EDUCATION-OUTREACH
NASA MODIS natural color image of the central and southern Sierra Nevada collected 2 April 2016.
On coast: cloud cover over San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas.
In mountains: Visible major river systems on the western side of the Sierra Nevada from north to south are Stanisalaus,Tuolumne, Merced, San Joaquin, Kings, Kaweah, Tule, and Kern. Mono Lake is East of the Tuolumne River.
The goals of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory’s outreach and education program are:
1) Foster field site and data use among the critical zone research community
in order to create new knowledge about Earth’s critical zone and advance Earth systems models
2) Inform ecosystem and resource management decisions
for the security and resilience of resources and societies
3) Increase public interest in critical zone science
by educating the next generation of STEM professionals and reaching out to learners of all ages
Through outreach to multiple audiences and many partnerships across the region, state, and country, we work to achieve this mission. For the greater scientific community, we frequently share findings through publications and presentations, as well as serve as a platform for scientific research in multiple disciplines. Scientists visit our sites to collect samples for both independent and collaborative projects. SSCZO researchers and staff regularly engage with local, state, and federal officials; and regional watershed and forest management groups. And K-12, higher education, and public activities over recent years have included undergraduate critical zone course curriculum development and instruction, educational content and activity trainings with teachers, interactive booths at environmental festivals for schoolchildren and families, Master Gardener workshops using SSCZO findings, and local to national print and online news coverage.
Elementary school students from the Sierra foothill region near Auberry test soil texture. April 2016.
Gallery
SSCZO - Science Days
Erin Stacy (Education and Outreach Coordinator) listens to a student explain the water cycle at the 2013 Science Days event.
Erin talks about how animals from the region depend on water flows from the mountains. Some of the animals were the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (Rana boylii), the Aboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris), and the Fisher (Martes pennanti).
Student play a water cycle game at Science Days, 2013.
Billy Mayse and Jeff Laird (left and right, respectively, both 2013 summer staff) quiz students on local wildlife that are dependent on streams and other waterbodies.
Billy Mayse (right) helps the students through the water cycle game.
Allyson Smith (former staff with SSCZO) demonstrates how much water trees transpire with a sealed plastic bag.
Every year, SSCZO presents to hundreds of grade school students as part of Southern California Edison's Science Days in Shaver Lake. At the 2013 event, Southern Sierra staff presented on how the water cycle impacts local wildlife, and discussed several special local species with more than 500 students. Students, grades K-8 from 3 local schools, also learned about forest products, birds, and other topics at the other stations. Education and Outreach Coordinator Erin Stacy presented at all three days, but new summer employees also had a chance in front of the students.
In May and June of 2012, SSCZO staff participated in the Southern California Edison Science Days. Elementary and middle school classes traveled to Camp Edison (outside Shaver Lake) and visited stations set up to teach about nature and science. The event theme in 2012 focused on plants. SSCZO staff facilitated an activity describing the water cycle in and around a single tree.
In 2011, the SCE Science Days theme was water. Southern Sierra CZO colleagues gave a presentation on hydrologic cycle and how researchers use various instruments to measure the water cycle.
SSCZO - 2011 field trip
Carolyn Hunsaker (US Forest Service researcher) runs through the agenda for the day.
Roger Bales (professor and SNRI Director at UC Merced) explains the eddy covariance flux tower setup from his perch on the tower's base scaffolding.
The tower is 50 m (160 ft) tall in order to accurately capture the activity of the mixed conifer forest. Among the items around the base of this tower are a infrared gas analyzer (IRGA) for gas samples, a gas tank with reference CO2, a storage chest, and solar panels. The elevated scaffolding, where Roger Bales is sitting, allows for easier access when snows are high.
Roger Bales (red hat) and Matt Meadows (SSCZO field hydrolgist, green hat in background) explain one of the most heavily instrumented sites - a white fir (Abies concolor) known as "Critical Zone Tree-1".
Carolyn Hunsaker explains instrumentation at one of the Providence streams. Two flumes track stream discharge, and below those flumes, a settling basin captures sediment.
This July 2011 outing allowed stakeholders and the public to see the cutting-edge research being conducted at the site. Five congressional staff and 2 state senate staff members attended, along with representatives of several local organizations.
With SSCZO researchers Roger Bales, Matt Meadows and Carolyn Hunsaker, attendees toured the Providence flux tower, Critical Zone Tree-1, and meadow instrumentation, all located in subcatchment P301.
SSCZO - CART Spring 2013 student group
Students cross a meadow on their way to the sampling site, 11 March 2013. Much of the snow in this meadow had melted by just a week later.
CART students and teachers on their first trip to the field, 11 March, 2013 (L to R): Trever Colver, Sergio Chairez, CZO staff Matt Meadows, CART teacher Steve Wilson, Chong Vue, Tristan Palmer, Darrel Her, and Devan Liles.
Matt Meadows, Chong Vue and Sergio Chairez pause for a picture while weighing a snowtube.
On March 11th, the snow was deep enough at some points to need an extension on the snow tube (about 1 m snow depth shown here, on the shaded south side of a meadow).
Sergio and Devan squeeze under branches to reach a sampling point.
CART students on their second trip to the field, 18 March, 2013 (L to R): Devan Liles, Sergio Chairez, Tristan Palmer, Darrel Her, and Trever Colver.
CZO staff Matt Meadows points out the ice layers revealed in the snow pit. After a week of warm weather, snow was melting quickly.
Three of the CART students take a sample from the exposed face of the snow pit with a metal wedge in order to quantify snow density in a certain layer.
The 2013 project was designed to measure the distribution and snow water equivalent of snowpack around the trees. Darrel and Devan wait as Tristan takes a snow sample on the west side of the tree. Snow was very patchy and shallow in comparison to just a week before.
Trever watches as Darrel (middle, black hat) and Tristan (right, striped sweater) weigh the snow in the snow tube.
The Spring 2013 student group from the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART). Six students from CART designed and exectued a research project looking at differences in snow depth and density in relation to trees (including slope aspect, cardinal direction from tree trunk and tree canopy). The students learned how to use a federal snow sampler, and to dig a snow pit for refined snow density analysis. Two trips to the CZO Providence site offered the students onsite experience with CZO staff Matt Meadows and Erin Stacy and CART teacher Steve Wilson. Students will present final work in May.
Associated Files
Agenda, 2013 Annual Meeting
(23 KB docx)
Agenda, information on discussion topics, and potential accommodations.
Education/Outreach News
FEATURED
More news about SSCZO on Center for Ecosystem Climate Solutions
24 Nov 2020 - More news about SSCZO on Center for Ecosystem Climate Solutions, which grew out of the SSCZO, also on Sustainable California
FEATURED NATIONALLY
NSF Blog: No soils, no life
27 Oct 2020 - They’re beneath our feet, but we seldom hear important signals in the soils
FEATURED NATIONALLY
2020 CZO Webinar Series on Sustainability
17 Jun 2020 - For an updated listing of these talks, including abstracts, see /national/education-outreach/sustainability-2020/ The U.S....
FEATURED
Southern Sierra CZO Videos
04 May 2020 - Onward California - University of California television spots showcase Southern Sierra CZO research
FEATURED
UCTV: Southern Sierra CZO researchers featured on Sustainable California channel
21 Jun 2017 - University of California Television (UCTV) features Bales, Conklin, Glaser, Safeeq, and others on the new Sustainable California channel
FEATURED
NY Times: Sierra Nevada Snow Won’t End California’s Thirst
11 Apr 2016 - New York Times reporter, Henry Fountain spoke with Southern Sierra CZO PIs Roger Bales and Martha Conklin and investigtor Mohammad Safeeq as they...
_200_200_80auto_s_c1.jpg)
Researcher Spotlight: Morgan Barnes
14 Nov 2018 - Say 'Hello!' to biogeochemist Morgan Barnes! Morgan specializes in the study of soil nutrient biogeochemistry, focusing on phosphorus in the Sierras
Congratulations Jill Marshall on receiving the 2018 Luna B. Leopold Young Scientist Award
06 Nov 2018 - Marshall Receives 2018 Luna B. Leopold Young Scientist Award
_200_200_80auto_s_c1.jpg)
Researcher Spotlight: Jeff Lauder
24 Oct 2018 - Meet forest ecologist Jeff Lauder! Lauder's research focuses on Sierra Nevada Conifers and how they have been responding to stress during drought!
Multiple postdoc and grad student opportunities at UC Merced
12 Sep 2018 - Two postdoctoral scholar positions and multiple MS or PhD research assistantships are currently available at the University of California, Merced....
Research Program Update: September 2018
07 Sep 2018 - Recent activities and findings, funding opportunities, upcoming events, and other updates
Explore Further
