The Living Snow Project: Citizen Science Program for Alpine Outdoor Recerationalists

Abstract:

The Living Snow Project is a community enabled science (aka citizen science) program that engages the outdoor recreation community in science that is revealing impacts of climate change on biology in snowy alpine environments in Cascade Mountains, with a particular focus on the Salish Sea region. The LSP's primary goal is to support scientific efforts in my lab at Western Washington University to characterize snow microbiome biodiversity and distribution across the Cascade Mountains and other regional mountains over time. Our research focuses on where and when snow algae bloom, dispersal mechanisms, and how their communities evolve over time in response to climate-driven changes to snow algae habitat. To do this, we need to collect robust datasets from samples across from as many locations as possible over time to document communities annually. To date, the LSP has engaged over 300 volunteers since 2017 primarily in the Pacific Northwest in the US and Canada. Samples collected by volunteers have contributed data on distributions of some new “species” of snow algae in the PNW – the strains we see here are genetically distinct from samples sequenced from other alpine regions around the world as well as helped define variability in community structure over space and time. The Volunteers help us maintain large scale collections, even during the 2020 season, which is impacted by pandemic-related travel challenges. We have participated in a number of outreach activities to increase participation, generate excitement, and improve the public's knowledge and understanding of snow ecosystems by partnering with news media, print media, and holding events at outdoor retailers. A secondary goal is to learn how participation in citizen science can increase participants’ further engagement in conservation and facilitate conservation attitudes and behavior change. To assess this, we used pre-post survey methods in 2019 to assess motivation for participation, attitudes about nature and conservation before and after participation.