Non Technical Summary
Our proposal leverages synergies between UVI, the Etelman Observatory (Observatory), and CES, GeoCAS which is responsible for the GIS component of the project as part of the technology element well as deepens our relationship and work with professors at UPR Mayaguez who will participate and also teach distance seminars. We will continue to build cooperative relationships between CES, DOA, the Observatory, and UVI and fellow researchers across the nation including UPR Mayaguez which will lead to water quality and STEM education in the schools, create near to peer and peer to peer mentoring alongside researchers who will engage the youth in Citizen Science projects that involve chemistry, physics, astrophysics bridging weather and climate, technology and health and nutrition focused on agriculture. CES will gain more experience teaching distance education by including a high school in St Croix and UVI youth in the pilot on St. Thomas will gain mentoring experience to help their younger peer gain access to college who are at risk youth. Teachers will gain training in new science topics and access to online mapping and watershed and other technology demonstration equipment for use in the classroom. They will also gain access to researchers at their school that can be used in distance education lessons about agriculture, technology, climate, and mathematics and furthering STEM vision of creating more future scientists. Arts and communication in the form of video technology for the youth to record and upload their experiences and share training sessions which can then be shared with other youth and educators across the country who may be interested in their efforts taking the program from a STEM based program to a STEAM enhanced program adding the element of arts by creating communications vehicles including scientific interviews,PSA's which will also be created so the broader community may learn about and become informed of program outcomes and the importance of scientific communication can not only be enhanced through WQAP but enhanced in the USVI and beyond.Students will be exposed to lessons about watershed function, water quality, food safety and agriculture and how it impact by the water cycle, and other topics in hydrology. They will gain experience with the weather stations and data collection and analysis in their schools by producing weather reports using their weather station

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
111	0210	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Goals / Objectives
This proposalseeks support for a distance education programcalled theWater Quality Ambassador Programwhich will be taught in 10-12th grade environmental and biology classes at Complex Educational High School in St Croix. Classrooms. Due to the fact that it isa distance educaiton component,the programis designedso thatin future years, more schools can participate and can be accommodated in this proposal. The program will involve a collaboration between Dr. Alexandridis, Dr. Latesky and Dr. Morris, faculty at the University of the Virgin Islands, and Ms. Christina Chanes, an educator in the 4H program at the Cooperative Extension Service of the Territory of the Virgin Islands, and schools that are participating in her 4H education programs on the island of St. Croix. Developmental Evaluation meetings under the direction of Dr. Caryl Johnson, Ed.D, Director of UVICES Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program will be conducted on an ongoing basis in an effort to ensure project completion and goals are met in a timely fashion as well as to adjust project interactions in real time with youth mentees, mentees and researchers to maximize outcome to ensure project success and to allow project researchers in all areas to adjust processes to facilitate real time feedback as well as maintain and continuous development loop. Students will be exposed to lessons about watershed function, water quality, food safety and agriculture and how it is impacted by the water cycle, and other topics in hydrology. The youth and mentorswill gain experience with the weather stations and data collection as well asanalysis of the data collected in their schools by producing weather reports using their weather station. They will gain access to online mapping technologies that will allow them to report map based information about their watersheds that can be shared between schools and with the general public.

Project Methods
The Water Quality Ambassador Pilot Program introduces a variety of STEM areas of research to the participants in it and further support the Next Generation of Stem Standards in the school. In addition, byadding to theSTEM based college pathways and career opportunitites into theirhigh school curriculum, youth have a more concentrated opportunity to take part in filed work and site visits that bring science to real time lessons which real time impacts on water and soil quality using the FQAP as a vehicle to advance learning beyond the classroom and inot the UVI labs, filed, outdoor leanring centers and beyond. This is being done in an effort to further advance their science education, capaplut thier interest in sceicne and create and opportunity to advacne their thinking byond high school and inot opportunities that will further preapre them for collge and STEM education.All of the Citizen Science research described in the pilot program is STEM education and is tied to the NGSS standards. It provides students with an understanding of their own watershed, water quality and how they affect it. It includes lessons on weather and climate, watershed function, the water cycle, human water consumption, the functioning of the weather stations, and aquifers, and it also introduces students to methods for collecting their own observations where they live. In addition to in school lessons, students are introduced to methods for reporting their own observations of the condition of their local watersheds, water quality and begin to analyze that data along with researchers using web- based mapping applications set up by GeoCAS geographic and map data servers. The WQAP Citizen Science focused pilot program will be managed by Ms. Chanes who already has a more than five years of experience teaching in the schools through 4H with water quality, weather and climate, hydrology and EFNEP. The undergraduate Program Assistant will help with organizing materials, printing, and keeping records. Dr Alexandridis, Dr. Latesky, Dr. Morris all will act as consultant to Ms. Chanes on presentation content and will visit and present seminar classes to talk with teachers and high school youth in the program. Teachers will be introduced to the research ongoing at the university in the areas described above, learn how to use the data collected to document water quality in homes and on farms as well as create PSA's to be shared with the broader community.