K-12 Partnership Summer Institute 2025

We invite teachers and educators of K-12 students to engage in science teacher professional development at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. Summer Institute is offered over 3 days, day 1 will be hour long concurrent sessions, day 2 will be in-depth workshops and day 3 will be field trips to KBS and beyond. Details will be added below as they are available!

Click here to REGISTER by June 13!

Explore your connections to plants! Plants are part of our everyday life in the foods we eat and the fuels that power our vehicles. Plants have been cultivated by people for thousands of years and grow everywhere in urban, suburban and rural landscapes. Our stories and theirs are intertwined. During summer institute we’ll have engaging plenary speakers and interactive concurrent sessions that will stoke your interest in plants and help you develop lessons and activities to share with your students.

K-12 Partnership Summer Institute: Our Connections to Plants

Tuesday, June 24 – Thursday, June 26, 2025

8:30-3:30 pm EST

Agenda – click here for detailed schedules!

Location: In-person at Kellogg Biological Station, 3700 East Gull Lake Dr., Hickory Corners, MI 49060 (link to directions) AND/OR online via zoom webinar (8:30 to 10:00 a.m. EST)

Audience: K-12 teachers and in/non-formal educators

Compensation: Free! Includes lunch, lodging, personal stipend ($75/day stipend for in-person or $25/online plenary), continuing education hours and access to resources

What to Expect

Online: Log into the zoom webinar at 8:30 am to share in the morning’s introduction, the day’s plenary talk will start at 9 am and end at 10 am. We’ll have the chat function open so you can ask questions and interact with other virtual participants.

In-person: Dress to be comfortable inside and outside. Bring a refillable water bottle. Each workshop starts with a lecture from a local scientist, which is followed by interactive, experiential sessions, field trips and/or in-depth workshops presented by educators and scientists. We add in lunch, snacks, networking and reflective time.

Gear Swap – Bring items you no longer need to share with other educators! Declutter your teaching spaces and bring books, lab materials, supplies (craft/art/classroom), etc. to share with others. We will set up an area of tables to display the items so you can browse and give useful items a new home! 

Marketplace of Ideas – share at least one idea/lesson/activity to with others – write your idea up in a Google Doc and share it with karahaas (at) msu.edu – on Wednesday, June 25 we will set up a ‘marketplace’ for you to share and learn from others!

Meet our Plenary Speakers

Tuesday, June 24, Manoomin & Wild Rice Conservation with Roger LeBine and Cortney Collia

Wednesday, June 25, Extraordinary Leaves with Dr. Kadeem Gilbert, Assistant Professor, Michigan State

University’s Department of Plant Biology, Kellogg Biological Station

Thursday, June 26, TBD

Session topics:

Plant ID Hike – looking closely at structure and function of seeds

Manoomin – the biology and history of Wild Rice in Michigan

In-depth Workshop topics: (click here for detailed descriptions)

1. Teaching Science Outdoors – Elementary
2. Teaching Science Outdoors –  Middle/High School
3. Grant Writing for Teachers – All Grade Levels

Field Trip options: (click here for detailed descriptions)

1. Food Innovation Center and Urban Farm  (Kalamazoo)
2. KBS Long-term Ecological & Agroecology Research Sites 

About the KBS K-12 Partnership

The KBS K-12 Partnership is funded through the KBS Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) and the Michigan State University Graduate School. The KBS K-12 Partnership is a network of educators and scientists that come together to learn about the latest science at KBS and innovative pedagogies for classroom and outdoor teaching. The K-12 Partnership Leadership Team guides and coordinates this programming. The 2025 Team includes: Jenny Brenneman (Parchment); Shirley Brezzell (Detroit); Lauren Sullivan (MSU faculty); Gabriel Knowles (Whitehall); Kara Haas (MSU teacher educator); Liz Schultheis (KBS LTER, MSU); Misty Klotz (KBS Outreach); Jillian Osbourne (Ebersole/Lansing); Melissa Frost (Buchanan); Sara Syswerda (Pierce Cedar Creek Institute); Torrey Wenger (Bloomingdale)

Questions? Email our team, k12partnership (at) kbs.msu.edu

Join our mailing list to keep up to date on K-12 Partnership happenings!

KBS K-12 Partnership offers professional development in science teaching! Learn more about the KBS K-12 Partnership.