Olivia Sanderfoot, the ecologist in charge of running the program, helped introduce the concept alongside with the help of Torrey Gage Tomlinson, the program director, of Morro Coast Audubon Society. Tomlinson visits the class and introduces the projects, he presents presentations on conservation, and helps students learn on identifying bird sounds using the app, Merlin ID.
FEATHER began at Morro Coast Audubon Society, it was designed to give students tangible experiences in science and conservation. FEATHER is funded through a mix of grants, community partnerships, and individual donors; organizations such as the California Coastal Commission, the Community Foundation of SLO County, and the National Audubon Society.
“From the beginning, FEATHER was designed to give students real, tangible experiences in science and conservation–not just exposure. Project Phoenix and Project FeederWatch gives students exactly that,” Tomlinson said.
This new partnership between the AVID 11 class and the Morro Coast Audubon Society has created new Field Studies Collaborative opportunities. The first opportunity is to Santa Cruz Island during the spring break, April 18 to April 22. This new trip will include 25 people which includes students from multiple schools: SLOCAL, SLOHS, THS, AHS, and PRHS.
The purpose of this trip is to introduce Field Studies Collaborative to other schools. Mason Price, Jeremiah Bennett, and Jaqueline Lopez, will be the 3 students that will represent PRHS at Santa Cruz Island trip, Logan and Tomlison will both attend as chaperones and PRHS representatives.
“I’m really looking forward to expanding FEATHER to more schools across the Central Coast and building a sense of shared community between them. I’d love for FEATHER to become something students feel part of beyond just their own cohort,” Tomlison said.
Out of the 2 projects, Lopez’s favorite was Project Phoenix. For Project Phoenix, Lopez’s role was that of an observer, she would use her binoculars and identify the specific bird using Merlin ID. Lopez expresses that participating in this project has influenced her interest in pursuing science as a future career.
“At first I thought it was a bit silly, but I was also kind of excited because I like to interact with nature, after I realized how much I love doing hands-on science,” Lopez said.
Price’s favorite project was also Project Phoenix due to his enjoyment of observing bird interactions in an outdoor environment. He enjoyed learning about local bird species through the Merlin ID app.
“If you’re interested in animals, then I think that birding is great for you, but it’s not for everyone. It was cool to see how I knew a lot about the birds species around Paso,” Price said.
After Santa Cruz Island, the new FSC is Fort Ord, June 12 to June 16, this is a new trip for PRHS. Fort Ord is a national monument, during the Vietnam War, it served as a training center and as many as 1.5 million American soldiers trained there (Bureau of Land Management).
This trip will include 30 PRHS students; applications will be first open to AVID students and then the application will open for everyone at PRHS if not enough AVID students sign up.
The AVID class will also be attending 2 field trips to Cayucos, California, for a beach clean up, bird monitoring, and a watershed study. Both trips will be funded by the Whale Tail Grant.
The beach clean up will be led by ECOSLO a local nonprofit focused on environmental advocacy: students will work in teams, collect and sort trash, and learn how debris affects ecosystems.
The bird monitoring activity will be led by Tomlison; students will focus on observing shorebirds, ID birds with field guides, and recording species.
Led by Creek Lands Conservation, students will learn how water quality affects ecosystems by using scientific tools to test water for pH, nitrates, and dissolved oxygen.
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