Melissa Frost completed a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) LTER in 2022 and since then has remained active with the program. Today, she serves on the K-12 Partnership Teacher Advisory Board and will complete a second RET with Dr. Lauren Sullivan this summer. Recognizing the importance of bringing her research experience back to her students, Melissa collaborated with her students and district to design and establish a schoolyard prairie restoration at Buchanan High School, mirroring prairies at the KBS LTER.
Currently, Melissa is providing important leadership to help guide the creation of a distributed research network across schoolyards focused on prairie restorations. Melissa plans to visit the Konza Prairie (KNZ) LTER to observe a field trip in action and get inspiration for what could be possible in the KBS partnership network and schoolyard research. She is planning long-term data collection at a distributed network of schoolyards and would like to base her approach on that taken by KNZ Education Manager Jill Haukos.
Tangible products include a data collection protocol to use with the KBS K-12 Partnership network. This protocol will standardize data collection across two education projects in the LTER Network and could be shared with other sites and teachers.
Melissa Frost is an accomplished educator with 26 years of experience, including 21 years as a lead science teacher at Buchanan Community School’s High School, where she teaches biology and environmental science using project-based learning and inquiry methods. Melissa holds a Master’s degree in Secondary Science Education. She was recognized as the 2024-2025 Region 7 Teacher of the Year and served on the Michigan Teacher Leadership Advisory Council. Her collaborative work has been supported by a CIRCLE Seed grant from Michigan State University for schoolyard ecological monitoring and a grant from the MiSTEM Network’s 3P Learning initiative. Her commitment to student success and creating inclusive learning environments makes her a valuable asset to the education and research communities.
This story originally published by the LTER Network here. To see all 2026 Cross-Site Exchanges, visit their page here.