YCCS Blog
NARST 2026 Where to find us!
We’re thrilled to share that members of the Center for Community and Citizen Science team will be presenting at this year’s National Association for Research in Science Teaching’s Annual International Conference, taking place April 19–22, 2026, in Seattle, Washington.
Cultivating Resilience and Real Science in the Classroom
New Publication with Classroom Science
Check out this new publication about the Salmon Project here: https://classroomscience.org/articles/fyi/cultivating-resilience-and-real-science-classroom-frys-network
Field Trip to Rush Ranch
Exploring Estuaries, Science, and Language
Authors: Peggy Harte, Becca VanArnam, Kimberly Renae Evans, Carly Davis
The Spinning Salmon Program: Science in the Classroom
A new article by Becca Van Arnam, published by the Delta Stewardship Council
Every fall, thousands of tiny salmon eggs arrive in high school classrooms across Northern California. Students huddle around their tanks, watching closely as the fish hatch, swim, and grow. But this isn’t just about raising fish, it’s about contributing to real science.
Launching Year 5 of the Spinning Salmon Program
What’s New in Year 5: Handbook + Updated Training
Project Update: Celebrating a new publication and the power of student-scientist partnerships
students team up with scientists to investigate salmon vitamin deficiencies
Just a few weeks ago the Spinning Salmon team launched year 5 of this innovative and powerful program. This program has supported high school students from classrooms across Northern California, working with our team at UC Davis, NOAA and CDFW, in joining the scientific effort to understand a troubling trend in our state’s salmon populations. Read more about how these young researchers supported gathering needed data here!
Researchers Turn Burned Forests into Lessons in Climate Resilience
Northern California elementary students are gaining the knowledge and confidence to become the next generation of environmental stewards. Through Our Forests, a program developed and studied by the UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science and Sierra Streams Institute and funded by the National Science Foundation, students joined forest managers in the Sierra Nevada foothills to measure tree growth, identify native plants, and observe how forests recover after wildfire. By learning how science works in real time, they’re developing a deeper understanding of ecosystems and the role people play in sustaining them—insights that are essential for informed participation in environmental advocacy.
Project Update: Statewide Study Taps 3,000 Students for Salmon Research
As part of the Spinning Salmon Program in collaboration with GEAR UP STEM RVP, more than 3,000 high schoolers’ data collection efforts on Thiamine Deficiency Complex (TDC) in California salmon has led to researchers publishing the a final study pinpointing anchovy dominated diets as the cause of TDC. Read more here about the full impact of this program on K-12 STEM education, giving opportunities for all students to lead, educate, and engage with their communities.
Project Update: GEAR UP STEM RVP Collaboration Impact Report
We are happy to announce the release of the impact report on the GEAR UP project and how its has grown over the years, involving more students and providing more opportunities for them to learn and grow. Check it out here!
California’s Biodiversity Day and Latino Conservation Week 2025: Students Celebrate Nature During Biodiversity Day Event
Each year when I have the opportunity to celebrate California’s Biodiversity Day on a school campus, I am reminded of the tremendous power of curiosity. Spending time with future leaders (who also happen to be nine) reminds me of how pointing out leaves, bugs, and birds can open doors to scientific thinking, care for place, and community belonging.
Publication: Widespread thiamine deficiency in California salmon linked to an anchovy-dominated marine prey base
Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency (TDC) in marine systems is a significant threat to marine life, especially California’s salmonids. This publication found that thiamine deficiency in California’s salmonids arises from an anchovy-dominated forage based diet and investigates methods to track and mitigate TDC. Studies on Chinook salmon eggs were used to model TDC in certain regions in Northern California. Read the full publication here.
Teaching Tanzanian Educators How to Engage Their Students in Science and English Language Instruction by Exploring Outdoor Spaces
On April 18, 2025, thirty passionate educators from across Tanzania (and beyond) gathered for an interactive workshop designed to transform the way science and English are taught in schools—by taking learning outside.
“What would make you proud to present your work?” Spinning Salmon Showcase celebrates student science, storytelling and stewardship
What happens when you invite students who’ve been raising salmon, collecting data, and diving into real-world environmental challenges to share their science with the world?
You get a room full of paper mâché, research posters, dioramas, personal essays, poems, storytelling, and more!
Heidi Ballard Presents in eeWORKS webinar: What We Have Learned and Why It Matters
How community and citizen science impacts environmental education
On June 18, 2025, director Heidi
Ballard gave a wonderful presentation on community science for
environmental education (EE) in the eeWORKS webinar “eeWORKS:
What We Have Learned and Why It Matters“. With over 200
people registered, Heidi dove into systematic review findings
about EE and its impact on K-12 education, youth development, and
much more.
Watch the webinar recording now here!
Youth Voices in Action: Advocacy and Outreach in the Spinning Salmon Program
By Peggy Harte, Youth Education Program Manager, UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science
When the Spinning Salmon Program launched five years ago, it set out to engage youth in emergent science, spark curiosity and foster a deeper connection between youth and the researchers focused on salmon in California. Through participatory science, the program has done more than build knowledge and engage youth—it has shown young people that they have the skills to take an active role in scientific discovery and environmental stewardship.
From Schoolyard to Biodiversity Hotspot
Fourth Graders Join the City Nature Challenge
This spring, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the City Nature Challenge, I had the joy of watching a group of Dixon 4th graders transform their school campus. Eyes wide as they were amazed by the power of their own observations as, in their eyes, their school yard was transformed from the schoolyard they engage with every day into a thriving field site where they were able to make observations as real scientists.
2025 Field Trip to the Nimbus Hatchery
Spinning Salmon Students Experience Science in Action at Nimbus Hatchery
Last week, Youth Education Program
Manager, Peggy Harte, was able to join a group of students
participating in the Spinning
Salmon program, taking their research questions and learnings
into the field with a visit to the Nimbus Fish
Hatchery.
Becca VanArnam Accepted for 2025 Delta Science Fellowship
Congratulations to Becca
VanArnam, 2024-2025 Citizen Science in Conservation (CCSiC)
Fellow and Ph.D. student in Science and Agricultural Education,
on being awarded a 2025
Delta Science Fellowship! This program, funded by
California Sea Grant and in collaboration with agency partners
such as the Delta Stewardship Council, assists researchers in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin delta.
Project Update: GEAR UP Collaboration Launches Data Collection with FieldScope!
We are excited to share a
significant milestone for the Spinning Salmon Project: the launch
of Year 4 of student-driven data collection in partnership with
the GEAR UP STEM Rural Valley Partnership! This collaboration is
energizing students with 21st-century tools, empowering them to
explore salmon ecology while supporting GEAR UP’s core goals:
North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference Recap
From November 5th-9th, members of the Center for Community & Citizen Science presented at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference and Research Symposium (NAAEE) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Heidi Ballard hosted two presentations, one focused on her recently published literature review and another roundtable discussion about the center’s partnership with the Insight Garden Program. Youth Education Program Manager Peggy Harte and Ph.D.
