EarthEd Institute
The EarthEd Institute program is designed to support high school science teachers in creating engaging, inquiry-based lessons and to inspire students to explore Earth and environmental sciences.
July 14-18, 2025
Buffalo, NY
The EarthEd Institute provides:
- Free professional development for middle and high school natural science teachers.
- An intensive week-long program that offers 30 hours of continuing education credit.
- Daily field trips, hands-on activities, and inquiry-based learning.
- Opportunities to learn about current research in Earth and environmental sciences directly from scientists and graduate researchers.
- Collaboration with experts to develop content that can be used in high school classrooms.
Previous Experiences
Participants have enjoyed activities like:
- Macroinvertebrate sampling with homemade traps at Amherst State Park.
- Viewing artificially produced lava flows at the Natural Hazards Field Station.
- Touring the Chaffee landfill to learn about waste and water management.
- Fossil collecting at Penn-Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Preserve.
- Sediment coring along Bizer Creek.
- Surveying ecological restoration along the Buffalo River.
- Imaging pollen grains using UB’s scanning electron microscope.
n addition to the summer program, the EarthEd Institute will offer classroom visits during the fall and spring semesters. Faculty and graduate students will share their research and provide demonstrations tailored to your curriculum. Topics may include climatology, volcanology, planetary science, ecology, and more.
If you’re interested in hosting a visit, please email Earthed@buffalo.edu for more information.
What Teachers Have Said About EarthEd:
- “I left with so many ideas I could bring directly to my students.”
- “The hands-on approach and connection to research made the program incredibly useful.”
- “The content provided new perspectives on teaching science in an engaging way.”
Student Feedback:
- “Seeing real science in action made me excited to learn more.”
- “I never realized how much science happens around us—it made me think about new career paths."