{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Longwood GradCast - Beyond the Degree","title":"From the Amazon to Antarctica: A Lancer’s Journey to Transform Education Through Science","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4680,"description":"What happens when a teacher follows her curiosity far beyond the classroom?\nIn this episode of Longwood GradCast: Beyond the Degree, host Dr. Sarah Tanner Anderson talks with Dr. Becky Schnesker (B.S.’05, M.S.’06), a double Longwood alumna whose career has taken her from the classroom to the Amazon Rainforest, Antarctica and beyond.\nBecky is an educator, National Geographic educator and explorer, author, school founder and assistant professor of education. But at the heart of her story is something much simpler: curiosity, and the people who encouraged her to follow it.\nBecky reflects on how her Longwood experience shaped her as both an educator and a lifelong learner, including the professors and mentors who saw possibilities in her before she could see them herself. One handwritten note from a professor describing one of her assignments as \"PhD caliber material\" stayed with her for years.\nShe also shares how a desire to rethink education led her to help open a tuition-free school, write Expedition Science, and take elementary students beyond traditional classroom walls. A chance conference conversation, a Twitter message and a grant application eventually opened the door to an expedition to the Amazon, followed by experiences in the Galapagos, Iceland and Antarctica.\nNow preparing the next generation of teachers, Becky continues to challenge conventional ideas about what education can be and what students are capable of.\nIn this episode, Becky talks about:\nThe Longwood professors and mentors who changed the direction of her life\nWhy curiosity can be a powerful foundation for learning\nHow she took elementary students' learning beyond the classroom\nThe unexpected path from a conference conversation to the Amazon Rainforest\nWhat exploring the world has taught her about teaching\nWhy she believes ideas should never be \"too weird or too big\"\nBringing her Longwood experience full circle by mentoring future educators","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/-Jp_7WohE_sbFyX8eFv54szFUXHyZ0PZGda5svIsH1s/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ3MDI4LzE3MDAz/ODcwNTUtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}