Meet Lisa Borgatti P'26

Lisa Borgatti P'26 teaches AP Environmental Science and Chemistry, coaches winter indoor track, directs the sustainability afternoon program, and after eleven years of serving as Dorm Head in Nannie B. Phillips dorm, she has, “sadly,” downshifted to dorm associate. Govs interviewed Borgatti earlier this year to learn more about her projects, students, and passions. 

GOVS: 
Tell us about a project that your students worked on last semester.
BORGATTI:
Along with the expertise of Bert McLain P’07,’09, my AP Environmental Science students are working on a long-term research project with the USDA (started in 2019) regarding honey bee populations, which are being catastrophically depleted as a result of many anthropogenic activities, including pesticides, climate change, pollution, etc. And, many colonies suffer from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) every year. Governor’s students are making and feeding the resident honey bees with pollen patties injected with freeze-dried probiotic bacteria and plating the results to see if the bacteria were transferred through the intestinal system. Students are pouring plates, spinning supernatant, inoculating plates, and counting colonies to record data as part of the USDA survey. It has been amazing to see students jump in with both feet, willing to learn sterile techniques as they go. I think the most engaging thing for them about this experience is that they are adding their findings to an existing data set that matters in the context of what they are learning (what we refer to as experiential learning). We are really excited to see what this spring’s results reveal!

GOVS:
How will the new Alfond Coastal Research Center, scheduled to open in late spring 2023, impact your students?
BORGATTI:
I feel like this building breaks the “glass ceiling.” Govs students will have the opportunity to explore in real time what they are learning in the classroom. Marsh grass culture for restoration programs, aquaponics—getting to spend every day in a space that allows me to show my students instead of just talking about environmental issues. I am also extremely excited about the opportunities that students will have for independent research. To have a space where this type of work can be a part of an existing curriculum is going to offer limitless opportunities for students to explore, hypothesize, and test ideas for mitigating our impact on the planet.  

GOVS:
Have you noticed any trends among students regarding environmental topics that concern or interest them most? 
BORGATTI:
I have definitely seen much greater investment and sense of responsibility from my students in the changing landscape in which they live. I hear the frustration in their voices for how we are impacting the planet, but I also witness the energy and excitement for learning tools at Govs that will help them make changes in their own lives. The number of Govs alums that have left our campus to explore studies and careers in sustainability and environmental studies gives me hope that our students will be part of the change that we need to see.

GOVS:
What are the benefits of place-based and experiential learning for students? 
BORGATTI:
It is invaluable! I have seen how the investment of students in the learning process increases when they are stakeholders. Last year, we worked with the Hanalani School in Hawaii to look at how our local water quality is being impacted by human activities. What was amazing about this experience was that my students drove the process, decided on the tests to run, and executed their data analysis right on Governor’s campus. They worked together to consider how our school and community could be impacting our local watershed. They created a presentation and shared it via Zoom with our collaborating school in Hawaii. 

All of the students jumped right in and were very invested in explaining the impacts on their “place” and learning about issues they would have never expected in another part of the world. The Alfond Center will continue to open up our campus, and our students to these types of collaborations, and I am so excited to see where it leads!

GOVS:
You see many of your students in the classroom, in the dorm, and on the field (and, for some, in all three settings). How does this experience impact you as a teacher? 
BORGATTI:
I cannot imagine being a teacher without having the connections to my students that come from interacting with them outside of the classroom; what you can learn about them in non-academic contexts is invaluable. It allows me to have a greater understanding of their “whole” self and their interests. When you connect with each student, that is how you reach them when they might not be entirely enamored with learning stoichiometry! Honestly, I cannot imagine teaching in a setting where I did not have the opportunity to know a student as a “person” that you do not always see when they are sitting in your classroom.