Aquatic Macroinvertebrates - Indicators of Montana Stream Health
In this session, participants will engage in a live macroinvertebrate sample! Background information including how aquatic macroinvertebrates indicate stream health and how to collect your own sample will be part of the session. The session will focus on how the study of macroinvertebrates creates connections between science content and our environment. Help your students connect to the outdoors and understand environmental health with hands-on inquiry!
Handouts & Resources
Chris Pavlovich
Director of Program Services and Evaluation, Ripple: The Center for Education and Ecosystem Studies. Affiliate Faculty, Master of Science in Science Education Department, Montana State University.
Chris Pavlovich holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction and a Master of Science in Science Education awarded by Montana State University. She served as a 5th grade teacher for 14 years in Livingston, Montana. Chris founded Watershed Warriors, a place-based, interdisciplinary watershed education program based on a mission of stewardship, application, and access. Her goal in science education is to engage teachers and students in place-based, project-based pedagogies to decrease the border between science and classrooms. She holds steadfast that science education is for all. She was named 2022 Montana Environmental Education Association Formal Educator of the Year; awarded the 2022 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators; awarded the Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award for Excellence in Indian Education in 2021; awarded Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching in 2020; recognized by the Montana Science Teachers Association in 2018 for Distinguished Service to Science Education; named Montana Watershed Teacher of the Year by the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program in 2017; and awarded Montana Educator of the Year by the American Fisheries Society in 2013.
Teal Taylor
Field Coordinator, Ripple: The Center for Education & Ecosystem Studies
I was born and raised in Butte, MT, a town built on mining that started in the 1860s. I continued my education at Montana Tech, obtaining my bachelor’s in Organismal Biology in the fall of 2019. During this time, I would intern with Ripple, where my love of environmental science would begin. I got a full-time position with Ripple in the spring of 2021 in the position I reside in now. This position encouraged me to start a master’s program at Montana State University focusing on Land Resources and Environmental Sciences in the fall of 2022. Within my position with Ripple, I travel to schools in the Clark Fork Watershed above Missoula and administer several environmental education programs. All these programs are based on placed-based environmental focuses within our superfund and surrounding areas. Having a program created from the superfund actions and operating within one of the largest superfunds in the United States. This creates many opportunities for environmental education and awareness opportunities.