Citizen Science Through the STEM Center at SIUE: New GA explains the project

Hello, I am Christine. I’m a new graduate assistant (GA) in the STEM Center working on the Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment (YCITYSCI), starting with my role on the program in January, 2020. My main goal is to help middle and high school youth, who are underrepresented in the sciences, participate in citizen science to strengthen their awareness of potential science careers, while learning how these experiences help form their science identity. The process has been very fulfilling, most certainly because of the incredible professors, faculty, and GAs that I work with on this project. Each one of them brings knowledge and passion to the project on various topics. I also find working with middle school students very rewarding. 

One of my responsibilities as a graduate assistant is to help teach participants about some of the monitoring equipment used in environmental science careers, including mobile sensors, drones, mapping software, and app development tools. Of course, I needed to become an expert in these tools and the ways they can be used before teaching students how and why to use them. After some long hours and a few headaches, I now know how to use three air quality monitors, two sound level monitors, and a small drone that can take photos and videos. I have had great mentors in my professors and fellow GAs that have happily helped me find more information about these sensors and in the STEM faculty that patiently explained details of this multi-layered program to me.

The YCITYSCI program has two primary goals: 1) to provide youth with this authentic science engagement and 2) to study how particular aspects of these experiences impact their science identity development. I have quite a bit of experience teaching youth about science, but I have never had the chance to study how youth develop and adopt a science identity, especially in under served populations. I am excited to see how the project team collects and analyzes a comprehensive data-set derived from students’ surveys, interviews, activity observations, and products that students create. Throughout my new GA position, I look forward to learning how students’ involvement in citizen science can help them develop a science identity and help them think like scientists.