Bivalve Monitoring at Weaverling Spit

A service learning project with the Samish Indian Nation to provide materials for increased volunteer training protocol for their bivalve monitoring research. This project is an extrapolation on my College of the Environment capstone project, where I analyzed data collected by Anacortes High School students on the quantity, species, and size of bivalves on Weaverling Spit, land owned by the Samish Indian Nation in Anacortes, WA. Students annually visit Weaverling Spit and follow a protocol to collect this data on bivalves, which hold cultural, economical, and ecological significance to the Samish Indian Nation. While the students are trained on bivalve identification and measuring techniques, our data analysis indicated that species misidentification may be occurring. Therefore, I proposed an updated training protocol to ensure increased efficacy of the data collection process. Since students only participate in this project once, instilling a sense of importance in the work is necessary to ensure effective participation and a lasting care for the project. Citizen science has significant importance in the scientific process, and can be a way for the public to become engaged and aware of issues that are often shrouded in jargon and can be overwhelming to gain an understanding of. This project provided an opportunity to expose students to their environment at a young age, and having adequate training and insight can instill a long-lasting connection to the environment. The product for this project was a digital training program containing a video and lesson plan for teachers to provide their students for more effective training prior to data collection, including significance to the tribe, biology of bivalves, and significance of bivalves to the environment.