o The 2025 team will play a crucial role in maintaining the continuity and reliability of our data collection. They will repeat the suggested monitoring protocols with the help of CACS staff and a citizen monitoring team. Using the standardized, replicable protocols developed by previous SEAS teams, they will monitor long-term changes in soundscapes, fish species, vegetation composition, wildlife activity, and Sandhill Crane populations.
o This project aims to accomplish significant environmental conservation and climate change education milestones. We want to engage the SEAS Graduate Team in our mission by outlining these goals and inspiring support. We also aim to extend the work of past SEAS projects that have contributed to completing baseline ecological inventories, developing monitoring protocols, and forming critical educational messaging.
o Assist in developing an interpretive panel specific to the Homer area. This panel will be a crucial addition to the traveling climate exhibit, Real People, Real Climate, Real Changes: A Traveling Climate Exhibit, developed by the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Center for Science Education. The interpretive panel will provide context and local relevance to the broader climate exhibit, enhancing its educational impact.
o Assist CACS with developing citizen science, climate, and watershed outreach and messaging, using the exhibit components as prototypes for additional outreach and education created from the data we have been collecting.
o Assess the impact of data visualization tools that transform raw climate data, especially data collected through citizen science environmental monitoring, into meaningful insights, enabling better understanding, communication, and action on climate change issues.