procedures
for a few days. The teachers also worked for a day in the laboratory or field with their fellow on
the fellow’s graduate research project. This provided the teachers with greater insight into the
research and lives of the fellows. Several commented on this activity’s effectiveness and value.
We thus will retain this activity throughout our program.
Our university has committed in the grant award to support two GK-12 fellows after our
program ends, one from the Department of Environmental Sciences and one from the
Department of Civil Engineering. During 2010-2011, we plan to design classroom exercises and
activities building upon the Student Watershed Watch theme that can be presented in a variety of
classrooms. It is anticipated that the continuing fellows will travel to SWW schools to present
these in the future. It also is anticipated that the continuing fellows will play a continuing role in

21
the TECHS research course (Toledo Early College High School), which has a very high
proportion of minority students and where we teach an independent research course through the
GK-12.

Appendix 1. Publications & Presentations Bold= GK-12 participants, including advisors and
co-PIs. *= our GK-12 Fellows, **= our GK-12 Teachers
PUBLICATIONS 2009 -2010 (N=14)
Barnswell, K.D. and D.F. Dwyer, Submitted 2010. Assessing the field performance of
evapotranspiration covers in northwest Ohio. Journal of Environmental Engineering, In
review.
Crail, T.D.*, J.F. Gottgens, and A.E. Krause, Submitted 2010. Fish community response to
evolving channel complexity in an agricultural headwater system. Canadian Journal of
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
DeVanna, K.M.*, C.A. Barrett, and C.M. Mayer. Effects of Dreissena on infaunal benthic
communities: Consequences of ecosystem engineering. Journal of the North American
Benthological Society, In review.
DeVanna K.M., B.L. Bodamer, Wellington, C.G., Hammer, E., J.M. Bossenbroek, and C.M.
Mayer. An alternative hypothesis for invasional meltdown: General facilitation by
Dreissena. Diversity and Distributions, In review.
Gorey, C.*, I. Escobar, C. Gruden, and G. Cai, 2010. Development of microbial sensing
nanostructured membranes. Desalination, Vol:248 99-105.
Grzybowsi, M., O.J. Sepulveda-Villet*, C.A. Stepien, D. Rosauer, F. Binkowksi, R. Klaper, B.
Shepherd, and F. Goetz. 2010. Genetic variation of 17 wild yellow perch populations
from the Midwest and East coastal United States using microsatellites. Transactions of
the American Fisheries Society. 139: 270–287.
Gullinkala T., Digman B., Gorey C*., Hausman R. and I. Escobar (in print, 2009), Desalination
– Reverse Osmosis and Membrane Distillation, In: Escobar I. and A. Schäfer (eds.),
Sustainable Water for the Future - Water Recycling versus Desalination, Elsevier
Science, The Netherlands.
Haponski, A.E.*, T.L. Bollin**, M.A. Jedicka, and C.A. Stepien. 2010. Landscape genetic
patterns of the rainbow darter: A watershed analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences
and nuclear microsatellites. Journal of Fish Biology, 75:2244-2268.
Mileyeva-Biebesheimer*, O.N., A. Zaky, and C.L. Gruden. 2010. Assessing the Impact of
Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Bacteria Using a Fluorescent-Based
Cell Membrane Integrity Assay. Journal of Environmental Engineering Science, 27:329-
335.
Parker, A.D., C.A. Stepien, O.J. Sepulveda-Villet*, C.B. Ruehl, and D.J. Uzarski. 2009. The
interplay of morphology, ecological habitat, resource use, and population genetics in
young yellow perch. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 138: 899-914. doi:
10.1577/T08-093.1
Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.*, A.M. Ford, J.D. Williams, and C.A. Stepien. 2009. Population
genetic diversity and phylogeographic divergence patterns of yellow perch (Perca
flavescens). Journal of Great Lakes Research. 35(2): 35: 107-119.
Doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2008.11.009
Stepien, C.A., D.M. Murphy, and R.N. Lohner. 2010. Status and delineation of walleye genetic
stocks across the Great Lakes. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Special Publication.
(peer-reviewed).
Stepien, C.A., D.J. Murphy, R.N. Lohner, O.J. Sepulveda-Villet*, and A.E. Haponski*. 2009.
Signatures of vicariance, postglacial dispersal, and spawning philopatry: Population

23
genetics and biogeography of the walleye Sander vitreus. Molecular Ecology. 18: 3411–
3428. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04291.x
Stepien, C.A. and A.E. Haponski*. Systematics of the greenside darter Etheostoma blennioides
complex revisited: Consensus from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. In review.
RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS 2009 – 2010 (N=44)
Banda, J.A.* and Stepien C.A. (2009) Fine-scale temporal genetic structure of Lake Erie
walleye. International Association of Great Lakes Research conference, Toledo, OH.
May 2009.
Banda, J.A.* and Stepien C.A. (2010) Analysis of genetic connectivity and divergence among
Lake Erie walleye spawning groups. Ohio Fish and Wildlife Management Association
conference, Columbus, OH. February 2010.
Banda, J.A.*, Haponski, A.E.*, and Stepien, C.A. (2010) Temporal and spatial patterns of
genetic connectivity and divergence among Lake Erie walleye (Sander vitreus) spawning
groups. Lake Erie Millennium Conference, Windsor, CA. April 2010.
Barnswell, K.D.* and Dwyer, D.F. (2009) Field water balance of evapotranspiration covers in
northwest Ohio. Phytotechnologies 6th International Conference, St. Louis, MO.
Blosser, J.** and Crail, T.* (2009) Student-based ecological monitoring of two riffle classes in
Swan Creek, an urban stream in NW Ohio. International Association for Great Lakes
Research, Toledo, OH, May 2009.
Bodamer B.L.*, Bridgeman, T.B., Ruch, R.J., and Höök, T. (2009) Measuring Hypoxia-
induced physiological stress in yellow perch (Perca flavescens). International Association
of Great Lakes Research, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
Bodamer, B.L., Bridgeman, T.B., and Ruch, R.J. (2009) Measuring hypoxia-induced stress in
yellow perch: Ecological applications for Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1a. Michigan
Society of Toxicology Water Safety and Toxicology of the Great Lakes Region Annual
Meeting. East Lansing, MI, November 2009.
Bodamer, B.L.*, Bridgeman, T.B., and Ruch, R.J. (2010) Physiological responses of Yellow
Perch to Hypoxia: Ecological applications for Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1α (Poster),
Ohio Fish and Wildlife Managers Association Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH, February
2010
Bollin, T.L.**, Haponski, A.E.*, and Stepien, C.A. (2009) Collaborative Science Research
Experience for High School Students with a focus on Water Quality Testing on the
Ottawa River Watershed. International Association for Great Lakes Research, Toledo,
OH, May 2009.
Bogue, M.** and Mileyeva-Biebesheimer, O.* (2009) Student Water Quality Testing Engages
Students in all Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. International Association for Great Lakes
Research, Toledo, OH, May 2009.
Bourland, D.**, Campbell, M.*, and Stierman, D.J. (2009) Using Ground Penetrating Radar to
Locate Unmarked Graves in Toledo, Ohio, USA. International Association for Great
Lakes Research, Toledo, OH, May 2009.
Cole, P.** and Bodamer, B.L.* (2009) Introducing high school students to environmental
monitoring: A look at water quality in the Ottawa River (Poster), International
Association of Great Lakes Research, Toledo, OH, May 2009.

24
Crail, T.D.*, Gottgens, J.F, and Bossenbroek, J.M. (2009) Wind-derived seiches as a means
for detecting and monitoring the unionid community in the western basin of Lake Erie.
International Association for Great Lakes Research, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH.
May 2009.
Crail, T.D.*, Bossenbroek, J.M. and Gottgens, J.F. (2009) Niche dimension of Etheostoma
darters in the Ohio River Basin at multiple scales. American Fisheries Society, Nashville,
TN. September 2009.
Crail, T.D.*, Bossenbroek, J.M. and Gottgens, J.F. (2009) A multiscale analysis of
Etheostoma darter habitat in the Ohio River Basin. Southeastern Fishes Council, Lake
Guntersville, AL. November 2009.
Crail, T.D.*, Bossenbroek, J.M. and Gottgens, J.F. (2010) Wind-derived seiches as a means
for detecting and monitoring the unionid community in the western basin of Lake Erie.
Lake Erie Millennium Network Conference, Windsor, ON. April 2010.
DeVanna, K.M.*, Cope, P.M., and Mayer, C.M. (2009) Biotic and abiotic habitat interactions
determine predation risk for burrowing mayflies. International Association for Great
Lakes Research, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
DeVanna, K.M.*, Jain, N., Mayer, C.M., and Schloesser, D.W. (2010) Mapping the spatial
relationship of burrowing mayflies and dreissenid mussels in western Lake Erie. Lake
Erie Millennium Network Conference, Windsor, ON. April 2010.
Gorey C.*, Escobar, I., and Gruden, C. (2009) Cellulose acetate ultrafiltration membranes
modified with temperature-sensitive polymers for fouling resistance. International
Association for Great Lakes Research Annual Meeting, Toledo OH. May 2009.
Gorey C.*, Escobar, I., Zaky, A., and Gruden, C. (2009) N-isopropylacrylamide(NIPAAM)-
modified ultrafiltration membranes with bacterial sensing abilities. North American
Membrane Society Annual Conference, Charleston, SC. June 2009.
Gorey C.*, Escobar, I., Zaky, A., and Gruden, C. (2009) N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM)-
modified ultrafiltration membranes with bacterial sensing abilities. American Institute of
Chemical Engineers Annual Conference, Nashville, TN. November 2009.
Gorey C.* (2009) How to effectively engage the next generation in STEM careers. American
Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Conference, Nashville, TN. November 2009.
Gorey, C.*, Escobar, I., and Bothum, G. (2010) N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM) modified
ultrafiltration membranes. National Science Foundation National GK-12 Conference
Graduate Student Poster Session, Washington, D.C. March 2010.
Haponski, A.E.*, Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.*, and Stepien, C.A. (2009) Spatial and temporal
genetic patterns of Lake Erie yellow perch. International Association for Great Lakes
Research, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
Haponski, A.E.*, Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.*, and Stepien, C.A. (2010) Genetic structure of
walleye with fine-scale focus in Lake Erie. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Walleye
and Yellow Perch Task Groups annual meeting, Old Woman Creek, OH. February 2010.
Haponski, A.E.*, Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.*, and Stepien, C.A. (2010) Spatial and temporal
genetic patterns of Lake Erie yellow perch. Ohio Fish and Wildlife Managers
Association Annual Conference, Columbus, OH. February 2010.
Jain, N., DeVanna, K.M.*, Mayer, C.M., and Schloesser, D.W. (2009) Mapping the spatial
relationship of burrowing mayflies and dreissenid mussels in western Lake Erie.
International Association for Great Lakes Research, Toledo, OH. May 2009.

25
Karsiotis, S.R.,* Brown, J.E., Lohner, R., and Stepien, C.A. (2009) Salinity tolerance of the
exotic round goby: Experimental implications for seawater ballast exchange.
(first author in undergrad GK-12 high school student)
Kolinski, C.** and Gorey, C.* (2009) Teaching Science to Make Good Citizens. International
Association for Great Lakes Research, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
Lohner, R.N. and Stepien, C.A. (2009) Developing an environmental science learning
community at the land-lake ecosystem interface. International Association for Great
Lakes Research, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
Lohner, R.N., Stepien, C.A., Moorhead, D.L., Bridgeman, T.B., Fisher, T.G., and Gruden,
C.L. (2009) Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An
Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface.
Penamon, W.A., and Mentzer, G.C. (2009) The Role of Mentoring in Promoting Positive
Attitudes of Minority Students Towards STEM Careers. International Association for
Great Lakes Research annual meeting, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.* and Stepien, C.A. (2009) Genetic structure of Great Lakes yellow
perch: A landscape genetic approach. International Association for Great Lakes Research
annual meeting, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.* and Stepien, C.A. (2009) Genetic structure of Lake Erie yellow perch:
A landscape genetic approach to test management unit congruency. University of Toledo
chapter of Sigma Xi annual conference, Toledo, OH. October 2009.
Sepulveda Villet, O.J.* and Stepien, C.A. (2010) Population genetic basis for Lake Erie yellow
perch stock structure and management units. Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC)
Lake Erie Walleye and Yellow Perch Task Groups Annual Meeting, Old Woman Creek,
OH. February 2010.
Sepulveda Villet, O.J.* and Stepien, C.A. (2010) Population genetic structure of Lake Erie
yellow perch using high-resolution microsatellite markers. Lake Erie Inland Waters
Annual Research Review Meeting 2010, Columbus, OH. January 2010.
Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.* and Stepien, C.A. (2010) Population genetic basis for Lake Erie yellow
perch stock structure and management units. Ohio Fish and Wildlife Managers
Association annual meeting, Columbus, OH. February 2010.
Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.* and Stepien, C.A. (2010) Fine-scale population genetic structure of
Lake Erie yellow perch: Any relation to management units? Lake Erie Millennium
Network Conference, Windsor, CA. April 2010.
Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.* and Gorey, C.* (2010) Graduate research at the land-lake ecosystem
interface at the University of Toledo. National Science Foundation National GK-12
Confererence, Washington, D.C., March 2010.
Singler, K.** and DeVanna, K.M.* (2009) Engaging high school students in field research:
Comparing two years of water quality data for the Ottawa River. International
Association for Great Lakes Research, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
Stepien, C.A., Bridgeman, T.B., Fisher, T.G., Gruden, C.L., Lohner, R.N., and Moorhead,
D.L. (2010) Graduate teaching fellows in STEM high school education: An
environmental science learning community at the land-lake ecosystem interface.
National Science Foundation National GK-12 Conference, Washington, D.C. March
2010.

26
Stepien, C.A., Bogue, M.**, Cole, P.**, Fisher, T.G., Gorey, C.*, Gruden, C.L., and
Haponski, A.E.* (2010). Fellow, Teacher, and PI’s Dos and Don’ts for GK-12
programs: Expectations and reality. National Science Foundation National GK-12
conference. Washington, D.C. March 2010
Stepien, C.A., Bridgeman, T.B., Fisher, T.G., Gruden, C.L., Lohner, R.N., and Moorhead,
D.L. (2010) Graduate teaching fellows in STEM high school education: An
environmental science learning community at the land-lake ecosystem interface. Lake
Erie Millennium Network Conference, Windsor, CA, April 2010.
Wilson, W.** and Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.* (2009) Sixteen Years of Water Quality Monitoring:
Shantee Creek at Roy C. Start High School. International Association for Great Lakes
Research annual meeting, Toledo, OH. May 2009.
SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES/PRESENTATIONS 2009 – 2010 (N=15)
Banda, J.A.* (2010) Introduction to fish biology and identification of Great Lakes fish. Toledo
Early College High School, Toledo, OH. April 2010.
Barnswell, K.D. (2010) Waste management using landfills. Northview High School, Sylvania,
OH. February 2010.
Bodamer, B.L.* (2010) Thinking outside the Hach Kit: Implementing water quality in real-
world research. Toledo Early College High School, Toledo, OH. March 2010.
Crail, T.D.* (2009) Farmertodd Institute for Senior Hiatus (FISH). Field trip with high school
Seniors during their Senior Projects to understand local fish ecology. Toledo, OH, May
2009.
Crail, T.D.* (2009) See Real Live Fish Up Close – the Field Trip! Steps For Kids, Ann Arbor,
MI, July 2009.
Crail, T.D.* (2009) Meet Your Stream – Fishes of the Maumee River. Field trip with the
Maumee Valley Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Grand Rapids, OH,
August 2009.
Crail, T.D.* (2009) Meet Your Stream – Fishes and Mussels of the River Raisin. Field trip with
the Toledo Naturalists Association, Toledo, OH, August 2009.
Crail, T.D.* (2009) The Secret Sex Lives of Unionid Mussels. Student Watershed Watch 2009
Keynote Speaker, Toledo, OH, November 2009.
Crail, T.D.* (2009) The Secret Sex Lives of Unionid Mussels. Royal Oak Nature Society,
Royal Oak, MI, December 2009.
Crail, T.D.* (2010) Enhancing Environmental Education and Careers: Restoration Project for
the Ottawa River at the University of Toledo. Toledo Early College High School, Toledo,
OH, monthly January - May 2010.
Crail, T.D. * (2010) Ecological dimension and adaptation of fish community in Ten Mile Creek.
Lourdes College, Sylvania, OH, March 2010.
Crail, T.D. * (2010) Interviewed on Environmentally Sound with Larry Burns. WJR760 April
27, 2010.
DeVanna, K.M.* (2010) Analyzing Environmental Data, Toledo Early College High School,
Toledo, OH. March 2010.
Gorey, C.*, (2010) Engineering Disasters, Scott High School, Toledo, OH. February 2010.
Haponski, A.E.* (2010) What is a geneticist? Roy C. Start High School, Toledo, OH. February
2010.

Appendix 2. LEC GK-12 2010 Poster Show Presentations
Authors School Title # Minorities
Shelton, McGee Bowsher The Effects of Plants on the Drainage of a Landfill Cover 1
Gasser, Northrup Northview Affects of Caffeine on the Human Heart Rate and Temperature 0
Rossler, Yeager Northview An Examination of the Water Quality of Ten Mile Creek 0
Mitchell Ottawa Hills Bacteria Growth and Cleaning Products 0
Burns Ottawa Hills Can you fry an egg on the sidewalk? 0
Jenkins Ottawa Hills Liquid Light 1
Hargrove-Barfield Ottawa Hills What Kills Bacteria? 0
Wolff Ottawa Hills Soybeans: Genetically Modified vs. Organic 0
Isenberg Ottawa Hills The Biodegradability of Disposable Drinkware 0
Bodziak III Ottawa Hills Underclocking 0
Bhatt Ottawa Hills Which Brand Pops the Most at a Lower Price? 1
Pryor, Lucas Scott The effect of woody debris on sediment processing 2
Sharp Scott The effect of sediment removal on the shape of the channel 1
Jaynes Scott The effect of plants on the amount of erosion from a system 1
Rowser Scott Two Riffles at Highland Park – Swan Creek 1
McKinney, Dixon Scott The effect of plant diversity on the amount of erosion from a system. 2
Sanders Scott Stream table model - the effects of human influence on stream processes… 1
Cole St. John's Influence of Road Salt on Water Quality at the St. John’s Jesuit High School Wetland 0
Petkovska Start Environmentally impacted water and its effect on humans 0
Scisson, Hyttenhove Start What is the water quality of two urban ponds? 0
Mathis Start Benefits of breakfast on human health 1
Najjar, Spencer TECHS Otter Creek and The Sunoco Refinery 0
Casano TECHS Did Modifications to the Ottawa River Change the Fish Population? 1
Bousonville, Haley TECHS Differences between Toledo Metroparks and Toledo City Parks 0
Smith TECHS Hecklinger Pond vs. Maumee Bay 0
Parga, Catchings TECHS Is Bottled Water Worth the Cost? 0
James, Beatty TECHS Lake Goshorn Water Quality Study 0
Finch, Jacobs, Morehead,
Nunez, Torres, Thomas,
Valentine TECHS Rural vs. Urban water quality in the Ottawa River 6

Gk 12 eval report 2010

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