FESIRSE focuses on middle- and secondary-school students. If you are a teacher, FESIRSE will provide you and your students with the support you need for doing meaningful inquiry and research in environmental and climate science. If you are a student working alone or with other students, FESIRSE will work with your teacher to help you with your research. If you are home-schooled or working on research outside of school, you can still participate in FESIRSE. You will need an adult mentor – a parent, guardian, or someone else who can help keep your project on track.
FESIRSE focuses on science related to Earth/sun/atmosphere interactions. These interactions are critical for maintaining Earth's radiative balance – a key concept for understanding climate. Other areas of environmental science may be considered, based on IESRE's ability to provide the required support. FESIRSE participants will receive science background support and mentoring for teachers and students, and (perhaps most important) research equipment. Teachers and students can build some of this equipment, an activity that will help schools round out a STEM-focused curriculum.
FESIRSE encourages students to participate in science fairs. Climate or environmental science projects are hardly ever seen in high-level science fairs, so this provides many opportunities for student research. FESIRSE will also provide a forum for publishing high-quality student research online.
Initiating your participation in FESIRSE requires nothing more than starting a dialogue. There are several ways to participate:
FESIRSE support always starts in response to a written research, inquiry, or workshop proposal. There is a downloadable research proposal template HERE. The purpose of the proposal is to model for student researchers the process that working scientists must follow to get support for their research. (Teachers can modify the template for class inquiry/research projects or workshops.) Research proposals are accepted at any time – there is no proposal deadline. This is not a "competition." We will evaluate each proposal based on its merits and on our ability to provide the needed support.
We are happy to discuss proposals before you submit them, if that would be helpful. Our goals are, first, to help teachers and students develop well-written proposals that demonstrate an understanding of the science process and, second, to support the successful implementation of the proposal. There is no limitation on what you can propose as long as it is related to environmental and/or climate science. You can find some suggested research projects elsewhere on this website (see the side frame on the FESIRSE home page). Some require data collection and others make use of existing data available online.
Once a proposal is approved, FESIRSE will provide support, including research equipment, for the duration of the project. Equipment is provided on loan, and in most cases will need to be returned at the end of the project. There are no costs associated with participating in FESIRSE, except perhaps for expendables such as equipment batteries and shipping costs when you return equipment.
In addition to supporting individual projects, FESIRSE encourages schools, institutions, and other organizations to become a FESIRSE partner institution. Partnership presumes involvement beyond supporting individual class or student projects. For a school or institution, this might involve administrative support for student research, such as providing secure and accessible experiment sites, online storage of student data, basic lab space and equipment, and programs that recognize student science achievements. For an organization, this could mean incorporating FESIRSE mentoring and support capabilities into existing science outreach programs.
For more information about participating in FESIRSE, please contact David Brooks, FESIRSE Project Director, at brooksdr@instesre.org.