BUG TO SCHOOL: INSPIRING NEW GENERATIONS OF FARMERS AND LOCAL FOOD CONSUMERS THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING AND COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SCHOOL GARDENS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1028151
• Grant No.: 2022-68018-36611
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $748,745.00
• Proposal No.: 2021-10341
• Project Start Date: May 1, 2022
• Project End Date: Nov 30, 2023
• Grant Year: 2022
• Program Code: [A7401]- Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
200 D.W. BROOKS DR
ATHENS,GA 30602-5016

Performing Department
Entomology

Non Technical Summary
Food security depends on increasing the number of farmers who thrive economically while producing healthy food locally and sustainably. At the same time, land grant universities are experiencing record low numbers of students in agriculture-related majors. This trend creates a vacuum of consumer demand for local foods that producers cannot match. To attract a new generation of agricultural professionals, we propose an integrative research and extension program that pairs undergraduate students with secondary schools in their home communities. The 5-year "Bug-to-School" program will ignite curiosity and close the knowledge gap in agriculture-related STEM disciplines. At its core, the project will establish a research network of over 40 school gardens to collaboratively examine how biodiversity shapes insect food webs and crop growth. A team of four university faculty working remotely with twenty local 4-H extension educators and secondary school teachers will collaboratively mentor twenty undergraduates from diverse backgrounds in a 10-week summer internship (1:1 mentor student ratio). Interns will perform experiments in school gardens across the Southeast and develop skills in scientific literacy, trophic ecology, and vegetable production by growing food while collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing data. Simultaneously, the interns will serve their home communities by developing garden-based curricula, lending logistical support, and providing technical assistance to collaborating classrooms. The Bug-to-School program will strengthen the capacity of future farmers to sustainably intensify agricultural production, improve plant health and production and plant products (AFRI priority 1) and improve the nutrition and health of students in their home communities (AFRI priority 3).

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
102	3110	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
3110 - Insects;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

school garden

biodiversity

insect food-web

participatory research

service-learning

Goals / Objectives
Our long-term goals are to cultivate a generation of producers and consumers of locally grown, healthy produce, and to empower historically excluded students in agriculture-related STEM disciplines through collaborative garden-based research in their home communities. To achieve this, we propose the following objectives:1) Establish a multi-state collaborative school garden research network in middle/high schools across the Southeast; 2) Recruit 20 undergraduates per year from diverse backgrounds to facilitate school garden research within their home communities;3) Ignite curiosity in sustainable crop production, pest management, and insect food webs during an in-person, hands-on intensive 'bootcamp'; 4) Improve scientific literacy and analytical skills of both undergraduates and school-age students with large-scale collaborative, experiments.5) Empower undergraduates with skills in leadership, mentorship, resourcefulness, and communication through service-learning and collaborative curriculum development ?

Project Methods
?APPROACHObjective 1: Establish a school garden research network. Through sampling of soils, pests, beneficial insects, and flowering plants surrounding zucchini crops in school gardens, our REEU students will examine a variety of research questions that will enable them to better-predict unique patterns of pest pressure in agroecosystems, and work to calibrate management of biodiversity to combat it. Dr. Blubaugh and the project manager will work through communication channels of the Georgia Farm-to-School Alliance along with support from state Farm-to-School coordinators in GA, NC, and SC to continue recruiting teachers and 4-H extension educators who are excited to join our network.Objective 2: Recruit 20 undergraduates from diverse backgrounds annually to facilitate school garden experiments in their home communities. By synergizing efforts with existing undergraduate research programs designed to connect historically excluded students from 1890 Land Grant Institutions with research opportunities on-campus (e.g. Emerging Scholars at UGA, CEFS internship program at NCSU and NCA&T), we will recruit a diverse group of students to bring sustainable agriculture research into their home communities. Project advisor Lakecia Pettway (UGA's Director of Diversity Affairs) will help us connect with campus chapters of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) across the Southeast, and coordinate guest lectures, seminars, and recruitment presentations to build trust and strengthen partnerships with faculty and students at Fort Valley State University and South Carolina State University (see letter of collaboration).Objective 3) Ignite curiosity in sustainable crop production, pest management, and insect food webs during an in-person, hands-on intensive 'bootcamp';Beginning in May 2022, we will host the cohort of Bug-to-School interns at UGA for four days of in-person team-building and rigorous training in crop production, insect ecology, experimental design and execution.Day 1: Introduction-- We will complete cohort-building activities and give lectures and research presentations (led by graduate students) on sustainable agriculture, vegetable production, and insect food webs. REEU students will read about and discuss the history of school garden programs, their potential to improve food security in urban areas, promote healthy lifestyles, streamline STEM learning through hands-on, nature-based activities, and develop students' confidence and collective responsibility,and of course, their challenges. Field activity: In three small groups, REEU students will volunteer to weed raised beds, plant and water zucchini starts, and administer experimental treatments at three school garden sites near UGA's campus.Day 2: Hypothesize-- Students will read and discuss relevant papers about organic vegetable production (Zehnder et al., 2007), and about how biodiversity among plants and soil microorganisms might interact to shape insect food webs. Then, they will propose, discuss, and refine hypotheses about their experiments based on their knowledge of how zucchini plants, various pests, natural enemies, and pollinators might interact with each other and respond to biodiversity above and belowground. Field activity: REEU students will practice insect collecting in the field at the UGArden (UGA's organic education farm).Day 3: Study System-- Students will train in taxonomy of both plants and insects, and practice insect curation techniques using specimens collected during the previous day. Students will familiarize themselves with pollinator plants that are commonly installed in school gardens through UGA's "Connect to Protect" program, and become experts in garden insect food webs by examining display collections, papers, and extension publications. Field activity: Students will practice identifying both plants and insects at the UGArden, and by visiting several pollinator gardens that have been installed on the UGA campus, which was recently designated a "Bee Campus USA" by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.Day 4: Methods-- Students will review scouting procedures and learn the basics of experimental design. They will then will create datasheets, draft data collection protocols together. Field activity: Students will test their identification skills and sampling protocols at the UGArden.Objective 4) Improve scientific literacy and analytical skills of both undergraduates and school-age students with large-scale collaborative, experiments.Experiment protocol: In late-May 2022, our REEU students will bring 12 zucchini starts (Cucurbita pepo var. cylinrdica) back to each of their partnering school gardens, for simultaneous transplanting across all sites. We chose zucchini as our first model crop because it experiences considerable insect pressure in our region (Fair and Braman 2017)--while this is a challenging model for optimizing food production, it is an excellent model demonstrating multi-trophic interactions for students. Each school garden experiment will be planted in two 4 x 8ft raised beds. After planting, students will collect soil samples and randomly select, flag, and apply experimental treatments of their choice to six of the twelve seedlings. Experimental treatments could include various organic soil amendments (e.g. vermicompost, biochar, poultry litter), or herbivore repellants, which will be determined collaboratively between teachers, REEU students, and faculty mentors. Students will then perform weekly insect surveys at each school garden for the duration of their 10-week internships, entering and sharing their data with the group in real-time. Plants and insects will be identified by students using portable usb microscopes with help from extension educators and shared photos. Throughout the summer, the cohort will gather for weekly zoom meetings to discuss experiments and complete professional development activities (e.g. articulating research experience on a resume, excel skills training, preparing for graduate school, career opportunities in extension and sustainable agriculture).Analysis: During the last two weeks of their internships, students will learn to visualize data using Excel and R, and perform simple analyses to test our hypotheses about soil amendments and plant diversity variables. Students will then learn to interpret statistical output and explain results for non-experts. Before the end of their internships, students will prepare a formal scientific paper (with Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion sections).Synthesis: Students will discuss together what each consider to be the most important patterns revealed in our study, how they align with the original hypotheses, and what they might recommend for farmers and gardeners based on their findings. Students will work in small groups to create either a poster presentation, a recorded video presentation, or a 15-minute oral presentation of the project. synthesizing their results, and work in small groups to prepare either a poster or oral presentation.Objective 5) Empower undergraduates with skills in leadership, mentorship, resourcefulness, and communication through service-learning and collaborative curriculum development. State school garden coordinators in GA, SC, and NC (co-PDs Griffin, Dabbs, and Thraves, respectively), will assist in recruiting local master gardener volunteers and 4-H educators who can provide supplementary mentorship for Bug-to-School interns and assist teachers with maintenance of school garden experiments during the school year once Bug-to-School interns return to college. Each Friday during their internships, students will gather via Zoom for a series of professional development activities, to discuss guided reflection prompts, and to present on their progress with various small projects associated with their larger research and extension program.

Progress 05/01/22 to 09/08/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience includes undergraduate students in ecology, agricultural disciplines and education, as well as university faculty, teachers, primary/secondary school students (several in low-income school districts), 4-H extension personnel, and local government/nonprofit community partners. Changes/Problems:Like many REEU programs operating post-pandemic, recruitment has been a huge challenge. Despite our vigorous efforts, it has been quite difficult assembling the numbers of qualified researchers we originally proposed. Below we articulate how we have adjusted our plan in order to overcome the challenge of sparse applicant pools. Shifting the timing of our REEU program to the Fall semester. During the first year, we recruited students to complete research projects during the summer, when school gardens are typically vacant. While this met a need teachers have for assistance with garden stewardship during the summer break, it also meant that our REEU program was competing for applicants with numerous other summer internship programs. Further, with the summer schedule, we didn't have an opportunity to overlap with students when school is in session. Shifting our internships to the fall semester will introduce new challenges (like navigating the class/recess schedules of collaborating schools), but we think it will ultimately increase the numbers of qualified applicants, as well as enrich the outreach experiences of REEU interns, teachers, and school-age students if the programs overlap with the school year. Increasing our stipends from $3600 to $5000 for a 240 hour fellowship. We originally budgeted approximately $12/hour stipends for interns back in 2020, then raised the stipend to $15/hour because of rapid salary inflation. Because that stipend was still insufficient to generate much interest among undergraduates in 2022, we will increase to a $5000 stipend for interns in the fall semester. This means that only 14 participants can enroll annually, instead of the 20 originally planned, which is a shame, but a necessary reality of our times. We are already seeking alternative sources of funding to expand our reach with teachers, and hope to enroll additional Bug2School interns with other sources of undergraduate research funding within participating universities. Expanding our program to undergraduate researchers nation-wide. As long as prospective Bug2School interns identify a local entomologist who can mentor them and guide them in the research, taxonomy, and outreach skills necessary for success in the program, we will invite students to apply for our fellowship, and cover travel costs to an in-person cohort meeting ahead of the Entomological Society of America conference. By casting a net wider than the Southeast, we hope to recruit a more diverse and qualified pool of applicants. An additional key change to our plan: PD Blubaugh is moving to a new position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in July 2023. Due to the remote nature of our school garden research network, this will in no way interfere with the success of our program. Partners in UIUC's Departments of Entomology and Crop Sciences are excited to expand Bug2School to the Midwest, and the Illinois Farm-to-School network is positioned to help us collaborate with students and teachers in low-income districts in the Chicago metro. Extension personnel at UIUC's Jackie Joyner-Kersee Food and Agriculture Innovation Center in East St. Louis are excited to host interns in the St. Louis Metro as well. Faculty collaborators in UGA's Entomology department and at Clemson University will mentor students in Athens, Atlanta, and Charleston, to help us maintain the ongoing relationships we have with school gardens in the Southeast. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During summer 2022, we mentored five REEU interns, who received one-on-one training in research methods, science communication, and event coordination with community partners. One of the five REEU interns, Russel Chesnut, remained engaged for the duration of the 2022-2023 academic year, and created poster presentations on behalf of the cohort that were presented at the Entomological Society of America, and in undergraduate research symposia. Russel also contributed to a publication based on our experimental results that is currently in review at the Journal of Applied Ecology. We also engaged over 300 school age students and 20 teachers in workshops, training, and curricular activities. Three graduate students assisted with mentorship and engagement with community partners. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our products have been showcased to the entomological community (a pool of potential research mentors for our school garden research network) and the service-learning scholarship community in five conference presentations. Our program and results have been highlighted in three department seminars and two guest lectures-- some at primarily undergraduate serving institutions. Curricular tools have been demonstrated in eight different classroom activities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our goals for the next year include: Finalize publication of our results from the first REEU cohort Compose a second publication for mainstream audience (in Trends in Ecology and Evolution or American Entomologist) that highlights the opportunity and promise of executing collaborative research in school gardens for undergraduates and school-age students alike. Finalize publication of lesson plans developed by the 2022 REEU interns in school garden curriculum repositories. Finalize publication of the Kid's Guide to Pests and Predatory Insects in School Gardens, as well as the Bug2School YouTube playlist through UGA's Extension channels Recruit the second cohort of Bug2School REEU interns in fall 2023.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1) Establish a multi-state collaborative school garden research network in middle/high schools across the Southeast; Thanks to the networks established by co-PDs Dabbs and Griffin, we received enthusiastic buy-in from more than 30 teachers in Georgia and South Carolina excited to host REEU students. Due to the limited number of applications we received from undergraduate students, we were ultimately able to collaborate with 15 schools in Athens GA, Rock Hill SC, and New Brunswick, NJ. Teachers and students in our school garden research network were invited to participate and updated regularly on our progress and our results through virtual and in-person workshops. Later during the 2022-2023 school year, our team of interns and staff led garden-based field activities (a 'Bug Bingo' scavenger hunt developed by REEU interns) at eight collaborating schools. Objective 2) Recruit 20 undergraduates per year from diverse backgrounds to facilitate school garden research within their home communities Huge effort was invested by our entire team to reach networks of undergraduate students in all relevant disciplines across Georgia and the Carolinas. Ads were shared in print and across undergraduate list servs. Guest lectures were delivered in various UGA, UNC courses, and PD Blubaugh corresponded & visited with faculty and extension personnel at HBCUs in Georgia (Fort Valley State) and South Carolina (South Carolina State & Claflin) to invite collaboration and offer guest lectures. We delivered presentations at all regional and national entomology conferences to get the word out among entomology colleagues who might partner with us in recruiting and mentoring interns, and found an unexpected collaborator in Dr. Jessica Ware, president of the Entomological Society of America, who mentored an REEU intern in New Jersey. Despite our best efforts, recruitment was an incredible challenge in 2022, and only five qualified applicants joined our first cohort of REEU interns. Objective 3) Ignite curiosity in sustainable crop production, pest management, and insect food webs during an in-person, hands-on intensive 'bootcamp'; We had a successful in-person Bug2School Orientation in Athens GA from May 23-27th, 2022, where REEU students did team building, fellowship, and training for their research & outreach projects through the following activities: Established mutually agreed on expectations for interns and mentors Pre-assessments of competence and self efficacy Read/discussed scientific papers together Articulated/rationalized hypotheses together about our experimental treatments Studied the life history of the most common insects in our study system Practiced identification and curation of common garden insects using lab specimens Collected, and identified insects at field sites, and practiced visual insect surveys Discussed experimental design, the considered integrity of an experimental control, and practiced/troubleshooted experimental treatment protocol Collaboratively prepared data collection protocols and data sheets Completed a service project weeding garden beds with urban farmers/community gardeners at the FoodWell Alliance in Atlanta Met with collaborating teachers and community partners to learn/discuss the greatest barriers facing school garden programs, and greatest needs they might address during their internship Objective 4) Improve scientific literacy and analytical skills of both undergraduates and school-age students with large-scale collaborative, experiments. REEU students successfully completed experiments at 9 sites in Athens GA, 2 sites in Rock Hill, SC, and one site in New Brunswick, NJ. Each student was responsible for 2-3 sites, depending on their available transportation. At each site, REEU students manipulated vermicompost (worm castings) treatments in one of two experimental garden beds, grew/maintained zucchini plants for 8 weeks, completed bi-weekly surveys of pests and beneficial insects, and entered data in a shared google sheet. REEU students met in-person with their local mentors regularly, and each Friday afternoon, we met via zoom to share exciting discoveries, insect photos, and troubleshoot protocol. During the last two weeks, REEU students (with help from PD Blubaugh) learned to organize and 'sanitize' data so that it could be visualized and analyzed. We compared our results to the original hypotheses developed together during orientation, and collaborated on a final research presentation for collaborating teachers and the rest of the Bug2School team. For this year's experiment, we crowd-sourced a research question from our collaborating teachers: Does vermicompost strengthen natural pest suppression? Our team measured herbivore pest and predatory insect responses to experimental vermicompost treatments, as well as their responses to diversity of blooming plants in the surrounding landscape. We found that vermicompost increased pest resistance on zucchini plants by 17%, while flower diversity increased predatory insects that eat pests. This suggests that strategic management of belowground diversity (ostensibly augmented by vermicompost) and aboveground diversity (among floral resources) might work hand in hand to strengthen natural suppression of insect pests in urban gardens. These exciting results are currently in revision at the Journal of Applied Ecology, a paper co-authored by two REEU students. When comparing the REEU students' pre- and post-assessments in scientific literacy and analytical skills, we learned that our program vastly increased students' confidence and competence at identifying insects common in garden food webs, increased their understanding of experimental design, and improved their ability to interpret and communicate results. Analytical skills (data analysis) were more difficult for us to achieve during the short internship (and students were particularly anxious about engaging with the necessary technology), and students only reported slightly increases in competence/confidence in analytical skills. Objective 5) Empower undergraduates with skills in leadership, mentorship, resourcefulness, and communication through service-learning and collaborative curriculum development Along with training in research skills, our REEU interns developed four exciting garden-based multi-media classroom activities (with both in-person and virtual activities) with guidance from their teacher collaborators. Garden measurements: Together, the interns developed a math-based activity for young students to plant zucchini and apply experimental treatments while learning about units of measurement. For secondary school students, our REEU interns developed an activity to help students use simple insect count surveys to test hypotheses and estimate mean and variance in real-world settings. For students of all ages, our REEU interns developed a "Bug bingo" scavenger hunt, by creating a "bank" of anatomically correct insect illustrations that highlight key diagnostic features of the most common garden insects. To help teachers and students learn the insect identification skills necessary to distinguish common herbivorous insects and predatory insects, the REEU students created insect display collections, along with fact sheets featuring insect macro photography, and short humorous YouTube videos illustrating the feeding habits of common taxa. Each REEU intern refined these curricular activities with guidance from our team and from local teacher collaborators, and then deployed some of the activities with students at eight collaborating schools, during outreach events planned in collaboration with local community partners. In the pre/post evaluation surveys, students noted strong improvements in their confidence in communicating about plant/insect identification as well as about interpretation of experimental results.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: C.K. Blubaugh, Chesnut, R., and K.L. Hagan. Organic compost belowground and floral diversity aboveground interactively shape herbivores and predators in urban gardens. (In review at the Journal of Applied Ecology)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: UGA Entomology Department Research Symposium: Athens, GA (4/2023) Bug2School: Collaborative insect ecology research in school gardens (2nd place poster prize awarded to undergraduate researcher Russell Chesnut)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gordon Research Conference: Ventura, CA (2/2023) Organic compost belowground and floral diversity aboveground interactively shape herbivores and predators in urban gardens (Research poster presented by PD Blubaugh)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Entomology 2022: Vancouver,CA (11/2022) Biodiversity belowground and aboveground interactively shape insect food webs (Invited symposium talk given by PD Blubaugh)
• Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Project website (bug2school.org)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Entomology 2022: Vancouver,CA (11/2022) Bug2School: Collaborative insect ecology research in school gardens (poster presented by undergraduate researcher Russell Chesnut)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Engagement Scholarship Consortium: Athens, GA (9/2022) Bug2School: Collaborative insect ecology research in school gardens (symposium presentation by PD Blubaugh)
• Type: Other Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: Blubaugh, C.K. and Seabaugh, O. 2022. Its a Bug-Eat-Bug World: A Kids Guide to Pests and Predatory Insects in School Gardens. bug eat bug world 9.15.pdf (4H Extension publication with integrated curricular activities)

Progress 05/01/22 to 04/30/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience includes undergraduate students in ecology, agricultural disciplines and education, as well as university faculty, teachers, primary/secondary school students (several in low-income school districts), 4-H extension personnel, and local government/nonprofit community partners. Changes/Problems:Major changes to our plan: Like many REEU programs operating post-pandemic, recruitment has been a huge challenge. Despite our vigorous efforts, it has been quite difficult assembling the numbers of qualified researchers we originally proposed. Below we articulate how we have adjusted our plan in order to overcome the challenge of sparse applicant pools. Shifting the timing of our REEU program to the Fall semester. During the first year, we recruited students to complete research projects during the summer, when school gardens are typically vacant. While this met a need teachers have for assistance with garden stewardship during the summer break, it also meant that our REEU program was competing for applicants with numerous other summer internship programs. Further, with the summer schedule, we didn't have an opportunity to overlap with students when school is in session. Shifting our internships to the fall semester will introduce new challenges (like navigating the class/recess schedules of collaborating schools), but we think it will ultimately increase the numbers of qualified applicants, as well as enrich the outreach experiences of REEU interns, teachers, and school-age students if the programs overlap with the school year. Increasing our stipends from $3600 to $5000 for a 240 hour fellowship. We originally budgeted approximately $12/hour stipends for interns back in 2020, then raised the stipend to $15/hour because of rapid salary inflation. Because that stipend wasstillinsufficient to generate much interest among undergraduates in 2022, we will increase to a $5000 stipend for interns in the fall semester. This means that only 14 participants can enroll annually, instead of the 20 originally planned, which is a shame, but a necessary reality of our times. We are already seeking alternative sources of funding to expand our reach with teachers, and hope to enroll additional Bug2School interns with other sources of undergraduate research funding within participating universities. Expanding our program to undergraduate researchers nation-wide.As long as prospective Bug2School interns identify a local entomologist who can mentor them and guide them in the research, taxonomy, and outreach skills necessary for success in the program, we will invite students to apply for our fellowship, and cover travel costs to an in-person cohort meeting ahead of the Entomological Society of America conference. By casting a net wider than the Southeast, we hope to recruit a more diverse and qualified pool of applicants. An additional key change to our plan:PD Blubaugh has accepted a new position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in July 2023.Due to the remote nature of our school garden research network, this will in no way interfere with the success of our program. Partners in UIUC's Departments of Entomology and Crop Sciences are excited to expand Bug2School to the Midwest, and the Illinois Farm-to-School network is positioned to help us collaborate with students and teachers in low-income districts in the Chicago metro. Extension personnel at UIUC's Jackie Joyner-Kersee Food and Agriculture Innovation Center in East St. Louis are excited to host interns in the St. Louis Metro as well. Faculty collaborators in UGA's Entomology department and at Clemson University will mentor students in Athens, Atlanta, and Charleston, to help us maintain the ongoing relationships we have with school gardens in the Southeast. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During summer 2022, we mentored five REEU interns, who received one-on-one training in research methods, science communication, and event coordination with community partners. One of the five REEU interns, Russel Chesnut, remained engaged for the duration of the 2022-2023 academic year, and created poster presentations on behalf of the cohort that were presented at the Entomological Society of America, and in undergraduate research symposia. Russel also contributed to a publication based on our experimental results that is currently in review at the Journal of Applied Ecology. We also engaged over 300 school age students and 20 teachers in workshops, training, and curricular activities. Three graduate students assisted with mentorship and engagement with community partners. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our products have been showcased to the entomological community (a pool of potential research mentors for our school garden research network) and the service-learning scholarship community in five conference presentations. Our program and results have been highlighted in three department seminars and two guest lectures-- some at primarily undergraduate serving institutions. Curricular tools have been demonstrated in eight different classroom activities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our goals for the next year include: Finalize publication of our results from the first REEU cohort Compose a second publication for mainstream audience (in Trends in Ecology and Evolution or American Entomologist) that highlights the opportunity and promise of executing collaborative research in school gardens for undergraduates and school-age students alike. Finalize publication of lesson plans developed by the 2022 REEU interns in school garden curriculum repositories. Finalize publication of the Kid's Guide to Pests and Predatory Insects in School Gardens, as well as the Bug2School YouTube playlist through UGA's Extension channels Recruit the second cohort of Bug2School REEU interns in fall 2023 for another collaborative experiment.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1) Establish a multi-state collaborative school garden research network in middle/high schools across the Southeast; Thanks to the networks established by co-PDs Dabbs and Griffin, we received enthusiastic buy-in from more than 30 teachers in Georgia and South Carolina excited to host REEU students. Due to the limited number of applications we received from undergraduate students, we were ultimately able to collaborate with 15 schools in Athens GA, Rock Hill SC, and New Brunswick, NJ. Teachers and students in our school garden research network were invited to participate and updated regularly on our progress and our results through virtual and in-person workshops. Later during the 2022-2023 school year, our team of interns and staff led garden-based field activities (a 'Bug Bingo' scavenger hunt developed by REEU interns) at eight collaborating schools. Objective 2) Recruit 20 undergraduates per year from diverse backgrounds to facilitate school garden research within their home communities Huge effort was invested by our entire team to reach networks of undergraduate students in all relevant disciplines across Georgia and the Carolinas. Ads were shared in print and across undergraduate list servs. Guest lectures were delivered in various UGA, UNC courses, and PD Blubaugh corresponded & visited with faculty and extension personnel at HBCUs in Georgia (Fort Valley State) and South Carolina (South Carolina State & Claflin) to invite collaboration and offer guest lectures. We delivered presentations at all regional and national entomology conferences to get the word out among entomology colleagues who might partner with us in recruiting and mentoring interns, and found an unexpected collaborator in Dr. Jessica Ware, president of the Entomological Society of America, who mentored an REEU intern in New Jersey. Despite our best efforts, recruitment was an incredible challenge in 2022, and only five qualified applicants joined our first cohort of REEU interns. Objective 3) Ignite curiosity in sustainable crop production, pest management, and insect food webs during an in-person, hands-on intensive 'bootcamp'; We had a successful in-person Bug2School Orientation in Athens GA from May 23-27th, 2022, where REEU students did team building, fellowship, and training for their research & outreach projects through the following activities: Established mutually agreed on expectations for interns and mentors Pre-assessments of competence and self efficacy Read/discussed scientific papers together Articulated/rationalized hypotheses together about our experimental treatments Studied the life history of the most common insects in our study system Practiced identification and curation of common garden insects using lab specimens Collected, and identified insects at field sites, and practiced visual insect surveys Discussed experimental design, the considered integrity of an experimental control, and practiced/troubleshooted experimental treatment protocol Collaboratively prepared data collection protocols and data sheets Completed a service project weeding garden beds with urban farmers/community gardeners at the FoodWell Alliance in Atlanta Met with collaborating teachers and community partners to learn/discuss the greatest barriers facing school garden programs, and greatest needs they might address during their internship Objective 4) Improve scientific literacy and analytical skills of both undergraduates and school-age students with large-scale collaborative, experiments. REEU students successfully completed experiments at 9 sites in Athens GA, 2 sites in Rock Hill, SC, and one site in New Brunswick, NJ. Each student was responsible for 2-3 sites, depending on their available transportation. At each site, REEU students manipulated vermicompost (worm castings) treatments in one of two experimental garden beds, grew/maintained zucchini plants for 8 weeks, completed bi-weekly surveys of pests and beneficial insects, and entered data in a shared google sheet. REEU students met in-person with their local mentors regularly, and each Friday afternoon, we met via zoom to share exciting discoveries, insect photos, and troubleshoot protocol. During the last two weeks, REEU students (with help from PD Blubaugh) learned to organize and 'sanitize' data so that it could be visualized and analyzed. We compared our results to the original hypotheses developed together during orientation, and collaborated on a final research presentation for collaborating teachers and the rest of the Bug2School team. For this year's experiment, we crowd-sourced a research question from our collaborating teachers: Does vermicompost strengthen natural pest suppression? Our team measured herbivore pest and predatory insect responses to experimental vermicompost treatments, as well as their responses to diversity of blooming plants in the surrounding landscape. We found that vermicompost increased pest resistance on zucchini plants by 17%, while flower diversity increased predatory insects that eat pests. This suggests that strategic management of belowground diversity (ostensibly augmented by vermicompost) and aboveground diversity (among floral resources) might work hand in hand to strengthen natural suppression of insect pests in urban gardens. These exciting results are currently in review at the Journal of Applied Ecology. When comparing the REEU students' pre- and post-assessments in scientific literacy and analytical skills, we learned that our program vastly increased students' confidence and competence at identifying insects common in garden food webs, increased their understanding of experimental design, and improved their ability to interpret and communicate results. Analytical skills (data analysis) were more difficult for us to achieve during the short internship (and students were particularly anxious about engaging with the necessary technology), and students only reported slightly increases in competence/confidence in analytical skills. Objective 5) Empower undergraduates with skills in leadership, mentorship, resourcefulness, and communication through service-learning and collaborative curriculum development Along with training in research skills, our REEU interns developed four exciting garden-based multi-media classroom activities (with both in-person and virtual activities) with guidance from their teacher collaborators. Garden measurements: Together, the interns developed a math-based activity for young students to plant zucchini and apply experimental treatments while learning about units of measurement. For secondary school students, our REEU interns developed an activity to help students use simple insect count surveys to test hypotheses and estimate mean and variance in real-world settings. For students of all ages, our REEU interns developed a "Bug bingo" scavenger hunt, by creating a "bank" of anatomically correct insect illustrations that highlight key diagnostic features of the most common garden insects. To help teachers and students learn the insect identification skills necessary to distinguish common herbivorous insects and predatory insects, the REEU students created insect display collections, along with fact sheets featuring insect macro photography, and short humorous YouTube videos illustrating the feeding habits of common taxa. Each REEU intern refined these curricular activities with guidance from our team and from local teacher collaborators, and then deployed some of the activities with students at eight collaborating schools, during outreach events planned in collaboration with local community partners. In the pre/post evaluation surveys, students noted strong improvements in their confidence in communicating about plant/insect identification as well as about interpretation of experimental results.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: C.K. Blubaugh, Chesnut, R., and K.L. Hagan. Organic compost belowground and floral diversity aboveground interactively shape herbivores and predators in urban gardens. (In review at the Journal of Applied Ecology)
• Type: Other Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: Blubaugh, C.K. and Seabaugh, O. 2022. Its a Bug-Eat-Bug World: A Kids Guide to Pests and Predatory Insects in School Gardens. bug eat bug world 9.15.pdf (4H Extension publication with integrated curricular activities)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: UGA Entomology Department Research Symposium: Athens, GA (4/2023) Bug2School: Collaborative insect ecology research in school gardens (2nd place poster prize awarded to undergraduate researcher Russell Chesnut)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gordon Research Conference: Ventura, CA (2/2023) Organic compost belowground and floral diversity aboveground interactively shape herbivores and predators in urban gardens (Research poster presented by PD Blubaugh)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Entomology 2022: Vancouver,CA (11/2022) Biodiversity belowground and aboveground interactively shape insect food webs (Invited symposium talk given by PD Blubaugh)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Entomology 2022: Vancouver,CA (11/2022) Bug2School: Collaborative insect ecology research in school gardens (poster presented by undergraduate researcher Russell Chesnut)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Engagement Scholarship Consortium: Athens, GA (9/2022) Bug2School: Collaborative insect ecology research in school gardens (symposium presentation by PD Blubaugh)
• Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Project website (bug2school.org)