Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Community, Conservation & Citizen Science | Page 8

Nicole Weber, Ph.D., Associate
Professor and Program Director Science
in Education program, Lesley Graduate
School of Education, will mentor a
graduate research assistant and author
a case study of the Consecration Dell
woodland restoration project.
where ALL children feel empowered and supported to
engage in STEM-based careers and sustainable solutions.”
In another upcoming program this summer, teenage
youth from the Mass Audubon Habitat Trekkers program
will have a chance to work alongside researchers this
summer in four day-long programs. Additionally, Lesley
community arts graduate Laura Katherine will work with
Rauchwerk starting in the fall of 2017 to extend the
Wonder Lab offerings and start a homeschool program for
children ages 6 to 16 that supports citizen science research
and education outreach at Mount Auburn.
Rauchwerk will collaborate with Associate Professor
Nicole Weber on the assessment of education materials and
citizen science curriculum efforts. Weber, who directs the
Science in Education Graduate Program and co-directs the
EcoNet Lab with Rauchwerk at Lesley, has broad experience
ranging from researching monkeys to teaching high school.
For this project, she will work to create design-centered case
studies with local teachers and graduate students to capture
the nuances of real-world data, systems thinking, and creative
solution brainstorming for teachers to utilize as learning
tools for their classrooms. The first case-study will focus on
Consecration Dell, the site of a 20-year native woodland
restoration project at Mount Auburn.
6 | Sweet Auburn
For the education side of the project, the long-term goal
is to develop visitor-accessible materials that contribute
to monitoring the biodiversity of the Cemetery. Lesley
faculty are highly experienced in field research, teach-
ing, and mentoring citizen scientists, and will collaborate
with Mount Auburn staff on programs and activities that
increase visitor confidence, knowledge, skills, and literacy in
science. Both Rauchwerk and Weber will collaborate with
Assistant Professor Jeffrey Perrin, a social science researcher
who teaches psychology and applied therapies. Perrin will
survey visitors for their usage, attitudes, and perceptions
of the environment to help Mount Auburn better design
its educational materials. His work will also contribute to
the growing literature on how nature impacts people in
different areas, urban and otherwise.
On the urban ecology side of the project, four Lesley
scientists will collect and analyze data on insects (pollinators
and ants), bats, birds, air, and water, and will collaborate with
Mount Auburn staff and wildlife consultants to analyze
previously collected data on birds, amphibians, fish, and
reptiles. With the combined results, the team will make
recommendations for restoring habitat, develop protocols
for monitoring biodiversity, and provide more content for
educational materials.
Jeffrey Perrin, Ph.D., Assistant
Professor of Psychology, Lesley College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will
survey visitors for their attitudes,
perceptions, and usage of Mount
Auburn.