For the third year in a row, SPNHC (Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections), iDigBio (Integrated Digitized Biocollections), BLUE (Biodiversity Literacy in Undergraduate Literacy), and QUBES (Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis) were excited to facilitate the Educational Materials Share Session on June 11 as part of the first ever entirely virtual SPNHC conference.
This session offered colleagues the opportunity to present collections-based education or outreach materials, to provide feedback as potential adopters, and to build collaborations between their different institutions. Materials at any stage of development from fledgling ideas to fully vetted activities could take the center stage for discussion. The Educational Materials Share Session concept evolved from the successful model created by Teresa Mourad from the Ecological Society of America.
This year we did things differently in order to optimize the virtual setting. The format was a two hour Zoom session, and in order to fit in all of our presenters, we did rounds of 5-minute lightning presentations followed by a 10-minute panel Q&A. Questions were shared via the chat feature in Zoom and through a working Google Doc. We had three rounds with nine presenters in total introducing undergraduate courses and CURES, educational apps, websites, and much more. Materials from each presenter have been made available ahead through QUBESHub and are listed on the SPNHC website. During the session participants and presenters shared additional resources and offered suggestions for next year in a Google Doc. If you are interested in viewing the session, it was recorded and is available on SPNHC’s YouTube Channel.
The inaugural meeting of the newly developed Educational Committee was led by Anna Monfils and can be found as a recording on the SPNHC YouTube Channel. Goals of the committee include collating education and outreach materials generated by collection staff, curators, and educators, collaborating with other committees such as Professional Development, and proposing short and long-term goals for SPNHC’s educational mission.
Thank you to the organizers and facilitators of this session Jennifer Bauer, Erica Krimmel, Anna Monfils, Molly Phillips, and Julia Robinson. Would you like to help plan next year’s session? Are you interested in getting involved with the SPNHC Education Committee or learning more about the activities as they develop? If yes, please fill out our Google Sheet and share your interests.
