CCS Engage
Events and Lab Group
Collabinar Series
We developed the CCS Collabinar as a way to collaborate with others on exciting challenges and opportunities in community and citizen science. This occasional, informal series provides a space for people to both present their work and engage with others. Our guests will give brief presentations, but the focus is on working through challenges, design opportunities, mutual learning, and exploring potential collaboration. See our upcoming events here.
Student Opportunities
There are many ways that current and prospective students can engage with us at the Center for Community and Citizen Science. In general research centers on campus can provide a valuable opportunity for students to:
ECL290: A Course On Community And Citizen Science In Conservation
This 2-unit course will involve weekly discussion and exploration of community and citizen science (CCS) approaches and applications in conservation and related environmental topics. With an emphasis on practice, each session will focus on a different theme such as equity and justice, project design and implementation, participant and conservation benefits. Other topics will be identified and explored based on student interest, and students will also have an opportunity to develop ideas for CCS projects within their own research.
Community and Citizen Science in Conservation Course
The Center for Community and Citizen
Science offers a 2-unit ”Community and Citizen Science
in Conservation” course at UC Davis. The course involves
weekly discussion and exploration of community and citizen
science (CCS) approaches and applications broadly related to
conservation. With an emphasis on recent academic literature,
each session focuses on a different topic such as
equity and justice, project design and implementation, and
participant and conservation benefits. Other topics are
identified and explored based on student interest. This course
allows students to develop ideas for CCS projects within
their own research.
Students who complete the course
are eligible to apply for the CCS in Conservation
Fellowship, offered annually by the UC Davis Center for
Community and Citizen Science.
If you have any questions, please contact Ryan Meyer, rmmeyer@ucdavis.edu, or Todd Harwell, taharwell@ucdavis.edu.
Cultivating Youth and Community Resiliency: A Community Science Approach to Land Stewardship for Wildfire Mitigation in Maui, Hawaiʻi
Highlighting our Community and Citizen Science in Conservation Fellows
Project Overview
In August of last year, I submitted
a proposal to the Citizen Science in Conservation Fellowship
program. This collaborative project is titled “Cultivating Youth
and Community Resiliency: A Community Science Approach to Land
Stewardship for Wildfire Mitigation in Maui, Hawaiʻi”. Through
this project, we seek to address a global environmental and
social issue -wildfire- through a place-based, culturally
responsive, and culturally sustaining, curriculum.
Partners and Supporters
CCS in Conservation Fellowship
Training, mentorship, and funding for graduate students in conservation
Effective conservation brings
together research, partnerships across disciplines and sectors,
and a commitment to iterative learning that supports long-term
stewardship. In conservation science, community and citizen
science (CCS) approaches can be especially powerful and yield
valuable data while also advancing other parts of a conservation
program, such as education and community engagement. However,
formal training in CCS is not yet widely available for graduate
students pursuing degrees in conservation science. Whatever their
career paths, graduate students can benefit from an awareness of,
and experiences with CCS approaches, applied in a conservation
context.
The UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science offers the Community and Citizen Science in Conservation Fellowship to provide graduate students in conservation with the opportunity for training, funding, and guided hands-on experience with CCS. To qualify for the fellowship, graduate students must complete a 10-week seminar in the spring exploring CCS approaches and applications broadly related to conservation. Accepted fellows will be awarded a stipend for research support and given mentorship and professional development opportunities throughout the following academic year.
New Partnerships in 2023
We are excited to partner with two centers of excellence at UC Davis to expand the CCSiC Fellowship program: the Institute for the Environment, and the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute. These partnerships allow us to increase the number of fellowships available, and expand the professional development and networking opportunities provided to graduate students during their fellowship experience.
Learning about coyotes in San Francisco from their scat
Read about research from Citizen Science in Conservation Fellow, Tali Caspi.
In recent decades, humans and animals have increasingly co-occurred in high densities in urban areas. Although declines in biodiversity are associated with urbanization, numerous species have adjusted to and thrive in cities. The success of urban animals is largely attributed to the expansion of their diet to include human-provided food, resulting in frequent conflicts with people.
