Junior SeaKeepers Workshop 4: Conducting Citizen Science with Katie Sheahan, M.A.

Overview

On Wednesday, December 13th, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted the fourth Junior SeaKeepers Program workshop for 2023-24 cohort students. Junior SeaKeepers workshops are aimed at personal and professional development for students throughout the year-long program, and we were thrilled to host students and give them a crash course in conducting citizen science research and other complex topics with SeaKeepers Citizen Science Manager, Katie Sheahan, M.A.

We started the workshop by discussing why citizen scientists and citizen science, or crowdsourced projects, are so important in collecting data for remote regions like the ocean. This included a detailed introduction to common citizen science projects that help to collect valuable, low-cost data with minimal resources for ecologists and other scientists globally. Katie also was able to discuss with our Junior SeaKeepers the different active citizen science projects where she engages our DISCOVERY Yacht Fleet in partnership with marine scientists globally, including the Neuston Net Research Collective and the Seabed 2023 project. In addition to the different projects citizen scientists can do with SeaKeepers, we also chatted with students about some other common, minimal effort, land-based citizen science projects that help to further the studies of ecology, biodiversity, pollution, and more around the planet. The information they received as a part of the December Workshop will not only be helpful to their research projects but will be invaluable for their futures both consuming and creating scientific data.

Outing Goal

By attending workshops with the SeaKeepers team, our Junior SeaKeepers have the opportunity to develop personal and professional skills that will aid them in their advancement in STEM studies and careers. We hope that our workshops give students a glimpse into how much they have to gain out of this unique extracurricular program!