GLISTEN is a Great Lakes stewardship program that aims to integrate civic engagement and service learning into STEM coursework at undergraduate institutions. It receives funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service and is modeled after the SENCER program. GLISTEN's goal is to prepare students for green jobs through hands-on projects, increase scientific understanding, and encourage long-term stewardship of the Great Lakes. It operates through regional clusters of higher education and conservation organizations.

1. A SENCER-based Great Lakes stewardship strategy:
GLISTEN
(Great Lakes Innovative Stewardship Through
Education Network)

2. Background
www.ncsce.net www.cns.gov

3. Funding Source:
Learn and Serve America Higher Education
program of the Corporation for National and
Community Service (CNCS)
(CNCS is better known for highly-visible
programs like AmeriCorps/VISTA)

4. GLISTEN Vision
Integrating Great-Lakes-stewardship-focused
civic engagement into undergraduate
coursework in the STEM disciplines
Aligned with SENCER (Science Education for New
Civic Engagements and Responsibilities), an
NSF-funded program of the National Center
for Science and Civic Engagement
www.sencer.net

5. SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR NEW CIVIC
ENAGEMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
SENCER is a comprehensive faculty development and science
education reform project funded by the National Science
Foundation. It is the signature program of the National
Engagement,
Center for Science and Civic Engagement, based at the
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.
SENCER engages student interest in the sciences and
mathematics by supporting the development of
undergraduate courses and academic programs that teach “to”
basic science “through” complex, capacious, and unsolved
issues.
public issues.

6. GLISTEN Goal
Build the capacity of STEM faculty and
departments to
• significantly increase their undergraduates’
understanding of the STEM disciplines
byengaging them in direct action (i.e., service-
learning) and community-based research
benefiting resource-strapped governmental
and community-based organizations

7. GLISTEN Goal (cont.)
• better prepare those students for “green”
professional opportunities likely to result from
President Obama’s $5 billion pledge to restore
the Great Lakes, and
• provide them with the basic scientific
knowledge necessary to become enlightened
stakeholders who exhibit proactive
stewardship behaviors in their private lives.

8. GLISTEN National
NCSCE- “housed” Project Director
Advisory Board
- national/regional conservation
and higher education organizations
- higher education curricular and resource
specialists
- students (stewardship liaison
representatives)

9. GLISTEN Collaborative Clusters
2- and 4-year higher education institutions
(regional councils/collaboratives/
consortia, where applicable)
Resource Conservation and Development
Councils (representation from county
commissioners, county planning
commissions, and soil and water
conservation districts)
Local non-profit and governmental
agencies, and AOC (Areas of
Concern) representatives

10. Current Clusters
• Duluth/Superior (MN/WI)
• Chicago (IL)
• Gary (IN)
• Toledo (OH)
• Cleveland/Akron (OH)

11. Clusters in Planning
• Milwaukee (WI)
• Grand Rapids (MI)
• Erie (PA)
• Buffalo (NY)
• Brockport (NY)

12. GLISTEN Stewardship Liaisons
- Advanced undergraduates
- Part-time AY, full-time summer
- Curriculum development, logistical support,
community partner advocacy, peer leadership
- Project-wide liaison network