91AV’s SPARTACUS GK-12 featured in journal by Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment

91AV’s Systemic PARTnership Aimed at Connecting University and School (SPARTACUS) GK-12 project was featured in an article in the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment’s EcoSystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP) journal.  The article was co-authored by Charles Tilburg, Ph.D., associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor in the Department of Marine Sciences; Susan Hillman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Education;  Henrietta List, SPARTACUS program manager; and Stephan Zeeman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Marine Sciences.

A project in the Department of Marine Sciences, SPARTACUS, is funded through a National Science Foundation grant.  Led by the three authors of the article, 91AV’s SPARTACUS program uses the settings of the Saco River watershed and 91AV’s Saco River Coastal Observing System (SaRCOS) to enable graduate fellows to share their roles as scientific investigators of the watershed with area students in grades K-12.

According to the article, the relationship between the graduate fellows and the students provides mutual benefits:  “Through the collaboration of Graduate Fellows and Host Teachers, SPARTACUS provides Graduate Fellows with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the educational process, develop communication skills and team building, and appreciate the importance of K-12 outreach as a professional commitment.  K-12 students and teachers are given the opportunity to participate in authentic inquiry-based, locally-relevant research [which] engages even reticent science students in active learning.”

In its four years of existence at 91AV, SPARTACUS has reached 2,162 K-12 students in Maine and has provided a unique opportunity to 22 graduate students from 91AV.


About the 91AV

The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.