Young community member holding a red abalone for the first time at Crystal Cove State Park.
My outreach and advocacy work spans from high school education to promoting science-based policy to the United States Congress. I also engage in hands-on restoration work. I am passionate about creating opportunities for groups underrepresented in science, and working towards a more sustainable future for the oceans.
A full list of my communication & outreach work can be found in my CV.
A full list of my communication & outreach work can be found in my CV.
SCIENCE POLICY
Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship
I was a 2019 Mirzayan Fellow, where I worked with the Board on Life Sciences at the National Academy of Sciences. It was an honor to help the committee tasked with writing a consensus report on "Biological Collections: Their Past, Present, and Future Contributions and Options for Sustaining Them." See the report here.
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Climate Policy Hill Visit & UCI's Climate Action Training Program
Through this inaugural program at UCI, I interned at NOAA during the summer of 2016 working on the black abalone recovery plan. I incorporated climate change into the threats for black abalone (click image to see larger poster) but creating a conceptual model of all threats. I presented a talk on how to use climate change in policy at the UC Student Lobbying Conference, and visited Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to talk about bipartisan climate legislation. Reflections on this experience were published in Science.
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Targeted Instruction Generating Excitement About Research and Science (TIGERS)
During my graduate work at UC Irvine, our lab worked in partnership local Valencia High School to design inquiry-based lessons that we perform with the students one day each month. The goal is to get students excited about science, to improve scientific literacy, and create a life-long love of learning (especially about science). Learn more about that program here.
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Crystal Cove Conservancy Abalone Outreach & Citizen Science Cruises
I created an abalone outreach project at Crystal Cove State Park where I worked with the public every week to educate about abalone, their importance, and scientific research on these animals. Additionally, middle school students participate in Citizen Science Cruises, collecting digital fishing data around Crystal Cove State Park. The German lab was working with the Crystal Cove Alliance to improve these cruises, by helping to organize data collected on the cruises and improve data collection protocols for the students in the program.
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Remutaka Forest Trust
While I was living in New Zealand working on my Fulbright and National Geographic research, I volunteered with the Remutaka (formerly Rimutaka) Forest Park Trust. This conservation work included pulling invasive plants and planting native trees. I also tracked kiwi birds (photographed below) that had been recently released to confirm that the males were raising chicks effectively in the wild. All kiwi handling was performed with the Remutaka Forest Trust under supervision.
Turn of the Tide Podcast
I created, directed, and co-hosted a podcast for a season, which focused on early career women doing exceptional, cutting-edge work on climate change, including oceans and fisheries research, and environmental justice. We defined research broadly, to including anyone working on science or humanities issues related to climate change. Turn of the Tide has two meanings - one for women and underrepresented groups growing in the sciences, and the second for a turning point in our Earth's natural history. The waves are made of the inside of the koru, which represent new life, growth, and strength. The episode linked below is about red abalone.
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Science writing and communication
I've written multiple science communication pieces for broad audiences. A few are linked here. The full list can be found in my CV.
Climate Change Is Strengthening Typhoons, Hurricanes and Cyclones. The US Isn’t Paying Attention. Union of Concerned Scientists Blog, December 2018, by Alyssa Frederick Steven Mana`oakamai Johnson
From Abalone to Advocacy. Science Working Life. July 2017, by Alyssa Frederick
From Abalone to Advocacy. Science Working Life. July 2017, by Alyssa Frederick