Karen Marshall
Director of Field-Based Learning
For twenty years, Karen was an 8th grade science teacher and director of science curriculum at the International School of Louisiana. Karen’s passion for designing and enacting field-based learning experiences is at the center of her practice as a teacher and teacher-leader. She recently completed her certification as a Louisiana Master Naturalist and holds encyclopedic knowledge of the many local water bodies and other locations for staging inquiry-based field experiences for students and teachers. Karen’s expertise lies in pushing teachers outside the confines of their classroom (and often, outside their comfort zones) to learn how to use local environments to facilitate inquiry-based learning experiences. She teaches teachers how to define environmental questions with students, then collect and analyze data in pursuit of those questions. Karen has won numerous awards for her teaching and leadership in science education. She attended Xavier University of Louisiana, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology.
In addition to her work with Ripple Effect, Karen is an educator at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON).
Past and Current Projects
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Led design of field-based investigation protocols; taught teachers how to conduct field-based investigations and facilitate investigations by students; contributed to curriculum storylining and lesson-level development; co-led teacher professional development and classroom instructional coaching during the Summer Institute.
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Led field-based professional development for the urban stormwater unit pilot; contributed to curriculum design workshop design and implementation (Urban Stormwater unit); helped develop classroom investigation protocols
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Member of the Steering Committee
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Co-leads teacher professional development; provides instructional coaching for science teachers; helps collect and analyze student formative assessment data; conducts classroom observations
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Facilitated field-based investigations with teachers and artists at water-sites across St. Bernard Parish. Part of the concept development team for growing this project further.
Publications & Presentations
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (in press). Puddles to Floods: Field-based investigations on flooding in New Orleans. Science & Children.
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (2024). Moving Through Uncertainty: Supporting Teachers and Students in Shifting to Inquiry-based Science while Learning about Stormwater Flooding in New Orleans. www.rippleeffectnola.com.