Austin Community College (ACC) will launch a citizen science program to engage community college students in the collection and analysis of data from Hurricane Harvey and its impact on the Texas coastline. At least 25 students will conduct exploratory work on the "tipping point" for the vulnerable coastal community of Port Aransas, Texas Shifts in human pressures or environmental conditions can cause tipping points or abrupt changes in an ecosystem that may be difficult or impossible to reverse. This pilot study will focus on the vulnerable Port Aransas community using data such as water distribution before and after Hurricane Harvey. Students will also use economic data (census, tax values, etc.) in studying the tipping point. ACC will educate students in natural hazards, data collection and analysis, and the application in close Texas communities. Once students are exposed to these techniques, they can then establish a network of citizen scientists in underserved, underrepresented, and understudied communities.
The goals of the project will be to 1) inform future potential citizen scientists on natural disasters, the aftermath of natural disasters and evaluating living conditions of an impacted community using existing data, 2) educate underrepresented STEM students in scientific methods and data collection, and 3) examine the concept of tipping points as a focus for data collection, scientific integration across disciplines and scientific application. The project will advance knowledge on using citizen science for community engagement as well as for retaining underrepresented students in STEM. The project will measure student gains in 1) increased awareness of coastal hazards and their impact, and 2) interest in a career in the sciences.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
