Building community climate resilience through Western Washington small marine science centers

Abstract

Western Washington plays host to a great diversity of small, community-based science centers as part of its regional museum landscape. Although the work done by community-based science organizations is understudied in the museum field, these organizations may offer an important model for other museums looking articulate the role(s) they play in supporting community climate resilience. The purpose of this research was to explore how small marine science centers (MSCs) in Western Washington are defining and supporting climate resiliency in their communities. Data collection occurred primarily through two rounds of semi-structured, 60-minute interviews with staff from both local MSCs (n=3) as well as MSC partner organizations (n=2). MSCs envisioned their climate resiliency work as fundamentally social endeavors focused on increasing their community's access to regional scientific infrastructure. All sites focused specifically on youth/young adult-serving projects as “embodying” the role(s) they strive to play in building community resilience. Finally, partners and partnership work were both pivotal to the role envisioned by the MSCs in supporting community climate resilience as well as integral to all focal projects examined in this case study. As museums at-large must reckon with the roles they play in supporting and stewarding sustainability in their communities, this research stands as a testament to the important work being done by small, local, community-based organizations. Building community climate resilience requires that museums develop broad networks outside of their institutional silos, and these small marine science centers may offer an important model of how to do so in practice.