Biographical Sketch of Scott Michael Graves, Ph.D.
NAME: Graves, Scott, Michael
RANK OR TITLE: Professor
DEPARTMENT: Environment Geography and Marine Sciences
OFFICE LOCATION AND CAMPUS ZIP:
Jennings Hall, Room 323
Southern Connecticut State University
OFFICE PHONE: (203) 392-6604
FAX: (203) 392-6614
E-MAIL: gravess1@southernct.edu
WEB: Scott M Graves - Southern Connecticut State University
Scott Michael Graves is Professor of Physical Geography, Coastal/Marine Geology & Oceanography at Southern Connecticut State University, where he conducts research on coastal landscapes and human impacts. Dr. Graves makes extensive use of µUAS/drones in his research and teaching. Currently, Dr. Graves teaches Physical Geography, Environmental Systems Analysis (a course specifically designed with GLOBE Program content and lab/field activities at its core), and Drone Applications. Most recently, he has co-created a Drone Academy that will run spring and fall at the university and is open to the public - specifically to serve firefighters, law enforcement, municipal programs leaders, real estate, etc... Previously, Dr. Graves served as coordinator for the MS Degree Program in Science Education and the Science Teacher Certification Program at SCSU.
Dr. Graves has been an active member of the GLOBE community since its inception. Scott has designed GLOBE centered college courses that are core to both undergraduate and graduate programs in Environmental Studies and Science Education. These courses cover GLOBE field protocols and data collection in detail in a semester long course, with links to Earth Systems Science content and activities. Field sites include the Cove River in West Haven, CT where study has been underway since 2005. Many College and High School Students have conducted GLOBE studies at Cove River, some winning Connecticut-wide science fairs and other awards.
Scott has chaired the GLOBE Technology Working Group and in summer of 2017, hosted the GLOBE Annual Meeting at his university in New Haven, CT.
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My newest ideas for promoting/usingGLOBE in community-based field studies include developing a grant proposal to NSF REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) - We intend on building on our long history of collecting GLOBE data at the local Cove River Historical Site in West Haven, CT. Our new proposal would engage participants in coastal ecology and ecosystem and human community resilience studies using on ground field investigations of estuary/marsh and beaches and their surrounding residential community. We hope to employ a lot of GLOBE protocol-driven work in gathering field data on the marshes and beaches and water quality, and deploy small UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems - drones) for gathering aerial photography to use in remote sensing activities. We hope to fly µUAS with camera systems to photograph the marshes and beaches in the visible and near IR spectrum, and then use those images to build a photogrametric map series which we can update over time and investigate the ecologic recovery of the coastal ecosystem in the wake of recent hurricanes... and to assist in planning for climate change-driven sea-level rise challenges. This NSF REU is currently under development and will be titled: Climate Communications: Coastal Resilience in Urban Environments. The students will learn coastal ecology (GLOBE protocols) along with µUAS flying for mapping and photo/videography storytelling. The purpose is to have students learn about the challenges Climate Change will impose on urbanized coastal environments and to develop communications material to disseminate locally.
I promise to update this profile as our work progresses! Fun work, Real work, Science in Service to Community! - you can see some more info on a personal/professional website I am starting up: https://scottmichaelgraves.com and/or http://Osprey-smg.com
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Recently (for the past 5 years) I have participated in our Department/University Study Abroad programs in Iceland and South Africa. My role is as secondary instructor and tech guru for these exciting international field excursions. In Iceland we work with the Skålanes Nature & Heritage Research Station (www.skalanes.com) where we stay in a residential setting that an house 30 or so people. We study general Iceland landscapes, conduct field work in physical geography (GLOBE) field methods along with wider explorations of Icelandic history and culture. Recently in Iceland, I've been leading in some µUAS/drone mapping activities (using DJI Mavic 2 Pro and other very small UAS), where we are looking at mapping invasive Lupin fields, in searching for ways to map/monitor nesting Arctic Terns, and in mapping coastal bluff erosion using µUAS imagery processed through Pix4D Structure form Motion analysis. This coming season (June 2020) I hope to extend my mapping to the submarine environment using an underwater rover (Fifish V6) to search out appropriate kelp and shellfish farming areas along the fjord coast. We also hope to get a chance to search or a sunken WWII tanker that to this day is leaking oil into the fjord waters. In South Africa, I participate as a secondary instructor on the physical geography/biomes of the Western Cape region and try to do a little µUAS flying as well, though our main focus in South Africa is Environmental Justice.
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...what you see below is a bit more of my own personal background.... if you are curious.
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Prior to landing in Connecticut, Dr. Graves was at UIdaho, where he created and co-directed the US Dept of Ed funded Lewis & Clark Rediscovery Project which was a country-wide technology innovation challenge grant designed to engage Teachers and Students in investigating 200 yrs of change in communities all along the Lewis and Clark Trail. This 5 yr project had GLOBE at its heart. GLOBE trained teachers across the country engaged in field data collection along the trail and in using technology to explore Environment, Culture, Natural History then and now. The project was very successful and will be re-linked to the GLOBE program soon.... ;-)
Dr. Graves has designed and implemented assessment strategies for data gathering (as well as analysis procedures) for documenting the preparation and efficacy of Science Teacher Candidates as a part of the Science Education and Environmental Studies Department and SCSU's NSTA & NCATE Accreditation process.
With graduate degrees in Education (Ph.D. University of Idaho) as well as Geology and Geophysics/Oceanography (B.S. University of California at Santa Cruz) and M.S. (Graduate School of Oceanography: University of Rhode Island), and experience in science and science education research and teaching, as well as curriculum development, Dr. Graves has worked in the University setting as well as private industry and the non-profit sector. Dr. Graves specializes in Science and Technology Teacher Professional Development for in-service and non-formal education settings in addition to teaching Science Teaching Methods, and supervising student teachers. Curriculum materials developed include Integrated Science, Earth Systems Science, Astronomy, Educational Technology, Models of Teaching, Science and Environmental Education and Curriculum Development, as well as a wide variety of professional development projects and programs. Dr. Graves has been an Editorial Board Member for a number of environmental, science and educational technology organizations including: NSTA's Science Objects, AACE's Educational Technology journal, the National Center for Online Learning and Research journal of online teaching and learning, NCATE's NSTA partner review board, the Journal of Geoscience Education, Northern Rocky Mountains Education Research Association, among others.
Dr. Graves has been a principle or co-investigator on a number of teacher professional development grants (NASA, US Dept of Education, Idaho Department of Education, Idaho Space Grant, etc). Some grants – were multi-year, very large and national in scope, e.g. Lewis and Clark Rediscovery Project (5 yrs, $7.5Million), and Life-Long Learning Lewis and Clark Rediscovery (3 yr, $2.5Million).
Dr. Graves has participated in and consulted for a number of international environmental science and technology education programs in Finland, Estonia, Russia and Guatemala, Belize, China, and most recently in Singapore and in New Delhi, India (GLOBE GLE). These international endeavors have resulted in further grant opportunities and collaborative programs that model effective environmental science education melded with infusion of communications and Internet technologies for education.