On Sunday, May 23, at 2:30 p.m., the Yale Club of Sacramento is inviting people from anywhere in the world to harness technology and come together online as citizen scientists to pitch in with an effort to help better forecast the effects of rising sea levels, so that coastal communities across the globe can plan and prepare.
As reported recently on NPR, climate scientists have discovered a trove of data documenting sea levels off the coast of England. Beginning in the mid-1800s, workers at the Hilbre Island lifeboat rescue station, near Liverpool, recorded daily tide levels at 15-minute intervals. This data set can help scientists develop computer models of how today's rising sea levels may affect coastal communities across the globe. The challenge is that the data are collected in handwritten logs not legible to computers.
That’s where we come in: An organization that gathers ocean data worldwide has scanned the handwritten logs from Hilbre Island and made them publicly available through Zooniverse, a website that collects “virtual” community service projects. Through Zooniverse, we can volunteer to transcribe individual pages of these logs and help digitize their valuable data.This may not sound glamorous—and it isn’t—but it’s a chance for some socially distanced service, and we can make it fun!
Our plan is to gather interested Yalies together on Zoom so that we can meet each other, learn more about the project, and get excited for some data entry. After that meeting, we’ll disperse for an hour to help with the transcription project, then gather again briefly to celebrate what we’ve collectively been able to accomplish.
If you can't meet with the group at the planned time, we welcome you to get in touch with us anyway, using the registration link to express your interest. We can provide information on how to participate in the transcription project independently, whenever fits your schedule, and still count it toward the Yale alumni group's tally.
Help keep the Yale Day of Service tradition alive in Sacramento (or wherever this invitation reaches you) in these challenging times. The organizers will contact registrants by email to provide further information.
Contact: Sarah Citrin '00
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