GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAMING, INTERNSHIPS, AND STEM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT MARTIN COON CREEK SCIENCE CENTER LAGERSTÄTTE (CRETACEOUS), WESTERN TENNESSEE

The University of Tennessee Martin Coon Creek Science Center (CCSC) is located on the type section locality for the Coon Creek lagerstätte deposit in rural McNairy County Tennessee. The CCSC offers STEM programing for K-16 and public programing that includes a complete array of paleontological experiences from field collection through paleoecological and paleoenvironmental analysis. Standards-based programing is augmented by trained K-12 educators who are trained as teacher interns for the site, along with university-level student interns from across Tennessee. Funding through the Paleontological Society was used to train a staff of ten Tennessee science teachers as CCSC Teacher Interns to develop and use CC fossils to run Standards-based science lessons at the CCSC, regional science teacher meetings, and at their schools. During the summer of 2022, the CCSC partnered with the Museum of Science and History (MoSH) in Memphis, TN and Girls Inc. to run six one-week camps funded by the University of Tennessee Alliance of Women Philanthropists for middle and high school minority girls to introduce them to geology, paleontology, and other STEM career paths. Teacher interns and Girls Inc. participants were immersed in all aspects of paleontological study from field work through final analysis as part of a series of “citizen science” projects on the site. Each week-long camp consisted of up to 20 girls from 8-16 years old. Girls Inc. staff provided programing designed to bolster the girl’s confidence and perceptions of themselves, self-discipline, and communication skills. CCSC teacher and student interns provided programing demonstrating the scientific method, field and laboratory procedures, and STEM career paths. Each camp included an interview of a professional female paleontologist as a positive role model. The girls collected CC sediment and fossils and conducted personal research (identification, taxonomy, paleoecologic and paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and evolutionary history). Open-ended guided-inquiry pedagogies were employed to allow the girls to experience all phases of scientific inquiry. Group posters based upon their research were presented to a younger cadre of Girls Inc. girls as capstone experience. Selected projects will be presented at the Tennessee Academy of Science 2023 meeting.