MEET OUR 2024 CCSIC Fellows

We would like to congratulate and welcome our 2024 Community and Citizen Science in Conservation Fellows! Our fellows are passionate and dedicated in community and citizen science, and we are excited to see how their projects develop and grow. Learn more about the CCSiC fellowship program here, and be sure to stay updated with our fellows’ progress throughout the year.

Becca VanArnam - Spinning Salmon Program

The Spinning Salmon Program actively involves students in collecting data essential for addressing thiamine deficiency in local salmon. To complete the full circle of CCS, I am proposing the addition of an Advocacy component to the Spinning Salmon Program. While students have played a crucial role in data collection, they often struggle to see how their contributions connect to larger scientific and community efforts. This Advocacy component aims to bridge that gap, ensuring that students not only participate in data gathering but also feel the agency to share their findings with peers, local communities, and the broader scientific community.

The fellowship funds will be used to equip students and teachers with the tools and training they need to become advocates of their work. This includes mentorship on public speaking and scientific communication, as well as logistical support for presenting at school board meetings, science fairs, and to organizations such as NOAA and the TDC Research Team. Additionally, resources will be allocated for materials for presentations, and creating opportunities for students to network with scientists and community leaders.

Monica Sandri - Using drones to improve human-elephant coexistence

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) is considered the main driver of the rapid decline in elephant populations worldwide and is equally detrimental to human livelihoods, particularly when conflict becomes chronic. 

My goal is to lead droned-based field experiments in Taita Taveta County (TTC), Kenya, where local communities rely on agriculture as their main source of income. TTC is also part of the Greater Tsavo Ecosystem which supports 33% of the country’s elephant population. These combined factors contribute to the high frequency of conflict cases reported annually within the region and an increased demand for collaborative community science to address them.

The main goal of the project is to develop novel nonlethal deterrents to protect elephants from retaliatory killings, while also attending to the socioeconomic needs and values of historically marginalized communities in the Global South. Specifically, I will: (1) foster community collaboration by hosting a pre-experiment meetings with participating parties to identify coexistence priorities and responsibilities, obtain informed consent (every step of the way), and establish community ownership for the project; (2) compensate participating farmers that provide local knowledge and access to test sites; (3) assess the long-term effectiveness of and satisfaction with drone deterrents by conducting follow-up interviews with participating farmers; and (4) inform local mitigation strategies by submitting a final report to the Kenya Wildlife Service.