My Public Lands
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329 posts tagged education
Women’s History Month: Janet Ady
March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month, we’ll be highlighting some notable women in BLM. Every day, the women of the Bureau of Land Management help the agency make history and fulfill our multiple-use mission.
Janet Ady is the BLM’s Division Chief of Education and Community Partnerships in Washington, DC and was recently awarded as the Corps Network’s 2019 Federal Champion for her support of opportunities to engage young people in managing our public lands.
As Division Chief, she oversees the BLM’s youth, volunteer, outdoor ethics and interpretation programs across the nation. In addition, she regularly partners with other federal agencies with like responsibilities, plus non-government programs. One big thing that Janet says she’s learned along the way is to keep an eye on the mission and focus on the long-term vision, and not to get buffeted or discouraged by distractions.
Inspired by the on-the-ground efforts to engage and educate members of local communities across the nation, Janet has dedicated her career to strengthening education and community partnership programs across the BLM. When asked about her favorite part of her job, Janet says, “I really enjoy working with really motivated, talented, creative people who are excited about what they do. Sharing a vision with such capable individuals can make things happen and together accomplish our goals. Personally, connecting to public lands myself is fun!”
Getting young people involved in citizen science is also a priority for Janet. “The integration of education and youth engagement with our work can be really powerful, and something that I’m always trying to facilitate or promote. Since many women have historically been the educators and teachers, it’s also important to recognize their role in citizen science.” According to Janet, a woman, Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey, created the first ever field guide to birds and and encouraged youth and women “citizen scientists” to contribute bird observation data to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Janet says it is important for her to understand the history of youth education and community engagement efforts, especially recognizing the women trailblazers of the natural science world.
National Fossil Day on the Mall
A few BLM employees spent Wednesday, October 3 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. sharing information about BLM-managed lands and paleontology. Throughout the day they spoke with children, adults and representatives of the BLM’s partner organizations about importance of public lands in preserving paleontological information for future generations.
The event occurred just outside of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, an ideal location to catch school groups visiting museums and other iconic D.C. sites. BLM employees shared a cast of a Teratophoneus fossil skull found on BLM-managed lands in Southern Utah and had a fossil puzzle for attendees to try. Nayethzi Hernandez, an intern with the BLM’s National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships from Hinckley Institute of Politics, helped at the National Fossil Day Event. When asked about her experience, she said, “I was surprised by the range in ages of attendees and the breadth of their knowledge about paleontology. This event created a space for attendees to share a common interest and discuss questions they about fossils, dinosaurs, and public lands.”
Many of the BLM’s partner organizations attended the event, including the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. In addition to these federal agencies, the BLM works with museums, academic institutions, and state agencies to help protect and interpret fossil discoveries. Public lands provide an outdoor laboratory for professional and citizen scientists to explore the natural world and learn about earth history.
To find out more about the BLM’s paleontology program and significant finds, visit the BLM’s paleontology program webpage.
Happy National Fossil Day!
National Fossil Day is a celebration highlighting the scientific and educational value of paleontology and the importance of preserving fossils. Held during Earth Science Week each October, National Fossil Day gives the BLM an opportunity to share the role public lands play in preserving prehistoric resources for present and future generations. The BLM has partnerships with museums and academic institutions involved in paleontology.
Here are some exciting fossil-facts to kick off the celebration:
- Paleontology is the science that investigates the history of life on Earth. The term is derived from the Greek word palaios (“ancient”) and the suffix -ology (“study of”).
- Fossils provide clues to the interrelationships of all species. The life that we see today is just a snapshot in time - but that life has a history. One of the ways we learn about the ancestors of today’s species (and their ancestors, and their ancestors and so on) is by studying fossils.
- Paleontologists study fossils, which are the naturally occurring remains or traces of organisms. BLM paleontologists help researchers through permitting, work with partners, public education efforts, fossil inventory/monitoring and other important tasks.
This year, we are excited to share National Fossil Day across the BLM’s social media channels. Visit the National BLM Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to learn more. Public lands offer great opportunities for fossil discovery and provide outdoor laboratories for professional and citizen scientists to explore.
We invite you to celebrate National Fossil Day and the wonderful diversity of fossils and learn more about fossils on BLM-managed public lands: blm.gov/programs/cultural-resources/paleontology.
#EarthScienceWeek: Using science on your public lands
This week is Earth Science Week. Here at the BLM, we strive to apply the best and latest science and research in managing public lands. Along with other factors, science helps the BLM make decisions about public land uses such as grazing, energy development, mining, timber harvest and recreation, among others.
This week, follow along as we highlighting some interesting facts about earth science in America’s backyard. First topic- geology! The Crack in the Ground is Southern Oregon’s little-known geologic wonder and is a volcanic fissure over two miles long and up to 70 feet deep in Lake County. The length of the fissure can be hiked, as there is an established trail along the fissure’s bottom. Normally, fissures like this one are filled in with soil and rock by the processes of erosion and sedimentation, but because Crack in the Ground is located in such an arid region, very little filling has occurred. As a result, Crack in the Ground exists today nearly as it did shortly after its formation. When you get there it is easy to cool off, as the bottom of the crack can be as much as twenty degrees below the surface temperature.
Photos by Greg Shine, BLM.
International Youth Day: the future of land management
At the Bureau of Land Management, educating our nation’s youth about their public lands in “America’s largest classroom” is essential to engage the next generation of public land stewards. Through various programs and events across the nation, we work to build appreciation of public lands by connecting people and the land together through outdoor experiences, education and volunteerism.
Check out blm.gov/learn for resources for teachers and information about outdoor ethics, Every Kid in a Park and volunteering opportunities!
#NationalInternDay: Celebrating the next generation of BLMers
Happy National Intern Day! Today we’re sharing some of the awesome internship opportunities that are available with the BLM with our partners, so take a look at the exciting work that our interns are doing for your public lands. The BLM offers internships that provide jobs and job training opportunities in local communities. Internships bringing diverse viewpoints into the bureau through a new generation of conservation leaders. Working individually or as part of a team or crew, BLM interns participate in the shared stewardship of public lands: building trails and enhancing recreational facilities, restoring habitat damaged by wildland fire and much more- all the while supporting BLM’s multiple-use mission.
Interested in an internship? Our partner organizations recruit interns for BLM internships across the nation: American Conservation Experience (ACE), Environment for the Americas (EFTA), Greening Youth Foundation (GYF), Geological Society of America (GEOCORPS), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), INROADS, Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) and Southern Utah University (SUU).
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Teens lend a hand at campground in New Mexico
New Mexico’s Datil Well Campground, managed by the BLM, has a long history with the Youth Conservation Corps. So there was a touch of nostalgia in having a group of young people back at work at the campground.
On April 19, a group of 40 high school sophomores from Menaul School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, came to the BLM-managed Datil Well Campground for a campout and service project. The event, coordinated by recreation planners Denny Apachito and Mike Comiskey, included both service and education components.
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BLM Utah hosts Paleo Camp 2018
In May, 25 students from the Salt Lake Center for Science Education, a science technology, energy and mathematics charter school in Salt Lake City, spent four days studying fossils and collecting data in southeastern Utah with BLM geologists and paleontologists. The students road-tripped their way from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, where geologist Mike Leschin showed them the world’s largest concentration of Allosaurus fossils, to sunny Moab, where they toured the Mill Canyon Tracksite.
The students also spent an afternoon at a remote track site uncovering and documenting theropod tracks with paleontologists Dr. Greg McDonald, ReBecca Hunt-Foster and Brent Breithaupt. The data collected by the students will be used by the paleontologists for ongoing monitoring and research activities. Besides discovering dino tracks, the students rappelled down red rock canyons, kayaked and caught crayfish at BLM’s Ken’s Lake Recreation Area.
Other camp highlights included sunset at Dead Horse Point State Park and camping under the stars at BLM’s Lone Mesa campground. The chaperones included BLM staff, volunteers, Salt Lake Center for Science Education teachers and vice-principal.
Next year, BLM Utah and the Salt Lake City School District hope to provide both paleontology and archaeology camps to Utah seventh graders. Many thanks to the awesome kids, teachers and the Price and Moab Field Offices for making the Salt Lake Center for Science Education Paleo Camp 2018 a huge success!
Bioblitz joins BLM and citizen scientists in the Organ Mountains
The Bureau of Land Management Las Cruces District recently sponsored its first Bioblitz at the Dripping Springs Natural Area, attracting volunteers from the surrounding communities to learn about the biodiversity of the Organ Mountains. The Natural Area is part of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument and is a popular site and great source for science.
With the help of 114 citizen scientists, the BLM recorded over 130 species of plants, lizards, moths, butterflies, bats, birds and small mammals, despite the uncharacteristically cold spring day.
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Longtime volunteer leaves her mark at Pompeys Pillar National Monument
Volunteers are at the heart of many of the BLM’s recreation and visitor
services, and Pompeys Pillar National Monument in Montana is no exception.
The Pillar is fortunate to have the active support of the Friends of Pompeys Pillar, a group of volunteers who have helped preserve, develop and operate the site since it came under BLM management. One volunteer, Susan Barrow, excels at increasing awareness of Pompeys Pillar National Monument and the reasons why it is so special.