About Us
The STEM Teaching, Research, and Inquiry-based Learning (TRAIL) Center
The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Teaching, Research, and Inquiry-based Learning (TRAIL) Center is housed at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).
As an administrative unit, it provides resources and materials to undergraduates, graduates, and faculty members at UNO and lifelong learners (reaching K-12 and adult learners) beyond. The Center does not control any curricula, as it is not an academic unit, but it does serve as a catalyst for course innovations as center affiliates work through colleges to study and implement curricular change.
The STEM TRAIL Center supports the community as well as other schools and universities. Specifically, the Center aims to provide a unified voice for STEM needs in the metropolitan area while providing a shared space for housing STEM professional development initiatives and coordinated financial support for STEM research initiatives.
How the Center Engages with Others
The STEM TRAIL Center works cooperatively with the Omaha STEM Ecosystem (OSE; and others) to serve lifelong learners including students, community partners, and industry, at every level.
How do the STEM Trail Center and Omaha STEM Ecosystem differ?
The Omaha STEM Ecosystem is focused on bringing together networks of stakeholders, and the the TRAIL Center is interested in identifying active learning and inquiry-based learning experiences for students in our STEM pipelines.
Furthermore, the STEM TRAIL Center aims to develop new technologies and inventions, and thus aims to work through the OSE and other partners to identify licensees, for example.
How do the STEM Trail Center and STEM Ecosystem work together so that their efforts are complementary?
We work together by having the Ecosystem identify potential partners and pain points within the business community and local economy and we can work to support those needs - e.g. by identifying key areas of opportunity for new industry in Nebraska to potentially generate grants via the Center to strategically contribute to Nebraska's economic needs and workforce development, adding to our younger population (needed), and job and business creation (also needed, per labor stats).
STEM TRAIL Center Profile on NU Connections
2020-2021 Programming
We are pleased to continue our STEM TRAIL Center faculty development series on revolving Fridays. Most meetings take place in the Thompson Alumni Center.
Free parking is available nearby in the West Parking Garage, and any UNO parking pass is valid at TAC while attending STEM TRAIL Center events.
Please RSVP for events, and double check the location of specific events as some are held elsewhere on campus.
Teaching Practices Workshop Series, First Fridays
DBER Workshop Series, Second Fridays
DBER Speaker Series, Third Fridays
STEM Grant Workshop Series, Fourth Fridays