Dr. Dina Markowitz is the principal investigator for the project. She is the director of community outreach and education programs for the University of Rochester Environmental Health Sciences Center. The seven-year project will offer groups of middle and high school teachers the opportunity to receive funding to develop a new curriculum unit for their schools. Each team will include a science, social studies and health teacher. The project also aims to boost the quality of science education and to increase student and teacher knowledge about the links between the environment and human health.
Researchers also hope to encourage students to take action to address environmental problems.
During the one-week summer training session at the University of Rochester Medical Center, teachers will be introduced to environmental health and science topics by experts in these areas. The workshop will provide an introduction to environmental health, including basic toxicology and other issues, as well as curriculum development skills. Each teacher team will be paired with a mentor who is a scientist whose research is related to the topic picked by the team. The mentor will be available to meet with the team during the course of the project. Teachers will then work with University of Rochester faculty to develop multidisciplinary curriculum units focused on a specific environmental health question or problem.