Kansas science teachers to take part in KU Field Station immersive program June 24–26

Editor's note: Participating teachers list updated 6/20/25

LAWRENCE — Ten secondary school science teachers from Kansas will converge at the University of Kansas Field Station, just north of Lawrence, from June 24-26. They’ll take part in the Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute, an immersive program that gives secondary educators the chance to work with KU scientists to explore resources and gain new ideas for their classrooms. 

“I’m excited for this opportunity to participate because it will expand my knowledge of local ecosystems and connect me with like-minded teachers who share a love for science,” said Renae Link of Baldwin High School, Baldwin City. “My goal is to bring back new, relevant and engaging curriculum that will inspire my students.”

The teachers are the seventh group to take part in the Summer Institute, a program of the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, which manages the Field Station.

Guided by KU researchers, the teachers will participate in hands-on activities aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The activities are designed for sixth- to ninth-grade teachers to take back to their classrooms. 

Each day they will focus on a different Kansas ecosystem: aquatics, prairies and woodlands. The teachers will visit various field sites, including the KU Field Station’s Rockefeller Native Prairie and a stream near Field Station headquarters. They will return to the Field Station’s Armitage Education Center during the afternoons to work indoors.

Activities will include:

• Joining researchers on boats at the KU Field Station’s Cross Reservoir
• Exploring the KU Field Station’s Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve
• Visiting prairies and learning about native plants, pollinators and more
• Investigating relationships among soils, microbes and prairie plants
• Learning about stream ecology
• Engaging with The Virtual Field and other resources to connect students with ecosystems
   

The Summer Institute was created and led for five years by Peggy Schultz, co-leader of the Bever/Schultz Lab at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, and a faculty member in KU’s Environmental Studies Program. She developed the program as an outreach component of a National Science Foundation research grant. 

The program continues with support from the Kansas Biological Survey’s funds at KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Since last year, the Summer Institute has been organized and led by Wendy Holman, education program coordinator for the KU Field Station and a former middle school science teacher. 

“We want to connect teachers with local ecosystems and researchers who study them so that they can bring these firsthand experiences back their classrooms to share with their students,” Holman said. “We also want teachers to be able to take some time to relax, enjoy learning and invest in themselves while feeling appreciated for their hard work and dedication to their students.”

Participants in the program are selected through an application process, with information available on the website of the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research.

Teachers planning to participate this year shared their reasons for applying. 

“I grew up outside and believe that nature teaches us many things not easily learned in a classroom,” said Trey Moss of Highland Park High School in Topeka. “I hope to gain effective ways to share these lessons with my students to make learning a more immersive experience.”

Tyler Balsters, of Campus High School in Wichita, attended and enjoyed a workshop at the KU Field Station last summer. 

“I signed up because I knew this would be relevant to my teaching,” Balsters said. “I’m hoping to gain knowledge and activities that I can use to improve my curriculum for my botany, environmental science and zoology classes. 

“We’re lucky to have a wildlife area near my school with aquatic, prairie and woodland ecosystems. I think this institute will help me improve the outdoor learning experiences I give my students."

Teachers participating in the 2025 Summer Institute are:

• Tyler Balsters, Campus High School, Wichita
• Krystal Elias, Ottawa Middle School, Ottawa
• Darrell Fran, Chase Middle School, Topeka
• Jennifer Godinez, Basehor-Linwood Middle School, Basehor
• Amanda Harra, Olathe West High School, Olathe
• Lauren Johnston, Shawnee Heights High School, Tecumseh
• Renae Linke, Baldwin High School, Baldwin City
• Trey Moss, Highland Park High School, Topeka
• Jessica Pearson, Ottawa Middle School, Ottawa
• Guy Sturdevant, Wichita Northwest High School, Wichita
   

Participating instructors, nearly all based at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research (the research center) are:
 

• Sara Baer, director of the research center and a senior scientist, and KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology
• Debbie Baker, an aquatics researcher at the research center
• Thomas Coole, a technician in the research center’s Lake
• Kristen Baum, director of Monarch Watch, a senior scientist at the research center and KU professor of ecology & evolutionary biology
• Eric Duell, a postdoctoral researcher in the Bever/Schultz Lab at the research center
• Bryan Foster, a senior scientist at the research center, KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and director of the KU Field Station
• Craig Freeman, a senior scientist at the research center and senior curator of KU’s R.L. McGregor Herbarium
• Ted Harris, associate research professor at the research center and head of the Lake Assessment Lab
• Jaide Hawkins, lab manager for the Bever/Schultz Lab
  E.J. Jamison, northeast district forester for the Kansas Forest Service
• Liz Koziol, assistant research professor at the research center
• Terra Lubin, associate curator of the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM), managed by the Bever/Schultz Lab
• Tom McKenna, assistant research professor at the research center 
  Caleb Morse, senior collection manager at KU’s R.L. McGregor Herbarium
• Sheena Parsons, station manager for the KU Field Station
• Angelica Patterson, curator of education and outreach, Miller Worley Center for the Environment, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts Assessment Lab, which focuses on harmful algal blooms
• Peggy Schultz, founder of the Summer Research Institute, co-leader of the Bever/Schultz Lab at the research center, and a faculty member in KU’s Environmental Studies Program

The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, a KU designated research center, houses a diverse group of ecological research and remote sensing/GIS programs on KU’s West Campus in Takeru Higuchi Hall, the Smissman Laboratories building and the West District Greenhouse. The research center also manages the 3,200-acre KU Field Station, a site for study in the sciences, arts and humanities.