Gala Sustainability Learning

10/18/2026

Connect with educators at the virtual Open Education Conference on October 27-29 to share ideas, explore open educational resources and innovative teaching practices, and help make education more accessible!

At the conference, Gala will be hosting “Connecting the Dots: Workforce Educational Modules to Link Practice With Digital Open Resources” to explore how university partnerships, municipal water utilities, and The Water Tower collaborated to create practical workforce training modules using the Gala platform.

Our presentation will be on Wednesday, October 28, 2:00–2:25 PM EDT. Read more and register here:
https://opened26.sched.com/event/2RCVi

10/02/2026

More great events happening at Notre Dame next week! On Wednesday, check out the launch of Dr. Christopher Kelty’s book, The Internet We Could Have Had, examining the early internet’s aspirations of liberation, openness, and participatory democracy.

10/02/2026

If you’re in the South Bend area, come hear Cory Doctorow speak on Tuesday next week, 5:30-6:00!

The science fiction author, journalist, and technology activist will be joining the Franco Institute and St. Joe County Public Library for a conversation with Kate Marshall, followed by a book signing. Doctorow’s most recent works include Ensh*ttification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It (2025), Picks & Shovels (2025), and The Bezzle (2024).

Learn more about the event here and look for Rebecca Hardin with the Gala team and SEEKCommons Network members in the audience!

On Tuesday, October 6, 5:00-6:30 p.m., the Franco Institute and St. Joseph County Public Library will host a free public event with Cory Doctorow in Lei...

09/25/2026

We will be at PIT’s Pop Up Climate Week in NYC this Sunday— come see our presentation at the Oculus World Trade Center for some great demos of modules on the Gala platform, hosted by Abigail Merolle and Patrick Killian! This event is being put on through a collaboration by the Climate Group, UN DGACM, and The City University of New York.

On Sunday, we will be showing off four modules, spanning infrastructural justice in the Bronx, drinking water systems across the US, and a case on making scientific data literacy more accessible, created as part of the Ocelots Network library.

Learn more about the event here:
https://nycpitpopup.org

Directions to the NYC PIT Pop Up:
https://nycpitpopup.org/find-us/

09/18/2026

Excellent news to share— a new library has been completed on the Gala Platform! The modules available in the Engineering Renewable Energy at the University of Michigan (EREUM) library cover a variety of different sustainable technologies, from offshore wind power to green hydrogen production, to solar-powered catalysis, and much more.

The twelve EREUM cases were created by three cohorts of students in Dr. Neil Dasgupta’s class, incorporating research under the auspices of an National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to the faculty of University of Michigan College of Engineering. Supported by (then) doctoral students Carissa Yim and Deepika Ganesh, the introduction of module creation into Dr. Dasgupta's classes advanced two of the EFRI grant's goals: both technological and teaching innovations for the science of solar-powered catalysis and related emerging renewable technologies.

After completion, a number of the modules were honed by Dr. Meghan Wagner of Two Eyes Editing and Indexing.

You can learn more about the EFRI grant here: https://news.engin.umich.edu/2021/09/2m-to-replace-fossil-fuels-with-solar-power-in-fertilizer-production/

You can find the full EREUM library here to see more of how Gala connects innovations in research with those in learning: https://www.learngala.com/catalog/libraries/renewable-energy-solutions-engineering-and-environment-and-sustainability

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08/20/2026

“We took advantage of the features of the Gala platform that enable authors to include multiple types of media and interactive tools in their modules, with the goal of creating an immersive experience for students.”

How can we make ecological research more dynamic, accessible, and engaging for learners— connecting it to the diversity of locations in which the work happens?

This new article in Methods in Ecology and Evolution explores open ecological methodology through an ‘incubator matrix’, offering insights for researchers seeking scalable, agile learning experiences. The innovation of OCELOTS to address this gap is related to its integrative use of Gala, which facilitates building communities of people dedicated to creating, reviewing, and implementing educational modules.

Whether you’re an ecologist, researcher, student, or simply interested in the tools shaping modern ecological science, this is a great read.

Congratulations to the team behind this work, including Ann Russell of Iowa State University, Lindsay McCulloch of UC Riverside, and Jithin Vijayan of Turun yliopisto - University of Turku! A full list of all eleven authors is available in the article.

Check out the new article for yourself!

Formal undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have provided students with authentic research experiences in ecology for decades, but accessibility to these resources is inherently limited, as e...

08/12/2026

Check out a few pictures from our presentation at the Ecological Society of America’s REEFS Annual Meeting 2026, hosted by Abigail Merolle and Patrick Killian!

08/06/2026

Discover how learning can cultivate more resilient communities in this new article by the University of Notre Dame’s Rebecca Hardin and Edward Waisanen, collaborating with Nils Kohn and Wim Scheenen of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour at Radboud University!

"Tending Tomorrow's Garden Forests" explores how collaborative learning modules encourage cross-pollination of ideas, helping researchers and educators grow stronger networks for tackling complex environmental challenges. Read the full piece and see how The Neurotech EU team drove innovations that have improved Gala’s interoperability for other user communities:

In today’s dynamic open educational ecosystems, learning resources can be accessed, adapted, translated, and even transformed—available for free to anyone with an internet connection. The term “open” describes free-to-access textbooks, articles, lectures, and other learning tools that can en...

07/24/2026

Join Gala at the Ecological Society of America’s REEFS 2026 event for an Introduction to a New Data Learning Tools How-To Forum! Discover resources that make it easier to bring data learning into ecology classrooms through examples in data literacy, R, Python integration, and interactive mapping.

In addition, learn how Gala modules and the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium’s QUBES discussion forum lower barriers to using data tools and make ecology more accessible!

Join Abigail Merolle and Patrick Killian on July 28, 12:35–1:05 PM to explore how you can contribute your own ideas and use these resources.

Read more here:

HomeProgramsEcology EducationREEFSREEFS 2026 REEFS 2026 18th Resources for Ecology Education Fair & Share (REEFS) Tuesday, July 28 11:45 AM – 1:15 PM MT 2026 ESA Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT ADD REEFS TO YOUR ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULE Learning Activities Tuesday, July 28 11:55am – 12:25pm MT...

07/07/2026

We're excited to announce the launch of the Ocelots Network Data Tools Forum!

Created in response to conversations across the OCELOTS Research Coordination Network, this new forum provides a space for instructors and module authors to connect, share ideas, and discuss the challenges and opportunities of using data tools in teaching.

Each discussion is linked with a real OCELOTS module focused on using, adapting, or even creating a specific interactive data tool as an open educational resource. Whether you're looking for implementation guidance, classroom tips, or answers to questions about a module, this community is here to help!

Join the conversation and learn more: https://qubeshub.org/community/groups/ocelots/data-tools-how-to

Note: Only OCELOTS members can comment or reply to a post. Click here to join the OCELOTS community!
https://qubeshub.org/community/groups/ocelots/join