Citizen Science Overseas
CITIZEN SCIENCE OVERSEAS
TEN STUDENTS FROM DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THEIR CRYSTAL COVE STUDIES AROUND THE WORLD.
In late October, ten finalists were chosen from a competitive pool of applicants at Dana Hills High School to take part in an exciting new collaboration that will let them play an active role in global sustainability as they help to take CCA’s Citizen Science programs to the next level.
As part of the Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation’s Global Sustainability Initiative, these ten students will be volunteering at Crystal Cove State Park over the next eight months. Working side by side with local scientists, they’ll be immersed in authentic scientific research within the park, studying local scavengers—namely, bobcats—using trap cams. Over the course of the school year, the student teams will take their experiences and use them to help develop a new trap cam citizen science program for high school students. They will also gain exposure to international culture through separate meetings with their teacher, Dolores Dang-Wright, and by taking part in CCA’s new Microfinance and the Environment high school curriculum.
Next summer, the same ten students will travel to South Africa on an Earthwatch Institute expedition. For 12 days, the students will put what they’ve learned to work in Pilanesberg National Park and Mankwe Wildlife Reserve as they help researchers study South Africa’s scavengers—this time, hyenas—using the skills obtained while volunteering at Crystal Cove. Through the program, students will be exposed to a culture very different from their own, but more importantly, they’ll be able to actively contribute to sustaining the environment—both globally and locally in Crystal Cove State Park.