FUTURE EARTH: PLACE BASED EDUCATION AND OUTREACH IN AN ERA OF ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGE

Place-based approaches to geoscience education are advocated as effective in reaching students from a variety of backgrounds. The challenge we face today is how to find ways to make global systemic issues understandable and applicable to a wide diversity of communities starting from local issues and problems. Anthropogenic changes are visible in every local community. Excellent programs that promote exploration of local community issues and resources while incorporating information about global processes and anthropogenic change have begun to be developed and can be used as models for future efforts. Native American communities are at the forefront of the battle for adaptation to global climate change and resiliency in an age of multiple anthropogenic challenges to the environment. The issues that Native communities face, from invasive species to changing forest composition to threats to and loss of traditional ways of life (due to sea level change, loss of Arctic sea ice, or prolonged droughts), can also be seen as opportunities for incorporating place-based research into formal and informal geoscience education. Partnerships that bring together educators from the local communities, university researchers, and scientists involved in local resource management are an excellent starting point for creating effective place-based projects that focus on crucial local issues. Protocols and procedures developed for community-based participatory research can be an excellent roadmap for effective partnerships. In this paper I will discuss anthropogenic impacts seen in Native American communities, STEM education projects that have incorporated information and research on these impacts, and protocols for developing new projects.