Project Director: Christine Bevc

Funding Organization: National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine: Gulf Research Program

Funding Cycles: Capacity Building 2

Description: Coastal communities around the country face environmental challenges stemming from natural and human-caused disasters that affect community health. Developing an understanding about natural systems and the interdependence of people and the natural environment is critical to helping prepare students to address these challenges in the future. This project aims to build scientific and environmental literacy among underserved 4th-6th grade students in coastal Alabama, Maine, and Mississippi through co-created citizen science and action projects pertaining to environmental health. The effort will be based around an existing online platform, WeatherBlur, which connects students and classroom educators with science experts to collaborate on developing project research questions, collecting field data, sharing results, and discussing actions students can take in their local communities to address the challenges on which their projects focused.