High School Students Contribute to Redwood Park Resource Protection and Conservation Through Citizen Science

Through Save the Redwood League’s Redwoods and Climate Change High School program students and teachers have an opportunity to conduct scientific research in a local redwood forest. This program makes climate change tangible... [ view full abstract ]

Through Save the Redwood League’s Redwoods and Climate Change High School program students and teachers have an opportunity to conduct scientific research in a local redwood forest. This program makes climate change tangible and relevant by showing students how environmental changes affect a local resource. The field trip component of the program allows students to participate in the League’s citizen science projects Redwood Watch and Fern Watch. Additionally, we partner with the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) and their naturalists to make sure the students’ data provide critical information on how the forest is changing due to changes in climate. Students track changes in the forest by measuring redwood trees, sword ferns and documenting the phenophases of plant and animal species. The EBRPD naturalists will use this data to see how their parks are changing over time. We are currently in our second year of this program and have had great success in our partnerships between the League, the Regional Parks and the schools. We have also found that the teachers and students are more engaged when learning about a local resource and contributing to a project where the data will be used for resource protection and conservation. We are still in the process of establishing specific research areas and tagging trees and plants which students will go back to year after year to monitor. Once this is established it will be easier to monitor changes in the forest. Additionally once several years of data is collected we will establish methods to interpret and display the data for park staff and the students.