Abby Harris invited to present at 11th Annual World Community Conference at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

2014 Dec 8

On December 13, 2014, Abby Harris of Franklin, Ky. (42134) will present about assessing water quality in Kentucky as an invited featured speaker at the 11th Annual World Community Conference at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

The Conference, sponsored by the Zoo and Miami University's Project Dragonfly, will showcase the work of formal and informal educators who have conducted inquiry projects at key conservation sites around the world and in classrooms throughout the country.

Harris conducted her project as a graduate student in Dragonfly's Global Field Program. Harris, works as a teacher at Franklin Simpson High School.

Longtime Belizean conservationist Celso Poot from The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center, who graduates with his master's from Miami next week, will deliver the keynote speech at the conference. Since beginning his work at the Belize Zoo in 1994, Poot has worked with more than 15,000 Belizean school children and teachers each year. At the Belize Zoo, Poot also coordinates university courses exploring the diverse terrestrial, coastal and coral reef communities of Belize, including Dragonfly's courses in Belize that since 2010 have involved 400 Miami graduate students.

Project Dragonfly reaches millions of people each year through inquiry-driven learning media, public exhibits and graduate programs worldwide. Since 2004, Dragonfly's Earth Expeditions global graduate courses, which are the foundational experiences for the Global Field Program (GFP) master's, have engaged more than 1,700 people in firsthand educational and scientific research at key conservation field sites in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Americas. Dragonfly is based in the Department of Biology at Miami University, a state university in Oxford, Ohio. Miami was established in 1809 and is listed as one of the eight original Public Ivies.

Applications are being accepted through January 28 for the GFP's 2015 master's cohort. For more information and to apply, visit http://GFP.MiamiOH.edu. Stay up-to-date and like Project Dragonfly on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PrjDragonfly.