Nisqually Salmon Camp

Nisqually Salmon Camp

• What is Nisqually Salmon Camp?• Goals of Nisqually Salmon Camp• How does it work?• Next Steps

What is Nisqually Salmon Camp?

• A collaborative effort between Nisqually Summer Youth Program and the Nisqually Natural Resources Department.

• 3-5 days of training and learning experiences, during the first week of the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s Summer Youth Program.

What is Nisqually Salmon Camp?

• Nisqually Salmon Camp was created to address the underrepresentation of Native Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing hands-on learning experiences for students in the Nisqually Summer Youth Program .

What is Nisqually Salmon Camp?

• Native Americans have lowest representation in the sciences of all ethnic groups in the U.S.

• Dropout rate is among the highest of any ethnic group in the U.S.

• A recent study showed that 7% of Native youth dropped out of school compared with 2.7% for their non-native peers.

Goals of Nisqually Salmon Camp• Promote careers in natural resources and

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

• Provide students with realistic field work experience.

• Provide students hands-on learning experiences with natural resources staff and other professionals.

• Connect young people with nature via technology.

How does it work?

• Students in the Nisqually Summer Youth Program sign up for and participate in hands-on activities, in the field, with Nisqually Natural Resources Department staff and other natural resources professionals.

• Students experience hands-on learning and information collection, interacting with Nisqually Natural Resources staff in a variety of work projects and settings.

How does it work?

• Students become familiar with advanced technology used in the field by shadowing professionals in actual work settings.

• Activities include collecting benthic macro-invertebrates, restoration planting survival assessments, beach seining, determining shellfish health, geocaching (GPS basics), fish ID and biology, radio telemetry, geomorphology, orienteering (use of compass and maps), and more.

How does it work?

• Students receive North West Indian College (NWIC) continuing education credit after completing activities. CEU hours are used to support professional development training, to fulfill community service hours, and to demonstrate participation in educational and cultural activities.

Promote Careers in Natural Resources

Discussing career opportunities at the Nisqually Reach Nature Center

Provide Hands-on Experiences with Natural Resources Professionals.

Daniel Hull, Reuben Chum, Mikayla Sison, Milan Choke, Tandy Squally, Bill Kallappa, & Aaron David at Nisqually Reach Nature Center.

Provide Hands-on Experiences with Natural Resources Professionals.

Identifying and measuring juvenile fish

Provide Students with Realistic Field Work Experience.

Pulling seine net on Ketron Island & Anderson Island, and recording fish sampling data.

Provide Students with Hands On Learning Experiences

Assessing shellfish conditions at the Nisqually Tribe’s 120 acre Shellfish Farm, Henderson Inlet.

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Nisqually Shellfish Farm manager, Sue Shotwell, discussing shellfish health with students.

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Nisqually students and Nisqually Youth Center staff on the Nisqually Tribe’s research vessel Hickson, with Dennis Lucia, Nisqually Marine Services, Margaret Homerding, Shellfish Program Manager.

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Deploying a survey net from the Hickson to collect plankton samples

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Puget Sound Plankton salmples

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Nisqually divers in action.

Salmon Camp students learn about some specimens gathered from Puget Sound (California Sea Cucumber, Moon Snail, Kelp Crab, Starfish, Sculpin).

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Identifying Puget Sound aquatic life-forms

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Beach seining on Anderson Island

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Assessing and recording seine catch on Ketron Island

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Learning how to read a topographic map

Provide Students with Hands on Learning Experiences

Nature MappingEstablish a database of wildlife presence Learning fish anatomy and physiology

How do fish manage to stay afloat?

Connecting young people with nature via technology

Collecting and analyzing benthic macro invertebrates (stream-bugs).

Connecting young people with nature via technology

Radio Telemetry

Connecting young people with nature via technology

Geocaching to Learn about GPS

Connecting young people with nature via technology

Build a watershed…..Learn geomorphology

Next Steps• Continue to improve Nisqually Salmon Camp, by introducing a variety of fun and informative learning activities for students.

• Recruit more Nisqually Summer Program youth into Salmon Camp activities.

• Recruit Nisqually students into the Stream Stewards course.

• Track student academic choices over time. Will Salmon Camp have an influence on those choices?

Questions ???