Swivel Your Mindset

NOISE Project Co-Pi John Annoni (Camp Compass Academy) shares a lesson about coping during these times: "Swivel your mindset so that you can start to unwind and untangle your life in this tough time... and to hold on."

Welcome to our new Collaborators from Mexico lindo!

We are so excited to welcome Cecy Alvarez and Juan Flores from Green Jay Mayan Birding in Cancún, Mexico as our new ICBO partners and collaborators.

Estamos súper contentos de dar la bienvenida a Cecy Alvarez y Juan Flores de Green Jay Mayan Birding en Cancún. Ellos se suman a nuestro proyecto I asumen el rol de ICBOs representando a México.

Community Perspectives Survey about Noise Pollution

We are excited to launch our co-created survey to learn more about how our communities are experiencing noise pollution. 

What is the research about? We are trying to understand issues of equity and noise so we can create a national Community Science project (and APP) that brings about meaningful change and benefits underserved communities throughout North America.

Who is leading the research? The ICBOs (a group of community organizations representing underserved communities throughout North America). Led by Metro Atlanta Urban Farm in Georgia, the WorldBeat Center in California, CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio) in Minnesota, and Camp Compass Academy in Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

How long should it take? 10 minutes

Is there payment for participation? There is no payment for participation, but by completing the survey you’ll have the opportunity to be entered into a drawing to win a pair of noise-cancelling headphones or a pair of binoculars.  

Survey in English: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9oTpcNrBb8C72Gp

Help us spread the word!

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Estamos encantados de lanzar nuestra encuesta para obtener más información sobre cómo nuestras comunidades están viviendo con la contaminación acústica.

¿De qué se trata la investigación? Estamos estudiando las perspectivas comunitarias acerca de la contaminación acústica para crear un proyecto científico comunitario y una aplicación telefónica para medir el impacto del ruido. La idea es ayudar a promover cambios significativos y beneficios para las comunidades marginadas en América del Norte.

¿Quién está haciendo la investigación? Los ICBOs  (Un grupo de organizaciones comunitarias que representan a comunidades marginadas en toda América del Norte). Este trabajo es liderado por Metro Atlanta Urban Farm en Georgia, Camp Compass Academy en Pennsylvania , WorldBeat Center en California, CLUES en Minnesota, Green Jay Mayan Birding en México y el Laboratorio de Ornitología de la Universidad de Cornell.

¿Cuánto tiempo debe tomar? 10 minutos

¿Hay algún pago por mi participación? No hay pago por su participación, aunque al completar la encuesta podrá ingresar a un sorteo para ganar un par de auriculares con cancelación de ruido o un par de binoculares. Agradecemos mucho su valiosa contribución. Encuesta en Español: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6gMJyReFZpNao4d 

¡Ayúdenos a correr la voz!

Photo by Marilú López Fretts

NSF Awards New Grant to The ICBOs!

Photo by Jesse Graham of the WorldBeat Center.

More exciting news from our community! The National Science Foundation awarded the ICBOs and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology a three-year $2.5-million dollar grant to create a national community science project focused on noise pollution.

The ICBOs will be working together, following our rules based on the Jemez Principles to co-create this new project with our communities. What makes the project so exciting is the fact that three of our community researchers are named Co-Principal Investigators. The grant proposal was co-created with the ICBOs and The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, living our mission, vision and values for building and maintaining equitable collaborations.

Our plan is to measure the impacts of noise pollution in inner cities on people and birds with the help of a co-created app. We plan to record noise levels and look at impacts on human well-being. In addition, we plan to create noise refuges and connect people with birds in our communities.

Nine community advisors representing underserved African American, Latino, and Native communities across the U.S., members of the ICBOs, will be part of the project. In addition, Metro Atlanta Urban Farm, in Atlanta, GA., Camp Compass Academy in Allentown, PA., WorldBeat Center in San Diego, CA., and Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES) in St. Paul, MN. will be leading the project via community-based participatory research.

The project also includes other wonderful advisors with expertise on the non-auditory effects of noise pollution; community-based participatory research; equity, diversity, and inclusion in science and citizen science.

Congratulations to the ICBOs.

We'll keep you posted with our work!

Why have Informal Science Institutions not made significant advances in fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)? Three years ago, 15 community leaders representing underserved communities throughout the U.S.A. set out to find some answers so we could better understand why implementing effective STEM programming in underserved communities remains fraught with challenges. They initiated community-based participatory research, using grounded theory approaches, and asked more than 30 community organizations to weigh in. The community researchers, participated in all phases of the research and collectively created a framework that highlights the following themes: 1) trust and transparency, 2) power and privilege, 3) commitment and collaboration, and 4) realities and relevance.

This work evolved from an NSF AISL grant project, Collaborative Research: Examining Contextual Factors that Influence the Implementation of Projects Designed to Improve Cultural Diversity in Informal STEM Programming. We call the group of community researchers “The ICBOs” (Independent Community-based Organizations). The ICBOs have collectively used their strengths and expertise to delve deeper and more meaningfully into community perspectives. They have led this exploration authentically and independently. 

Sometimes research approaches themselves can be part of the problem when trying to understand equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM. For instance, even informed researchers may tend to use frameworks and literature that originate in the dominant culture to inform their research; ask questions that may not really get at the issues, and may leave underserved communities feeling as if they are being studied. These problems create an even greater sense of mistrust. Knowing this, the ICBOs wanted to lead research that would, instead, represent our communities’ perspectives.

Check out our video -- A Public Choice winner in the 2018 National Science Foundation Video Showcase:   http://stemforall2018.videohall.com/presentations/1127, where we discuss the preliminary results of our research.

Special thanks to the WorldBeat Center in San Diego, one of the community organizations leading this research, for producing our video. For more information about our work visit: power30icbos.blogspot.com

Meeting in San Diego

The ICBOs (Independent Community-based Organizations) presented their findings at 

the WorldBeat Center in San Diego in March.

Jose González presented ICBO research results at the meeting.

Makeda Cheatom and Berenice Rodriguez presented the Premiere of the Culture Beat's 1st Baja Bird Festival Documentary produced by WorldBeat Center.

 ICBO research materials shared at the meeting.

 Music, beat and STEM come together during the African drumming class.

Our meeting in San Diego involved all of the participants of the NSF AISL grant: Examining Contextual Factors Influencing the Implementation of Projects Designed to Improve Cultural Diversity in Informal STEM Programs.  The ICBOs presented their results to group. 

Participants gathered to say goodbye after their last meeting as a group. 

Why I got here and why it matters

Thirty-year educator John Annoni, founder of Camp Compass Academy in Allentown, Pennsylvania, shares his passion for his work. John is a leading force when it comes to building bridges between outdoor culture and inner city kids from underserved communities. Through "hunting and fishing in the pursuit of Mother Nature," he brings his perspective to our Community Perspectives' research.

Transmedia Storytelling by Pepe

What is the narrative nudge that changed your storyline?

Pepe Marcos-Iga, one of the ICBO researchers, shares the power of storytelling in achieving social change:

Our Rules

Photo by Marilú López Fretts

After meeting in Philadelphia this November we've determined the working rules for the Community Perspectives Researchers (also known as the Independent Community Based Organizations or ICBOs).

Working Rules

The ICBOs have agreed to follow the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing:

1) Be inclusive

2) Emphasis on bottom-up organizing

3) Let people speak for themselves

4) Work together in solidarity and mutuality

5) Build just relationships among ourselves

6) Commitment to self-transformation

Decision-making:

-We will strive for consensus and embrace solidarity and mutuality among ICBO members.

-Transparency and honesty are expected among all ICBO members and collaborators.

-All members will be kept informed at all times and will have multiple opportunities to weigh in and provide input ahead of deadlines.

-All ICBO members will be included/invited to meetings that affect our collective work.

-All ICBO members will have access to research findings in all phases of the research process.

-We focus on strengths.

Presentations and publications:

-First authorship is determined by niche/topic/area of expertise; who is taking the lead; who might benefit the most; or alphabetical order. Transparency and honesty are key.

    

-One ICBO representative will take on the role of coordinating any requests for presentations stemming from our Community Perspectives Research. This role will be held for 4 months and then we will rotate this responsibility. Fanny Villarreal has taken the role of the ICBO coordinator until April 2018.

    

Photo by Marilú López Fretts

-We have developed a short application for potential presenters (ICBO members and/others). The application can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6C92HJC

    

-We will make major efforts to ensure ICBO participation/representation in Community Perspectives research presentations to guide and interpret our work and messaging in the right manner. Let the ICBOs speak for themselves.

    

-Every member of the ICBO research team and participating community-based organizations will have a copy of all our findings, publications, and presentations as soon as they available. Each member will have a printed version of our standard research poster of results and share as they see fit.

-The posters, presentations, and publications will always acknowledge the authors and participating community-based organizations and be clear about who has done this work.

-The ICBOs will always speak for themselves. The research should be shared broadly without requiring in-person representation from dominant-culture institutions, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Blogs and videos:   

-The ICBOs will always post from the heart.

-Blogs and videos are democratizing tools to share our community perspectives and the work we do.

Motivations and Benefit:
-We value inclusion and authenticity
- We value working through conflicts
- We value doing the work lovingly by “living the mission”
- We believe that community-based organizations and leaders benefit by valuing and communicating their worth
- We expect due credit and equitable compensation for community expertise

-We demand self-reflection, transparency, and honesty in understanding motivations of our work.

-We demand self-reflection, transparency, and honesty in understanding who will ultimately benefit from our work and from products of our work.

-We focus on social inequalities, work for social change,  and believe the primary benefactors of our efforts are the communities we represent.

-We expect mutual benefit of all partners.

Bobby, Makeda and John share how their work impacts their communities

Bobby Wilson Describes our Research to Increase Inclusion in the Sciences

A Visit to Camp Compass

On Halloween, on their way to the ICBO meeting in Philadelphia, José Miguel, Fanny, Marilú and Karen stopped in Allentown PA to visit Camp Compass, one of the lead community-based organizations in our research. The nonprofit organization for urban, disadvantaged youth, fosters self esteem  through hunting, fishing, tutoring, and social guidance. They arrived at 5:30pm and John Annoni, the program's leader was waiting in the parking lot with three of his students. Camp Compass is not easy to find. It is in an unmarked alleyway, at the back of a carpet store. From the outside it looks unassuming and simple, and on the inside it is home.

John Annoni (center), his students, and the visitors. Photo by Marilú Lopez-Fretts

The power of Camp Compass becomes evident as soon as you begin to talk to one of the youth. The three students introduced themselves and took charge of the tour. These youth are confident and strong (in a way rarely seen in youth their age), while at the same time showing a gentle, patient, kindness towards newcomers and each other. There's something different at Camp Compass -- a culture of acceptance and self worth, and John's steady, unwavering belief in his students comes through boldly.

John Annoni with Jay, one of his students. Photo by Marilú López-Fretts

Everything at Camp Compass is about the youth. It is a well designed, well-oiled machine that gets kids from the toughest, inner-city neighborhoods to believe in themselves and understand the strength, knowledge, and beauty that lies within. Camp Compass welcomes kids who come from broken homes and may have few adults believing in them -- kids who may have given up. The program is rigorous and academically challenging, while prioritizing messages of self-acceptance, love, and a belief that they are capable of achieving absolutely anything. It becomes home for the long-haul.

Camp Compass students with José Miguel and Fanny. Photo by Marilú López-Fretts

By interspersing knowledge about hunting, fishing, gun safety, and the outdoors, with math and writing, the students earn trips out into the woods. The kids stay laser-focused on the end-goal and are determined to succeed. When asked what they like best about the program, they all say that getting outside into the woods gives them peace, freedom to be themselves, and strength.

Jay practices target shooting. Photo by Marilú López-Fretts

The students talked with pride about their knowledge of gun safety (and indicated how many kids their age have access to guns with little knowledge about safety), and about how they feel accepted just as they are. The youth are well spoken and focused on the future. Their love for John and for the program is clear!

Camp Compass is a program like no other - and we are proud that this community-based organization and its remarkable leader are part of our work to increase equity and inclusion in the sciences, conservation, and environmental programming.