The success of the EDGE project can be attributed to the enthusiastic input from several people.
Principal Investigators
Dr. Cathy Connor is a Professor of Geology at the Department Natural Sciences and in the Environmental Science Program at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), where she teaches several undergraduate courses. Dr. Connor's research interests are primarily in the fields of quaternary geology and paleoecology; regional Alaskan geology; glaciology; neotectonic processes and geoscience education. She is an affiliate director for the Alaska Space Grant Program. Dr. connor is a recepient of research grants from NSF, NOAA, US EPA, National Park Service, Alaska Department of Education and other state agencies.
Dr. Anupma Prakash is an Associate Professor at the Geophysical Institute, University
of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). Her research focus is on remote sensing - GIS based mapping of land surface composition and change. She teaches post-secondary courses in remote sensing and GIS at the Department of Geology and Geophysics, UAF. She has received research funding from NASA, NSF, BLM, MMS and State industries. Dr. Prakash is involved in conducting teacher training, K12 and post-secondary curriculum
development, and making science data and research results accessible to all audiences. More information on her research and teaching is available at
https://anupma-prakash.github.io/.
Education Evaluator
Marla Brownlee is an Assistant Professor of Education
at UAS, Juneau. She formulated the evaluation and assessment plan for the EDGE project. Feedback from Brownlee's summative evaluations from year one served as a baseline data to compare data for subsequent years. She also brought in funding support for the EDGE project through the partnership grant from the Alaska Department of Education. Dr. Brownlee is currently involved with education outreach for the Alaska Sea Grant Program.
Logistics Manager
Dr. Rosemary Walling is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Science at UAS, Juneau. She teaches undegraduate courses in physics, astronomy and algebra at UAS. Dr. Walling coordinated the logistics for the EDGE project, including but not limited to organization of flight bookings, fieldwork, boarding and lodging, and official clearances. She also assisted with teh computational needs of the participants.
Guest Lecturers
Richard Carstensen is a naturalist at Discovery Southeast, a nonprofit science K-12 education center in Juneau, Alaska. He led EDGE teachers on a half day fieldtrip across an extensive local salt marsh. Carstensen utilized a PDA linked to a GPS using blue-tooth technology to annotate GIS maps in the field using ArcPAD software. He taught EDGE teachers how to map salt marsh vegetation and tie the plant elevations to tidal levels. You can read more about his organization at
http://www.discoverysoutheast.org/
Kathleen Galau, and EDGE teacher from the 2006-2007 cohort, is a science teacher at Floyd Dryden Middle School in Juneau. During 2006-2007 she helped to train the EDGE middle school children. With the EDGE training and an additional grant from the Juneau School District, Kathleen has trained over 500 eigth grade students in the use ArcGIS software package for mapping Mendenhall glacier retreat and the effect of this retreat on the local black bear population and distribution.
Dr. Rudiger Gens is a Remote
Sensing Scientist at the Alaska Satellite Facility at UAF. His research
specialization is in the processing and applications of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Interferometric
SAR data. For the EDGE project he introduced the teachers to active remote sensing and showed them a variety of applications of SAR imagery for mapping and change detection in Alaska. More information on the research and teaching of Dr. Gens is available at
https://rudigens.github.io/
Matt Heavner is an Associate Professor of physics in the Natural Sciences Department at UAS. He teaches undergraduate courses in physics, atmospheric science, and planetary science, and is funded by the AK Dept of Fish and Game, NASA, and NOAA to involve undergraduates in research around Southeast Alaska. Dr. Heavner shared his knowledge of wireless sensor networks on glaciers to monitor glacier dynamics with EDGE teachers.
Eran Hood is an Associate Professor of hydrology in the Environmental Science program at UAS. His research interests are in watershed-scale biogeochemistry, nutrient cycling in aquatic systems, alpine hydrology, snow hydrology and snow chemistry. Dr. Hood shared his glacier research with EDGE teachers as they trekked across the Mendenhall Glacier.
Dr. Sonia Nagorski is an Assistant Research Professor of Hydrology at UAS, Juneau. Her research interest is in water quality issues and watershed monitoring. She was the EDGE lead instructor for the field trips to Montana Creek where teachers collected field data on channel area, stream velocity, and calculated stream discharge values. Teachers also learned how to calibrate and measure for turbidity using a HACH turbidity meter.
Staff and Teaching Assistants
Barbara Coate works in the Juneau School District as an aide and teacher. She was one of the EDGE participants in the 2006-2007 cohort of teachers. Having already received EDGE training and being located in Juneau, Barbara was readily available to help with the August student workshop. She also helped the EDGE program with her involvement in the March EDGE symposium for the students and the Southeast Alaska Science Fair.
Ed Knuth, a UAS graduate student, was the first teaching assistant for the EDGE program from 2005 through 2006. He worked for the GINA facility at UAS and provided GIS tech support to teachers and students. He was also responsible for setting up the computer lab, making timely data back-ups, and accompanying the participants for the various field trips. Ed was always there to give advice on where to find the best food in Juneau.
Kelly Lawrence graduated with a B.S. in geology from University Northern Colorado, Greely in 2005 and was an exchange student to UAS in 2005-2006. Her main role in the EDGE project was to help teachers with GIS questions during the GIS lab sessions. She also accompanied the teachers to the field trips and helped with logistics, lab preparation, field instrument maintenance and many unexpected duties as assigned.
Tom McKenna is a fifth grade teacher at Harborview Elementary in Juneau. He has worked for many years in developing better technology for teaching through the Professional Education Center at the UAS Department of Education. Tom documented the EDGE project efforts through a daily journal (available on the teachers workshop section of this site) and through high quality photos and video.
Kathy Smikrud is a fisheries graduate student from UAS who works part-time as the manager of the geospatial research laboratory for the Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) facility at UAS. She also works part-time for Alaska Fish and Game, Juneau. For the EDGE project she provided technincal support to the teachers helping them acquire satellite images, aerial photos, vector data for their GIS projects.
Web Site Credits
All EDGE participants, directly or indirectly, provided the content and photographs that populate the EDGE website. The web site was conceptualized, structured, and compiled by
Anupma Prakash. Credits for the web layout, cascading style sheets, 508 compliance, and XHTML validation for the site goes to
Rudiger Gens. Header graphics were designed by geoscience education outreach media specialist Steve McClung.
