Melissa Kowalski teaches grades 7-12 science at Put-in-Bay Schools on South Bass Island in Lake Erie, and her classroom is built around one big idea: students learn science best by doing science. The island’s ecosystems, and its role in bird and pollinator migrations, give students a front-row seat to environmental systems in motion. With Kowalski’s guidance, students collaborate with experts, collect meaningful data, and see how their work supports conservation in their own community. Recently, one of the monarch butterflies tagged by students was recovered over 2,000 miles away in El Rosario, Mexico.

Her teaching is grounded in place-based learning, utilizing the local environment to connect local questions to global systems. Units like “Human Impacts on the Water Cycle” link Lake Erie water quality to broader environmental challenges, while hands-on tools (including Hydrolab data collection) and activities like “The Watershed Game” help students explore how communities can reduce pollution. Her classroom culture emphasizes curiosity, careful observation, and evidence-based problem solving, building skills students can carry into any future career.

Kowalski earned a B.S. in Biology and Geology from Bowling Green State University and a Master’s in Secondary Science Education through the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship at John Carroll University. Her work as an educator has helped to earn her district the Ohio EPA’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence Award, and her efforts have also led to her school receiving the Ohio Governor’s Thomas Edison Award for Excellence in STEM Education. In 2025, she was recognized nationally as a recipient of the U.S. EPA’s Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators. She also continues to grow as an educator through experiences like her Fund for Teachers fellowship in Iceland, where she gathered photos, videos, and classroom-ready artifacts to strengthen climate and earth science instruction.