USFWS Grant for EnvironMentors Program Curriculum Manual Development

The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) would cooperate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in development of a digitally- disseminated, online version of the EnvironMentors Program (EM) “Coordinator-Teacher Curriculum Manual”. The EM Coordinator/Teacher curriculum would be divided into 9 monthly segments. The curriculum segments would be disseminated to EM Coordinators and Teachers, located at thirteen EM university-based chapters nationwide, on a monthly basis over the course of 2011-12 academic year. The monthly dissemination of the EM Coordinator-Teacher Curriculum content will be accompanied by monthly webinars and conference calls geared to supporting EM Chapter Coordinators and Teachers in implementation of the curriculum at their chapters within their local communities.

The EnvironMentors Program matches minority high school students with college and university faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and science and environmental professionals, in one-to-one mentoring relationships. Working together, students and mentors develop rigorous environmental science research projects over the course of the academic year. This program�s efforts are in alignment with the Secretary of the Interior’s initiative to engage and educate under-represented youth in preparation to become the next generation of conservation professionals.