Outcomes


Climate Change Apps

 


 

A major activity of the workshop was a 'hackathon', in which students would compete in devising citizen science apps on the theme of local climate change and traditional knowledge. The goal of this activity was to give students hands-on experience with citizen science and to get them thinking about how they would apply their existing web skills to tackle problems of local climate change. 

 

On the afternoon of the first day, students split up into three teams. For the rest of the day, they brainstormed app ideas, using what they had learned from us about citizen science and heard from elder Eugene Brower about climate change.  The idea was to focus on what they wanted to do, without thinking too much about how they would do it. 

 

On day two, they worked on how they'd build their apps. In the afternoon, they put together presentations, which they then presented to an audience of friends, family and College staff. 

 

Here's what they came up with. I think it's fair to say the students surprised us both with their ideas and the level of their design skills!

 

And please remember, what you see here are just starting points, not finished apps. As we emphasized in the workshop, a successful community citizen science project needs to take into account the values and traditions of the local community, as well as their concerns. Taking the next step would involve a process of consultation and co-design with the local and scientific communities, as well as approval from state and federal agencies, where appropriate. 

 

Team 1

 

Team 1 produced ideas for two apps:

 

 

You can have a look at their presentation here:

 

 

Team 2

 

Team 2 created "The Arctic Change" a Facebook community page where people can post photos to raise awareness about arctic climate change.

 

 

Team 3

 

Team 3 came up with an idea for a Game Tracker mobile app. The game tracker app would allow hunting teams to share information about game with each other, while keeping the information secure. Information could also be shared with scientists to study the effects of climate change.

 

They did a storyboard for the app first...

 

 

Then a mock-up... 

 

 

 

Saturday Workshop

 

We met again  for another workshop  on Saturday  with students who wanted to take their ideas further. Here's what we worked on.

 

 

Erosion Tracker

 

Alyssa Granatir came up with her own idea for an app to collect data on soil erosion on the North Slope. She produced some wireframes which you can see here:

 

Ero Track: Erosion Tracker Mobile App for Shoreline Erosion from Brian Fuchs

 

Game Tracker

 

Sara Coleman worked on  a prototype design for her Game Tracker idea. 

 

Here's a screenshot.