Outreach Activities - Environmental Justice - Environmental Education

I have participated in several outreach activities to educate the students from minority communities around greater Philadelphia region.

  • High School students from Walter B. Saul High School, Philadelphia - Semester and Summer School.  2021-2024. 
  • More than 100 students from mainly African American and Latinx communities participated in environmental education and environmental justice learning program:   
    • High school students from Abraham Lincoln High School, Philadelphia. 2019-2020
    • High school students from School of the Future, Philadelphia. 2020-2021
    • Middle school students from St. Francis de Sales School, Philadelphia. 2019-2020
    • Middle and high school students from CCATE, Norristown - mainly from Norristown School district. 2020-2021 
  • I co-taught service-learning course where Villanova students worked with African American students at Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia during Spring 2020 and with Latinx students at CCATE, Norristown during Fall 2020. 
  • Gave guest lecture at Wissachickon High School. Fall 2017.  

Memberships 

  • I am serving as member of Environmental Advisory Council at Upper Merion Township since Fall 2018.
  • With the help of Villanova undergraduate students, I provided technical guidance to Environmental Advisory Council at Lower Merion Township in Spring 2020.
  • Member, Board of Director. Centro de Cultura Arte Trabajo y Educacion (CCATE), Norristown. Fall 2021 - present. 

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    Presentations

  • Dalton, B., Hamilton, V., Shakya, K.M. Assessment of environmental education and environmental health among middle/high school students in the Philadelphia Area. 2021 Virtual Community and Public Health Conference: Emerging Public Health Issues. A Virtual Conference. Pennsylvania Public Health Association, 4/8/2021 – 4/9/2021. Poster presentation
  • Shakya, K.M. Engaging middle and high school students for environmental education. Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators Annual Conference. Virtual Conference. 3/22/2021 – 3/23/ 2021. Platform presentation.
  • Shakya, K.M., Hickey, J., Goldsmith, S., Enes, T. Promoting STEM education at Philadelphia schools through participatory exposure science. International Society of Exposure Science Annual Meeting 2020. Virtual Conference. 9/21/2020 – 9/22/2020.  Platform presentation. Invited.
  • Jarvis, T., Shakya, K., Conway, M. Using Arduino air sensors to create STEM interest in Under-represented populations. Joint Annual Meeting of the International Society of Exposure Science and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. Ottawa, Canada. 8/26/2018 – 8/30/2018. Poster presentation.

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    News

  • ‘Villanova Launches Environmental Geoscience Program for Philadelphia Students with Help of $399,155 NSF Grant’. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences News, Villanova University. 10/8/2021. https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/newsevents/2021/1008.html
  • ‘Niños trabajando a favor del ambiente’. In Spanish. IMPACTO. 4/30/2021. https://www.impactomedia.com/bienestar-comun/impacto-verde/ninos-trabajando-a-favor-del-ambiente/