Fryeburg Academy Partners with Tin Mountain for Hands-On Science Research

This fall, Fryeburg Academy's biology students exchanged their classrooms for the woods and fields of campus during the annual Autumn Bioblitz. In collaboration with the Tin Mountain Conservation Center, 157 students and six faculty members—science teachers Laura Meldrum, Matt Moore, Matt Freniere, Joy Norkin, Jen Bartlett, and Dwyer Grimes—spent over 23 hours gathering data on local species as part of a community science initiative.

The project began in the classroom, where students learned research protocols and background information before heading outdoors to collect field data. Many students returned later for optional post-collection lessons, which connected their findings to broader environmental studies and their upcoming science fair projects.

The Bioblitz is one of four long-term research projects that Fryeburg Academy conducts with Tin Mountain each year. The other projects include a winter forest inventory, a spring phenology study, and an avian migration project in late spring. The data collected from all these efforts contributes to state and national research databases.

“Engaging students in citizen science projects is one of the learning outcomes of the FA science department that Tin Mountain has been essential in supporting,” said Dylan Harry, OLRC director and FA science department chair. “When students are connected to real research projects, they become part of the larger scientific community working to address environmental challenges.”