Author(s):
Use sensors to gather weather data. Calculate yolk-sac percentage to determine salmon fry ponding dates. River seine to document numbers and location of silver salmon. Professional qualifications for a geoscientist, a fish culturist, or a fishery biologist? Yes, and also, the technical skills practiced by high school students in an educational model developed in an NSF GeoPaths program called Aquaculture Science Knowledge (ASK). The ASK model is generated through a partnership between the Sitka School District and the Sitka Sound Science Center, a non-profit field station. Elements of the ASK model include a co-produced “course within a course”, an innovative job fair, and carefully constructed internships based on student interests and goals. In this program, students who may not consider themselves to be “scientists” end up excelling in a science elective that is place-based and affirms their life experiences. The ASK model promises a wide range of applications for institutional growth and community engagement and can be tailored to a wide range of communities.
