Sailing off to classroom research: STEM professor heads to Galapagos for science teaching ideas

Sailing off to classroom research: STEM professor heads to Galapagos for science teaching ideas.

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Just as this semester started, GSE’s Alexandra Schindel left Buffalo for Panama to sail to the Galapagos help figure out how much plastic is in the ocean — and add to her teaching about science.

“The more we can have amazing experiences in the field and in our local environment, the more we can get our next generation of kids excited about learning science and excited about doing science,” said Schindel, an associate professor of science education.

Get psyched for the GSE classes ahead as you learn how one of your professors expands her knowledge about making science learning exciting and relevant. Her discoveries and insights about plastics pollution and Galapagos flora and fauna will help her find ways to get students interested in the ocean and our Lake Erie home.

“When I embed myself in deep science learning like this that’s really hands-on,” she said before leaving for Panama last week. “It helps me to then engage in creative problem solving.”

Schindel started planning this semester’s ocean sabbatical work when she applied to join the S.V. TravelEdge sailboat a year ago -- as soon as she got the email notice about “eXXpedition Round the World” research journey. She wrote an essay, did a video interview and won a spot on the nine-member team of volunteer crew on the women-only TravelEdge. 

In the days ahead, as the boat makes the 12-day, “Leg 6” trip from Panama to the Galapagos, she and eight other volunteers will trawl the ocean for small plastic bits, log the data and post on social media via satellite phone. This will be their contribution to the boat’s larger, two-year project, which started in England last year. By 2021, the crew expects to finish 30 voyage legs, logging data about plastic waste in the water as they traverse the ocean to Australia, South Africa, South America, Greenland and for the finale finish back in London.

Schindel expects her Leg 6 will help her Buffalo work as she applies for grant funding to develop programs with local schools to help engage students and develop unique and local environmental study projects.

“Within my teaching and with my research, we look at ways that everyone can use the tools of science to ask questions about their lives. We can use to the tools of science to ask questions that matter to us,” she said. “What is it that we can do within our communities?”

Schindel’s love of science, outdoor exploration -- and sailing -- started early. She grew up in Las Vegas, the daughter of a pilot who went sailing as girl when her family spent summers in Bermuda.

“I’m such an adventure-based person,” said Schindel, who took up kite surfing on Lake Erie after she moved here. “My heart gets filled up being on the water.”

After three years teaching 7^th and 8^th grade science, she decided to get her Ph.D. in science education because she wanted to learn to better connect science to under-represented communities and social justice. Her interest in developing curriculum led to her current passion for what she calls “place-based science” or studying the science connected to where you live.

She explored this concept several years ago when she took a class about local water issues and the Great Lakes with local nonprofit the Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. The lessons about Love Canal, invasive species and water restoration helped her teaching.

She expects the sail from Panama to the Galapagos will help make new connections for work in local classrooms. Young people notice trash, she said, and that can be a start for an interest in science.

“The issue of micro plastics is a really big issue in the Great Lakes just as they are in the ocean,” Schindel said. “The goal is advance a better understanding of the plastic issue as a whole and address knowledge gaps.”