Ongoing projects
Garden-based learning: Exploring connections formed by youth between the garden and their homes, extracurriculars, and communities
Hands-on, garden-based learning provides a rich learning experience with well-documented benefits for younger age groups, but there is little work exploring how these programs may benefit teenagers. This gap led to the development of this project by undergraduate lab member Nezzie O’Malley for her Undergraduate Honors Research Project. Extending our partnership with the Franklin Park Conservatory’s Teen Corps Program, we aim to center youth voices while illuminating the learning pathways and transformative potential of garden-based education for adolescents. Nezzie wrote a successful funding proposal for this work which received support from the CFAES Internal Grants Program for Undergraduate Research. She worked with youth in the summer of 2024 to capture moments of connection between their internship experiences and their lives outside of the internship program via photographs and subsequent interviews, and she is currently analyzing the data for her Honors Research Project.
Completed projects
Deeper than roots: Using spoken word to explore teen perspectives on urban ecology and food justice
Urban gardening offers a unique platform for learning, empowerment, and social connection. This project, led by MS student Kaleb Lee, centers the experiences and perspectives of young people engaged in urban gardening. In partnership with the Highland Youth Garden, this project focuses on documenting and amplifying the voices of youth participants in urban agricultural programs. Participants will share how their involvement in urban gardening shapes their views on food justice and will express their experiences through creative mediums such as poetry and lyrics. Through interviews and creative workshops during the fall of 2024, we are exploring how garden experiences influence youths’ views on food justice, environmental justice, and community well-being.
Qualitative case study of the effectiveness of a youth urban agriculture educational program
Through a research-practice partnership with Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Garden, we used photovoice to explore youths’ perceptions of how their participation in a youth urban agriculture summer internship helped to develop confidence, connectedness, and a sense of belonging. Teen Corps internship participants took photos of moments in the program when they felt confident, connected, and a sense of belonging and then described their experiences in one-on-one interviews. Data were analyzed by PhD student Casey Ortbahn, who led the project development and manuscript preparation for this work. Our paper is under review, so stay tuned for more information!