A New Approach to Public Engagement

A major challenge faced by fish ecologists and managers is disseminating their work to the general public, and the difficulty of this task is exacerbated by a lack of understanding and thus acceptance of the scientific process by the non-scientific community. Research suggests that most 4th-graders think positively or negatively about science, and that this attitude toward science persists through adulthood. In Colorado, a large proportion of 4^th-graders report having few positive experiences in science and rarely thinking about science. This proportion is even higher in underrepresented groups such as among Hispanic students. Because attitudes towards science become fixed at an early age, we can make a large impact in our outreach efforts by targeting minority students in the 4^th-grade or younger, and by emphasizing the scientific process in addition to our passion for fish. Using these goals, I developed and implemented an outreach program at two elementary schools, where one was comprised of 85% low-income Hispanic students. Using the Trinidadian guppy, a small freshwater fish with a variety of easily observable behaviors, I helped the students complete the scientific process from asking questions, forming hypotheses, conducting behavioral experiments, to entering and analyzing data. I was careful to choose a fish species that the teachers would have access to, in this case from local pet stores, since they plan to repeat this program every year without assistance. Here, I present the details of this program and discuss how it might be modified to fit specific needs of other fish biologists. For example, this program could be used to introduce fish biology to young minority students, who might otherwise have no exposure to the field, and thus aid in recruitment of future fisheries professionals. Currently, funding agencies, including NSF, suggest that we spend ten percent of our efforts on dissemination, not including publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Kindergarten through 12^th-grade outreach is an important part of this ten percent, and it is critical that we design programs that will have the most impact on public acceptance and trust in the scientific method used in fish biology.