CSI-Maine (Community Science Investigations in Maine) builds on the idea that schools are an essential partner as communities face challenges arising from rapid environmental change. The role of schools is especially important in rural communities where the science and math teachers, their students, and school lab facilities make up an important part of the local capacity to collect and analyze data that the community needs for decision-making.
Crowd the Tap Maine
Communities across the country, including communities in Maine, have learned that the water coming from the tap may not always be safe to drink. CSI-Maine has launched a new program that supports teachers and students as they explore local drinking water quality. Using methods developed in the national Crowd the Tap program, students in Crowd the Tap Maine (CTTM) collect water samples from homes and buildings and look for patterns and differences in drinking water quality.
As of this writing (January, 2021) students have collected some data and they are now beginning to use maps and graphs to take a look at how drinking water differs from place to place. Go to the CTTM Program Update or the CTTM Latest Posts page to take a look at the kinds of things they can do with these data.
Shellfish Resilience
The picture on the right was taken from from the wharf in Bunker’s Harbor where CSI-Maine is assisting the Town of Gouldsboro in building a Shellfish Resilience Lab. The lab will focus on developing cost-effective methods to grow seed clams for use in restoring clam flats to productivity, Starting with juvenile clams that are almost too small to see, Gouldsboro will tend to them over one summer and winter so that they can grow to a half inch or so. For more pictures of the site where we will build the lab and more information about the lab’s goals, see the story here on the CSI-Maine site. For more background on this year’s work in finding a site for the lab, see the story in the Ellsworth American.
This month (January, 2021) we will begin work inside the building that will house the lab. More pictures and news will follow once we get that started!
Follow Us / Support Us
You can follow what we are doing in Crowd the Tap Maine and the Shellfish Resilience workby giving us permission to send you periodic updates about progress and new developments. The subscription form is at the bottom of this page on the left.
We welcome and rely upon support for the ongoing work at CSI-Maine. Please consider a gift through our parent organization, Schoodic Institute. When filling out the donation information, please click on the “in honor of” button and type “CSI-Maine” on the name bar that appears. If sending a check, please make it out to Schoodic Institute, and write “CSI-Maine” on the memo line. Thank you very much.