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Overview

Assateague Island National Seashore
Assateague Island National Seashore

The Science Communication in the Parks (SCIP) initiative was launched in July 2024. This opportunity is administered by ESA in cooperation with the National Park Service, as part of the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Program.

See some of the products created by our SCIP Fellows!

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This project will offer up to six (6) SciComm Fellowships each year. Selected SCIP Fellows will receive a $3000 stipend, professional development in SciComm and work with a Project Mentor with SciComm expertise and NPS liaisons to develop two SciComm products each. Eligibility criteria apply. Participating NPS Science liaisons have identified key priorities and audiences for this effort.

Purpose of Project

The original purpose of the project was to support communications related to high-profile regional resource initiatives supporting Northeastern National Parks. The program has expanded, and now supports a wider variety of resource-related communication needs within the National Park Service

Key Communications Goals

Three key communications goals have been identified:

  1. Communicate the initiatives and operationalize best practices within the National Park Service.  
  2. Inspire initiatives beyond the National Park Service that support the adoption of best practices to restore ecosystems and enhance resilience to stressors. 
  3. Demonstrate how the National Park Service is preserving and protecting resources throughout the region. 

NPS Key Audiences

NPS key audiences include internal NPS national and regional leadership, government agencies, academic partners, non-government organizations, communities and tribal nations, park visitors and media outlets in the region.  The SciComm products will aim to inform these audiences of the purposes, best practices, funding opportunities and impacts of the regional resource initiatives. Accompanied by actionable steps or a “call to action” that invite further engagement, we anticipate multiple ways that the key audiences may benefit, including exposure to new ideas or taking steps to adopt new climate smart research or implement evidence-based management practices.

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units

This project is funded through Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) program. CESUs provide research, technical assistance, and education to federal land management, environmental, and research agencies and their partners. The partners serve the biological, physical, social, cultural, and engineering disciplines needed to address natural and cultural resource management issues at multiple scales and in an ecosystem context.

The CESU Network partners are organized into seventeen units. ESA is a member of the Chesapeake Watershed CESU (CWCESU) unit.