At the Insitute of Applied Agriculture (IAA), hands-on learning is what we do best. We are pleased to announce that the IAA has received two Teaching and Learning Grants to create new hands-on student experiences. These grants support UMD’s strategic plan commitment to reimagining learning and will enable the IAA to execute meaningful projects in support of students across the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR).
Senior Lecturer Meredith Epstein, working with partners from AGNR, was awarded a program-level grant for her proposal, An Interdisciplinary Experiential Learning Coordinator (ELC) for the UMD One Health Campus. The ELC, a lecturer who will be housed here at the IAA, will bring together hands-on learning experiences across AGNR. Epstein has lofty goals for this position; she writes, “The Coordinator will bring a radically interdisciplinary approach to creating new and supporting existing experiential learning opportunities across campus. This will aid in breaking down academic ‘silos,’ build a stronger sense of community, and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion for all.”
Epstein imagines the ELC working with scores of different teaching and learning spaces all over campus, “transform[ing] the open, green spaces on our campus into thoughtfully connected experiential learning opportunities.” The grant proposal lists many different ways that the ELC might engage the campus community, including hosting UMD classes for tours and labs; hosting community groups such as K-12 classes or camps; developing and supervising internships; developing and hosting public events; and participating in the design of new spaces.
Epstein has plenty of experience building interdisciplinary, collaborative projects on campus; she drove the creation of the thriving Campus Learning Garden and works with such other projects as Terp Farm. She looks forward to bringing a new colleague on board to focus on collaborative educational experiences.
At the course level, Lecturer Thomas Mazzone received a grant supporting his proposal, Making Agronomic Decisions on the Fly. The program will use these funds to develop a course on precision agriculture using drone technology, purchasing equipment, and software. Mazzone writes, “Students in the course would have the opportunity to work offsite and use a drone to collect agronomic data using a variety of sensors, and then learn to process the data using software to make real-world agronomic decisions that are economical, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.” Students will also have the opportunity to earn their Commercial Drone Operator’s License.
In addition to the basic course, which will run during the spring semester, students will be able to conduct summer fieldwork to apply their skills. Those fieldwork opportunities may be held at a UMD Research Farm or at other locations scouted by the students to reflect the conditions they expect to face in their careers.
Mazzone writes about the benefits of precision agriculture, such as a reduction in soil compaction and the use of chemicals and fuel. It is critically important, he believes, that we “train our students, the future of agriculture, with this technology so that they can better carry out environmentally sound practices that protect our croplands for generations to come.”
UMD’s Teaching and Learning Grants prioritize projects that “explore the grand challenges of our times, build a stronger sense of community and civic engagement, or innovate pedagogical practices by leveraging the use of modern instructional technologies.” Both of these projects certainly accomplish those goals. Congratulations to both of our grant recipients!
