Cuyahoga Valley National Park Welcomes Even More Science Classes with New Grant

[image-1]Cuyahoga Valley National Park is one of only a few beneficiaries of a $1-million grant to kickstart a program called Citizen Science 2.0. The whole point is to get local schools and teachers equipped with the resources to bring students closer to the field through, say, "hands-on scientific study of water quality and watersheds."

Even better: The work that students carry out in places like CVNP will help improve those public lands.

“This represents a great opportunity to augment classroom experience with real world scientific exploration of the watersheds connecting the school yard with their nearby national parks,” according to a public statement from Mary Jo Veverka, president of the Veverka Family Foundation, which provided the grant money. “Students will be tasked with developing actionable programs to improve their local watersheds.”

Here in Northeast Ohio, funding will allow the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park to help conduct work around the Cuyahoga River Watershed. "The program will provide schools with workshops to develop the skills needed to incorporate citizen science into course curricula."

The Citizen Science 2.0 project seems like a big step toward the National Park Foundation’s science education endeavors. And, needless to say, science education funding couldn't come at a more critical time in this country.

Other parks selected as part of this grant are: Cabrillo National Monument, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Rock Creek Park.