Select Education Link Classroom or Group Presentations Activity Pages Summer Internship Program Summer Science Camp Community Monitoring Stations Traveler's Information Radio Station

The ESER team is committed to furthering education outreach relating to the environmental surveillance and wildlife use at the INL.

The ESER Educational Outreach program's mission is to:

• Increase public awareness of the INL Offsite Environmental Surveillance Program and ESER ecological and radioecological research.

• Increase public understanding of surveillance and research results.

• Provide an education resource for local schools

Education Quick Links

• Classroom or Group Presentations - ESER staff members are available for presentations to groups and classrooms in southeastern Idaho. Presentations are adapted to grade-level and are free of charge. Presentations are limited to two per class per year due to increased demand. Request a presentation
• Summer Science Camps - ESER and the Museum of Idaho team to provide the Rocky Mountain Adventure program, consisting of week-long summer science camps.  The camps introduce students to four habitats surrounding Idaho Falls:  desert, lava beds, mountains, and wetlands.  Campers experience field activities that demonstrate diversity of each of the habitats and learn the scientific method as they “conduct science like a scientist does.”   To sign up, go to the Museum of Idaho website:  www.museumofidaho.org/RMA.php
• Ask a Scientist - The ESER Program in partnership with the Post Register Newspaper in Education Program creates a weekly column for the Post Register called Ask a Scientist.  The program began in 2007 and is sponsored by Stoller ESER Program, S.M. Stoller Corp. the Post Register, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Fish and Game, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and the Museum of Idaho.   The column calls on the experience and knowledge of a panel of about 60 scientists representing businesses, organizations, and agencies in southeastern Idaho to answer questions from local students and adults.  The column features a question from students or adults in the community and an answer to the question by a featured scientist.  The column also provides an in-depth article related to the question and an activity to reinforce the subject matter so that the column may be used in the classroom. A website at www.gsseser.com/nie  supports the column.  
  
  This project provides a way for students, teachers, and families to communicate with local scientists about local issues.  The Ask a Scientist panel of experts includes scientists from companies and agencies in southeastern Idaho, including Stoller, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Idaho Fish and Game, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho State University, Bureau of Land Management, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
• Meet a Scientist - The ESER Program and the Museum of Idaho have teamed together on a project called Meet a Scientist. Meet a Scientist is a free-to-the-public, monthly event held at the Museum of Idaho. The events, held since October 2007, have between 60 - 100 people in attendance, mostly families. A guest scientist is chosen based on a monthly theme.
• Museum Discovery Days - On the third Saturday of every month children ages 6 to 12 (at time of event) can enjoy fun and learning in a wholesome atmosphere through the exciting Discovery Day program. Discovery Day is four hours of fun and learning through hands-on interactive activities led by trained educators who love working with kids. Each month children will:

  • Meet a Scientist and get the inside scoop on the theme for the month. (The first hour of each Discovery Day allows participants a chance to interact with a professional scientist.)

  • Create and construct projects they can take home.

  • Conduct experiments that explore and investigate the world around them.

• NatureProbe - Idaho Nature Probe is a citizen science monitoring program that is administered through a partnership between the S.M. Stoller's Environmental Surveillance Education and Research Program (ESER), Idaho Fish and Game Department, and Idaho NatureMapping. Our goal is to encourage Idahoans of all ages to get involved in helping scientists learn more about our native habitats.
• Children's Activity Pages
• War on Weed Summer Internship - The War on Weeds (WOW) Project is a "learn by doing" summer internship.  WOW employs students for a six-week period to map noxious weeds on the INL using Global Positioning System (GPS) units and to create weed maps for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. 
• Teacher's Workshops (through ISU) - Six sessions of Teacher’s Recertification workshops are also held each year.  These workshops are a partnership between the ESER Program, Museum of Idaho, and Idaho Fish and Game and are credited through Idaho State University.
• Community Monitoring Stations