INS 9-2 - Urban Ecology on a Budget - Using Ecology to engage a diverse array of students at a two-year college

Laboratory activities and research experiences that allow students to engage in hypothesis driven science and participate fully in the scientific process can draw diverse student types into science and increase diversity in STEM. Two-year colleges are primarily teaching institutions, designed to provide an affordable education to the entire community and do not prioritize research in terms of funding or space, making it challenging to provide students research-based experiences. In this talk, I will show you how I have overcome budget limitations to offer my students multiple research experiences in ecology ranging from CUREs to a Community Garden.