Meet Jannis Jocius

Jannis Jocius, a master's candidate in the Department of Conservation Social Sciences, developed an award-winning teaching curriculum that engaged high school volunteers in the long range scientific monitoring of camas lily populations.

THE PROJECT
Jocius created a camas lily monitoring project as part of a National Park Service initiative to assess plant species which represent the overall health or condition of park resources. The initiative was developed by the Upper Columbia Basin Network. Within a plot, citizen scientists and National Park Service staff recorded the number of camas plants, number of reproductive camas plants, depth of thatch and presence of two invasive species.

THE IMPACT
High school students, dubbed “citizen scientists,” used Global Positioning Systems, compasses and handheld personal computers to collect data for the Park Service. The students and collaborators tried to determine how camas population growth and reproduction were affected by the following affect:
• precipitation
• temperature
• soil structure
• non native, invasive weeds

THE VISION
The monitoring data helps National Park Service staff recreate more naturally functioning ecosystems using camas as an indicator species. Students learn the importance of teamwork and collaboration in a place-based, hands-on educational setting.

THE PEOPLE
National Park Service scientists, high school students, CNR graduate student and faculty