by Karen Matsumoto
organisms. This long-term program is a partnership between the Seattle Aquarium and 13 high schools in the Seattle area of Puget Sound (the Salish Sea) in Washington State. This successful on-go- ing project educates and empowers youth, our greatest resource and strongest hope for the future health and survival of the Salish Sea ecosystem. Citizen Science connects local schools’ desire for involvement in stewardship with the growing need to protect nearshore habitats. Citizen Science participants conduct field investigations at
T
designated beaches and present their findings at a Citizen Science symposium at the end of the school year. Through classroom and onsite training, they can produce high quality data that can be used by marine researchers, resource biologists, and environmen- tal managers who monitor long-term changes in marine communi- ties in Puget Sound.
The main objectives of the program are to: • Help students and teachers gain a connection with their lo-
cal beaches, and demonstrate stewardship behaviors when visiting their beach. • Provide a regional model for Citizen Science programs to
train and utilize student groups as reliable data collectors. • Reach out to diverse audiences from communities that are
traditionally underserved, and provide opportunities to schools that do not have the resources to support field programs. • Establish an inquiry- and place-based science education
program that trains high school students to collect and analyze data with the goal of providing meaningful field-based experienc- es (belly biology) that allow students to participate in real world science and problem solving • Provide high quality Citizen Science data to local resource
scientists (King County, City of Seattle Science Team, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and University of Washington), conservation organizations, and the public. • Introduce students to STEM disciplines and career opportu- nities in the field of marine biology.
Why Monitoring? Why High School Student Scientists? The data collected through beach monitoring helps scientists
and the public understand environmental changes that occur on beaches. These changes are based on the physical condition of the beach (slope, habitat and substrate) and the diversity of marine organisms found there (presence/absence of 24 key taxa). The Aquarium chose to work with high school students rather than adult volunteers in order to connect youth and their teachers with Salish Sea ecosystems and to incorporate the application of marine science in high school science curriculum. An important outcome of the project is for students to share their stewardship values and what they have learned with their parents and families. Through this program, students learn about:
• Field investigation methodology and the scientific process
• Data collection – methodology and protocols, including equipment, understanding data sheet, and interpreting data
• Quality control in conducting field investigations CLEARING 2011
Karen Matsumoto is the Education Coordinator for the Seattle Aquarium.
www.clearingmagazine.org/online Page 39
he Citizen Science High School Nearshore Monitoring Program trains high school students and their teachers to survey and map the intertidal zone of local marine reserve beaches and to conduct inventories of marine
• • •
•
Identification of marine flora and fauna Tides
Beach natural history
• Communicating and sharing scientific findings in a sympo- sium setting
Stewardship and conservation of marine environments
The Program – A Collaborative Process The success of the Citizen Science program has been based on
relationship building and collaboration with local scientists and re- source managers, teachers and school administrators, and student scientists. For data to be accepted by scientists and researchers, a team of scientific advisors was recruited to help develop rigorous and acceptable protocols for data collection. High standards for quality control/quality assurance were maintained by low student to staff ratios in the field, easy-to-follow protocols and procedures, and a high quality “toolkit” of guides, manuals, and equipment. The Aquarium also provides 15-20 hours of student contact time training at the Aquarium, in the classroom, and at the beach. Many of the students have never been to their local beach before, and a high number of immigrant/refugee students have never been to any beach before, so the learning curve can be steep at first. It often happens that some of the most engaged and promising stu- dents are those who have never had a beach experience before.
Program Sustainability and Evaluation The sustainability of the 15-year monitoring project is depen-
dent on the teachers staying with the program at least long enough to make it worth the effort of training and providing equipment and resources from the Aquarium. All of the original teachers from the program’s 2005 inauguration still participate in the pro- gram. Funding has been on a year-to-year basis, however, which makes long-term program planning and expansion challenging. Outside evaluators were contracted to perform program assess- ments, which has greatly benefited program development and refinement. Evaluation findings have shown that student attitudes and knowledge of conservation issues changed as a consequence of their participation in the Citizen Science program. The overall success of the project is due to the dedication and
commitment of Citizen Science teachers. The program provides teachers with professional development opportunities, compensation for substitute teachers while in the field, and bus transportation costs.
Students Valued as Scientists Students participating in this long-term (15-year) monitoring
project will add to the information base of Puget Sound beaches, and provide trend data for local researchers in three counties in the greater Seattle area (King, Kitsap, and Snohomish counties). These students will become informed citizens, and through this process, develop stewardship values for their local beaches. The Seattle Aquarium values the contributions of the student scientists through their data collection efforts and inquiry investigations. It is hoped that the program will groom future marine scientists that will protect and restore the Salish Sea, and provide a regional model for working with high school students to monitor local marine resources.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62