A Case for Building a Botany- and Ecosystem-Focused STEM Learning program in NYC

New York, NY

By Diane Tucker

I developed this map series to advance an argument for building a high-quality out-of-school STEM learning program – one employing “active learning” and focused on the ecological and life sciences – in the Bronx. Since access to opportunities to participate in STEM (or other specialized) learning programs is highly uneven for kids in school and even more irregular for people outside of public school programs, a program of this kind could provide a real boon.

The benefits of this program would be manifold. First: by giving people the opportunity to engage with information that is inherently interesting and by ensuring that their learning experiences are shaped in line with (what cognitive science proves) truly engages and teaches learners, this program could foster interest that keeps people of all ages in, or sends them to, school. That is meaningful, when Census data reveals strong links between low educational levels and poverty. This program could also feed, and be fed by, the collection of doctoral programs in the natural and physical sciences in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Learners choosing to pursue advanced education could both contribute to, and be aided by, the region’s deep involvement in research and development. NYC is a leading hub for both innovation and software development – two fields significantly informed by the complex dynamics of real-world ecosystems – while Connecticut and New Jersey are national leaders in pharmaceutical R&D – a field that extracts a great deal of knowledge and material from plants. Even projects requiring more modest levels of expertise and commitment are beneficial to the region and its people. Strengthening the region’s resilience and health are both the salt marshes recently developed on Randall’s Island and the citizen-science projects detecting, in local water bodies, bacteria levels judged problematic by the EPA.

While especially accessible to the dense populations of adults and children in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, the learning fostered by the program would be rendered accessible at low cost, to people throughout NYC and New Jersey thanks to the region’s rich public transportation network. What’s more: given the rich opportunities for people to participate in gardening and environmental restoration and stewardship projects in NYC and New Jersey, this program could itself be an interactive one. It could both advance the skills and addresses the needs of community members that travel to its campus, while also giving those learning on its campus the opportunity to have their learning reinforced through ongoing, active projects in their own home communities.