AP Academy Students Help NAU Researchers Study Climate Change - Part I

May 11, 2015 / Karin Eberhard/Flagstaff Unified School District 

Seven AP Biology and former AP Environmental Science students from Flagstaff High School went to the Mangum Ranch on the Kaibab Plateau of Northern Arizona for a service-learning project from April 22 to 26 with the Southwest Experimental Garden Array (SEGA) Project in partnership with the Grand Canyon Trust, The Arboretum of Flagstaff, the Department of Biology and College of Forestry at Northern Arizona University.

Flagstaff High School students setting up a weather monitoring station. Photo courtesy Michael Remke/SEGA Project.

SEGA is designed to study and model the effects on climate change on ecosystems of the U.S. Southwest, as well as, to provide study sites for scientists across the nation.

Once fully operational, there will be 10 sites located in Northern Arizona across an elevation and precipitation gradient and on volcanic and limestone soils.

During the day, students worked on construction of a deer/cattle fence and digging holes for experimental plants at the Whitepockets and Little Mountain sites.

Work was supervised by Grand Canyon Trust staff members, as well as, FHS teachers Linda Lenz and Jeff Taylor

Flagstaff High School students work on construction of a deer/cattle fence. Photo courtesy Michael Remke/SEGA Project

In the evenings, students learned about this $4.1 million National Science Foundation grant from the principal investigators including Dr. Amy Whipple, adjunct research professor at Northern Arizona University and director of the Merrian-Powell Research Station, Dr. Kris Haskins, Director of Research at The Arboretum at Flagstaff and adjunct professor of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University, Paul Heinrich, Research Informatics Officer for the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research at Northern Arizona University, and Mike Remke, Ph.D. candidate in the College of Forestry at Northern Arizona University.

Flagstaff High School students eat their lunch and enjoy the view. Photo courtesy Michael Remke/SEGA Project

The AP Academy has already arranged for several students to do their Senior Capstone Projects associated with SEGA and the FHS science department will continue this partnership into the future with planned field trips for the AP Biology and AP Environmental Science classes, guest lectures during the school year, and service-learning projects in the spring.

AP Academy Students Help Land Managers at Walnut Canyon National Monument

On three days in late September, approximately 90 students from the AP Environmental Science and AP Biology classes at Flagstaff High School participated in a fire ecology and forest management research project at Walnut Canyon National Monument. This was the 2^nd year students participated in this real world research project in partnership with the National Park Service.

1: GPS'ing and surveying a Ponderosa pine at Walnut Canyon Nat'l Mon

Walnut Canyon National Monument resource managers are currently inventorying the entire forest on the monument in attempt to assess the forest structure and catastrophic fire risk to protect natural and cultural resources. The eventual goal is to develop a forest management plan that restores the natural historic structure of the Ponderosa pine forest, as well as, the historic fire regime of small scale ground fires which promotes increased biodiversity on the forest floor, while simultaneously protecting the myriad of archeological sites on the monument.

Future forest management may include thinning projects, prescribed burns, and managed natural fires. But, to maintain the large fire resistant trees on the landscape, forest managers need to know the location and density of the large trees and whether ladder fuels are present that would risk small scale ground fires getting into the forest canopy.

The National Park Service Ranger Steven Rossi and Americorps Vista volunteer Megan Carmel came into the AP classes at Flagstaff High School the week prior to the surveys to do a presentation on the historic forest structure and fire regimes of the region and then to do an onsite training of how to conduct the surveys using trees on the FHS campus.

The next week, these students began surveying trees in the backcountry of the monument. Students worked in groups 3-4 surveying specific transects. Students would identify Ponderosa pine trees larger than 15” in diameter using a DBH tape. Once identified, students would GPS the location of these large trees, determine whether down and dead debris lay under its canopy, and determined whether ladder fuels from nearby vegetation and trees existed that would allow a ground fire to climb up into the canopy. They also took note of any markers, tags, or cultural resources that would be of concern to monument resource managers.

2: Students measuring the diameter of a tree with a DBH tape and GPS'ing the location

Students had an amazing time being able to use real world field experiences in a service learning environment. There was a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that their work will be used by actual land managers to make forest management decisions. They also enjoyed the opportunity to eat lunch perched on the sides of Walnut Canyon, taking in the natural beauty, instead of being stuck inside a classroom.

3: Students enjoying lunch on the edge of Walnut Canyon

The goal is to continue the partnership between the AP Academy at Flagstaff High School and the National Park Service well into the future with future forest surveys planned, as well as, the opportunity to work on invasive species management and other projects at other Flagstaff area parks as well.

4: Searching for large trees

Welcome to the AP Academy Blog

Welcome to the AP Academy at Flagstaff High School blog. This blog will be a site where news, events, and information about the AP Academy will be shared with the public. There are some really exciting things happening that we want to get out there to celebrate the great work of our students and community partners. New articles will be published regularly.