In Tacoma, The Salmon School has partnered with the Tacoma Public School District, Museum of Glass, Foss Waterway Seaport museum, and The eDNA Collaborative at University of Washington to learn about Chum Salmon.
Species we monitored with Foss Waterway Seaport museum and Tacoma Public Schools
Oncorhyncus keta – Chum salmon
To become better stewards of salmon and the ecosystem we share with them, students from Tacoma Public Schools are conducting a three-year study that can help quantify outward-migrating chum salmon smolt. This data is important because it could provide additional measurements when forecasting wild salmon returns.
As part of its educational programming, The Salmon School has developed a Citizen Science Workshop template — teaching community participants how to survey the habitats and fish populations of their local rivers, and how to collect eDNA samples that provide a genetic snapshot of salmon species and their environments.
Goal of the Citizen Science Workshops
For students to join The Salmon School and participate in its programming to ensure they become invested in our shared habitat of cold, clean water. Students participating in the workshops learn about the salmon as a symbol of our species’ interconnectedness, and that the salmons’ need for cold, clean water mirrors our own.
Understanding this interconnectedness becomes a function of observation and employing the tools of the scientist and artist to represent the world around us.
Our Hypothesis
We can evaluate the environmental DNA (eDNA) in the water of the fish tanks and verify what species of fish are in the tanks. We can also use this data to better understand how the rates of DNA shedding by fish is affected by the number of fish in a volume of water and how these rates change as fish grow.
In Swan Creek, we can measure eDNA before, during, and after releasing the salmon to “see” the effects on the stream water.
Science — In the Classroom and Streamside
Using the concept of “science as observation” as a starting point, students learn about and help collect environmental DNA (eDNA) from their School Cooperative Program (formerly Salmon in the Classroom) tanks. The eDNA collection identifies the salmon species present in each tank, and the quantity of DNA shed by the fish.
On field trips streamside, students become river scientists — collecting samples that reveal the presence and abundance of chum salmon in the river at the time of collection. This information is entered into a national scientific database working to create a picture of the species and quantity of fish in any given river system.
Merging Science and Art
The students who manage salmon tanks get the opportunity to participate in one of the art components of The Salmon School — a glassblowing fish-making session in collaboration with Hilltop Artists. Starting from the idea of artists as observers — not unlike the role of scientists — students consider an image of a salmon and hypothesize the proper shape and proportions for a fish form. Then, using gravity, centrifugal force, and glassmaking tools, the students help create the finished fish forms and grow The Salmon School.
Results of Year 1
Of the 30 water samples we tested for chum salmon DNA, we were able to use the data from 29 of them. This shows that schools and other community organizations can collect eDNA samples, send them out for testing, and get consistent results.
We don't have enough data at this point to make big conclusions, but have a good starting point as the program moves forward!
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