Cal-Wood Fire Restoration Crew

Program Contact

Stacey Forsyth

Director, CU Science Discovery

stacey.forsyth@colorado.edu

303.492.4839

The Cal-Wood Restoration Crew (CRC) project aims to develop, implement and evaluate a residential field research experience for teens focused on wildfire ecology, mitigation and restoration. The proposed pilot project, led by CU Science Discovery in collaboration with Cal-Wood Education Center, Thorne Nature Experience, and Nature Kids / Jóvenes de la Naturaleza (NKJN), will engage 16 Latino teens from Lafayette and nearby communities in field research related to fire ecology and forest management.

The project is motivated by 2020’s Cal-Wood Fire, which consumed more than 10,000 acres, including more than half of Cal-Wood’s forest, and created a natural outdoor lab to study wildfire ecology, restoration and the impacts of fire mitigation efforts. The CRC is also a response to the interests and needs expressed by NKJN teens and their families. NKJN connects underserved Latino families in Lafayette with nature through environmental education and outdoor recreation programming.

Through NKJN program evaluation conducted over the past three years, community members have expressed numerous benefits of time spent in nature. Teens and their parents have also requested more opportunities for teens to explore nature-based careers and participate in ‘resume-building’ experiences that will help prepare them for college and/or the workforce. However, NKJN has limited spots for teens and few that focus on career exploration. NKJN families are highly interested in outdoor STEM learning experiences and during this time of COVID, are especially in need of safe, in-person experiences to engage teens during out-of-school-time hours.

The project’s goals are to:

  1. Engage underrepresented teens in authentic STEM research and collective action in response to the pressing local issue of wildfire ecology, mitigation and restoration;
  2. Design and initiate field experiments as part of a larger effort to transform the Cal-Wood Fire site into a natural laboratory for teaching and learning about fire ecology and restoration;
  3. Pilot a study about the role of constructive hope in informal environmental education, to learn how programs can effectively foster and leverage hope to inspire understanding, action, and sense of belonging in STEM fields.

The project will take place in early August 2021 at Cal-Wood Education Center, near Jamestown, Colorado.

  • Cal-Wood Fire Restoration Crew: Summer Field Research Experience for Teens


    Location

    in colorado

    Jamestown

    Dates

    8/1/2021 - 8/7/2021

    Public or Private

    Private Program (by request only or for a specific audience or group)

    Program Fee

    No charge to attend/participate in activity or program

Sponsoring Units

  • Division of Continuing Education

Program Partners

  • Cal-Wood Education Center
  • Thorne Nature Experience
  • Nature Kids / Jóvenes de la Naturaleza (NKJN)
  • Earth Lab (CU Boulder)
  • Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement (ODECE)

Audiences Served

  • Children & Youth (outside school)
  • Historically Excluded/Marginalized/Non-dominant Group(s)
  • Non-Profit Organization
  • Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
  • Students - High School