Dordt emeritus faculty member receives $500,000 to share beekeeping with STEM educators

Dordt University has received a $500,000 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to train secondary school teachers to capture the interest of Generation Z students in the sciences and address pollinator decline utilizing honeybees.

Dr. Duane Bajema, professor emeritus of agriculture, will serve as one of the primary investigators for this grant. He will also work with Melanie Bloom, a curriculum consultant and Ph.D. candidate who teaches at Sioux Central High School in Sioux Rapids, Iowa.

The title of the grant is “Bringing Effective and Engaging Science Teaching into the Generation Z (Beestingz) Classroom using Apiculture.” Twelve to 16 teachers from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota will be trained in beekeeping, receive equipment for their schools, develop and implement curriculum that connects the environmental issue and related beekeeping opportunities to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. They will engage in four 2-day workshops in the summer of 2023 and 2024, including four workshops this summer. The teachers will be led by regional industry representatives, mentors, researchers, and leaders to develop curriculum. They will also be given long-term support from groups such as the Great Plains Master Beekeeping Program at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and others.

Pollinators are in decline, and that has long-term ramifications for food and agriculture, says Bajema. The decline is due to many factors, including habitat loss, diminished food supply, insecticides (which have been blamed for many colony deaths and long-term issues), diseases, parasites, and more.

“We need to promote the science part of STEM education at the high school level. Secondary teachers and schools have opportunities to effect local community activities as well as encourage students in the sciences and technology at the post-secondary level.”

Angela Kroeze Visser, director of the Kielstra Center for Research and Grants, is intrigued by the possibility of engaging students in learning about science through hands-on involvement with beekeeping. “Over the last few years, the news has been full of stories about bee colonies' collapse and the importance of pollinators. This project trains educators to involve students in ‘real-world’ or experiential learning and problem-solving through beekeeping. I look forward to seeing the outcomes for teachers trained as part of this project and the benefits for their students.”

Generation Z can have a huge impact on beekeeping, adds Bajema. “Gen Z wants to be creative and contribute to solving problems in the world. In this case, they can serve and impact their local communities by addressing the environmental need of pollinator loss and habitat decline.”

Kroeze Visser says that this program brings together Dordt’s strengths in agriculture and education. “It connects us with other partners in the Great Plains who are interested in training the next generation of students who will live in, work in, and contribute to rural communities.”

Creation is complicated, marvelous, and filled with the awe of the Creator, says Bajema. “Beekeeping connects many facets of the environment that highlight how wonderfully complicated nature is.”

This work is supported by the USDA NIFA. It is part of a $7.3 million investment to fund the Professional Development for Agricultural Literacy (PDAL) program, to increase the food and agriculture educational workforce. It supports 16 projects around the country that seek to increase the number of K-14 educational professionals trained in the food and agricultural sciences. Dordt University is one of these institutions, along with Clemson University, Utah State University, New Mexico State University, University of Alaska Anchorage, and others.

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.