Joliet Central Teacher Lauren Kline: Research Experience Inspires Innovative Lesson Plans

(The following press release is from Kristine Schlismann, Director of Community & Alumni Relations, Joliet Township High School.)

JOLIET, IL — Dr. Lauren Kline, an AP Environmental Science teacher at Joliet Central High School, was selected to participate in the 2025 BIORETS program at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. This summer professional development experience is hosted at Cary’s 2,000-acre research campus in NY’s Hudson Valley.

Through six weeks of intensive ecology instruction and field work, Cary BIORETS helps teachers develop their skills in conducting original research, including research design, implementation, and data analysis. The program also guides teachers in translating those skills into novel instructional materials that enrich learning experiences for their students.

“Science is always an adventure, and experiments require a lot of creativity and trial and error,” said Cary scientist and BIORETS program lead Jane Lucas. “We often expose students to science with pre-set ‘experiments’ that have known endpoints. Rarely is this the case in science, and by bringing more research into the classroom, I hope it will provide students with insight into what it is really like to be a scientist.”

Throughout the summer, Dr. Kline worked on a research team that investigated the legacy effects of spongy moth caterpillar defoliation on forest structure and productivity. Donning mesh-covered hats to protect them from insects, the team trekked through Cary’s forest to measure the amount of greenery at sites that had and had not been defoliated by the caterpillars in 2023 and 2024. They found that while the total amount of greenery was stable, the lionshare of productivity shifted to the understory in persistently defoliated places, likely because more light reached the forest floor after the tree leaves were eaten. The team was guided by Cary forest ecologists Evan Gora, Ian McGregor, and Vanessa Rubio.

Along with the rest of the BIORETS cohort, Dr. Kline presented her scientific findings and curriculum innovations in a research symposium on August 8. Over the coming school year, she will continue to work with BIORETS program managers to refine, implement, and evaluate her new lesson plans.

Dr. Kline noted that teaching environmental science can be disheartening because there are so few success stories to share. But BIORETS has given her new hope and equipped her to tell her students, “We have actual people working on these problems, and you could be one of those people.”

This year, she’ll be incorporating more opportunities for her students to design experiments and analyze data. Based on her BIORETS field work, for example, when her class visits Pilcher Park to investigate biodiversity, they will now collect and explore data about forest productivity as well.
Cary BIORETS provides participating teachers with an $8,800 stipend. Each teacher also receives a budget of up to $2,000 for classroom supplies to enable implementation of their new curriculum. Support for the program comes from a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation and our generous donors.