Overview & Sample Itinerary

Download Sample Syllabus

The Educator Academy in the Amazon Rainforest provides powerful professional development designed to transform student learning. Immersed for 10 days in the Peruvian Amazon, teachers learn about this key global ecosystem while building their ability to engage students in scientific research, engineering design, cross-cultural connections, and stewardship projects. Skilled Peruvian guides lead natural history exploration – in small boats, along trails, and on one of the world’s most extensive canopy walkways. Professional scientists engage educators in field research and citizen science. And villagers in remote communities demonstrate their ways of life, highlighting conservation practices with which they are aiming for long-term sustainability of the rainforest resources on which their livelihoods depend.

“Just like that. In 10 short days our idea of a classroom has been forever changed...To us, a classroom no longer consists of four white walls with organized rows of desks and textbooks on top. Those walls have been broken and torn down. The desks have been pushed aside and textbooks are now closed. It’s time to let the world be the classroom …. Our job is to support students on their journey. Let them discover what the world has to offer and what they can do to make it theirs.”     -- 2017 participant

With specialized tracks for elementary, middle school, and HS/AP educators, participants take advantage of activities most relevant to their interests and needs, and collaborate to share ideas for classroom applications.  Field activities support NGSS 3D learning, STEM, 5E and more.

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Why spend time in the Amazon?
Although the Amazon rainforest is a common topic in K–12 curricula, typically it is addressed through textbook readings. Educators who have the opportunity to visit this remarkable biome return to their classrooms with new perspectives on how to help their students make sense of their world from the local to the global. Learning in the Ama­zon favors inquiry, personal discovery, and the ability to ask good questions. It requires a holistic, multi-disciplinary lens to understand its complex past, present, and future. Its pres­ervation calls for local engagement and global collaboration. Participants head home knowing that the real power of place-based learning is to move learners beyond factual awareness and into active par­ticipation and deep understanding.

Contact Hours

20+ hours of pre-departure preparation include online readings, discussions, and webinars. 50 hours of field work in the Amazon include experiences using resources by Pacific Education Institute, Project Learning Tree, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Vernier Software and Technology. Post-trip webinars and online network offer ongoing involvement and support.

SAMPLE ITINERARY

July 1 – DAY 1: Depart from US and overnight in Lima, Peru 

July 2 – DAY 2: Lima to Iquitos and ExplorNapo Lodge

Transfer to Lima airport ● Travel by boat on the Amazon River and deepen your understanding of this important global resource ● Evening orientation:  Where in the World Are We?

July 3– DAY 3: ExplorNapo Lodge

Birding and wildlife investigations each morning ● AM field workshop: Place-based inquiry in the Amazon ● Guided hike and inquiry-based explorations the rainforest ecosystem ● PM field workshop:  Designing Field Studies & The Tools of Inquiry ● Pre-dinner round table discussions ● Evening boat ride.

July 4– DAY 4: ExplorNapo Lodge

AM field workshop: Amazon biodiversity:  Arthropods Rule!  ● PM field workshop:  Amazon Biodiversity – Secret Lives of Amazon Plants ● Visit to ReNuPeru medicinal plant garden and shaman Guillermo Rodriguez ● Pre-dinner round table discussions ● Evening discussion night hike.

July 5 – DAY 5: Amazon Conservatory of Tropical Studies (ACTS)

AM grade level field & curriculum workshops:  Forging connections to forests and climate change  ● PM field workshop: Tropical Ecology 101 with guided hike and explorations en route to ACTS field station.  Canopy walkway exploration and sunset viewing.  ● Evening Exploration:  STEM design challenge. 

July 6 – DAY 6: Amazon Conservatory of Tropical Studies (ACTS)

AM/PM field workshops:  Research in the Rainforest – Trade your Lab Coat for a Rain Poncho ● Small group field studies and explorations with Academy faculty ●  Explore STEM applications of research protocols, investigation tools, and inquiry resources ● Pre-dinner round table discussion:  Science, Conservation, and Sustainability ● Night hike.

July 7 – DAY 7: ExplorNapo Lodge

AM field workshop:  Research in the Rainforest  wrap up  ● PM field workshop:  Meet the Maijuna with visit to community of Sucusari to meet with community members and learn about their culture and history and efforts to protect nearly a million acres of the Amazon ● Evening Exploration: “Have you touched a rainforest today?”

July 8 – DAY 8: ExplorNapo Lodge

AM/PM field workshops:  Full day in the Maijuna village of Sucusari  ● In-depth exploration of the creation of the Maijuna-Kichwa Regional Conservation Area ● Hands-on explorations of Maijuna community conservation projects, including stingless bee honey cultivation, aguaje palm fruit harvesting, GPS animal tracking and hunting initiative, and chambira fiber workshop ● Pre-dinner round table discussion:  Connecting the Amazon to your NGSS Classroom  ● Night boat ride on the Sucusari River.

July 9 – DAY 9: ExplorNapo Lodge

AM field Workshop:  The Maijuna Foodshed – agriculture and water resources ● Lunch at Napo ● PM:  Creating a collaborative action plan for integrating the Amazon into your instruction.  Evening: Awards ceremony and celebration!

July 10 – DAY 10: Iquitos to Lima and return flights to US

Transfer to Iquitos for return flight to Lima and international flights or overnight at hotel for Machu Picchu Extension.   Note: Participants not continuing on to Machu Picchu will return to the U.S. on an overnight flight arriving home on July 11, DAY 11.

Amazon Rainforest Workshops Study Sites

Program Directors

Christa Dillabaugh - Director, The Morpho Institute

Christa Dillabaugh is the Program Director for The Morpho Institute and creator of our flagship program, The Educator Academy in the Amazon.    Prior to founding the Morpho Institute, she launched Amazon Rainforest Workshops, LLC and has coordinated numerous student and university field programs in the Amazon.  Christa began her love of the Amazon and neotropical rainforests while leading expeditions for her own students from Bexley, Ohio.  She has also worked as a free-lance science consultant to Pearson Education and Discovery Communications, contributing to curriculum and activity guides as well as educator in-service workshops and training materials focusing on STEM and Understanding by Design in the science classroom.  Her current area of focus is community-based conservation and conservation education.

Allen (Al) Stenstrup - Former Director of Education Programs for Project Learning Tree

Al has more than 35 years of experience in the field of education. As Director of Education Programs for Project Learning Tree (PLT), Al directed the development and implementation of PLT's curriculum materials across the country and internationally with PLT state coordinators and other partners. Al recently published a book Diminishing Resources – Forests that highlights the planet’s changing forests and what people are doing to manage this resource. In 2010, he received the award Outstanding Service to Environmental Education at the Global Level from the North American Association for Environmental Education for his work in 18 countries across the world.

Program Faculty

Faculty varies from year to year depending on availability and number of participants. 

Kelly Keena, PhD – Director of Education, Underwriters Laboratories

Dr. Kelly Keena is the Director of Education and Outreach for Underwriters Laboratories, a global safety science not-for-profit organization. Previously, Kelly was co-founder and Principal Consultant for Blue Lotus Consulting & Evaluation, LLC. Her research focused on the quality of children’s experiences in green schoolyards and participant-generated data to understand the nature of learner experiences in environmental education. In addition to more than ten years as a non-formal educator and ten years of classroom work as a science teacher and instructional coach, she consulted for projects with the Children’s Museum of Denver, National Wildlife Federation, and international organization Living Literacies. She is currently the Chair of the National Environmental Education Advisory Council for the Environmental Protection Agency where she works on national Environmental Education priorities and partnerships, including evaluation. Kelly was recently awarded the Enos Mills’ Lifetime Achievement Award in environmental education by the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE).

Stephen (Steve) Madigosky, EdD - Professor of Biology & Environmental Science at Widener University

In addition to his academic teaching at Widener, Steve is also Director of Research at the Amazon Conservatory of Tropical Studies (ACTS) in Iquitos, Peru. Aspects of tropical biology and conservation have been his focus for nearly two decades. As a researcher, he has been investigating the biochemical dynamics of select compounds in tropical plants and animals. The crux of his work centers on understanding how organisms obtain chemical protection from their diets. In addition, Steve is conducting a long term study and detailed climatic profile of the forest layers surrounding the ACTS field station. Also active in science education, he has obtained  nearly  one  million  dollars  in grants  over  the  past  decade  to  support  educational programs to increase science literacy among K-16 teachers and students.

Randy Morgan - Curator Emeritus of Invertebrates for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Randy holds an M.S. in entomology from the University of Wisconsin and his work managing a Leaf-Cutting  Ant  Colony  earned  the  Zoo  a  Significant  Achievement  Award  issued  by  the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. This recognition was preceded by other awards in 1999 for Bullet Ants, in 2000 for the long-term propagation of the Peruvian Fire Stick, and two in 2001 for the long-term propagation and captive management of the Giant Water Bug. While regularly serving as faculty during Amazon Rainforest Workshops since 1991, Randy also led the JASON XV team of scientists in February, 2003 during their Rainforests at the Crossroads expedition to Panama and served as a JASON X researcher in the Amazon in March, 1999.

Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker - Entomologists and Science Communicators, The Bug Chicks

Kristie and Jessica are entomologists who teach about the fascinating world of insects, spider and their relatives. Through videos, digital media and in-person appearances they inspire people to open their minds and learn about these often-maligned animals. Their drive to create fun, accurate science media has led them to work with some amazing organizations: the U.S. Forest Service, Norman Borlaug Institute of International Agriculture, and National Ag Science Center, Microsoft and many more! They inspire people to be brave and realize that different isn't bad. In this vein, they use bugs to teach about prejudice and racism and reaching your full potential.

Nancy Trautmann, PhD - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Dr. Nancy Trautmann recently retired as Director of Education and currently serves as Visiting Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, focusing on teacher professional development and curriculum development related to biodiversity conservation. Her passion lies in introducing people to the wonders of the natural world and helping teachers go beyond textbooks and lectures to get their students involved in conservation-related investigations and projects. She has published 10 books in collaboration with teachers, on topics ranging from biodiversity to toxicology. Publications by NSTA Press include a manual on citizen science and four environmental science research manuals. A recent book, Birds Without Borders, won the top educational award from the Association of American Publishers for supplemental science curricula in 2016.

STUDY SITES

Explorama Lodges

ACTSPeru

PARTNERS

CONAPAC Peru

Amazon Library

Yanamono Medical Clinic

One Planet

CITIZEN SCIENCE

iNaturalist

eBird

Extend your stay in Peru and explore Andean culture and ecology with a visit to Cusco and Machu Picchu.  Extension is provided and orgnaized by our travel partner, EcoTeach.  You may register for this extension when confirming your travel reservations with EcoTeach.

2022 Extension info will be available by December 2021.