On February 21, Kelly Santos, an Education Program Director at the Sierra Streams Institute, presented the first of this spring’s Sierra Science Speakers Series presentations. This is a free science seminar series put on by the Sierra Streams Institute and Sierra College Nevada County Campus that focuses on local and regional environmental research. She discussed local phenology, the study of the seasonal changes in nature, and presented about the citizen science phenology project she implemented with two local high schools. Students contributed as citizen scientists to a national phenological dataset and analyzed and interpreted data to discern long term trends. Highlights of the talk included lessons learned from this amazing project, the available curriculum, and the many ways that you can become a citizen scientist and monitor our changing climate! At the end of the presentation, two students joined her to answer questions from the audience. These two young women were inspired by their experience working with Sierra Streams Institute and now plan to study environmental science and biology in college! The SSI Education Program is truly fostering the next generation of environmental stewards.
Come enjoy the next three presentations that all take place at the Sierra College Nevada County Campus in the Multipurpose Center, room N12 from 6:30 – 7:30pm:
March 14 – Cadmium Exposure in a Gold-Mining Community
April 18 – Colonizing the Lower Yuba Watershed
May 9 – Chemical Ecology of the Bark Beetles