It has been an exciting past few weeks here at COASST!

Recently, we had the opportunity to host the DO-IT scholars and teach them a little bit about what we do here at COASST!  The DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) program encourages young adults with disabilities to pursue secondary education and helps them in establishing successful careers.  Our eight scholars, matriculating from different schools around the Seattle region, were a part of the science track. They came to the fisheries building to get their feet wet in the wonderful world of citizen science!

DO-IT scholars identifying feet and wings.

At the start of the day, the bright-eyed students trekked to COASST and were thrown straight into the mix!  They were shown what COASST strives to achieve each and everyday, and how the program works with local communities to provide useful beached-bird baseline.  In addition, the scholars were given a tutorial on how to identify birds using the COASST guide.  Then the real exciting part began.  Once the students became familiarized with the guide, Liz and Shannon took the group to the necropsy lab to test their skills. They had to identify birds like the Rhinoceros Auklet, Black-footed Albatross, Large Immature Gull, Common Loon, Common Murre, American Crow, etc.  It was such a great experience, and most importantly the kids got to participate in hands on science learning!

Shannon shows one of the scholars how to use the foot key of the COASST guide.

Click here to learn more about the DO-IT program.