Guiding the conversation for the next generation
Who: Maria
What: Marine scientist and environmental educator
Where: Watsonville CA
Why: A love for the ocean
Maria educates students about the San Lorenzo River watershed, which spans 138 square miles, stores rainfall and provides drinking water for tens of thousands of people in Santa Cruz County. Her current role as an educator opening up students’ eyes to the wonders of nature (and the impacts of human activity on the environment) echoes the way in which her own educational experiences guided her to work on water.
Early coursework opens the door to fieldwork
Maria and her high school team finishing a day of research and commemorating their final days of fieldwork.
Maria took advantage of many educational and research opportunities along her journey to becoming the first scientist in her family. From investigating how salinity affects water boatmen as a high schooler to studying the impact of climate change on mussels and algae in college, a combination of academic coursework and community programs put Maria on her pathway to conservation education.
After she first encountered marine biology in high school — “I didn’t know it was a career until I took that class” — Maria was connected with a program called Watsonville Area Teens Conserving Habitat, or WATCH, that empowers high schoolers to collaborate with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to conduct and present research projects. As part of the program, Maria worked with two other students to study hydrology and animals in Younger Lagoon, examining the effects of pollution on insects called water boatmen (Corixidae).
When an initial investigation into pollution found that water boatmen are actually “quite tolerant of water pollution,” as Maria put it, the research shifted to look at the effects of salinity on the insects. “When it’s salty, they’re not so happy,” their study found, an important discovery given that the ocean regularly breaches Younger Lagoon and increases the salinity levels there. Maria fondly remembers being out in the field in waders, collecting water samples and capturing bugs (which were later returned to their homes), in her first marine science fieldwork project.
Gaining additional research experience and data analysis skills
Maria and her high school team presenting at MBARI to other scientists.
Conducting this initial research and presenting it at MBARI (the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) “helped me want to be a scientist,” Maria says. She went on to study marine science and biology at California State University, Monterey Bay, expanding from field work into data analysis. As a McNair scholar, Maria worked with Dr. Corey Garza’s marine landscape and ecology lab to analyze the impact of climate change on the growth of mussels and algae on Catalina Island and complete an honors capstone project using her research. (See Maria’s website for more specifics on her research projects.)
Her research partner used drones to collect data and Maria conducted data analysis with ArcGIS, reflecting an increasingly common type of research partnership. As we’ve seen from Rhea’s experience, climate data is incredibly complex and hard to analyze, so the field is seeing increasing specialization. Maria observes that “climate change is growing to the point where it’s hard for traditional methods to capture all the change that’s happening,” meaning that researchers constantly have to acquire new skills to enhance foundational scientific knowledge.
“If we keep doing what we’re doing now, we’ll miss out on what’s happening,” Maria reflects on current approaches to research, underscoring the importance of developing new methods to expand our understanding of climate change. While she observes that “We can’t stop climate change,” we can “start making progress toward solutions,” as long as we’re informed by data. This observation and the growing number of people interested in tackling climate give us hope.
Taking the classroom outdoors
Maria at an Earth Day event in Watsonville teaching kids about groundwater and how pollutants can enter our waterways and make water unhealthy.
Though Maria wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after she graduated, working at the Coastal Watershed Council (CWC) in Santa Cruz has proven a perfect match for her skills and interests. She gets to teach kids about the environment and help schools become certified by the Green Schools Program. The CWC programming covers grades 1-7, providing a 4-week program that includes classroom visits and a field trip covering topics ranging from native plants to stormwater runoff to biodiversity.
One of Maria’s favorite lessons is the third-grade program on Steelhead Trout migration, which helps students learn about conserving water for the trout by reducing their own water use. The students make posters for the project, and she’s been impressed by the slogans they come up with and where they put the posters, from the bathrooms to the offices — not just the classroom.
Bringing climate lessons home
Centering her educational program on beloved local places like Junction Park, a popular swimming hole in Boulder Creek, helps Maria draw out stories from the students about how they like to interact with their watershed as they tell fun stories about swimming with friends in the summer. This type of local experience also helps put students in “a different mindset” about conservation, showing them that they have species like steelhead trout living near their homes and giving students the knowledge and confidence that they can help protect these animals.
Students often share what they learn in class with their families, and they also earn badges for participating in the program and learning how to take care of the environment. Maria is also working to make the program more accessible for Spanish-speaking students and families, as well as teaching her students some words used for nature by the indigenous Awaswas people of the area. Making sure students are familiar with the history of local people as well as nature helps highlight the fact that we are all interconnected.
Just how it is / opening doors
Maria and coworker Sam Adelson taking kids to the San Lorenzo River to explore water, insects, and nature, as well as be on KSQD radio.
Rather than resistance to the idea of climate change, Maria has seen plenty of opportunity in the schools where she teaches. Climate education really opens her students’ eyes, undercutting their assumptions that the current climate, including severe fires and floods, is “just nature” or “just how it is,” which can be a disempowering or disheartening feeling. Education not only shows students the impact that human activity can have on the environment, but also brings their attention to the ways in which they can have a positive impact through care and conservation.
The San Lorenzo River runs 30 miles from its origin near Castle Rock to the ocean, and showing students its full range on a map and through field trips really opens their eyes, causing them to realize “I’ve been there!” and understand how connected we are with our environment. In addition to opening eyes about the local environment and history, the programming can also afford students the opportunity to experience parts of the watershed they’ve never been before. By combining her subject matter expertise with experiences and enthusiasm, Maria makes it possible for a new generation of students to better understand their surroundings and how they can help make the world a better place by working together.
Key insights from Maria
Educational programs and scholarships help students understand and access sciences
A supportive attitude can help students succeed in school
Research methods need to evolve to address climate change
Creating personal experiences makes nature and climate real to kids
Favorites and recommendations
Favorite marine creature: Ocean sunfish (Mola mola)
Recommended textbook: Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity
Favorite beach: Asilomar State Beach