MONITORING WELL WATER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE WHILE ENGAGING HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY AND SOCIETALLY RELEVANT WORK: AN EXAMPLE FROM MT. DESERT ISLAND, ME

Projects offering a partnership between educational and scientific organizations enable student participation in Citizen Science projects that can simultaneously collect important new data, raise awareness of a relevant topic to their community, and enhance student participation in the scientific process. The project “Data to Action: A Secondary School-Based Citizen Science Project to Address Arsenic Contamination of Well Water”, funded by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from NIGMS/NIH, provides opportunities for secondary school teachers in Maine and New Hampshire to adapt curricula to include private well testing for arsenic and other elements. Both states have an increased likelihood of arsenic in groundwater and a large percentage of the population relying on private well water. With such a societally relevant and interdisciplinary topic, the project lends itself to skill building in terms of data literacy and scientific process as well as geoscience curriculum connections: science communication, GIS techniques, research ethics, geologic processes, water chemistry, data management and analysis, and public policy. This presentation showcases a partnership between the Mount Desert Island (MDI) Biological Laboratory, College of the Atlantic, and MDI High School, resulting from the ongoing SEPA project in which instructors taught students to collect, analyze, and interpret data, and communicate their findings. After three years, through the collaborative effort of students, educators, and researchers, over 1,000 samples have been collected, resulting in a broader public awareness of the need for well water testing, stronger partnerships between educators and researchers, multiple student project spinoffs, enhanced mentoring and networking opportunities, and directions for future engagement. In addition to presenting on some of the challenges and opportunities of this approach, we will provide suggestions for future research needs based on preliminary findings from the Mt. Desert Island dataset.