An Interview with Meggie Harvey, Science Curriculum Specialist at Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI)
Who does GMRI offer programs and resources to?
Through all of our programming, we provide resources to both educators and students throughout Maine. Some of our programs serve New Hampshire as well. All of our resources are designed for middle school students, grades 5 through 8, that can be modified for elementary or high school.
What topics do the GMRI educational resources cover?
GMRI resources cover climate change, local ecosystems, authentic science investigations, data literacy, and science writing.
When not restricted by the pandemic, we offer LabVenture!, a 2.5-hour field trip experience for 5th and 6th graders across the state at our lab in Portland. We offer LabVenture free of charge and provide bussing at no cost. As a result of the pandemic, we have suspended in-person visits through December. Instead, we have shifted LabVenture to an online experience, facilitated by our team, that runs in 45-minute sessions for 5 straight days. We run a Citizen Science program through which students can contribute to active research efforts investigating changes to local ecosystems in the context of climate change. We provide curriculum and professional development to support teachers in carrying out these projects with students in their own communities. We also offer curriculum and professional development to teachers around Findings from the Field, a peer-reviewed middle school journal of scientific investigations and observations. We convene regional teacher communities in rural areas across the state, through which middle school teachers deepen their science practices through ongoing sharing of resources and reflection.
