The Science Ambassadors: A case study of project based experiential learning as a tool to engage traditionally underserved communities in citizen science.

Background/Question/Methods

The National Park Service seeks to spark excitement and interest of American youth for science and research while managing 84.4 million acres of land. The Southern California Research Learning Center, a program in the National Park Service, and partners have developed a replicable citizen science platform that fulfills these goals. National Park Staff in California initiated a thematic engagement program by partnering with an after school, minority serving science program. The Students at the Elementary Institute of Science were enrolled in a leadership and educational program focused on water and society. The research and study phase of their curriculum culminated in a service learning expedition to throughout the American West to study water science in the National Parks. The second year featured an ambassador phase and the students interfaced with their peers, local community members and the academic community at professional conferences to discuss climate change and its community impact. 

Results/Conclusions

This pilot program resulted in a replicable scientific engagement model for land management agencies and organizations. By pulling information from academic literature and by administrating the program for two cycles the author has compiled research based best practiced. This poster will explore challenges, logistics, scalability and implementation for this type of collaborative project.