Learning Goal

The learning goal of the Rogers School/Neighborhood Urban Bird Project is to develop observation, analysis and communication skills that form the foundation of the inquiry process. Through the project, stundets, teachers and community members participate as collaborative learners with life-long interest in science, technology and the environment and they possess well developed abilities to view issues related to the environment in a critical and balanced way.

Project Director: Mary Bouley

Mary Bouley has over twenty years of education experience. She successfully implemented a Hertitage Schoolyard Habitat grant at Fort Lowell School in Tucson, Arizona. She has extensive experience conducting teacher training and in the development family and community projects. Ms. Bouley has developed and implemented many grant-funded projects related to "Sense of Place." Through her work, she has strived to integrate physical science with cultural and historical elements as a way to engage learners in active inquiry related to their own communities.

Project Consultant: Josh Pope

Josh Pope has over six and a half years of experience integrating geographic information systems (GIS) with non-technical users. He has been involved in the design, development, and maintenance of local datasets ranging from loggerhead sea turtle nesting to a countywide public property inventory.

Most recently he has worked in the private sector at civil engineering and urban planning consulting firms. Along with project management, database development, and system integration, his duties include training new GIS users. Previously he has worked in an environmental education outreach setting where students were integrated into the conservation efforts of Pritchards Island Loggerhead Sea Turtle Program.

Project Consultant: Michael Rose

Michael Rose has been working for the College of Agriculture at the University of Arizona for over 3 years. In his position, he provides server administration as well as aiding in computer education. Some common duties that he performs on the job include web design, database management, and writing lesson plans that use technology in classrooms.

Michael is also a teacher's assistant for a computer applications course in natural resources. This focuses on bacis computer skills as well as an introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using ArcView. He also worked as a student interpreter at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. At the museum, he conducted tours and gave educational presentations on the flora and fauna of the Sonoran desert. He has a Bachelor's of Science degree in Wildlife Science/Management and will support the technical and wildlife inventory aspects of the project.

CATTS Fellow: Kelly Hutton

Kelly was born and raised in rural New Hampshire, where during a good winter she could snowmobile to school! At age 18, shemoved to Missoula, Montana and enrolled in the wildlife biology program at the University of Montana. She graduated 4 years later with two bachelor degrees – one in wildlife biology and the other in botany, both with honors. While working on her undergraduate degrees, she developed a keen interested in avian ecology and helped with many research projects studying bird biology and conservation. This interest led her to the Department of Renewable Natural Resources at the University of Arizona, where she is currently a graduate student earning a masters degree in wildlife ecology. She is comparing the health of saguaro cacti in urban areas to saguaros in non-urban areas, and correlating this data to the presence or absence of nonnative and native bird species.

She began working with the CATTS program this spring as a fellow with the Tucson Community Technology and Education project. She primarily teaches high school students how to use GIS and GPS technology, and elementary school students about birds. The experience has been very rewarding and she hopes to continue to educate school children at some level after completing her masters degree. When she is not busy with graduate school or the fellowship, she is either birding, rock climbing or playing my violin.

CATTS Fellow: Nicole Dix

Nicole Dox is from a small town, south of Tucson, called Sierra Vista. She is currently an undergraduate junior in the Geosciences Department at the University of Arizona. Her majors are Geoscience and Science Education (Earth Science). As a Science Education major she would like to use the CATTS Fellowship to gain experience in the classroom working with students and to find her strengths and weaknesses as a teacher so that she may work on them before she graduates.