The mission of GLBRC Education & Outreach is to inform a variety of audiences about bioenergy research, energy concerns, and sustainability issues affecting our planet.  Our goal is to broaden the understanding of current issues in bioenergy for the general public,  students, and educators at the K-16 levels.   We place a strong emphasis on the use of critical thinking, quantitative reasoning and systems-based logic.  Because bioenergy research and development are extremely important contemporary issues, Education & Outreach uses a variety of programs and events to present research from GLBRC labs in a way that is accessible and interesting to a broad array of audiences. GLBRC Education & Outreach resources and projects include:

• Inquiry-based bioenergy classroom activities for K-16 education
• Libraries of information on bioenergy, energy and sustainability
• Summer undergraduate research programs
• Summer Research Experience for Teachers
• Public speaking engagements
• Collaboration with existing education and outreach programs that address bioenergy and related issues

John Greenler works on GLBRC education and outreach efforts with a diversity of audiences including formal and informal educators, the general public, legislators and scientists. Greenler completed his Ph.D. studies here at UW-Madison in Plant Molecular Biology. He has worked on a number of national education programs including the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium and Wisconsin Fast Plants; and taught at Beloit College as faculty in the Biology Department.

Prior to working with GLBRC, Sara Krauskopf spent 11 years teaching high school biology and environmental science, earning an Herb Kohl Teaching Fellowship in 2005.  She received her B.A. in Biology from Carleton College and an M.S. in Science Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her career she has worked in curriculum and teacher development programs both in Wisconsin and Latin America.  Contact her with any questions regarding GLBRC’s K-12 Education and Outreach programs.

[View a printable version of this information]