building your professional network, because through prac- tice, patience, and persistence, it is possible to create your network.6 When I first started teaching, I didn’t really know many


people in my respective field. I reached out to some college friends, relaying my concerns and inquiring as to whether they knew anyone who could assist. Fortunately, they did. In one instance, I had a friend introduce me to a friend who was a manager of a field site. I shared my views and goals for my class, and the manager, realizing I was serious about want- ing to provide my students with holistic educational trips, decided to assist me. The manager was even kind enough to give me some contacts for other field sites, which I made good use of. Over the years I’ve managed to build my profes- sional network from these initial connections.


Choosing a site When I decided to start incorporating citizen science proj- ects into my field trips, I first had to see if there was a need for any projects or if there was an opportunity to start one. I began by reaching out to the managers and caretakers of the various field sites I had connections with to collaborate on ongoing projects or to create new ones. The responses were much slower than anticipated, but I made sure to follow up over the phone and in person. So far, I have established four citizen science projects at four different field sites. In my first attempt at reaching out to managers and care-


takers of field sites, I only received one response. The care- takers of this particular site hypothesized that Caribbean Pines (Pinus caribaea) on their savanna property were dying and that the immediate cause was unknown. Although the organization had trained personnel who could address a land stewardship project of that nature, their expertise was required elsewhere for more pressing issues. Considering the organization’s lack of human resources for such an important land stewardship project, we saw their acute need for citizen scientists and offered to assist. This gave rise to my first citi- zen science project at a field site.


Preparation


Novelty factors Studies have shown that students’ ability to execute their assigned tasks on field trips is related to the novelty of the field trip setting.2


This novelty is associated with the stu-


dents’ unfamiliarity with different aspects of the field trip. The novelty of the setting is dependent on psychological, geographical, cognitive, and social factors.7


be addressed prior to the trip in order to reduce its overall novelty effect2


These should all because doing so has been shown to increase


students’ learning and performance significantly. Psychological novelty factors include the purpose of the


trip, length of trip, expected weather conditions, and field site conditions. Geographical factors include the geographic location, terrain, atmosphere, and travel routes. Social fac- tors take into consideration students’ social interactions with fellow students, teachers, and others. Specifically, it is useful for students to know such details as whether or not they will be interacting only with fellow classmates and instructors, if they will be working with members of different cultures,


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and if they will be able to contact family and friends during off time.7


be used on the trip, familiarity with equipment, and required knowledge.2


Cognitive factors include the techniques that will These cognitive factors can be directly reduced


by using concrete activities. A useful approach is to allow students to familiarize themselves with the various pieces of equipment that are required to carry out the scheduled tasks in the field. It is only after familiarizing themselves with the novelty space and reducing the novelty factors that students can concentrate on their assigned tasks and truly learn in the


Green Teacher 119


A benefit to ecotourism


Many times, people at field trip locations are open to long- term projects for various reasons. Knowing that I had started numerous citizen science projects around Belize over the years, the manager of an ecotourism property encouraged me to set up a long-term study at his organization’s location because “it was beneficial for tours.” He mentioned that tour- ists tend to have a greater interest when they see flagged trees, which generally enhances business, while also promoting the company's ecotourism brand. Although the organization’s interests in partnering with a long-term study may have been financial, it doesn’t mean that collaborating with them was in any way detrimental to us.


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