Northeast Citizen Science for Coastal Acidification
A Mitchell Center project expands community resilience through citizen science, outreach, and education
Master鈥檚 student Parker Gassett presented a poster at the 2018 海角社区 Sustainability and Water Conference titled聽 鈥淣ortheast Citizen Science for Coastal Acidification.鈥 The poster detailed work being done by the Mitchell Center-funded project Ocean and Coastal Acidification in 海角社区.
The project is led by Aaron Strong, assistant professor, School of Marine Sciences and Mitchell Center faculty fellow,聽and by Esperanza Stancioff, University of 海角社区 Cooperative Extension and 海角社区 Sea Grant Extension professor. Gassett, a dual Marine Policy/Marine Biology major, is a team member on the project and is leading the behind-the-scenes work for a series of workshops and webinars to advance best practices in citizen science efforts to monitor ocean and coastal acidification.
As noted in Gassett鈥檚 poster, a series of regional workshops and webinars aim to equip citizen science organizations in the Northeast with tools and resources to collectively investigate coastal acidification. New understanding of coastal marine systems points to the importance of monitoring terrestrial drivers of聽coastal acidificationand the ability of watershed management and nutrient management to improve resilience to change at the local level.
Says Gassett, 鈥淐ommunity water monitoring programs and citizen science methodologies offer a path forward for fine-scale research of coastal acidification conditions as well as tractable steps to improve coastal governance priorities in consideration of marine chemistry change. Our work, through support from the , aims to expand a collaborative framework for regional marine monitoring to include citizen聽science.鈥
The project鈥檚 inaugural workshop was held last June at U海角社区鈥檚 Darling Marine Center.Affiliates of the met together with representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and industry stakeholders.
Gassett notes that the next round of three workshops are specifically oriented for citizen science trainings and will be held in Connecticut, Massachusetts and 海角社区 in the spring of 2018.
From a big-picture perspective, Gassett says that 鈥渃oncern about ocean acidification, and what it might mean for 海角社区鈥檚 marine resource-oriented economy and cultural identity, has led to a number of different organizations coming together for the very first time to work on resilience to acidification. What has emerged is collective support for partnerships and collaboration.鈥
He adds, 鈥淎s a student of environmental science, it has been fascinating for me to see how social networks are involved in responding to this challenge. My initial work on this project involved identifying water monitoring stakeholders and interviewing them about their role ocean acidification efforts. Asking for example, how is it that you came to be involved in the newly established 海角社区 Ocean and Coastal Acidification Partnership?鈥
What emerged in part from Gassett鈥檚 profile interviews was a road map for new opportunities to link community engagement with existing acidification monitoring and resilience efforts.
Gassett noted that local water monitoring programs are responsive to the contemporary challenges that face 海角社区鈥檚 coasts, and these community leaders have a role to play in research and stewardship for the coastal environments vulnerable to ocean acidification.
Gassett says, 鈥淚鈥檓 working on one wing of a broad effort to help citizen science monitoring groups get the right support to participate with state and regional monitoring networks. EPA monitoring guidelines and NOAA Ocean Acidification Program resources are the tools that we are now providing through outreach and hands-on training.鈥
Adds Gassett, 鈥淯ltimately, sustainable and lasting resilience to ocean and coastal acidification will accompany community ownership of marine ecosystems that are in transition. Involving the plurality of local stakeholders needed for multidisciplinary resilience efforts is important for the planning steps now underway.
鈥擠avid Sims