History of CHANCE
CHANCE was conceived in 2004 to meet the demand for innovative and more effective biology education and was established through an initial partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and Penn State Lehigh Valley (PSLV).
Over the past 18 years, CHANCE has enlisted 60 worldwide partners and numerous public and private sector funding sources to enable ~460 Fellows to complete 17 field courses in seven countries (including the U.S. per a course built for Chinese students held in Yellowstone National Park). CHANCE has garnered 8 awards, released 17 refereed publications, developed 7 online interactive teaching modules, and produced 200+ student and faculty presentations.
CHANCE has received funding (>$400K raised) and in-kind support from a wide variety of organizations and businesses, established researchers, non-governmental and governmental organizations, and academic institutions worldwide (Partners and Sponsors).
Some of the program awards include a 2018 Citation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the 2015 Penn State W. LaMarr Kopp International Achievement Award, and the 2013 Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Education (PAEE) Outstanding Environmental Education Award.
It had also produced 7 online modules that were freely accessible and used in educational settings and by citizens throughout the world (reaching over 10,000 individuals per year). CHANCE modules focused on the following global environmental topics: invasive plant species, raptor migration, amphibians as indicators of environmental change, sea turtle nesting behaviors and survival, deciduous forest biodiversity, species extinction, and, global climate change.
The CHANCE field courses and modules are a part of the implementation of the ideals of the NSF Vision and Change. The results of numerous assessment studies on students’ outcomes demonstrate the positive impact of both the field courses and modules in the following key areas: student learning and acquisition of disciplinary, workforce, and leadership skills; professional development of teachers; and furthering all participants’ understanding of the field of conservation biology and future actions as informed citizens (Publications).
CHANCE’s Founding Director, Dr. Jacqueline McLaughlin has also been bestowed numerous awards on behalf of her devotion to international environmental education. Some of her awards include the 2017 North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE) Higher Education Educator of the Year, and a 2019 National Academies Jefferson Science Fellowship wherein she is presently serving as a Foreign Affairs Officer to the State Department of the United States in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES).
