Kara is the NOVA Education Digital Editor. Before NOVA, Kara worked as an independent wildlife and environment journalist. She has reported on a range of topics including environmental justice for nail salon workers in New York City, the link between the illegal wildlife trade and COVID-19, the next generation of female ocean explorers, as well as a series of in-depth interviews with the organizers of the viral online movement Black Birders Week. Kara holds degrees in journalism and environmental studies from New York University.

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Ice and snow cover plants in the Texas Hill Country on February 15, 2021. Winter storm Uri brought historic cold weather, power outages, and traffic accidents to Texas as it swept across 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation. Image Credit: Sarika Khanwilkar

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How is it possible that mathematics, a product of human thought that is independent of experience, fits so excellently the objects of reality? —Albert EinsteinIf you&#x27;re like me, you understand readily how one can describe nature&#x27;s wonders using poetry or music, painting or photography. Wordsworth&#x27;s &quot;I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud&quot; and Vivaldi&#x27;s &quot;Four Seasons&quot; richly depict their natural subjects, as do Monet&#x27;s water lilies and Ansel Adams&#x27; photos of Yosemite. But mathematics? How can you describe a tree or cloud, a rippled pond or swirling galaxy using numbers and equations?

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NOVA Education supports STEM education and engagement nationwide through the creation of resources from NOVA's broadcast and digital productions.

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NOVA Education supports STEM education and engagement nationwide through the creation of resources from NOVA&#x27;s broadcast and digital productions.

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 Imagine millions of people stranded in the cold without electricity, heat, or running water. Infrastructure has been crippled. Families are huddling for warmth in parked cars, and boiling water in their homes to ensure it is safe to drink. This may sound like the plot of a post-apocalyptic film, but it was very much a reality for millions of people across Texas last month.The week of February 13-17, a<a href="https://bit.ly/3lgFH0n"> record-setting winter storm</a> named Uri engulfed the state of Texas and brought with it plunging temperatures.Nearly 50% of Texas is powered by natural gas, 20% by coal, another 20% by wind and solar, and 10% by nuclear energy, according to the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=TX">U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)</a>. With summer temperatures regularly soaring above 90 F, Texas energy systems safeguard against heat. The state’s power plants and natural gas system are not optimized for freezing conditions. Although Texas experienced a <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-blackout-preventable/">similar energy crisis 10 years ago</a>, and investigations concluded that Texas energy producers needed to insulate and winterize their systems for extreme cold, most systems remain poorly insulated.
 

 
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 As weather conditions worsened and temperatures dropped in February, much of the state’s infrastructure for producing and delivering electricity simply froze, says Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin.Webber notes that several coal plants turned off because of frozen equipment at the plants. Along with some snow-covered solar panels and frozen wind turbines, there were a series of outages throughout the system. These outages turned off electricity in different parts of the state, including sections of the natural gas system that are electrically operated, such as pumps and antifreeze injection systems. This led to the shutdown of even more power plants, producing a perfect storm of power failures.All the while, Texas residents were turning up the heat, leading to a surge in demand.As a result of the freezing conditions and rapid surge in energy usage, the state’s power grid began to malfunction, leading to cascading failures in the system and widespread blackouts. The infrastructure failure was then compounded by Texas&#x27; energy grid independence and lack of resilience, because most of Texas does not have the option of channeling energy from other states.During the storm, at least<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/22/texas-power-grid-extreme-weather/"> 4.5 million</a> electricity customers in Texas lost power, an estimated<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/15/texas-winter-storm-deaths/"> 57 people died</a> due to hypothermia, and about<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/"> 12 million people</a> received “boil notices” because of water quality issues, the Texas Tribune reported.“So we have a water problem—freezing water, become a gas problem, become a power problem, become a bigger gas problem, become a bigger power problem, become a water problem and a humanitarian crisis,” says Webber.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Boiling ice on stove" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Boil_Notices_.width-800.png"/><figcaption>Nearly 12 million people in the state of Texas were told to boil tap water before consuming it after Winter Storm Uri caused power blackouts at water treatment facilities.<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 One resident who found herself without power for three nights was Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. Prior to the storm, Hidalgo<a href="https://twitter.com/HarrisCoJudge/status/1360659242781392897?s=20"> warned her county’s nearly 5 million residents</a> about the impending winter storm, but this did not spare her from the ferocity of the blizzard or the lack of preparation by utility companies.“It’s worth asking the question: Who set up this system and who perpetuated it knowing that the right regulation was not in place?” <a href="https://bit.ly/3vXSsSI">Hidalgo told the Associated Press</a>. “Those questions are going to have to be asked and I hope that changes will come. The community deserves answers.”In the aftermath of the Texas energy crisis, many are asking questions. How did this happen? Who is to blame? What role did natural gas, coal, and renewable energy play in the crisis? And how can we prevent a similar disaster from happening again?
 

 
 To answer these questions, one must understand America’s energy grid and how power is distributed.When it comes to its grid, Texas is an island. In the United States, there are three grids: east, west and Texas. Texas has an independent grid, which allows it to be untethered by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-set-stage-its-energy-crisis-more-80-years-ago-n1258341">federal regulation</a>, and unlike most other states, it can generate enough electricity within its borders to be self-sufficient.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Computer screen of Texas Energy Grid and electricity levels" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Control_Room_ERCOT.width-800.png"/><figcaption>A view of the ERCOT Grid Control Center at their headquarters in Taylor, TX. Controllers route electricity through over 37,000 circuit miles of high-voltage transmission wires, and serve 26 million energy customers in Texas. Image courtesy of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 However, this also means that if something goes wrong, the state has difficulty importing power from neighboring states, leaving infrastructure vulnerable should extreme weather events cripple the system, says Webber.“So what happened in Texas, it’s not just about Texas,” says environmental engineer Greeshma Gadikota. “It’s about the need to rethink our energy infrastructure, the need to build in resilience in response to a changing climate in many, many different parts of the world. The risks 20, 30, 40 years ago are different from the risks that we face now.”According to Webber, we’re building our infrastructure for yesterday’s weather, not tomorrow’s weather.“The next hundred years will be different,” says Webber. “We know this, that the weather events will be more extreme and more frequent, which means hotter and colder, wetter and drier. So we have to deal with this and design for that.”
 

 
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 <h3>The role of renewable energy in the Texas energy crisis</h3>
 

 
 As power started to come back online following the storm,<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/texas-wind-turbines-frozen/"> false information began to circulate</a> regarding renewable energy and its connection to the energy crisis, reports The Texas Tribune. Some even identified <a href="https://bit.ly/399PFfl">frozen wind turbines</a> in West Texas as the root of the state’s energy supply problem. In reality, wind power makes up<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/"> only a fraction</a> of the energy generated during the winter in Texas.“Texas is a gas state,” says Webber.Yet, some misleadingly attributed the power outages to frozen wind turbines.“This is what happens when you force the grid to rely in part on wind as a power source,” U.S. Rep. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/dan-crenshaw/">Dan Crenshaw</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDanCrenshaw/status/1361792727097212929">tweeted in mid-February.</a> “When weather conditions get bad as they did this week, intermittent renewable energy like wind isn’t there when you need it.”“We should never build another wind turbine in Texas,” read a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MillerForTexas/posts/we-should-never-build-another-wind-turbine-in-texas-the-experiment-failed-big-ti/3103832863172197/">Facebook post</a> from Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. “The experiment failed big time.”However, malfunctions in natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy systems were to blame for nearly<a href="https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/ercot-update-press-conference-on-texas-power-outages-february-17"> twice as many outages</a> as frozen wind turbines and solar panels, stated the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which runs the state’s power grid, during a press conference in February.The world’s energy consumption is predicted to grow by 56% in the next 25 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). As the demand for energy swells, the stores of fossil fuels we currently depend on are dwindling and becoming more costly to obtain. The burning of these fossil fuels also discharges carbon, which has long-lasting negative effects on the environment—contributing to greenhouse gases that warm the planet and contribute to climate change.With demand for energy swelling, the Texas energy crisis serves as a wake-up call which exposes “<a href="https://grist.org/energy/texas-repeatedly-failed-to-protect-its-power-grid-against-extreme-weather/">cascading failures</a>” in the infrastructure of the U.S. electric system. It also reveals that these systems may not be ready to absorb the frenetic<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/one-texas-storm-exposed-energy-grid-unprepared-climate-change-rcna289"> climate-related spikes</a> in demand for power that Winter Storm Uri produced, reports NBC News.
 

 
 

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 “If the most energy-abundant region of the world can run short on energy, it can happen anywhere,” says Webber. “So climate science can be integrated into our energy planning to make the energy systems perform better. That’s what we need to do.”
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 As we continue to develop our renewable energy sources, electric grid regulators say the U.S. will need to develop<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/one-texas-storm-exposed-energy-grid-unprepared-climate-change-rcna289"> vast supplies of power storage</a>, such as gigantic batteries, which rely heavily on innovative technologies.As we grow more dependent on infrastructure to remain resilient during extreme fluctuations in temperature and weather conditions, we have to prepare ourselves and educate students on how communities will need to develop different renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies to meet their unique needs and environmental contexts. One helpful resource is the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/energy/">NOVA Energy Lab,</a> where students investigate what energy is, how it can be converted into useful forms, and why some sources are running low. It also allows students to compete to see whose renewable energy system designs can produce the most power. Below are examples of other NOVA resources that address these topics:
 

 
 
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 <h3>Build a better grid with energy resources from NOVA</h3>
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvel.sci.int.energy/energy-lab-interactive/">The Energy Lab Interactive</a> Use scientific data to design renewable energy systems for cities across the U.S. in this interactive from the NOVA Energy Lab. In the research challenge, students investigate what energy is, how it can be converted into useful forms, and why some sources are running low. Students will also have the chance to compete with others to see whose designs can produce the most power.
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvel.sci.tech.growapp/growing-appetites-limited-resources/">Growing Appetites, Limited Resources</a> In this video from NOVA’s Energy Lab, learn about the growing demand for energy and the impacts of energy use. Currently, the majority of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels, which are limited resources. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that pollutes the atmosphere and affects Earth&#x27;s climate. Share with your students how a sustainable future depends on finding alternative energy sources and developing new technologies that can support increasing energy demand and minimize environmental impacts.
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvel.sci.tech.wind/wind-power/">Wind Power</a> In this video from NOVA’s Energy Lab, learn about the benefits and limitations of wind power technologies. Modern wind turbines transform wind energy into electrical energy by capturing wind to turn an electrical generator. Wind farms that produce electricity using wind turbines are environmentally friendly, but they are not yet in widespread use. Some of the issues that limit the potential of wind power include energy storage, location, and cost.
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvsb-sci-gridstorage/wgbh-nova-search-for-the-super-battery-comparing-grid-energy-storage-solutions/">Search for the Super Battery | Comparing Grid Energy Storage Solutions</a> With the means to currently store just 2% of its generating capacity, the United States is searching for efficient and economical energy-storage solutions. Using <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvsb-sci-gridstorage/wgbh-nova-search-for-the-super-battery-comparing-grid-energy-storage-solutions/">this resource</a> from NOVA: Search for the Super Battery, students can examine three different technologies to store energy from renewable or conventional power sources for later use on an electrical grid.
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvel.sci.tech.smart/toward-a-smarter-grid/">Toward A Smarter Grid</a> The infrastructure of the U.S. electric power grid is over 100 years old and ill-equipped to handle the increasing demand for electricity and new power sources. A smarter power grid with an automated system to monitor problems and control the distribution of electricity could make the grid more efficient, balance energy demands, and lower the cost of electricity. Using this resource, students will learn how upgrading the power grid could be a key step toward a sustainable energy future.
 

 
 <a href="https://lsintspl3.wgbh.org/en-us/lesson/ilwgbh17-nvtoe-ilenergyfuture/1">Deciding Your City’s Energy Future</a> In this interactive, students play the role of a director of the fictional Greenville Light &amp; Power Department where they oversee the city’s power grid, the network of power lines and other equipment used to deliver electricity from suppliers to customers. Students must evaluate fossil fuel and renewable energy sources to decide which type of energy should be used to power the city’s electric grid in the coming decades as Greenville grows — evaluating the availability, cost, reliability, and environmental impact of different energy sources.
 

 
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 Join NOVA on three virtual field trips highlighting some of the scientists and engineers featured in the new three-part chemistry series NOVA <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/beyond-elements/">Beyond the Elements</a>. Each virtual field trip will consist of a live streamed demonstration and Q&amp;A with scientists who explore the fascinating chemistry that makes our world and everything in it—including us.We know that many classes are meeting virtually now due to school closures from the coronavirus pandemic and we invite you to join the conversation with your students on the <a href="http://links.nova.wgbh.org/u/click?_t=ec210e94258b4741874e196b0b576467&amp;_m=1k87PxZgEiKulR94H0uKu64PdVLibofL&amp;_e=GBS7ObIR7kN6XqMEbH1bMwncGBigV8TUEs8tr3C67u92_6h-wZZNMq-67FkZI8pzt05dHEthYFCbWGI-VDFjj8m8SV2gr_z5iyI7DTcp5zWVUSExCZE-gdWlf96AOvBO10BSxXcEPDRdVYe_bOLybwNLXnz8VdjCgEJFUMzULxRQECupAxYg2CUNyUgh9as5MkqmbisWDAyWs6lf2cXruXZDEgaCmzxin2gGDNGst0n1E_TzZxjnHug0fFDf_P3DaKK4ou_e2Ye5YvMHosheTw%3D%3D">NOVA Education Facebook page</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/NOVAEducation">YouTube channel</a> where we will be streaming the virtual field trips. If you’re interested in attending any of these trips with your students, please register below.
 

 
 <h3>Exploring the Blueprint of Organisms: Strawberry DNA Extraction</h3>
 

 
 Wednesday, January 27 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT Watch here: <a href="https://fb.watch/3OmbMztBzg/">NOVA Education Facebook</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_zIzWyjWI8">NOVA Education Youtube</a>
 

 
 All living organisms have DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid; a blueprint for the development, growth and function of an organism. Have you ever wondered what DNA looks like and how to extract it from the cells of a living organism? For our first virtual field trip, join Dr. Monica Hall-Porter, featured in NOVA <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/beyond-the-elements-life/">Beyond the Elements: Life</a> to learn more about DNA and follow along with a live strawberry DNA extraction using common household items.
 

 
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 <h3>Don’t Try This at Home: Cracking the Secrets of Glass</h3>
 

 
 Tuesday, February 23 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT Watch Here: <a href="https://fb.watch/48Td0YuT22/">NOVA Education Facebook</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fANEQILjebw">NOVA Education Youtube</a>
 

 
 Glass is a versatile, mesmerizing material that works in unexpected ways. In its molten state, it’s hotter than volcanic lava. But what happens when hot glass meets cold water? How big can a glass bubble get? What is glass made of, and how do you add color to it? For our second virtual field trip, learn about all the ways that glass breaks—from the safe to the explosive. Watch <a href="https://home.cmog.org/">Corning Museum of Glass</a> glassmakers, Chris Rochelle and Eric Meek, work with glass live as they answer these questions and more.
 

 
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 <h3>A Tour of the &#x27;Periodic Table&#x27; Table</h3>
 

 
 Wednesday, March 24 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT Register Here: <a href="http://bit.ly/BeyondtheElementsReactions">http://bit.ly/BeyondtheElementsReactions</a>
 

 
 For our third virtual field trip, visit science author <a href="http://home.theodoregray.com/">Theodore Gray</a> in his elemental office and see almost-first-hand his real solid wood periodic table…table. Theodore will show you thousands of samples of (nearly) all the chemical elements found in, on, and around the table and some of the spectacular reactions that occur between atoms and molecules.This event will be live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook so that educators may tune in with their virtual classes. For more information about the series, visit the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/beyond-elements/">Beyond the Elements</a> series page.
 

 
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 <h3>Science of Spice: Chile Pepper Chemistry </h3>
 

 
 Wednesday, April 21 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT Register Here: <a href="http://bit.ly/BeyondtheElementsSpice">http://bit.ly/BeyondtheElementsSpice</a>
 

 
 Even though spicy foods cause burning sensations on our tongues, can make our noses run, and can even bring us to tears, humans can’t get enough of spicy foods! What is causing the wide range of reactions we experience when we eat spicy foods? Join <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/capsaicin-chili-peppers-physiological-effects/">Dr. Ivette Guzmán</a> from New Mexico State University for a chile pepper dissection to discuss the chemistry of chile peppers and why humans love spicy foods.This event is the fourth and final virtual field trip highlighting some of the scientists and engineers featured in the new three-part chemistry series NOVA: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/beyond-elements/">Beyond the Elements</a>. It will be live-streamed on the NOVA Education <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vX2L72igq8PiJ0rF0329Q">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NOVAeducation/">Facebook</a> pages.
 

 
 
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“As we think about the best ways to educate students in STEM disciplines, we have to keep in mind that a lot of students have experiences with STEM where they may be discouraged,” says Monica Hall-Porter. “But if we can expose students to hands-on learning throughout their educational process, and give them the ability to explore, to ask questions, to experiment, it really does enhance the outcome!”
 

 
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 Monica Hall-Porter has dedicated her career to creating a robust pipeline for students who are interested in pursuing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers. As the faculty development coordinator in the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas in Austin, Hall-Porter supports professional development for faculty that centers on improving and enhancing science pedagogy.Throughout her career, Hall-Porter has advocated for best practices in STEM education, specifically methods to promote and sustain student engagement. By creating opportunities for students to have hands-on experiences in laboratory settings, they can see science processes in action.
 

 
 Take the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) at the University of Texas. Through this program, first-year students experience the excitement of scientific discovery firsthand. Participants do real-world research, use cutting-edge lab equipment, develop technological innovations, and publish papers in peer-reviewed science journals.In addition to her contributions to the University of Texas, Hall-Porter has mentored students through the <a href="https://oeop.mit.edu/programs/mites/program-details">Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program</a> at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and <a href="https://www.scienceclubforgirls.org/">Science Club for Girls</a> in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In these settings, students have the agency to ask thoughtful questions as they conduct their experiments, and are expected to record and interpret the data, mirroring the work that scientists do.
 

 
 Though the pandemic has significantly changed approaches to experiential learning with the shift to virtual classrooms, Hall-Porter has found creative ways to model new methods for this type of pedagogy. She recently led a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_zIzWyjWI8">virtual field trip</a> with NOVA Education where she built DNA models with candy and ran a strawberry DNA extraction lab! Using common household items, she showed just how easy it can be to create experiential learning experiences at home. She is also a featured scientist in the new three-part NOVA chemistry series <a href="https://to.pbs.org/3onA806">Beyond the Elements: Life</a>. This event is the first in a series of three virtual field trips highlighting some of the scientists and engineers featured in Beyond the Elements.
 

 
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 NOVA spoke with Hall-Porter about the impact of experiential learning on her own educational journey—and on students in general—and advice for educators on how to incorporate experiential learning into virtual classrooms during the pandemic.
 

 
 Kara Norton (KN): What path did you follow into the laboratory research field? What attracted you to this career?
 

 
 Monica Hall-Porter (MHP): I&#x27;m originally from Hawkins, Texas, which is a small town of about 1,330 people in Northeast Texas. I left Hawkins in the fall of 1996 to attend Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. I was a biology major and I was part of a unique scholarship called the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Scholars program. One key feature of the scholarship is that every summer MARC scholars were required to do research or engage in research projects in various institutions across the country. So, I interned at NASA through Florida A&amp;M University. I also worked at the University of Washington in a couple of different labs throughout my undergraduate career. I really developed an appreciation for research in a couple of different fields, but mostly research models centered around molecular and cellular biology. After Hampton, I went on to graduate school at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I was a student in a molecular- and cellular-biology-based graduate program that was run out of the pathology department of Wake Forest. During my time as a grad student I received a lot of exposure to a research unit that did work in establishing the molecular link between estrogen and cardiovascular disease, specifically as it relates to the loss of circulating estradiol after menopause. I will say that I received, through my undergraduate education and my graduate education, some of the best education that the country has to offer.
 

 
 KN: How did those early experiential learning opportunities during your undergraduate and graduate career inform the work that you currently do?
 

 
 MHP: As we think about the best ways to educate students in STEM disciplines, we have to keep in mind that a lot of students have experiences with STEM where they may be discouraged, or they may not be as curious because of the way that the curriculum is presented. But if we can expose students to hands-on learning throughout their educational process, and give them the ability to explore, to ask questions, to experiment, it really does enhance the outcome!I would say the same is true of my experience. I remember when I interviewed at Wake Forest for the position in the graduate program, one of the remarks that the professors made was that I had the ability to talk about the research I had participated in leading up to that moment. Specifically, to convey how the work that was being done in the laboratories that I worked in was advancing each respective academic field. I think providing chances to do hands-on work coupled with the ability for students to communicate the science is really the key to creating a robust pipeline of students who are interested in pursuing STEM careers.
 

 
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 KN: I would love to hear more about the work you are doing with Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science (TIDES).
 

 
 MHP: TIDES is a dedicated teaching and learning unit that is housed in the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) at the University of Texas at Austin. It is unique in that it provides support in several different ways to teaching and learning in CNS. There is a very exciting program here called the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI). The FRI is the crown gem of experiential learning here. Through this program, students who are freshmen get the opportunity to work on research projects in established research labs at the University of Texas. There is a significant educational structure surrounding students who work in the FRI, and it really does give them a chance to dive into the pursuit of various goals in dedicated research labs.TIDES also has a faculty-facing unit called TIDES Instruct. This is the unit that I&#x27;m a part of. We work to support professional development for faculty that centers on science pedagogy. We support all the departments of the CNS in various ways. Course Design Institute, curriculum redesign efforts to ensure that the curricula are student centered and take the best of what is known about teaching in STEM and present it in a way that faculty can readily implement strategies in their course to improve and enhance their teaching.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs (OEOP).jpeg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="533" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/MIT_Office_of_Engineering_Outreach_Programs_OE.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption>Monica Hall-Porter (second from the left) assisting students in the MIT MITES (Minority Introduction to Engineering &amp; Science) genomics course in 2019. Image courtesy of the MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs (OEOP)<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 KN: Throughout your career how have students responded to experiential learning? Could you describe some of the impacts?
 

 
 MHP: When I was a graduate student and a postdoc, I had multiple opportunities to support undergraduate students who were completing summer research experiences and internship experiences in the labs where I worked. What I will say is that just like in a traditional classroom, we have what I call ‘light bulb moments&#x27; where students really start to connect the dots regarding biological processes or phenomena that they&#x27;re learning about. Not only are students learning about a process, but then they also have the ability to get hands-on experience with the process, and it really does help to solidify learning in a lot of ways.With the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), I just saw students come alive in the lab! One example was with a genomics course I was teaching in conjunction with the MITES program. In this course, students do a skin microbiome project where they swab their skin and put it on what we call a bacteriological media plate. They grow the microbes that are on their skin. Through a set of steps, they use bioinformatics and DNA sequencing to identify the microbes present. Students learn about the importance of the skin microbiome and how the organisms that grow on us actually support our body systems, not only on the skin, but also in the gut, and the lungs even, which are also hot areas of research as it relates to the human microbiome. After taking part in hands-on experiences like this one, students are just hooked on STEM! Again, the experiences that are provided don&#x27;t have to be grand in scope. They can be entire unit exercises or they can be small experiences, but anything we can do to get students in a hands-on experience, again, enriches their future in STEM careers.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="MHP Physio Class.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/MHP_Physio_Class.width-800.png"/><figcaption>Monica Hall-Porter examining a synthetic cadaver as part of an anatomy and physiology laboratory class she taught at Lasell University. Image courtesy of Monica Hall-Porter<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 KN: Is this something that could be adapted to high school students and not just university students?
 

 
 MHP: Absolutely! I believe there&#x27;s always a way to infuse hands-on learning into the experience. I&#x27;d love to see more of that across the country. Look at the virtual field trip that we are doing, experiences like this make science accessible. I&#x27;ve done science outreach with students who are as young as five years old. There is joy in that experience, not only for the student, but also for the educator.There&#x27;s an organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that is near and dear to my heart. It&#x27;s called the Science Club for Girls. When I was a postdoc at Tufts University, one of my very good friends invited me to the club. I went with her and ended up being a volunteer and mentor scientist. During one of those sessions with the young ladies, we actually dissected cow hearts. Now fast forward several years, that was a foundational experience for one of those girls who was there because now she&#x27;s a senior neuroscience major getting ready to graduate from Harvard University and I believe go on to medical school. She cherishes that experience as this moment where she realized that not only is a STEM career possible, but she also knows people who are doing this work and they support her.
 

 
 

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 &quot;She was really able to develop not only an appreciation for science, but a sense of belonging in STEM, which is very important as it relates to fostering students to go on to pursue careers in science.&quot;
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 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="MHP discussing different types of chemical bonds with middle school student participants with the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts STEM enrichment event (2012 or 2013)..jpeg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="600" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/MHP_discussing_different_types_of_chemical_bon.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption>Monica Hall-Porter (left) instructs middle school participants to hold hands to demonstrate the different types of chemical bonds during an event with the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. Image courtesy of Monica Hall-Porter<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
 </figure>
 
 

 
 KN: Would you say that being able to provide these experiences is one of the most rewarding aspects of your work?
 

 
 MHP: The work really did follow me straight from my office in a university setting to the community where I facilitated hands-on science experiences for young folks. It definitely is one of the more rewarding aspects of my career because I do get to see students really come alive with regard to their love of STEM. But conversely, the other side of that is the ability to help faculty to facilitate their experiences in their own classroom that promote the best practices in STEM education. It&#x27;s also very rewarding because it tells me that I have the ability to communicate scientifically important messages to a lot of different audiences. I believe that that&#x27;s a very important skill to have, one that moves the work of promoting best practices in science education. I can&#x27;t help but be proud of that. So those are the two things that I&#x27;m most proud of with regard to how my career has progressed.
 

 
 KN: Thinking about how the pandemic has affected experiential learning opportunities, I&#x27;d love to hear your thoughts on how educators might adapt.
 

 
 MHP: As we engage virtually, I would encourage educators to still pursue experiential learning, but do it on a micro scale. Keep it simple. Take advantage of resources that you already have that are readily available. For example, on our virtual field trip we are going to extract DNA with household materials. Not anything grand and ornate, but enough to keep interest stimulated; it&#x27;s really important, and it’s something that can be done easily. Additionally, at all levels, whether it&#x27;s during an unprecedented pandemic or a time that we would consider more normal, take advantage of opportunities that come your way. If you are in the position to ask for an enrichment activity or something that you want to do, don&#x27;t hesitate to ask. My son&#x27;s teacher has this activity that she uses called “fast finishers.” If students finish their work before everyone else, then they have this packet that they can go to that provides enrichment, or an activity for them to try to work on while they&#x27;re waiting for the class to progress.Whether educators are resource endowed or not, throughout this pandemic I have been absolutely floored and inspired by the work that educators at the K-12 level, and also higher ed, are doing to facilitate learning in the pandemic. I don&#x27;t think we can say enough about what our teachers and professors are doing at this time. For a lot of students, it is providing a perpetual beacon of hope, one that they can achieve, and will achieve. And I don&#x27;t think we can appreciate that enough!
 

 
 This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_zIzWyjWI8" target="_blank">
 <img alt="BTE Life V5.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="450" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/BTE_Life_V5.width-800.png"/></a><figcaption>For more at-home science ideas, watch Monica Hall-Porter’s virtual field trip!<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
 </figure>
 
 

 
 <div class="newsletter"></div>

Dr. Monica Hall Porter and David Pogue BTE.png

Monica Hall-Porter and David Pogue extract DNA from strawberries in the new NOVA series Beyond the Elements. Image courtesy of GBH

The pandemic has significantly changed approaches to experiential learning with the shift to virtual classrooms. Monica Hall-Porter has found creative ways to model new methods for this type of pedagogy.

Reflecting on the Power of Experiential Learning with Biologist Dr. Monica Hall-Porter

Black Birders Week has united environmental professionals across the globe. In this photo, Black Birders Week co-organizer Corina Newsome is surrounded by birds of North America, including her spark bird, the blue jay. Illustration By: Aliisa Lee

Discover how Black in STEM events defined 2020, and how science educators can harness the spirit of inclusiveness in the classroom.

Inaugural 'Black in X' Weeks Foster Inclusivity and Empowerment in STEM

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 In early April, Annie Wu, a professional musician, began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. During her self-imposed quarantine, Wu developed a symptom that an <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mysteries-of-covid-smell-loss-finally-yield-some-answers1/">estimated 80%</a> of people who contract COVD-19 report: anosmia, the loss of the sense of smell. Soon, she also experienced a loss of taste (ageusia). She remembers biting into a celery stick slathered in peanut butter and tasting nothing at all. “It was jarring, peanut butter tasted like tacky Elmer’s glue, coffee became warm dirt water,” she says.
 

 
 Wu has since recovered from COVID-19, but has yet to fully regain her senses of smell and taste. Rather than dwell on this loss, the experience has transformed the way she connects with and thinks about food. Over the course of the past seven months, she has chronicled her journey online with her Instagram account “in search of lost smell”<a href="https://www.instagram.com/insearchoflostsmell/"> (@insearchoflostsmell</a>).
 

 
 As the months passed, smell maintained an elusive haze, but Wu’s taste began to sharpen as she ventured out of her comfort zone. Rather than dwell on what she was lacking, she started experimenting with flavor profiles that she had previously avoided. “There was a world of flavor to explore—vinegars, sugary glazes, citrus, fermented goods,” she says. “Taste can carry with it memories, reactions, and even excitement for the future.”
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Annie Wu - Persimmon.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="760" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Annie_Wu_-_Persimmon.width-800.png"/><figcaption>Vanilla skyr-stuffed persimmon with honey and pistachios. Image Credit: Annie Wu<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 “Food’s ability to connect you to something so specific, and yet so collective, is amazing,” Wu says.
 

 
 Through this process, Wu realized that smell is not just the firing of tingly nerves in our noses, but a connection to rapture, delight, and discovery. By sharing photos of her visually stimulating new meals with strangers on social media, she was surprised by the connections that she was able to develop with chefs who inspire her, teachers at food justice programs, food lovers from all over the world, and even those who had lost their own sense of smell and taste as well.
 

 
 Throughout her experience chronicling the various recipes she is testing and sharing on social media, she has received descriptive messages about the way that various ingredients taste, with respondents often connecting flavor profiles to a feeling, certain memories, or a particular place that it reminds them of.
 

 
 “You forget how much smell ties to these emotional parts of your life, like walking into your family childhood home,” Wu says.
 

 
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 Which raises the question, what is the biological connection between smell, taste, and memory?
 

 
 Within the human nose, there are more than 12 million smell receptors (of about <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190430164208.htm">400 different types)</a>, which are activated by millions of potential combinations of odor molecules. The receptors detect odor molecules and send information back to the olfactory bulb in the brain, where these scents are interpreted. The olfactory system is closely linked with the temporal lobe, which is responsible for emotion and memory.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Science of Flavor image.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="450" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Science_of_Flavor_image.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption>All five senses play a role in experiencing the flavor of food. Image Credit: NOVA: Can I Eat That? | The Science of Flavor<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 This area of the brain is also home to the amygdala and hippocampus, which are critical for emotional learning, memory, and smell. This connection explains why <a href="https://harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2012/05/food-and-memory-john-allen.html#:~:text=The%20taste%2C%20smell%2C%20and%20texture,of%20the%20mind%20and%20body.">certain smells may trigger vivid memories about past events</a>. The hippocampus is also linked to our digestive system which helps regulate appetite, digestion, and eating behavior. Finding food was so critical to our survival as a species that scientists believe our brains evolved to form memories about and around food—<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982213004181">including those that make us sick</a>.
 

 
 But what is it specifically about novelty candies, family recipes, or holiday dishes that make them so memorable after many years? When we eat highly appealing foods, such as chocolate, the neurotransmitter dopamine is released. This triggers the reward center of our brain and, when transmitted via the hippocampus, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130825171530.htm">dopamine helps turn short-term memories into long-term ones</a>.
 

 
 This explains why our attraction to, or disgust with, certain foods lasts for years after tasting them. It is because of the connections between the olfactory system and regions of the brain responsible for emotion and memory that <a href="https://www.livescience.com/why-smells-trigger-memories.html">positive or negative flavor experiences</a> can be long lasting.
 

 
 With the holidays just around the corner, cherished family recipes and delectable side dishes are on everyone’s mind. Use these NOVA resources to introduce students to neuroscience, chemistry, and biology concepts that explain the science behind flavor, and how smell, sight, and sound can influence the experience.
 

 
 <h2>NOVA Resources on PBS LearningMedia</h2>
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvsn6.sci.bio.flavor/the-science-of-flavor/">NOVA: Can I Eat That? | The Science of Flavor</a>Learn more about the perception of flavor, and how dulling a person’s ability to smell can make something taste flavorless. Use this NOVA scienceNow resource to show students which parts of the body can help you experience flavor, how looks can be deceiving when tasting food items, and how sound provides information about food.
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvsn6.sci.bio.taster/what-is-a-supertaster/">NOVA: Can I Eat That? | What is a Supertaster?</a>This video breaks down the science of taste buds and explains how the number of taste buds you have can affect the way that you interpret certain flavors. Learn why some people experience taste more intensely than others, and what evolutionary advantages &quot;supertasters&quot; have developed.
 

 
 <a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvsn6.sci.chem.turkey/the-chemistry-of-tender-turkey/">The Chemistry of Tender Turkey</a>Learn about the chemistry behind brining meat. Correspondent and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue explores how the process of brining can ensure a tender and moist cooked turkey. Use this NOVA scienceNOW resource to demonstrate how soaking a raw turkey in salt water adds moisture to the meat through the process of osmosis, and watch as Pogue participates in a taste test to identify samples of turkey cooked with and without brining.
 

 
 <h2>NOVA Digital Resources</h2>
 

 
 <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/anosmia-coronavirus-screenings/">How Anosmia Could Affect Doctors’ Coronavirus Screenings</a>Learn more about the symptom that an estimated 80% of COVID-19 patients report experiencing. Use this NOVA video to help unpack the science behind how COVID-19 can cause smell loss and whether the condition is permanent.
 

 
 <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/turn-to-science-for-great-thanksgiving-stuffing/">Turn to Science for Great Thanksgiving Stuffing</a>What makes onions so oniony? Why does stuffing sometimes come out gummy? Learn the secret to making delicious stuffing with the perfect texture—and why chemical reactions and volatile molecules in onions might make you cry as you cut them.
 

 
 <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/podcast/">NOVA Now Podcast: The Future of Food</a>In honor of celebrating nature’s bounty, NOVA Now podcast host Alok Patel considers the past, present, and future of food. He digs into the world of food science with the resident science guy at America’s Test Kitchen; speaks with an Indigenous community cook, educator, and community organizer about food sovereignty and equitable food systems; and checks in with a scientist who is genetically engineering plants to photosynthesize more efficiently to increase crop yields.
 

 
 <h2>NOVA Science Café Resource</h2>
 

 
 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk1Bgw8Tul8">Much Ado About Stuffing: Answering Your Thanksgiving Cooking Questions</a>With COVID-19 keeping friends and family apart, Thanksgiving celebrations will look different than in years past. Lan Lam, Senior Editor at Cook&#x27;s Illustrated is here to answer all of your last minute Thanksgiving cooking questions—from the calculations to reduce recipe sizes to science-backed ways to get the most flavor from your food.
 

 
 <div class="newsletter"></div>

Grapefruit-mint-marmalade chocolate lava mini cakes with fresh mint ricotta. Image Credit: Annie Wu

Use these NOVA resources to introduce students to neuroscience, chemistry, and biology concepts that explain the science behind flavor, and how smell, sight, and sound can influence the experience.

Bring the Science of Taste into the Classroom with NOVA Resources

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 In July 2013, Krishnamurthy Ramesh, head of the monitoring program at Panna Tiger Reserve in central India, received a security alert. Someone was attempting to access his email account from a location more than<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131010-poaching-technology-tigers-endangered-animals-science/"> 600 miles away from his office</a>. Sitting in Ramesh’s inbox was an email reporting the encrypted coordinates of an endangered Bengal tiger.
 

 
 Tigers are considered “walking gold” on the black market. Although leading Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) organizations have <a href="https://bit.ly/3jGDvgg">banned the use of tiger parts</a>, a robust illegal market that values tigers as luxury items—particularly their bones and pelts—still exists.
 

 
 However, the demand for wildlife products is not limited to tigers. Elephants, rhinos, pangolins, sharks, and many other species are part of this massive illicit trade. The world of wildlife trafficking and poaching is orchestrated by highly organized crime syndicates which rake in profits<a href="https://www.interpol.int/en/Crimes/Environmental-crime/Wildlife-crime"> exceeding $20 billion</a> per year. It is the fourth most profitable illegal enterprise behind<a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/wildlife-and-forest-crime.html"> narcotics, weapons, and human trafficking</a>, and is considered a significant contributor to the<a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/24/13596"> sixth mass extinction</a>.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Tiger_Ranthambhore_May2015_Rupa Gandhi_WTI (4).jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="535" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Tiger_Ranthambhore_May2015_Rupa_Gandhi_WTI_4.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption>Less than 4,000 tigers remain in the wild. Image courtesy of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) <div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 Although the suspicious log-in attempt was thwarted by Ramesh’s server, and the tiger’s exact location was encrypted, the cybersecurity breach exposed the threat of an endangered animal’s GPS coordinates falling into the wrong hands.
 

 
 Today, emails are encrypted by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6FanLhvsEs">coded email programs</a> to prevent others from reading them. However,<a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvcy-sci-cybercodes/cyber-codes/"> not all online activity is encrypted</a> and in some cases browsing history, text messages, and data from apps can be intercepted. Emails are normally encrypted when they are sent, but can sometimes be decrypted before they reach their recipient. Cybersecurity news often focuses on how hackers access personal information, bank accounts, social media, and government data. But what if “cyberpoachers” started targeting information on the locations of endangered species through their animal tracking data?
 

 
 <h2>The Rise of Wildlife Cybercrime</h2>
 

 
 The illegal wildlife trade has transformed with the growth and accessibility of the internet. Animals that used to be sold in physical markets are now sold by <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/press-releases/tech-companies-wildlife-trafficking-online">anonymous online vendors</a>. As a result, a largely<a href="https://www.ifaw.org/journal/hot-on-the-trail-of-cyber-enabled-wildlife-traffickers"> unregulated online market</a> allows criminal enterprises to sell illegally acquired wildlife products, and transport them around the world. The consumer-to-consumer marketplace has made buying shark fins, pangolin scales, and rhino horns as easy as click, pay, ship.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Updated Pangolin Graphic .jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="618" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Updated_Pangolin_Graphic_.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption>Infographic courtesy of IFAW<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 The 2018 International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) report <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/resources/disrupt-wildlife-cybercrime">Disrupt: Wildlife Cybercrime</a> identified more than 5,000 advertisements spread across more than 100 online marketplaces and social media platforms, cataloguing close to 12,000 endangered and threatened specimens worth almost $4 million. These items were completely accessible to the public; the report did not include items advertised in closed or private Facebook groups, password-protected websites, or the hidden part of the internet—the <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/09/the-truth-about-the-dark-web-kumar.htm">dark web</a>.
 

 
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 “Many of the species preyed upon by wildlife criminals are in danger of approaching a tipping point where their diminishing numbers can no longer sustain their populations,” described Rikkert Reijnen, program director of wildlife crime at IFAW, in the Disrupt report. “Some, such as rhinos, may have already reached that point. Disrupting wildlife cybercrime is a critical component of ensuring the welfare, safety and survival of endangered and threatened animals.”
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Illegal ivory burned - IFAW.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="719" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Illegal_ivory_burned_-_IFAW.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption>A wildlife ranger stands guard as towers of confiscated ivory go up in smoke in Kenya&#x27;s Nairobi National Park. The country burned 105 tons of ivory in 2016 to send a stern message: Ivory is worthless unless it is on elephants. Image courtesy of IFAW<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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 Unfortunately, illegal online markets aren’t the only “digital threat” to endangered wildlife. In recent years, hackers have exploited the very systems designed to monitor and protect these animals. By decrypting location data from radio tags and GPS collars, hackers can track down animals or reveal their whereabouts to those who would harm them. (Hacking by nature is not good or bad—it is essentially solving problems in creative and innovative ways. Some hackers use questionable methods of acquiring information, whether with intent to help or harm, while others use hackathons to improve existing security protocols by collaborating as a community to solve complex problems.)
 

 
 “Being able to put on a map exactly where animals are in space in time, that’s what one needs to exploit them,” wrote Steven J. Cooke, a biology professor at Carleton University in Canada, in an article in the journal <a href="http://www.fecpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Cooke_et_al-2017-Conservation_Biology-1.pdf">Conservation Biology</a>.
 

 
 Cooke pointed out that the animal-tracking data scientists use to safeguard animals could potentially be used to harm them by poachers, commercial fishermen, and even nature lovers looking to photograph them.
 

 
 Some of the troubling ways radio tags and collars have been used to “locate, disturb, capture, harm, or kill tagged animals,” Cooke pointed out, include<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/14/researcher-threatens-withhold-information-wa-killing-tagged-sharks"> great white sharks</a> that were killed in Western Australia by individuals who had tracked their radio signals to “reduce human-wildlife conflict,” as well as efforts by “wolf persecution” groups to decrypt data on radio collars to allow them to<a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/1913831/out-bounds-death-832f-yellowstones-most-famous-wolf#close"> hunt down and kill wolves</a> in Yellowstone National Park.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Wolf watches biologists in Yellowstone National Park - Campbell, William:USFWS.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="553" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Wolf_watches_biologists_in_Yellowstone_Nationa.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption>A wolf watches biologists in Yellowstone National Park after being captured and fitted with a radio collar. Image Credit: William Campbell / USFWS National Digital Library <div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
 </figure>
 
 

 
 According to wildlife criminologist Monique Sosnowski, there are two primary ways poachers can attempt to access animal tracking data.
 

 
 “First, they can attempt to bribe corrupt individuals such as anti-poaching entities or game guides charged with locating and protecting these species,” Sosnowski says.
 

 
 When it comes to infiltrating the tracking systems themselves, Sosnowski notes that this requires more technical skill and is thus more likely attempted by organized criminal networks.
 

 
 “Cases of this have been reported around the world as poachers have attempted to gain access to GPS data, or capitalize on VHF radio signals,” she says.
 

 
 Tarah Wheeler, an international security fellow at New America, highlighted a third way “cyberpoachers” can track wild animals. If the location setting on your cell phone is switched on when snapping a photo of an animal, that data is embedded in the photo you post on social media, creating a<a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvcy-sci-parable/a-cyber-privacy-parable/"> digital roadmap</a> for poachers to track wildlife.
 

 
 “Because of the way cell phones track your location now, you don’t need to critique someone’s photograph to find out where they were at a given time,” Wheeler told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/your-safari-selfies-are-cute-they-re-road-map-poachers-n1016031">NBC News</a>. “Metadata, including exact longitude and latitude, is stuck to the background of the photo.”
 

 
 <h2>Hack the Poacher</h2>
 

 
 Just as poachers might access animal tracking data through vacation selfies posted from a smartphone, <a href="https://hack-the-planet.io/">Hack the Planet</a> software engineers Tim van Deursen and Thijs Suijten have leveraged mobile phones to create a detection system to turn the tables on poachers.
 

 
 Van Deursen and Suijten designed the <a href="https://www.hackthepoacher.com/">Hack the Poacher</a> system with the intent to deter poachers from protected areas and aid rangers in their ongoing fight against wildlife crime. The system uses sensors placed throughout the target area to detect poacher’s GSM cell phone signals as well as radio frequencies so rangers that patrol poaching hotspots can be alerted to their presence. Hack the Poacher works with individual parks to tailor their technology to the issues that rangers are seeing on the ground in specific poaching hotspots.
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Hack the Poacher.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="565" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Hack_the_Poacher.width-800.png"/><figcaption>In Zambia, where the Hack the Poacher system has been tested, poachers rely heavily on their mobile phones and radios for navigation and communication with each other to coordinate and organize extraction of ivory. Illustration courtesy of Hack the Poacher.<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
 </figure>
 
 

 
 “When your cell phone is on, it&#x27;s always searching for GSM towers,” Suijten says. “The rangers at the park we are working with in Zambia told us that poachers always have a phone on them. Even if there is no GSM coverage, if their cell phone is on, it will always be searching for a cell phone tower and transmitting a strong signal to connect to service.”
 

 
 The Hack the Poacher system can monitor up to 300 square kilometers (115 square miles) with just 30-40 sensors. The founders believe this system could eventually work in tandem with other tech tools like automated camera traps, machine learning, and satellite imagery, sending rangers alerts in real time and keeping them steps ahead of poachers.
 

 
 “Many initiatives in the past focused on optimizing detection of poachers by trying to get eyes on the poacher with, for example, the use of drones, night vision cameras, radar, and satellites,” van Deursen says. “While these techniques can be effective, the costs are often too high to implement on a large scale, or too technologically advanced to be operated by people other than the tech team behind the product.”
 

 
 Hack the Poacher is powered by three agencies:<a href="https://hack-the-planet.io/"> Hack the Planet</a>,<a href="https://www.q42.nl/en"> Q42</a>, and <a href="https://www.irnas.eu/">Irnas</a>. These strategic technology companies work on creating and implementing pragmatic technologies to tackle humanitarian and sustainability challenges. The Hack the Poacher project has also received support from World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Google, Green Safaris, No Wildlife Crime (NWC), and Smart Parks.
 

 
 <h2>Using Radical Collaboration to Save Wildlife</h2>
 

 
 Just as Hack the Poacher is working to stop poaching at its source, IFAW is working alongside the world’s largest e-commerce, technology, and social media companies to shut down online marketplaces that deal in the trade of illegal wildlife.
 

 
 “Within IFAW, we have a lot of innovative and unique partnerships that we leverage to address cybercrime and analyze data related to wildlife trafficking,” says Danielle Kessler, acting US director of IFAW. “We are working through the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/coalition-to-end-wildlife-trafficking-online">Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online</a> to collaborate with 36 tech companies across continents, such as eBay, Google, Microsoft and Tencent, to unite the industry and maximize impact for reducing wildlife trafficking online.”
 

 
 
 <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="African elephant.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="721" width="800"
 src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Screen_Shot_2020-10-27_at_5.39.36_PM.width-800.png"/><figcaption>African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth and could be extinct in the next decade. Poachers kill an estimated 55 elephants a day. Image courtesy of IFAW<div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
 </figure>
 
 

 
 When it comes to finding solutions at the nexus of wildlife crime and cybersecurity, hackathons provide opportunities for students to invent and innovate new technology for the good of the planet. This November, the Department of State is co-hosting<a href="http://www.zoohackathon.com/"> Zoohackathon</a> 2020, a global competition bringing together university students, coders, developers, and wildlife trafficking experts to create innovative solutions that address on-the-ground wildlife trafficking issues. Over the course of two and a half days, participants from five regional areas across the globe will compete virtually to address wildlife trafficking challenges, analyze the connections between wildlife trafficking and zoonotic disease in each region, and discuss locally focused case studies.
 

 
 For Suijten, a focus on hard skills such as software engineering are critical, but relationship building and the ability to adapt and respond to circumstances in the field have proven to be invaluable to Hack the Poacher’s success.
 

 
 “It’s amazing how much impact we can have with smart engineers, pragmatic tech, and a bit of duct tape,” Suijten says.
 

 
 As people’s lives become more intertwined with the internet, the opportunities in cybersecurity continue to expand. To learn more about this growing field, visit the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cyber/">NOVA Cybersecurity Lab</a> to explore stories of real-world cyber attacks, profiles of cybersecurity experts, and short animated videos that explain the need for cybersecurity, privacy versus security, cryptography (cyber code), and the nature of hacking.
 

 
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Where confiscated wildlife ends up - Moehring, Ryan, USFWS.jpg

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