Initial Publication Date: April 13, 2023

Sarah Haines

Professor, Biological Sciences, Towson University

About Me

I am a native of Maryland who has always been interested in the environment, and especially in animals. When I was younger, I wanted to become a veterinarian, but as I got older, I realized I was more interested in the outdoors and nature, and not the medical side of animal studies. I earned bachelor's degrees in biology and animal behavior, then attended graduate school and earned a master's degree and a PhD in zoology before becoming a middle school science teacher and eventually ending up in my current position at Towson University, where I teach biology and environmental science courses to preservice teachers and those wishing to become nonformal educators.

Focus of current FEW-Nexus-based education work

My work is heavily connected to the ideas stated in the NC-FEW visioning document. I teach NC-FEW concepts in most of my classes, although my course content is most closely connected to the "water" piece of the puzzle. I teach a seminar course titled "Water & the Environment". Topics covered include the connections between water and agriculture, and how climate change can disrupt the global food chain. Two of my classes include the topics of water quality and human health, and food production and climate change. All of my teaching is done in an interdisciplinary style; I do not cover the topics as separate entities but rather focus on how they interconnect.

FEW-Nexus-based education experience, expertise and interests

I have contributed to the work of NC-FEW in the recent past. A few years ago, Cory Forbes gathered a few educators together as a committee to work on developing a crosswalk of learning standards for Food, Energy, and Water. We subdivided into those three categories and researched where those topics were showing up in the learning standards that were being used across the United States. I was assigned "Food', along with Dr. Rita Hagevik. We examined standards published by AFNR, NAAEE, USDA, the National Geography Standards, and the Next Generation Science Standards to see where the topic of "food" was being covered, and in what context. We created a document that displayed all of this information and pointed out where the gaps were. We presented this information at the mid-Atlantic Association for Science Teacher Education meeting in 2021, and also at the national Association for Science Teacher Education meeting in 2022.

I have published research and practitioner manuscripts that focus on Food, Energy, & Water issues, mainly from the lens of a "water" perspective. I have more than 20 years experience teaching these concepts and conducting educational research.