High School Students Conducting Research on Maine’s Critical Snowpack

snopackpicThis winter, teams of Maine high school students trudged through harsh conditions to measure snow depths at different sites around the state. It wasn’t a typical science class exercise. The students and their teachers were engaged in serious research, scientific inquiries that could have real impact in the state.

 Guided by their teachers, the students from Old Town High School and Bangor High School studied the nature of snowpack, snowfall and timing of snowmelt in Maine’s various climate zones. The data are of real value to scientists since they have no snow depth/snowmelt information for large swaths of the state.

 Funding  for this project was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Researchers from  the Senator George J. Mitchell Center at UMaine, UMaine’s Climate Change Institute and the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park partnered on the study. Students presented early results of their fieldwork on May 8 at the Acadia Learning Student Research Symposium held at the Mitchell Center.

 “We have an amazing inaugural group of teachers, along with their students, for this project,” said Sarah Nelson, Assistant Research Professor, Senator George J. Mitchell Center and Cooperating Assistant Research Professor, School of Forest Resources. “All of them are believers in science, in their students and in doing project-based research to spark their students’ interest in science.”

 Students presented findings on the onset of snowpack, snow depths throughout the winter and new snow amounts. The research was the culmination of partnerships with scientists from the US Geological Survey, Maine Sea Grant and the National Weather Service.

 “The sophistication of the hypotheses and conceptual models, data analysis, and discussion of the process was outstanding,” said Ivan Fernandez, Distinguished Maine Professor, Climate Change Institute & School of Forest Resources.

 The project will continue this coming winter with more opportunities for students and teachers to participate.