We offer trainings for educators, and are developing programs for
scientists, practitioners and others interested in community
and citizen science. See below for more information, and to learn
about upcoming opportunities.
CCS Collabinar
Through the CCS Collabinar, we collaborate with others on
exciting challenges and opportunities in community and citizen
science. This informal, occasional series invites researchers and
practitioners to present their work, engage with each other, and
get feedback. Our guests will give brief presentations on their
work, but the focus of the Collabinar is on working through
challenges and design opportunities, while exploring mutual
learning and potential collaboration.
To stay informed about upcoming Collabinars,
sign up here.
Educator Workshops
Our workshops for in-school and
out-of-school educators are grounded in research on what works in
youth-focused community and citizen science. Participants learn
about key practices for youth and educators, which can be applied
in a wide range of existing citizen and community science
projects, or in the development of new ones. They do hands-on
citizen science work, and connect with Next Generation Science
Standards.
We currently offer two programs: a half-day workshop, and 3-day
(12-hour) institute, and are very open to collaborations that
allow us to pilot additional training and support models.
Building Career Pathways and
Networks for Underrepresented STEM Students
Tuesday, June 11th
From 1:00pm-3:00pm PST
At this Collabinar, we will be hearing from Melissa B.
Wilson, who will share her experiences working in St. John, U.S.
Virgin Islands. Our discussion will focus on ways to engage
underrepresented students in STEM careers.
Our CCS Collabinar Series featured another great presentation—
CALeDNA, Next Steps:
Creating a scalable roadmap for how a community science program
involved in cutting edge research can build a strong feedback
loop.
Friday, May 24th
from 11:00am-1:00pm PST
Launched in 2017, CALeDNA is
a University of California community science program that uses
environmental DNA to monitor California’s biodiversity. Creating
an open data platform aimed at the public and researchers alike
was a first step in engaging both parties in this research.
Analyses thus far have demonstrated the effectiveness of marine
protected areas, the relationship between fire and plant
biodiversity, and the spread of invasive species. They have also
shown which questions are well-suited to eDNA methods and which
are not. CALeDNA wants to empower their broad community with
genetics literacy and the ability to use eDNA for innovation and
problem solving.
We have enjoyed continuing our Collabinar series this
spring! On Friday, May 17th we had the fascinating
opportunity to learn more about—
Sci Starter Education: a new, pilot, Ed-Tech
platform to integrate facilitator-led citizen science in schools
through district- and school-wide approaches
Many may have heard of SciStarter, which helps people
find, join, and contribute to citizen science through its
database of thousands of citizen science projects taking place
all over the world. In this event, we learned about a new
SciStarter initiative that points to possibilities for scaled up
integration of citizen science in the classroom.
The Center hosted another CCS
Collabinar event from 9:00-11:00 AM on Wednesday, December 5th.
The presentation focused on place-based citizen science in Lake
Tahoe, and integrating multiple projects in a single framework.
The Center hosted another CCS Collabinar event on Wednesday,
November 7th, from 9:00-11:00am— with Dr. Palesa
Mothapo!
Dr. Palesa Mothapo is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at
Stellenbosch University, South Africa and a current Mandela
Washington Fellow who researches the impacts of invasive species
on natural and human environments. She presented her
work, ”Tshotshi101, Ants in my Backyard: A case study of
citizen science for biodiversity education in South Africa,”
then we workshopped some of her questions about using
citizen science to monitor invasive species distribution,
abundance, and notable impacts.
Our first CCS Collabinar was held on Wednesday, October 24,
9-10am. Caren Souza and Nayara Hachich presented their
work on two new citizen science initiatives in Brazil, one in
Conde and another in Mucugê, which will engage participants,
including youth, in biodiversity science. The interdisciplinary
team gave us an overview of the project, and then we worked
together on a variety questions related to motivations, learning,
and science and biodiversity.
We are still glowing from the last three days of shared
learning, planning, and camaraderie with local partners,
teachers, after-school educators, school garden coordinators.
With thanks to our partner, Yolo Farm to Fork, who developed the
article below, we offer some initial insights from this workshop,
with more to come in the near future!
Named after a mythical land from a novela when the Spanish first
arrived, California was said to be paradise on Earth. However,
times have changed since the Spanish first laid their eyes on the
place we now call home. Social activists have spoken openly about
the disasters of environmental change and many, from the top of
California’s government to grassroots organizations are beginning
to create much more systematic and widespread awareness and
change with initiatives.
Rajul (Raj) Pandya, is the
founding director of the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving
Earth Exchange (TEX). On Monday, May 7th, at the Shrem
Museum, Pandya will deliver a keynote address to kick off a day
of learning, discussion, and networking activities with faculty
members, researchers, and other partners, sponsored by the
UC Davis Office of Research.
We are pleased to be hosting Gwen Ottinger at the School of Education on April 3rd & 4th. Ottinger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Drexel University, where she directs the Fair Tech Collective, a research group dedicated to using social science theory and methods to inform the development of technology that fosters environmental justice.
If you’re attending the California
Science Teachers Association meeting in Sacramento this weekend,
we’d love to see you at our Saturday afternoon workshop, led by
our wonderful colleagues Erin Bird, and Peggy Harte:
In February, we teamed up with Pepperwood Preserve and Sonoma
County K-5th grade educators to run a workshop on how to
facilitate community and citizen science in the classroom.
Activities included observational sketching, a mini bioblitz, and
sharing the YCCS Environmental
Science Agency framework. Educators left eager and equip
to try out new projects in creative ways with their students.
