Lyndsey Manzo, a secondary science curriculum specialist, has received the Project WET Facilitator of the Year award by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Education.
Manzo earned the award with collaborator Angela Greene, a retired middle school science teacher from Tecumseh Local Schools. The two have taught a Water and Wildlife Training for Educators course for Ohio State University each summer at OSU’s Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie since 2015.
The week-long professional development course for educators is an immersive, residential program where they practice lessons and gain field collection experience while subsequently becoming certified in five national curricula: Project WILD, Project WILD Aquatic, Science and Civics, Project WET, and Healthy Water, Healthy People. It includes numerous field trips to different islands on Lake Erie to learn about local geology and biology, watershed science, Great Lakes history and stewardship (beach cleanup) efforts.
In addition to the course, Manzo and Greene are education specialists for Ohio Sea Grant. They primarily facilitate professional learning for educators, write curriculum and work on various regional and national education projects for Sea Grant and NOAA.
Manzo has used Project WET lessons and activities with students since 2005.