Green Calgary - Inspiring Young Scientists

Posted on July 15, 2017

This summer, your Green Calgary Association team will collaborate with Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and the Boys and Girls Club to inspire Calgary youth to become citizen scientists.

The Green Calgary education team is hard at work planning their next big initiative – a program designed to engage and inspire Calgary youth to become engaged in the the natural world around them, monitoring changes in local biodiversity. The citizen science program that is being launched will introduce youth to the ways that data can be collected and shared as a way of achieving answers to questions that are larger than one person.

Our citizen scientists will learn from, and be supported by, experts and will explore an introductory, yet scientifically sound, method of recording observational data that can be provided to researchers. They will learn to be record keepers in the face of climate change and the unprecedented risk this poses to species and habitat.

Citizen science programs are well documented for being successful, yet they are not often employed as part of the curriculum learning experience. Green Calgary is aiming to change that, starting with our pilot program this summer and then offering our program and tools to schools in the Calgary area this fall. “Active and engaged learners retain more information,” says Conor Tapp, Executive Director at Green Calgary, “Our professional educators are the experts at engaging Calgary youth and getting them deeply interested in science. We are so proud to be collaborating to bring this to our youth.”

The program has received initial funding from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Alberta EcoTrust. You can make a donation to support Green Calgary’s work here. Stay tuned for more information about Green Calgary's citizen science programs soon! EDIT: Find the Citizen Science webpage HERE, where you can sign up for email updates, too!

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