Marine Educator Works to Deepen Student Engagement

Since Bigelow Laboratory’s early days, its education and outreach efforts have evolved to encompass several, highly popular programs for high schoolers and beyond.

To manage this growing portfolio, Bigelow Laboratory hired its inaugural marine educator last year. Aislyn Keyes brings to the role expertise in both ocean science and teaching, increasing the capacity of the education team — and, in turn, the scope of its programs.

The creation of the marine educator role is part of a larger investment into the center for ocean education and innovation. The 25,000-square-foot expansion, opening next year, includes dedicated teaching labs and classrooms that will enable the institute to bring in more students for longer periods.

“My role will make it possible for our programs to reach more people, at a deeper level, increasing the impact we can have on any given day,” Keyes said.

Keyes is from the Midwest, but she got the ocean bug early thanks to summer trips to the coast and a childhood along the “freshwater ocean” of the Great Lakes. The pull was so strong, she said, that she decided to become a marine biologist, pursuing a doctorate in ecology at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focused on modeling coastal food webs to understand how species loss could have cascading impacts on ecosystem services.

Quickly, though, she realized that a career in research wasn’t for her and decided to broaden her horizons. Before graduate school, Keyes had a job doing conservation outreach through the Minnesota Conservation Corps. She used that experience to find other opportunities to bring together her love of science with the joy she got sharing that science with others.

So, as she worked toward her PhD, Keyes also taught undergraduate lab courses, pursued formal teaching training, developed marine ecology programs for K-12 classes, and led several week-long marine ecology summer camps.

Ironically, it was those experiences — thousands of miles from the coast — that cemented her plans for a career in marine education.

“What I find exciting about the ocean, and what has driven me to do marine science teaching, is that the ocean is part of all of our lives, no matter where we are on the planet,” Keyes said. “Especially in the middle of the country, making that connection for people is very special.”

In addition to teaching, Keyes helps the larger education team with program logistics and recruitment. She takes external groups like college classes out on the institute’s research vessel for hands-on learning, and she co-directs the Sea Change Semester program.

A central part of her role is also supporting Bigelow Laboratory scientists, whether they’re looking for help running an education program, want to become better mentors, or are developing a new class to teach at a partner institution.

“If they’re interested in the most up-to-date, evidence-based teaching practices and pedagogy, I have expertise in that and can identify strategies to engage and support their students,” Keyes said. “I’m like the middleman who can help them take their science to a new audience.”

That kind of expertise is critical as the institute maps out the future of its education programs. One of their major future goals, Keyes said, is increasing on-going support for students throughout their scientific journey.

For example, the education team is hoping to develop a postbaccalaureate program. The year-long internship would provide recent graduates with less research experience with the skills and confidence they need to apply for graduate school or science jobs. Likewise, they’re working to recruit alumni to return for different programs as the students move through their academic career.

These deep, long-term relationships with students are becoming increasingly common. As a Camden high school junior in 2021, Sadie Woodruff, for example, participated in the week-long Keller BLOOM program. Now, as a junior at Wesleyan University, she’s back for the Sea Change Semester program.

What’s particularly valuable, Keyes said, is when students not only return but also spread the word about their positive experience when they return home. One of Sadie’s former teachers in Camden, for example, participated this summer in the BLOOM Educators program for Maine science teachers — and she’ll be back to support Sadie during her end-of-semester presentation.

Keyes said it's those full-circle moments that reflect the enduring impact of an educational experience at Bigelow Laboratory.

“A theme across all the programs is that participants are actually doing science alongside scientists, and that mentorship doesn’t end when they leave,” she said. “That hands-on time that scientists put into a student, even if it’s brief in the grand scheme of things, sticks with people for a lot longer.”

Third photo courtesy of Bess Koffman, Colby College