Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Community, Conservation & Citizen Science | Page 7

Susan Rauchwerk, Ed.D., Associate
Professor, Elementary Education, Lesley
Graduate School of Education, will
serve as the A. J. & M. D. Ruggiero
Memorial Trust Educator-in-
Residence in year one.
with educational materials and new programs; and engage
the public through tours and citizen science initiatives.
“Lesley’s approach to urban ecology is in step with
the latest strategies of educating people about their local
environment,” says Associate
Professor Dave Morimoto, who
is currently writing a book on
human interactions with the
natural environment. “In the
past, researchers were focused on
cities and pristine environments
exclusive of each other, but now,
more researchers are looking at
both together. With 80 percent
of the world’s population
currently living in urban areas,
places such as Mount Auburn
offer us the opportunity to
learn more about how to sustain
a healthy ecosystem for both
people and wildlife.”
In support of both the
Friends of Mount Auburn’s
Wildlife Action Plan and
their educational mission, the
grant has established the A. J.
& M. D. Ruggiero Memorial
Educator-in-Residence position
for a two-part project, covering
education and public outreach
related to the environment
and conservation on the one
side, and specific initiatives in the Wildlife Action Plan
and urban ecology on the other. Associate Professor Susan
Rauchwerk, who specializes in informal science education
and research, is currently serving as the first Educator-
in-Residence. She is working in collaboration with staff
members Jessica Bussmann, Director of Education & Visitor
Services, and Bree Harvey, Vice President of Cemetery
& Visitors Services, to develop programs that will best
support and expand Mount Auburn’s education efforts.
So far, Lesley University scientists and education
researchers have met and reviewed existing research
projects with Paul Kwiatkowski, Mount Auburn’s Wildlife
Conservation & Sustainability Manager, to create an
overarching plan for the Cemetery with team partnerships
of site-specific scientists, educators, and community interest
groups. Rauchwerk participated in a spotted-salamander
data collection event and piloted her first educational
materials and approaches with sixteen students from the
Wonder Lab program at Lesley in April (www.lesley.
edu/#WonderLab). In her curriculum, student participants
in grades 1 to 6 will research sites, learn about data collection
and research protocols, try out sampling techniques, meet
with researchers, and observe live amphibian and reptile
species. Education outcomes from this session will guide
the development of a six-day summer program that will be
offered to Wonder Lab students in late August 2017.
Several other groups will be
participating in new programs
at the Cemetery in the coming
year as well. Beginning in
the summer of 2017 and
continuing for the next two
years, staff and participants
from STEAM Beans will
serve as education consultants
piloting a variety of activities.
An educational program for
young African American girls
and their families (www.
steambeans.org), STEAM
Beans is an informal science,
technology, education,
arts, and mathematics (STEAM)
program that runs every other
weekend during the school
year and once per month each
summer, beginning in first grade
with a group of ten children
and their families and
continuing through fifth grade.
Sheila Johnson, the STEAM
Beans director and founder,
will provide input into the
development of a fully inclusive
program that includes family and community. “Mount
Auburn is unique as it offers a rich cultural history that
sustains the stories of African Americans and women
scientists who are resting here,” says Rauchwerk. “The
cemetery offers multiple ways to engage visitors in learning
about diversity and about relationships between humans
and their local environment. STEAM Beans will provide
critical insight and perspective in establishing opportunities
Albert Liau, Assistant Professor,
Biology, Lesley College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences, will te st the air quality
and measure physical features such as
microclimate variation.
2017 Volume 2 | 5