Project

Findings from the Field

Building a student scientist community.

Through Findings from the Field, we are growing a community of middle school ecosystem scientists across the region who work together to conduct, reflect on, and share scientific investigations in a science journal. Engaging in this community empowers student scientists with an authentic context for sharing their investigations, and writing about scientific endeavors creates opportunities to reflect on scientific work that is open to public discussion.

Project Goals:

Enhance student understanding of scientific inquiry by immersing them in the science writing process.
Connect students in a scientific community of practice where they can communicate their work.
Support teachers as they lead students through the process of scientific inquiry and writing.

What is Findings from the Field?

Findings from the Field is a middle school journal of ecological and environmental scientific investigations. Produced and launched in 2017 by GMRI, in collaboration with a community of student scientists and teachers across Maine and New Hampshire, Findings from the Field gives students the opportunity to engage in and communicate about authentic scientific inquiry. Student contributions to the journal undergo a process of peer and editorial board review before publication.

Findings from the Field, Volume 6

Explore the most recent volume of our Findings from the Field student journal.

View Journal

"The best part of this project was looking at the final product and realizing what I had just completed, which was a fully comprehensive research paper.

8th Grader Falmouth Middle School

Findings from the Field Student Symposium

Each year, we host a student symposium with students from Maine and New Hampshire who come together at GMRI to share their research findings and scientific observations. This year, on March 18th, 65 students will be presenting. Students will be joined by professional scientists from NASA and GMRI who will present their own work alongside students.

Important Findings Resources

Learn how to participate in Findings, submit entries, and more.

View Resources

"My students really enjoyed hearing from real scientists. They were excited to see people working in such interesting fields where they combine their love of the outdoors with their scientific interests. Many of my students think of scientists as people in white coats who work in labs and I appreciate the opportunity for them to see other potential careers that they could pursue.

Middle School Teacher

Professional Development Opportunities

The GMRI Education team also works hard to develop and provide professional development opportunities for educators looking to get their students involved in the Findings from the Field process, and much more!

Are you interested in getting your classrooms involved in Findings from the Field? You can explore our Findings resources on our Learning Resource Hub.

"I feel like this was the piece I have been missing! The high moment of today was the whole day, which gave me the tools to feel much more confident in connecting my students to authentic scientific work.

Teacher workshop participant

In this edition of Field Notes, Meggie Harvey talks about our Findings from the Field project, a unique opportunity for students to engage in critical elements of the scientific process: the writing, peer review, and publication of results.