Half-Earth Map Design Challenge

Attendees will participate in a hands-on mapping design challenge centered on the grand global challenge of saving the Earth’s biodiversity. Students are introduced to the principle of Half-Earth, conceived by the late American biologist E.O. Wilson and adopted by a new generation of scientists and conservationists who conclude that we must set aside half of Earth’s land and seas for nature to maintain biodiversity and ensure the long-term health of our planet. Using authentic data, students are challenged to consider current land use in the U.S. when identifying land for conservation.

Linda Rost

Linda Rost is the 2020 Montana Teacher of the Year and a national finalist. She teaches science at Baker High School in Baker, MT. In her seventeen-year career, twenty-six of her students have competed at national or international science competitions. Rost obtained a B.S. from New Mexico State University, an M.Ed. and M.S. from Montana State University, and a PhD from Texas Tech University. She is a three-time winner of the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Teacher Award, a four-time Continental Cares grant recipient, and the 2016 National Vernier Engineering Contest winner. In 2023, she received the NEA Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award for Montana, the Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award for Excellence in Indian Education, and is finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. She lives on a cattle and poultry ranch in Baker, MT with her husband and three children.