Collaboration in Action
From research partnerships to educational experiences to Maverick alumni providing important leadership, UNO and the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium are intensely intertwined.
Charley Steed, Associate Editor, University Communications
Developing Future Educators
Each semester, UNO’s teacher education department brings dozens of future educators to Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium to meet with zoo experts and students who attend the zoo’s on-site preschool. Among other skills, UNO students learn the power of using observation and inquiry to promote language development and content learning.
“We all learn by experience,” says Susan McWilliams, associate professor of teacher education. “So when our students can learn here at the zoo, they can take that back into their classrooms.”
It’s an experience that benefits zoo staff as well as UNO’s students.
“It’s really nice for preschoolers to get different teachers,” says Brian Priesman, an educator who regularly provides lessons at the zoo. “It’s really cool to see how somebody new is able to bring something out of a child that we haven’t seen.”
Growing Omaha’s STEM Pipeline
STEM is one of the largest growing career fields in the world, yet the number of college graduates earning degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics trails the need for highly skilled professionals.
That’s why, in 2016, UNO and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium joined forces to form the Omaha STEM Ecosystem, a citywide partnership to address the shortage of STEM professionals in the greater Omaha area.
“The Omaha STEM Ecosystem is fortunate to have the support of our key community partners to help lead and advocate for assuring Omaha remains a vibrant STEM community and becomes a model for STEM workforce development,” says Julie Sigmon, the ecosystem’s director.
The efforts include the Math Teachers Circle — Math in the Aquarium (see more Page 10).
More information about the Omaha STEM Ecosystem can be found at omahastem.com.
An Alum’s Maverick Vision for Science Education
A former high school science teacher, Elizabeth Mulkerrin has spent 20 years developing education programing at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. During that time, she also pursued her doctorate through UNO’s College of Education, graduating with her Ed.D. in 2012.
Today, Mulkerrin is vice president of education and recently led the effort to establish the Zoo’s Robert B. Daughtery Education Center, which launched in 2018. It serves more than 9,000 student visitors annually, including full-time programing for middle school and kindergarten students and after-school programming for all ages.
“It takes an entire village, it takes everybody in the city of Omaha to grow these kids from cradle to career,” Mulkerrin says. “UNO really leans on the community to have students apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom, and that’s something I’ve really noticed — as a student and now as an alum.”
Wild About Service Learning
Sometimes all it takes is a little nudge for citizen scientists to become career scientists.
For several semesters, UNO has partnered with Northwest High School in the Omaha Public School District and with Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium’s Wildlife Safari to collect and analyze soil and water samples used by safari staff to keep the area’s plants and animals safe.
The effort is led by Dana Richter-Egger, assistant professor of chemistry at UNO, and Northwest chemistry teacher Rachel Benzoni.
“If you only learn about science and you never do science you really don’t have a complete understanding, a complete experience of what it’s like,” Richter-Egger says.
Benzoni agrees.
“To actually go there and see how it’s impacting the wildlife and impacting people who go there and the water that they and their own family rely on, that really drives it home for them,” she says.
Getting Educated About the Importance of Play
Play is a staple of childhood. It also allows children to gain important life skills, including leadership, problem-solving and communication.
When the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium opened the Bay Family Children’s Adventure Trails exhibit in 2017, it provided an opportunity for children to learn about nature through play. It also was a research opportunity for UNO faculty members Anne Karabon and Amanda Steiner.
“I think it’s vital for our teacher education students to see the value of going into spaces like the zoo to see what learning through play looks like,” Karabon says.
Their research has helped the zoo train and educate their staff to facilitate play-based learning. Karabon and Steiner hope to continue their partnership with the zoo and expand their research.
“We want to continue to engage in research and investigate if caregivers can recognize the value of play as children engage in this space,” Steiner says. “I think we need to continue to develop our research and to support the need for investment in our children and their development.”
Service at the Zoo
Operating a zoo can get … messy at times.
In step — carefully — UNO students who are somewhat regulars at the zoo helping on projects there during the university’s service days.
During UNO’s Seven Days of Service last spring, for instance, Maverick students put down fresh mulch in the Hubbard Gorilla Valley Complex.