How to find an educator or school/educational organization partner

First, determine:

1. what type of activity you would like to do with a partner or partners, and
2. where you would like to find the partner (e.g., in a community near your research site, in a community affected by the results of your research, in the town or city where your institution or organization is located, somewhere in Alaska, somewhere in the U.S.).

Ways to find a partner

• Review the examples on this website to see if there are existing programs that can match you with a partner. If you are at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks (UAF), you can also search the Science Education and Outreach Network (SEON) database of programs offered through UAF for potential partners.
• Use the COSEE Alaska list of Alaska Marine Science Outreach and Education Partners (XLSX, 28 KB) to find and contact a science educator or science outreach specialist in the community where you would like to find a teacher partner. They may be able to partner with you to include you in on-going K-12 programs. You can also contact the COSEE Alaska Program Manager, Marilyn Sigman (msigman at alaska.edu), who can send a request to coordinators of science teacher networks and listservs so they can send out your specific request. They may also be able to recommend teachers who have participated in similar activities with scientists. You can also post your opportunity on the National Lab Network website.
• Contact a teacher or school administrator directly. If you don't know who would be a good contact, start with the science curriculum coordinator for the school district. You can find their email address on the school district website. Email is the best way to initiate communication because it is often difficult to reach school administrators during the school day.