Do you want to innovatively share your knowledge and passion about ecology, but don’t know how or where? The NSF-supported STEM Ambassador Program (STEMAP) trains ecologists to engage with community groups outside of traditional science learning settings, such as schools and museums. We help identify appropriate public groups and assist scientists in developing targeted messages specific to that group, based on their research interests and personal characteristics. Emphasis is on two-way engagement, rather than outreach, between an ecologist and the public.

Examples of past STEMAP events:

• A wildlife biologist partnered with students in youth detention centers to identify and tally wildlife images taken by his camera traps. 
• An ornithologist displayed information about bird species found at her field site in Argentina at an Argentinian café in Utah.
• A microbiologist, whose hobbies include making homemade sauerkraut, described the microbiology behind fermentation cooking at a local cooking school.

STEMAP staff will guide Workshop participants through our process to identify connections with appropriate community groups, and offer tips on building relationships with communities, preparing for public engagement events, evaluating impacts, and disseminating activities to academic administrators and the media. Participants will leave the workshop with ‘out-of-the-box’ engagement ideas and a draft engagement plan. STEMAP staff can help participants with implementation after the workshop.  These outcomes can lead to compelling broader impacts for NSF grants, an arena for developing novel research ideas from the input of non-ecologists, and contributions of translational ecology to society.