Integrating authentic geoscience research into K–12 education via measurement of microbial extracellular enzymes in natural waters: A case report of two initiatives
Abstract
Participation in authentic scientific research has been shown to greatly benefit undergraduate students, both in terms of perception of science and knowledge of sci- entific concepts. We define authentic scientific research as projects in which results Andrew D. Steen https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4297-4332 *Corresponding author: asteen@usc.edu Steen, A.D., Buongiorno, J., Rearden, K., Coleman-King, C., Drumheller, S.K., Phillips, E.K., Stokes, M., and Lloyd, K.G., 2025, Integrating authentic geoscience research into K–12 education via measurement of microbial extracellular enzymes in natural waters: A case report of two initiatives, in MacDonald, J.H., Jr., Clary, R.M., Archer, R.S., and Broadway, R.L., eds., GEOPAths—Broadening the V oices in Geosciences: Pathways to Innovative Pedagogy and Professional Develop- ment: Geological Society of America Special Paper 564, p. 9–18, https://doi.org/10.1130/2025.2564(02). © The Geological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permission to copy, contact editing@geosociety.org. Steen et al.
Drew Steen
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Earth Sciences
We in the Steen Lab want to understand how microbes interact with organic matter in aquatic systems. To do that, I use the tools of organic geochemistry as well as microbial ecology. These questions have lead us to work on new approaches to analyze DNA sequences from environmental microbiomes and to study the distribution of taxa and functions across all of microbial life.