Untitled DocumentGLOBE-related volunteer data collection networks
Macro Theme Area:
Education [Project ID: E04]
PI:
Jim Washburne
CO-PI(s):
N/A
Basin focus:
Rio Grande, San Pedro
Specific area in
basin /
field sites:
also Maricopa County/Phoenix/Salt basin
Summary/Goals: This program stems from the Center's need to collect baseline environmental data in its field areas and to build community and K-12 understanding of our research efforts through indirect participation. The pilot data collection effort was designed around a specific need for water quality data in the Rio Grande and tapping into the training and support infrastructure of the GLOBE program. Project schools collect pH, electrical conductivity, and temperature data. Some schools also collect data concerning the levels of nitrates, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. The data is integrated into ongoing SAHRA research on the salinity of the Rio Grande and provides a much better temporal sampling than we could maintain without the local networks.
Activities and outcomes during past year:
Five schools along the Rio Grande began participating in 2003. SAHRA researchers, particularly those at NMT have tried to support some classroom visits for supplemental educational collaborations. In part, because of the large area covered by this network and the volunteer nature of this effort, the network is not as active as we would like. In addition, the network has been inactive becuase of teacher turnover, lack of educational expertise support, and increased demands on teachers due to state testing. The student volunteers at NMT have specifically requested more central logistical support either through SAHRA or new collaborations in the area of interest.
Plans for the upcoming year:
We are actively working to develop new collaboration with more SAHRA investigators in New Mexico and environmental education groups in Albuquerque, including the Explora Science Center and the Rio Grande Nature Center. The goal of these new collaborations is to establish a free-standing GLOBE partnership in Albuquerque that can take over from the SAHRA graduate students the basic teacher logstical work and leave more time for the researchers to promote collaborative science.
A new GLOBE proposal which focused on students around the country monitoring and evaluating river restoration efforts was not funded in 2006. We are currently exploring re-writing this grant with an Arizona focus for a 2007 WSP outreach project.
