Transdisciplinary Knowledge Creation is Anything but Rubbish

This community-based participatory action project was inspired by four middle school teachers from Riverton, Wyoming. These educators set out to develop meaningful problem-based learning for sixty 7th grade students enrolled in an interdisciplinary STEM class. In their hometown there was an old, unlined landfill that closed in 1983 and since its closure, community baseball fields were opened on the northern periphery of the site. In 2014, following a state-wide assessment of landfills, this landfill was listed as eleventh on a list of the eleven “highest priority” landfills. Data indicated elevated levels of iron, manganese, and cadmium in groundwater surrounding the landfill. The middle school teachers partnered with Rachel (Director of the Learning Actively Mentoring Program), who teaches a capstone course for senior microbiology majors. Together with other stakeholders, the educators navigated the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City Officials, the engineering firm leading on-site remediation efforts, the middle school and the university program. The university educator, graduate and undergraduate researchers outreached to the middle school at the start of the fall term. Together, the university and middle school students learned about the landfill and considered possible remediative strategies such as phytoremediation and bioremediation. In October, all sixty seventh graders traveled to the University of Wyoming where they learned about plants and worked with microorganisms. The university students in the microbiology capstone course performed in-depth research to characterize microbial populations in the surface and plant root soil at three sites in and near the landfill area. In November, the 7th grade students, university students and engineers met on-site where students learned from the engineers and the university students collected soil samples. The university students’ research supported the engineers’ phytoremediative approach and allowed them to suggest best locations for plant growth. The 7th grade students attended the university students’ research posters and now the posters hang in the 7th grade classrooms. The 7th-grade students have formed diverse teams and they are creating a plan of action for how to tell this story to the citizens of their town and state. In this community-based participatory action research project, we have knit together unlikely collaborative partners, from 7th grade students to distinguished city leaders to empower, liberate and connect communities. Likewise, our research is transdisciplinary, and encompasses knowledge creation through techniques ranging from microbial DNA sequencing and computer coding to storytelling. As always, music credit to BenSound! Finally, any proceeds from this video will be used to fund more K-community projects like this one!