Collab Lab 70: Recap & Notes

Pete Reynolds Blog, Collab Labs October 18, 2025October 22, 2025Biodiversity, Milwaukee Public Museum, STEM

Our tenth season of Collab Labs kicked off last week with a session co-hosted with Adriana Vázquez, Director of Education & Public Programs, and Maisie Buntin, Outreach Programs Coordinator for the Milwaukee Public Museum. Every year, the Milwaukee Public Museum hosts its annual BioBlitz, a 24-hour event where scientists survey the biodiversity in a park or natural area. Our session focused on a nagging issue for Adriana and Maisie– BioBlitzes don’t happen during the school year, so the museum misses opportunities to engage school audiences.

The Museum is working to adapt this big event into smaller, student-driven “mini-BioBlitzes” to be held at schoolyards, community organizations, and more. The Collab Lab provided an opportunity to explore that idea with educators and potential collaborators.

Discussion

Our conversation covered how attendees currently engage with students or community on biodiversity or other environmental topics, and what is missing from that engagement, how MPM mini BioBlitzes might play a role in addressing those gaps, and what’s needed to make that work.

Over the course of the evening, several broad themes emerged.

The need to build hands-on, real-world learning into school culture

Getting students excited and connected to the content can be a challenge:
- Students need to see illustrate real-word relevance to lessons
- When schools have even just one teacher or admin motivated to provide these hands-on, real-world experiences, students show more interest and excitement
- Giving students the opportunity to work on something real, present their work and ideas to an authentic audience are key motivators, environmental justice and civic engagement– focus on a local park or site, are useful entry points, particularly for those that aren’t (yet?) “Nature Nerds”
How can we do better to “operationalize” this type of learning – turn it from one person’s project into school culture and expectations?
- Make it easy for teachers to take on the work:
  - cover their time to participate in training
  - provide funding and resources to implement effectively
  - explicitly tie to standards
  - engage community resources to support efforts within K-12
  - empower older students to support the work of younger peers
  - start with the easiest entry points for teachers and build out from there
- Scaffolding – build capabilities to participate across grade levels. As examples, for mini-BioBlitz, kindergarteners do a color walk, elementary might look at various stages of categorization (ex. # insects, # plants, # of birds, etc.), up to high school (working with dichotomous keys, doing biodiversity index, etc.)
- Biodiversity education is largely missing from afterschool/out of school programming. Teens Grow Greens offers a model for how that can be done.

Data collection and interpretation is a possible unexplored avenue of BioBlitz engagement

Using data from mini-BioBlitzes, at different locations, or from MPM full BioBlitz,
Potential alignment with AP exam topics re: data collection and analysis
Incorporation of GIS provides could provide additional entry points for exploration
Tap expertise who may know of similar projects in other parts of the country
Curate and interpret data as an asset within the school

Integrating technology into this work

Identify apps/tools like iNaturalist that schools might leverage
Opportunities for students to create digital tools
As focal point for conversations around AI and how teachers are being asked to incorporate teaching about it – this could be an avenue to illustrate appropriate use of AI (ie. for species recognition)

Going beyond science

Tie in the arts (conveniently, the theme for our March Collab Lab)
Representation/social justice/environmental justice, e.g. how is biodiversity/access to biodiverse habitats correlated with socio-economic status?
Connect to student identity and background

What’s Next

We’ll have a chance to explore these topics further in our December and April Collab Labs with The Society for Conservation Biology North America (SCBNA), whose 2026 conference will be in Milwaukee. SCBNA has some upcoming webinars exploring the value of scientific assessments to communities and policy makers. You can find the schedule and registration information here.

In November we will take on another project in the works, to explore how TRUE Skool‘s planning for a new campus might serve as through line to connect K-12 students to programming, expertise, and experiences over the course of that effort– from planning and design, through site acquisition and construction.

Thanks

A big thanks to Adriana and Maisie for working with us to pull the session together and facilitate the conversation. Thanks also the MSOE’s STEM Center our host for another season of Collab Labs.

Thanks also to Leah Rosenbaum from STEAM Milwaukee who was able to join us for the session. She notes that STEAM Milwaukee has a number of resources in their lending library for teachers who want to dive deeper into environmental explorations. These include sampling nets (not pictured on the website) as well as 8 microscopes and a set of Vernier probes. Leah also mentioned Dear Data, as offering examples of both the simple ways data can be shared (via hand drawn annotated diagrams on postcards) and the range of ways data might be presented to illuminate an area of focus.

← A New Model for Capacity Building in K-12

Collab Lab 70: Recap & Notes
October 18, 2025

Our tenth season of Collab Labs kicked off last week with a session co-hosted with Adriana Vázquez, Director of Education & Public Programs, and Maisie Buntin, Outreach Programs Coordinator for the Milwaukee Public Museum. Every year, the Milwaukee Public Museum hosts its annual BioBlitz, a 24-hour event where scientists survey the biodiversity in a park or natural area. Our session focused on a nagging issue for Adriana and Maisie– BioBlitzes don’t happen during the school year, so the museum misses opportunities to engage school audiences. The Museum is working to adapt this big event into smaller, student-driven “mini-BioBlitzes” to be held at schoolyards, community organizations, and more. The Collab Lab provided an opportunity to explore that idea with educators and potential collaborators. Discussion Our conversation covered how attendees currently engage with students or community on biodiversity or other environmental topics, and what is missing from that engagement, how MPM mini BioBlitzes might play a role in addressing those gaps, and what’s needed to make that work. Over the course of the evening, several broad themes emerged. The need to build hands-on, real-world learning into school culture Getting students excited and connected to the content can be a challenge: Students need to see illustrate real-word relevance to lessons When schools have even just one teacher or admin motivated to provide these hands-on, real-world experiences, students show more interest and excitement Giving students the opportunity to work on something real, present their work and ideas to an authentic audience are key motivators, environmental justice and civic engagement– focus on a local park or site, are useful entry points, particularly for those that aren’t (yet?) “Nature Nerds” How can we do better to “operationalize” this type of learning – turn it from one person’s project into school culture and expectations? Make it easy for teachers to take on the work: cover their time to participate in training provide funding and resources to implement effectively explicitly tie to standards engage community resources to support efforts within K-12 empower older students to support the work of younger peers start with the easiest entry points for teachers and build out from there Scaffolding – build capabilities to participate across grade levels. As examples, for mini-BioBlitz, kindergarteners do a color walk, elementary might look at various stages of categorization (ex. # insects, # plants, # of birds, etc.), up to high school (working with dichotomous keys, doing biodiversity index, etc.) Biodiversity education is largely missing from afterschool/out of school programming. Teens Grow Greens offers a model for how that can be done. Data collection and interpretation is a possible unexplored avenue of BioBlitz engagement Using data from mini-BioBlitzes, at different locations, or from MPM full BioBlitz, Potential alignment with AP exam topics re: data collection and analysis Incorporation of GIS provides could provide additional entry points for exploration Tap expertise who may know of similar projects in other parts of the country Curate and interpret data as an asset within the school Integrating technology into this work Identify apps/tools like iNaturalist that schools might leverage Opportunities for students to create digital tools As focal point for conversations around AI and how teachers are being asked to incorporate teaching about it – this could be an avenue to illustrate appropriate use of AI (ie. for species recognition) Going beyond science Tie in the arts (conveniently, the theme for our March Collab Lab) Representation/social justice/environmental justice, e.g. how is biodiversity/access to biodiverse habitats correlated with socio-economic status? Connect to student identity and background What’s Next We’ll have a chance to explore these topics further in our December and April Collab Labs with The Society for Conservation Biology North America (SCBNA), whose 2026 conference will be in Milwaukee. SCBNA has some upcoming webinars exploring the value of scientific assessments to communities and policy makers. You can find the schedule and registration information here. In November we will take on another project in the works, to explore how TRUE Skool’s planning for a new campus might serve as through line to connect K-12 students to programming, expertise, and experiences over the course of that effort– from planning and design, through site acquisition and construction. Thanks A big thanks to Adriana and Maisie for working with us to pull the session together and facilitate the conversation. Thanks also the MSOE’s STEM Center our host for another season of Collab Labs.Thanks also to Leah Rosenbaum from STEAM Milwaukee who was able to join us for the session. She notes that STEAM Milwaukee has a number of resources in their lending library for teachers who want to dive deeper into environmental explorations. These include sampling nets (not pictured on the website) as well as 8 microscopes and a set of Vernier probes. Leah also mentioned Dear Data, as offering examples of both the simple ways data can be shared (via hand drawn annotated diagrams on postcards) and the range of ways data might be presented to illuminate an area of focus.

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Collab Labs Return for Season 10
September 18, 2025

When we started Learn Deep 10 years ago, we recognized the need to get those with a vision for what education in Milwaukee could look like in the same room– K-12 educators, those working in industry, higher-ed, nonprofits, or government. Not just to flesh out that vision, but to build the relationships that are central to brining that vision to life. Collab Labs give participants a chance to connect across silos, find others who share their passion, and where discover where goals can align to support much richer opportunities for both students and teachers. Our 10th season of Collab Labs begins on Thursday October 9th with #70: Schoolyards as Science Labs, with Adriana Vázquez and Maisie Buntin from the Milwaukee Public Museum as our cohosts. For the 2025-26 season will be back at MSOE’s STEM Center, our home over the past four years. We look forward to another year of lively discussion, new and deepened connections, and the possibilities that arise when inspired educators are able to collaborate with the peers and partners to take on something big.

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Collab Lab 67: Recap & Notes
March 19, 2025

Last week’s Collab Lab served as a follow on from our November’s session on Place Based Engagement. At that session and in follow up conversations, Joe Kaltenberg, MKE Parks Manager with the The City of Milwaukee noted that input from students, residents, property owners, and other stakeholders can offer the department not only a clearer picture of the roles the playgrounds and parks oversee play in those neighborhoods, but also a richer vision of the roles they could play. That prompted us to use Collab Lab 67 to explore how and where K-12 students might engage at different points in the City’s playground redevelopment process as a means to foster community input and engagement in those efforts. During the discussion participants identified three areas where engaging K-12 students could offer a rich experience for students and support key areas of the City’s process — stakeholder mapping, storytelling, and design. Stakeholder Mapping Stakeholder mapping allows the City to understand who uses, cares for, or is concerned with a particular playground or park, and who ought to have input or otherwise be involved as part of the redevelopment process. The work to identify stakeholders, their relation to a playground or park, the issues they see and the goals they have, is an opportunity for K-12 students to gain a much broader perspective on civic engagement. It’s a chance to understand who in a community cares about what happens on a specific site, the reasons behind that and where they may conflict and align with goals others may have. Storytelling For a park or playground to be of the neighborhood in which it sits, the City needs to hear the stories of those who use, care, or are impacted by a park or playground, and what takes place there. Storytelling offers methods to understand where stakeholders are coming from and communicate those hopes, fears, and dreams to a broader audience. Collab Lab participants noted that a storytelling event focused at or on a particular site would allow K-12 students to collect stories from a variety of stakeholders. It would also serve as a way to draw attention to that site as a candidate for redevelopment. Ideation Involving students in the design of a playground or park, where they can see their ideas take shape and have an impact on the community is a wonderful idea. Yet, as Collab Lab participants noted, unless the process were constrained to proposals for the arrangement of pre-selected components, it is unlikely that they would ever see their designs implemented as envisioned, and even in this scenario, be able to recognize their contributions to what was put in place. More importantly, this approach fails to leverage the fact that these are students. We shouldn’t be asking them to act as engineers, we should be asking them to dream, to think outside the box, and challenge the assumptions of engineers. Here the request of students ought to focus on how they or others experience a playground or the features or equipment under consideration. We ought to be asking them what adults involved in the process fail to see or understand about how a park or playground is experienced by those who use it. We need to probe behind suggestions for features that would never be implemented to understand the problem a student sees that an impossible feature solves. Constraints A common set of constraints cuts across all three of these areas for engagement. Central among them is the ability of teachers to effectively engage their students in this work: Finding the time to do so Establishing connections to curriculum standards Synchronizing school calendars with the City’s, particularly when the seasons and weather can further constrain the time students can spend on-site The availability of community partners to support student efforts The ability of teachers to collaborate across classroom or school boundaries for shared success The proximity of parks in the City’s pipeline to teachers and students ready to take on this work The Collab Lab did not provide an opportunity to dive into all of these issues, but we were able to identify a strategy in one area. Most schools, particularly at the middle and high school level draw students from well beyond the neighborhood in which the school sits. Thus, while a park or playground may be near a school, many students will have limited exposure to it or be able to access it outside of school hours. For any of the opportunities noted above, this limits the ability to rely on students themselves as stakeholders, storytellers, or users of their own designs. What we can do is ask students to work at a higher level, to be the mappers of stakeholders, the collectors of stories. We can ask them to be the designers who can communicate what the users of a park or playground that is near their school want from it or hope that it could become. Where do we go from here The work to organize teachers, students, and community stakeholders to participate in the planning process would be a lot for MKE Parks to take on. While useful to have that input, it’s not really something for them to take on. We’re exploring with Joe a different approach– developing a framework that, recognizing the timelines and constraints faced by each of these participants, allows them to work outside of a City managed process while offering their input and results of their work at the most useful points in the process. We plan to spend time between now and the end of the school year to understand what this framework would need to look like to make this work for educators. If you are interested in participating in that process, let us know.

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Collab Lab 66: Recap & Notes
February 21, 2025

Our discussion at February’s Collab Lab focused on engaging families. As we explored goals we have for family engagement we considered: Who we include as “family” in “family engagement” Who family engages with Where/When it happens Who benefits/how While parents, siblings, and caregivers of students are obvious starting points for who to include as family, the discussion quickly broadened to include a much broader group. The extended families of students, individuals and families in the community which surrounds a school, those who may work or own businesses in the community around the school. In no small part, this expansive view family reflects a deeper goal — that the school is not simply a place where students and teachers spend the day, but that it is deeply embedded in the life of the community. This broader approach to engagement changes the way one thinks about who the school and it’s families engage with. It’s not just about caregivers connecting with their student’s teachers. It’s about giving those families a chance to connect with each other, individuals and organizations who support their school, and in particular. It looks to move past one way communication, simple reporting out of what a school thinks families ought to know. It looks to build the relationships and trust that allow disengaged families to engage and for the community to come together not just to support the work of students and their families, but to support each other. It changes as well, where engagement might take place. It moves beyond family coming to school. It’s the school coming out into the community. This expansive view of engagement only works if all participants see benefits, and they see that their contributions to the school community, as students, teachers, family members or neighbors are valued. What do members of the school community need to engage? As we moved the discussion to what’s needed to engage, the word “dignity” came up early. Again, not just dignity for caregivers, but dignity for students, teachers, and members of the broader community who schools do or seek to engage with. For caregivers, this means recognizing both the time, financial, and other constraints and obligations they work face, but that they have something to of value to offer, that they are partners in the education of their child. Often it comes down to the simple things– if we are asking for something more of any of the participants, what burdens can we remove? A time that works for those we want to engage with Providing food at events that may overlap with meal times Helping with transportation Activities for children that may need to come when a caregiver is there for an adult conversation Most importantly, don’t waste someone’s time. This means not asking teachers, caregivers, or members of the broader community to participate in engagement activities they don’t value or benefit from. The process starts with how we invite the engagement. Are we asking for engagement because we see a caregiver or a student as a problem or the one that needs to solve it, or are we asking for engagement to work together for a better outcome. In the end, it comes down to recognizing that members of the broadly defined school community each come with a different set of goals. Effective engagement doesn’t mean that everyone needs to share the same set of goals. It requires that we acknowledge the goals they do have, understand where they align, and find something useful to work on together that allows everyone to come out ahead. It’s how trust is built. A special thanks to our featured guests, Amber DuChateau — Art Teacher at the Milwaukee Academy of Science Aubrey (Ellickson) Fulsaas — Environmental Educator, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Bernie Traversari — Director of Operations and Programs, Society for Conservation Biology North America & STEM Education Consultant Additional thanks to Bernie for his help facilitating the session. Bernie joined us to record a debrief of the session that you can find on inspirEd. As always, we’re appreciative of MSOE for letting us make use of the NM Lab in the WE Energies STEM Center every month. Up Next Collab Lab 67: Connecting to Community Thursday March 13th, 5:30 to 8:30 pm at MSOE’s STEM Center Actively using some form of PBL with your students and looking for ideas or encouragement from others? Consider joining your peers in the inspirED Community.

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Collab Lab 65: Recap & Notes
January 16, 2025

Capacity Building as an Outreach Strategy The Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin’s mission to advance freshwater education and research relies on attracting and developing talented individuals who are passionate about water science. The conventional approach to community outreach is traditionally focused on the delivery of programming — offering experiences or content to K-12 teachers and students through curriculum, site visits, summer camps, or other activities. We worked with the Freshwater Collaborative to use our December Collab to explore a different approach. We view teachers, students, and schools not simply as recipients of programming, but as potential partners that can support and extend the work of Freshwater Collaborative members. This model empowers K-12 schools to become active partners in research and education, creating experiential learning opportunities that benefit both students and researchers. To provide a concrete basis from which to explore this approach to engagement, we framed the discussion around a budding collaboration between Dr. Ashley Lemke, an underwater archeologist working out of UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences, and Peter Graven, a middle school science and high school robotics teacher from St. Francis. Over the past several years, his students have developed underwater ROV’s of increasing sophistication. The immediate opportunity is to deploy an ROV in service of Dr. Lemke’s research. The bigger vision is to develop additional capabilities at St. Francis and other schools to serve the specific needs of FCW researchers and its partners. Discussion The set-up for our discussion centered on a single faculty member working with an individual teacher on a specific project. What came out of that was a number of insights about how and where those efforts could catalyze opportunities for other K-12 teachers and schools, as well as faculty pursuing other research interests. We split the attendees into four discussion groups, each focused on a different capacity needed to allow a K-12 school, to support research efforts of Dr. Lemke. These included: An ability to engineer, prototype, and test components An ability to collect images, data, water, and sediment samples An ability to provide ongoing monitoring of conditions An ability to document findings, tell, and share a story A fifth set of needed abilities we had not planned to introduce as part of the discussion, was nonetheless covered as part of a broader conversation between discussion groups: An ability to deploy, operate, and maintain an ROV The discussion which followed covered opportunities to directly engage students, the importance of cultivating a sense of wonder, and the importance of soft skills — the ability of students to work effectively as a team to take on any of these challenges. Across the participants we saw interest and excitement around: The types of collaboration that might ensue What K-12 students might gain from the experience What individual participants or organizations might be able to do to support the efforts of Dr. Lemke and Mr. Graven directly, or to support FCW/K-12 collaboration in another area. Given the discussion at the Collab Lab and follow-up conversations we see six areas to build upon to validate and scale the approach we’ve suggested, starting in the spring 2025 semester. Facilitate the work of Dr. Lemke and Mr. Graven Share that story as it evolves Identify opportunities for other schools to support this effort Identify additional opportunities for collaboration Recruit participation from additional K-12 schools Understand and document what has enabled this initial collaboration and a path forward to extend the depth and reach of these efforts Notes From Initial Brainstorming Ability to engineer prototype and test components Teachers need to have a framework/plan to structure students’ learning experiences to develop their design & making skills Teachers need to be able to and actually model failure & Learning so that students know what it looks like and what it produces Students need self awareness & self management skills to monitor and adjust their emotions to persist and create Students need to have practices or skills to stretch their thinking and ideate broadly so their ideas break new ground Students need to be able to sketch/model their ideas so they can discuss and make Students need to have clarity about the connection between the design and real world application so they can test effectively Students need to have multiple experiences of the make-test-revise cycle and feel a sense of accomplishment and to believe there is value in failure Students need to be able to see their efforts and failure as a part of a lifelong learning journey so they persist and learn Students need to be able to let go of their ideas and take an adversarial approach to find flaws so they can go farther faster Students need to develop an appreciation for the discomfort that comes from presenting their ideas, getting, feedback, being wrong, and being uncertain so they remain open to growth All parties deal with failure — playing it safe leads to not enough prototyping Ability to collect images, data, water, and sediment samples Modular construction for multiple purposes — right tool for the tasks Generalized tool vs specific tasks Photography Lighting High quality camera Shutter speed Video vs photos Coring Water Samples Sterility, DNA, Grabber hand for artifacts Mapping Endless types of data (interdisciplinarity) to collect. Explore & let the science happen– don’t lock yourself in too soon Underwater mechanics important to take into account Streamlined Multi-perspective balanced/shifting balance Transform something that works on land to something that works underwater Research & Art Videography – stabilization of film (See film all too clear film) Need to know where you are explore/make questions Underwater special challenges Design thinking Project management Give up control Deal with failure Visual thinking Resilience Ability to provide ongoing monitoring A Reason Why Creativity – draw from other disciplines Story purpose Community Contributing (leads to story) Reasons to do it in a certain way — e.g. being scientific Model scenarios for winter tests simulations Drill through pond ice (winter strategy to get out on smaller lakes) Big challenge is precise location Get practice in an accessible more….

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Collab Lab 64: Recap & Notes
December 2, 2024

Our November Collab Lab explored placed-based engagement–what it can offer students, and the ways we might engage students around particular places in their neighborhood, their lives, or the broader community. Discussion We started the conversation by asking participants to describe for their tablemates a public space that holds meaning for them. We then asked each group to identify the what helped create that sense of meaning. Across our discussion groups, several key themes emerged: The opportunity to experience a place over an extended period of time– within a single visit or across multiple visits The sense of agency/ownership/belonging/feeling of welcome individuals had within those places A feeling of connection to a place’s history, their own experience within it, or with the people of that place The ability of participants to experience a place through multiple senses, bring their own knowledge or experience to their understanding of a place, physically engage with or within a place, or recognize a feeling of peace (or danger), all add to the ways we find meaning or a sense of magic and wonder in a place. From there we asked participants to identify what they came to understand about places which hold meaning for them, that a casual observer, or one who had not spent much time in the place would miss. Here, the temporal experience of places came to the fore– how it changes during the day, with the seasons or over the years; how it evolves or adapts physically, in how it is used, and the meaning it holds for those who inhabit or care for the place. Participants also recognized that much of the meaning a place has for them is a product of what they bring to the place, that there are multiple ways of experiencing the same place, and often unwritten rules which guide one’s conduct within it. As a final point of discussion, we asked how students might gain that sense of meaning, or a deeper understanding of places within Milwaukee. Here, we found clear agreement across the discussion groups– “Get out of the way”. Students need time and the freedom to experience and explore places on their own terms. The meaning of a place can’t be proscribed for students, it needs to grow organically from their experience, knowledge, and understanding of that place. We can however help set up the conditions that can allow that to happen: Don’t fill or control every minute of a field trip or field experience, leave time for students to explore and experience the place you’ve brought them to on their own terms. Build a classroom culture that welcomes reflection, understanding of the experience of others, self exploration, and a willingness to share ideas Leverage the fact that each student comes with their own experience of the city and connections to different parts of it Start with places students do know and care about, and let them explore outward from there Allow students to engage with new places in the context of issues they care about Participants recognize that curriculum, access, proximity, and time all pose constraints as we seek to engage students in building a deeper understanding and connection of places within Milwaukee. But there was also a hopeful thread of thought that looked to kindle a re-enchantment with the world for students and a recognition that one can find wonder and meaning within the most mundane places. That starts with simply creating the opportunity and getting out of the way. Thanks A big thanks to all who were able to join us for the discussion, and especially our Featured Participants: Lauren Instenes— Project Coordinator for the MKE Roots Project, Marquette University Joseph Kaltenberg — MKE Parks Manager, City of Milwaukee – Department of Public Works Arijit Sen — Associate Professor of History and Urban Studies, UW Milwaukee Angela Vickio — Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Thanks also to MSOE’s STEM Center for hosting us. Resources We didn’t get much time to talk through Arijit Sen’s Field School project, but he did share several links to that work with us: The Field School web site Stories from the Milwaukee Garden Network The Milwaukee Environmental Justice Lab The Washington Park Collaborative J.B Jackson’s work looking at ordinary landscapes was also mention. Here’s a link for further reading https://daily.jstor.org/j-b-jackson-and-the-ordinary-american-landscape/

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Collab Lab 70: Recap & Notes

Discussion

What’s Next

Thanks

2025-26 Collab Labs

Collab Lab 71: Connecting Architecture, Real Estate, & Construction

Collab Lab 72: K-12 Partnerships for Conservation and Restoration Part I

Collab Lab 73: Experiential Learning – Connecting Higher-Ed and K-12

Collab Lab 74: Visual Communication and STEM

Collab Lab 75: K-12 Partnerships for Conservation and Restoration Part II

Collab Lab 76: Experiential Learning Support for Architecture, Construction, & Real Estate