Connecting to STEM Through Food Justice

at the UNCP Campus Garden & Apiary

Rita Hagevik and Courtney Moore, Josh Perry, Brittany Stokes

Biology Department, UNC - Pembroke

Pembroke, NC, USA

Purposeis to raise awareness of traditional foods and native agriculture and to create a link between nutrition, health and spirituality through Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education

Goals and Purpose of the UNCP Campus

Garden & ApiaryGoals

of the UNCP Campus Garden & Apiary are three fold

and include:

Education, Outreach, and Research

What does the literature say?

1. In order for AI/AN students to “see” themselves in STEM careers, traditional knowledge must be acknowledged and honored THE SAME as Western science.

2. Personal science connections are important for ALL students.

3. You need a caring committed team of individuals in STEM. Strong Native community participation (elders, parents, and community resources) is equally important.

4. Focusing on Native Science and teaching Western formal science so that students become well versed in both may be key to creating more interest in STEM fields and STEM careers within AI/AN communities (ex. gourds – native artists, native nature crafting, growing and eating foods that taste like a place, preserve seed stock and seed exchanges, ethnomedicine, ethnostoriesaround food, indigenous agriculture – indigenous techniques).

Background – UNC Pembrokea unique place in the world

• Campus Garden & Apiary is a part of the University which is the only four year public university in the US that was established for American Indians by American Indians.

• The land is connected to the Lumber River and the traditions of the Lumbee tribe. 85% of Robeson County is in agriculture.

• 85% of protected lands in the world are managed by indigenous peoples who have a unique and deep connection to the earth as a way of being.

• Connecting Western Science to Native Ways has become a priority for many governments and scientists.

Where is the Garden & Apiary

• 1/3 of an acre at the Pine Cottage facility on campus

• 9 honey bee hives

• 4 native bee houses

• 59 raised garden beds

• Herb garden, tea garden, three sisters garden, vegetables

• 3 compost bins

• Gourd/pumpkin/squash trellis

• Pollinator-Wildflower garden – sunflower and clover areas

• Managed meadow

• Blueberry/strawberry/blackberries

How is the Garden & Apiary Managed?

• Faculty advisors – Dr. Rita Hagevik (Biology-Garden/STEM), Dr. Kaitlin Campbell (Biology – Apiary), Dr. Martin Farley (Geology –Pollen), Dr. Jesse Rouse (Geography - Drones and GIS), Dr. Grant Pilkay (Biosensors, Entomology) – new faculty hires in plant biology/horticulture and in animal science in Biology Department.

• UNCP Students manage the Garden & Apiary

• Garden & Apiary Manager – Courtney Moore

• Garden & Apiary Interns – Josh Perry

• Science Education Graduate Student – Brittany Stokes

• Garden & Apiary Volunteers through UNCP Serve

Activities in the Garden & Apiary

OUTREACH EVENTS – Brittany Stokes

• HOLIDAY IN THE GARDEN – SPRINGTIME IN THE

GARDEN

• GARDEN VOLUNTEERS – UNCP SERVE

• BEE PRODUCTS FOR SALE

• POLLINATOR OUTREACH BOOTH

• BEE KEEPING DEMONSTRATIONS

• GARDEN & APIARY TOURS – TELL INDIGINEOUS

STORIES AND SHOW WAYS OF GROWING FOOD

• WORKSHOPS ABOUT POLLINATORS AND PLANTS

AND BEES THAT ARE CULTURALLY RELEVANT

Activities in the Garden & ApiaryKids in the Garden Program

Josh Perry

Establish learning

communities – scientist in

residence program

Engage students in STEM

experiences in natural

settings

Cultural connections and

focus on sustainability

Individual research

Science journals

Visit other universities

Embedded college and career

program

Science presentations and

competitions

Elementary program (4 & 5th grades) and Middle and High School program

BEEKEEPING AT THE SUMMER CAMP

Farm Tours and Interviews

Flying Drones and Aerial Photographs

The Magic of Microscopes

Regional Science Fair

Five Regional Entries (2 yrs)

Two HS 1st Place Winners (Biology)

One HS 2nd Place

One MS 1st Place Winner (Technology)

Best overall Regional Science Fair

State (NC)

One 1st Place Winner (Biology)

Students Present Their Research at Science Meetings

Scientific Meetings

Six Poster Presentations:

NC Academy of Science

2017, 2018 -One Poster each

Association of Southeastern

Biologists 2018 –

Four Posters

Edgardo Lara and Daniel Zavala, West Bladen HS

NC Academy of Science

Annual Meeting High Point Univ. 2017

Region 4 Science Fair

Research in Campus Garden & ApiaryCourtney Moore

Why are pollinators important?

Reproduction of flowering plants

Our food supply:

Every third bite you eat can be attributed

directly to a pollinator, mainly bees

Many crops depend solely on bees for

pollination e.g. almonds, apples, oranges,

cherries, grapefruit, tomatoes

Wildflowers (ecosystems depends on it)

Research in the UNCP Garden & Apiary

•Native bee biodiversity• Floral resource use• Twig nesting bees• Change over time• Habitat use

•Honey bee research• Bee health• Pollen collection• Parasites• Pollen in Honey

Garden= 14 sampling points

UNCP

Lawn= 14 sampling points

UNCP

Four Citizen Science Projects

• Public participation to answer scientific questions or to gather data

•All age groups

•Will involve: People who want to help!

•May involve• Smart phone technology• Submission of images or data• Communication directly with scientists• Training in identification• Little time or lots of time

Value of Citizen Science

•Gets people outside

•Conservation

•Scientific literacy

•Demystifies science

•Encourages inquiry

• Interaction with scientists

•Culturally Relevant and Place-Based

Native Bee Housesnative bee network (crownbees.org)• Set out bee houses

• Document location

• Identification stickers

The Great Pumpkin Project

• http://studentsdiscover.org/lesson/the-great-pumpkin-project/

•Documenting insects and microbes of cucurbits (squashes, cucumbers)

• Focus on bacterial wilt disease

• Inspection for beetles and diseases, 10 minute observations

The Great Pumpkin Project

The Great Pumpkin Project

Bumblebee Watchbumblebeewatch.org

Xerces Society

Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection;

Identify the bumble bees in your photos and have your identifications verified by experts;

Help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees;

Help locate rare or endangered populations of bumble bees;

Learn about bumble bees, their ecology, and ongoing conservation efforts; and

Connect with other citizen scientists

Why Important?

• All minority groups are underrepresented in STEM careers.

• AI/ANs are numerically and systematically underrepresented.

• Only one in 150 students who graduate with a Bachelor’s

degree in science and engineering is AI/AN (National Science Foundation,

2010 and 2011).

• In 2012 only 48 doctorates in the engineering and science

fields were awarded to AI/AN doctoral students. The

numbers are decreasing (0.3% to 0.5% previous 20 years).

• Indigenous peoples are the caretakers of the Earth. To

advance changes in employment in the United States and in

Native Nations, more AI/AN students will have to go into

STEM fields.

Traditional Ways of Knowing and STEM

• Develop Indigenous culturally-based STEM curriculum

that use an American Indian tradition as a focal context.

Ex. The snow snake curriculum was the result of a very

thoughtful collaboration between the people of the

White Earth Nation and the University of Minnesota.

• Tell Native stories about food, farms, flowers, and

pollinators. Incorporate coding activities like code a

story.

• Continue to conduct interviews of farmers and use aerial

photographs to use maps to tell stories –story maps.

AcknowledgementsAll the elementary, high school and middle school students

Faculty: Dr. Martin Farley, Dr. Kaitlin Campbell, Dr. Grant Pilkay,

Dr. Jeffery Warren, Dr. Debby Hanmer, Dr. Lisa Kelly, Dr. Ben Bahr,

Krissy Smith

Undergraduate Students: Courtney Moore, Brandon Le, Brandon Herron,

Ronald Woodson, Sally Conner, Abigail Canela, Joshua Perry, Cody

Eubanks

Staff and Graduate Students: Brittany Stokes, Anastasia Oxendine

Local Farmers, Beekeepers, Community Leaders: Connie and Millard

Locklear, Appin Bees, Ed Hunt, Project ACCESS, Myia Reyes, Mary Ann

Jacobs, Rita Locklear, Dr. Connie Locklear, School System Partners

Primary Funding: Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, Duke Energy,

UNC-Pembroke, BIOTECH Center at COMtech, Robeson County Farm

Bureau, Bayer Bee Care, BASF

Rita Locklear

Questions?

Contact Information:

Rita Hagevik -

rita.hagevik@uncp.edu

Facebook: @UNCPCampusGarden

Instagram: uncpcampusgarden

Twitter: @UNCPGarden

http://serve.uncp.edu/agency/detail/?agency_id=27454

https://www.uncp.edu/departments/biology/campus-garden-apiary

https://www.uncp.edu/departments/biology/campus-garden-apiary/kids-garden-

program