Interview With Jenny Hartigan

Jenny Hartigan

Middle school science teacher at Lincoln Middle School in Alameda

Q: Could you share your name, your pronouns, and how you engage with science and learning?

A: My name is Jenny Hartigan, and my pronouns are she/her. I am a middle school science teacher in a public school in Alameda.

I have taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade for about 15 or 16 years. Before that, I was an elementary teacher. I come from a background of bilingual education, so I taught bilingual Spanish and then moved into science.

I connected with The Lawrence Hall of Science through Jess Penchos about 15 years ago when I was doing my master’s and was looking to use some inquiry-based curriculum with my students. We ended up collaborating for many years on the FOSS curriculum. We did things ranging from trials testing to developing curriculum in our classroom inspired by our nature area.

That has been a great relationship and an ongoing partnership. They still bring visitors to our classrooms at Lincoln when they have visitors from Japan who want to see classrooms, which is always fun.

I have also worked as a professional developer for FOSS with School Specialty.

Q: Can you tell us more about the nature area you mentioned?

A: We have a one-acre nature area. It is amazing. It was started by some visionary people when they built the school back in 1977.

Basically, the PTA and the science teachers worked with a supportive superintendent at the time to reverse the layout of the school. They placed the science rooms at the back of the school and asked for the open space to be used by science teachers as an outdoor learning area for planting and science activities.

That space became our nature area. It involved parents, teachers, and students. Students went out and planted, and they worked with the California Native Plant Society to develop native plant zones.

It was really amazing, and they even developed a class that took care of the nature area over the years.

Recently it has been harder to maintain, and I think administrative support is key. But we still have it, and we are working hard to maintain it.

It’s a great place where we do plant studies, ecosystem studies, and other science investigations. Some of the FOSS curriculum was developed with that space in mind, including ecosystem surveys to see what organisms are present.

Q: What relationships, traditions, collaborations, or community practices make your work possible?

A: The collaboration with the Lawrence Hall of Science has been fabulous and has led to a lot of opportunities.

I also collaborate with NOAA. This is my 10th year as a NOAA Ocean Guardian teacher. My students have been involved in Ocean Guardian projects for ten years. For five years we worked on restoring wetlands. We worked in our nature area and along the shoreline, since we are right on the Bay, removing non-native plants and planting native plants.

Students also designed an informational sign for the site. We worked with East Bay Regional Parks, who came and taught students how to design effective interpretive signs. Students drew illustrations of species like the Ridgway’s rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse.

A high school art student helped convert their drawings into a digital design so it could be professionally printed. Our outdoor class installed the sign, pouring the cement and placing it in the ground.

We held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with six groups of sixth graders who had rotated through the program during the year. They designed their own t-shirts and participated in the ceremony. It was really exciting.

After five years, NOAA encouraged us to shift focus, so we moved into climate education projects.

Now students calculate their personal carbon footprint based on data they gather about their habits at home. They choose an action to reduce their footprint and track their data for three weeks before calculating it again. Most students reduce their footprint.

Last year, 69% of 130 students reduced their carbon footprint.

Then they design a community action project. Some students present to elementary schools about protecting the ocean. Others make videos, songs, or art.

Last year I was fortunate to receive the National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship and traveled to Antarctica. I brought what I learned about plastic pollution back to my students.

Students then created projects about plastics and presented them at the local library or submitted artwork to the StopWaste environmental storytelling contest. We had 16 groups presenting at the library one evening.

Parents later told me how meaningful it was for students to present in the community, not just at school. Some students even won cash prizes in the art contest.

Students have also written letters to the school district to advocate for environmental changes. For example, they helped establish a food share cart at our school and worked to secure a food recovery agreement between the district and a recovery organization ahead of the state deadline.

They also collected data on campus trash using the Marine Debris Tracker and used that data to support their advocacy.

I think it’s very empowering for students to participate in data gathering and citizen science and then use that data to advocate for change.

Climate change can feel overwhelming, but I tell them we can either sit in doom and gloom or we can see what we can do.

Students even use NOAA sea level rise simulations to see projections for sea level rise at their homes and school in Alameda.

I have also worked with the Oakland Teachers for Advancing Climate Action network and with StopWaste, which supports student-led sustainability projects.

One of my former students became deeply involved in climate leadership work after participating in one of our programs and is now part of statewide youth climate leadership initiatives.

Q: What strategies do you use to make science more engaging, accessible, and inclusive for students?

A: Involving students in citizen science is really important.

I also involve them in identifying issues on campus and then expanding into community issues. Once students see something happening in their own environment, they become more engaged.

Local stewardship projects help students see how their actions affect the health of the ocean and the environment, even if they do not live directly next to the ocean.

When students gather their own data and see real results, they feel included in science.

Many people grow up thinking science is something big and intimidating that you have to do perfectly. But when students realize that the projects they are doing are actually science, they start to see that they belong in science too.

Q: What advice do you give students who think science isn’t for them?

A: I tell them it’s not about knowing the right answer.

It’s about exploring the world around them and finding out what makes the world work.

Q: What do you think the world would look like if everyone felt welcome in science?

A: I think we would see more curiosity.

People would feel comfortable asking questions that interest them without fear of being judged or thinking their questions aren’t good enough.

People would ask questions and follow them wherever they lead.

Q: Do you have a science hero?

A: I would say Jane Goodall.

She didn’t start with a traditional science background, but she followed her curiosity and ended up documenting groundbreaking discoveries about chimpanzees and tool use.

She has also been a lifelong advocate for wildlife conservation and continues to inspire people.

I really admire how gentle, kind, and welcoming she is while advocating for science and conservation.

Q: What is your favorite thing about science?

A: My favorite thing about science is that I get to learn about the world around me.

I get to experience awe and wonder every day.

I tell my students that if they become science teachers, they get to experience that every day too.