Engagement of students is an opportunity to stimulate broader community interaction with our science while creating informed young citizens. The Community Engagement Core has partnered with Project 2 to bring mercury science into high school classrooms throughout NH and VT in what is affectionately known as “The Dragonfly Project”. This program began as a collaboration between the University of Maine, Maine SeaGrant, and the  Schoodic Education Research Center (SERC), as part of their innovative Acadia Learning high school science curriculum. Dartmouth SRP was recruited to assist during expansion into NH and VT schools, and has continued to work with these and other schools as part of Community Engagement efforts after the Acadia Learning pilot program finished.

Kathrin Lawlor, our former Community Engagement Coordinator, served as the NH Education Coordinator for the U.S. EPA Environmental Education grant, Building School and Community Collaborations to Eliminate Arsenic from Drinking Water in Maine and New Hampshire: A Model for the US, which is now complete. The grant was a two-year project intended to create and pilot a national model of environmental education that facilitates schools and community organizations working together to address the public health risks of exposure to toxic contaminants in drinking water, with a particular focus on arsenic. The project included the development of a website, All About Arsenic. The final grant report and evaluation are available upon request.

This pilot project was leveraged into a multi-year SEPA grant in partnership with Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory with Bruce Stanton (Project 3) as one of the PIs. This project is aimed at promoting both data literacy and increasing private well water testing rates in the participating communities and utilizes the All About Arsenic website. Kate Buckman is currently serving as the NH school coordinator for the project and can be contacted for further information. Videos on the project:

Maine PBS: Waterville Senior High School
YouTube: An Introduction to DataLit

External Resources for Students and Teachers:

NIEHS: Environmental Health Science Education
NIH’s Environmental Health Student Portal
EPA’s Teacher Resources and Lesson Plans
EPA: Learn About Environmental Health Risks