Longtime Schoolyard Ecology Instructor Receives Prestigious Award

This summer, veteran Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology teacher Dr. Elisa Margarita, a high school science teacher at Brooklyn Technical High School, won the prestigious Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education from Math for America. Elisa was awarded $20,000 during a ceremony in Manhattan in June, with recognition for the remarkable work she has done to engage students, support colleagues, and exhibit leadership within mathematics and science communities. In addition, $5,000 was awarded to the public school where she teaches. Over the past decade, in addition to collecting vital Schoolyard Ecology data on climate and forest dynamics in an urban park with her students, Elisa has been a curriculum developer for the Harvard Forest Witness Tree project and a contributor to many ongoing STEM education research projects.

Learn more about Elisa's inspiring work in Chalkbeat New York.

Image above shows Elisa Margarita, right, working with a student at a plant wall in her school. Image by Elisa Margarita.