Student intern: Victoria Lee (Social Anthropology, Sustainable Development)
Supervisors: Grace Brady (PhD Biology), Sasha Hooker (School of Biology), Faye Moyes (School of Biology), Jane Pettegree (Laidlaw Music Centre), Michael Vail (PhD Biology), Rehema White (School of Geography and Sustainable Development)
Supervising seven kids as they splashed around the East Sands rock pools – up to their knees in quicksand, and thrilled about it – was not how I’d imagined my BIRCH research internship would go. But after weeks at my desk, it was incredibly rewarding to see the activity books I’d spent the past month researching, writing, and drawing clutched in the kids’ hands as they explored the rock pools.
This summer, the theme of my BIRCH project was public engagement. I worked at the Scottish Oceans Institute (SOI) to develop a new ‘Ocean Ambassador’ programme, aimed toward children and families to engage them in the work of the SOI and local ocean biodiversity more broadly. Children and families complete an activity book, or ‘Training Guide,’ then become certified ‘Ocean Ambassadors’ by receiving a signed certificate (and sticker!) from the SOI.
I began by researching public engagement strategies and principles, and drawing on my knowledge from Sustainable Development and Social Anthropology modules I’d taken, settled on the following goals for the booklet:
- Encourage both children AND parents to get interested and involved in biodiversity.
- Empower participants to take pro-environmental action through positive, encouraging messaging.
- Explore and showcase diverse ways of experiencing the natural environment, beyond seeing it as a ‘resource’ for human gain.
From there, the main task was making the booklet itself! The first step was designing the activities. Each activity teaches Ocean Ambassadors about a different aspect of ocean biodiversity as they walk from Castle Sands to East Sands: identifying seabirds, noting down tide times, exploring rock pools, considering the cultural importance of biodiversity, and even listening out for unique sounds of the shore. Other activities also introduce participants to biodiversity threats, and the actions they can take against them. From there, I spent the rest of my time making illustrations for the booklet, and adding in extra resources to supplement the book: for example, an old audio recording of a fisherman talking about life on St Andrews Harbour in the early 20th century (courtesy of the St Andrews Heritage Museum and Garden).
Once the booklet was complete, I wanted to test it on actual kids and families, and use their feedback and suggestions to alter the book as necessary. In my last few weeks, I ran two pilot tests on small groups of families, in the form of a guided beach walk. These were so much fun – and so insightful! As we walked, I got to see for myself which activities the kids enjoyed, whether the language was understandable, and importantly, whether the adults felt inspired to adopt biodiversity-friendly actions themselves. I made two rounds of revisions following these sessions, and now, the Ocean Ambassador booklet is available at the SOI for anyone to explore!
Throughout this project, I was able to learn from both marine biologists at the SOI and local St Andrews families about not only ocean biodiversity, but how best to communicate it to a wide range of audiences. As we move into the roll-out phase of this programme, I’m excited to see how many new Ocean Ambassadors we can inspire to get interested and take action to protect ocean biodiversity!