Center for Community & Citizen Science Blog
Project Update: Back to the Matilija Dam
Discussion surrounding the removal of the 76 year old Matilija Dam started in the mid-1990’s, yet here we are today in 2023, and the Dam is still here. Initially constructed in 1947 for water supply and flood control, the dam is now considered non-functional due to structural deterioration and sediment accumulation. Classified in poor condition, the dam poses a significant impediment to species movement in Matilija Creek, notably impacting the federally-endangered Southern California Steelhead Trout.
Project Update: Visiting NatureBridge in Olympic National Park
A new research partnership
In early September, Alexandra and Heidi traveled to Washington State to visit NatureBridge, an environmental education campus in Olympic National Park. Supported by the Resource Legacy Fund, the visit aimed to explore the potential of a new research partnership between the Center for Community and Citizen Science (CCCS), NatureBridge, and scientists at NOAA around a youth community and citizen science (YCCS) project related to long-term monitoring of the removal the Elwha Dam.
Project Update: The Eggs Have Arrived! Spinning Salmon Year Three
Deepening our collaboration and community connections
The Center for Community and Citizen Science has been collaborating with a broad coalition of researchers working to understand the complex puzzle of Thiamine Deficiency Complex (TDC) impacting California’s Central Valley salmon populations.
Heading to AGU?
Find us at the December 2023 conference
More than 25,000 attendees from
more than 100 countries will convene to explore how Science
Leads the Future at AGU 2023.
Calling all Clear Lake educators: Feedback needed on draft materials
Are you an educator working with youth in Lake County? Your skills and experience are needed!
The UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science and Center for Regional Change are drafting environmental education materials to support ongoing local efforts to improve the health of Clear Lake and its watershed.
New quarter, new faces
Welcoming Rebecca VanArnam
We’ve started this fall quarter welcoming returning students and new students alike. It’s always a busy and exciting time at the Center for Community and Citizen Science, and with the addition of our new graduate student, Rebecca VanArnam, we are hitting the ground running with classes and projects.
Get to know Rebecca:
Spinning Salmon, Year Three: Deepening our Collaboration and Community Connections
Our Center specializes in helping educators and youth work together on real science – youth-focused community and citizen science. An especially powerful aspect of this approach is the opportunity to help youth connect directly with professional scientists, and with local partners in their own communities who are working on environmental challenges. The story of our Spinning Salmon project shows how these connections can evolve over time, as partnerships develop, and new opportunities for collaboration arise.
City Nature Challenge Sacramento Crowdfund Campaign
Thank you for your support during the month of October
During the month of October, friends of the Center for Community and Citizen Science gave their support in organizing the City Nature Challenge (CNC) for the Sacramento region. We’re proud to share that we raised 92% of our goal!
Backyard biodiversity helps statewide initiatives at Biodiversity Day 2023 events
At the Center for Community and
Citizen Science, we love connecting people with opportunities for
authentic science engagement. Every so often, we get to
participate ourselves! Saturday, September 9, staff from the
Center went to Effie Yeaw Nature Center at Ancil Hoffman County
Park in Carmichael. We met colleagues from the California Academy
of Sciences who were hosting a bioblitz alongside the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Natural
Resources Agency.
Collabinar: Community Science for One Health in Peru
November 8, 2023
Let’s talk about bats: Community Science for One Health in Peru
November 8, 2023
3:00 – 4:00 PM PST
Watch
recording
Find us virtually and abroad presenting our work!
Upcoming NAAEE conference and past conferences offer opportunities to share the Center's research and projects
Sharing findings with outside audiences is one of our youth-centered community and citizen science practices effective in promoting learning and environmental science agency. Turns out, it’s also really great for us working here at the Center too! We’ve been busy this year, in addition to the Citizen Science Association C*Sci 2023 Conference, traveling to present research findings from our projects. This fall you can find us on your screen as we present at the virtual North American Association of Environmental Education conference.
Collabinar: Center for Land-Based Learning
September 6, 2023
Challenges and opportunities integrating CCS into two longstanding community programs
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 PM PST
Watch
recording
Project Update: Clear Lake Reflections
Singing, dancing, eating, swimming,
paddling, greeting: summer is an amazing time to be out at Clear
Lake!
July marks the halfway point of the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake (BRC)-funded project in Clear Lake. What better way to celebrate this milestone than to join the community during Robinson Rancheria’s Shigom Nature Day, Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ Tule Boat Festival, and Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ Big Time.
It’s Farewell, for Now
This week we congratulate Chris Jadallah on receiving his doctorate degree! Officially graduated from the School of Education, Chris has worked with the Center as a graduate student since 2018.
Welcoming Alexandra Race
This quarter, we are thrilled to have postdoctoral scholar Alexandra Race join us here at the Center! Alexandra is working on two projects: (1) Supporting data analysis on the Our Forests project and; (2) Exploring the role community and citizen science can play in supporting youth and community involvement in various dam removal projects.
C*Sci 2023 Conference Brings Inspiration for the Future of the Field
H.E.A.L.(ing) the Watershed
In May, the Center’s Youth
Education Program Manager, Peggy Harte, joined teachers from
throughout northern California as they came together to celebrate
and share their learnings as participants in the year-long
professional development program, H.E.A.L. (Health,
Environmental Awareness and Literacy).
Project Update: Net-Working with the Clear Lake Hitch
What’s the best way to get to know
Clear Lake? A boat ride, of course!
Not just any boat ride. We recently joined California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) as staff conducted the last electrofishing survey of the season. These surveys are one of many community-wide efforts to monitor Clear Lake hitch populations, which is a culturally important species to Tribes and endemic to Clear Lake.
Project Update: Field Trips Wrap Up Another Successful Year of GEAR UP Partnership
Starting a collaborative community and citizen science project with high schools is no small feat. Try starting it during the pandemic. That’s what we did with the Center’s collaboration with GEAR UP STEM Rural Valley Partnership Spinning Salmon in the Classroom project. After managing a year of distance learning in 2021 and piloting in-person content in 2022, we had so much we were excited to do this year.
Bradshaw Scholar Reflections on the 2023 City Nature Challenge
Congratulations to our UC Davis Center for Regional Change Bradshaw Scholar, Diego Serrano! The past 2 quarters, Diego helped us with a variety of projects, including the Sacramento Region City Nature Challenge. We’re so proud of how much he learned and accomplished. Read Diego’s reflections on his experience.
