Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program

Summary

The Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program (THSCMP) engages students and teachers who live along the Texas  coast to work together with scientists to gain a better understanding of dune and beach dynamics. Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin provide the tools and training needed for scientific investigation. Students and teachers learn how to measure the topography, recognize and map the vegetation line and shoreline, and observe weather and wave conditions. The data collected by the school students are analyzed by scientists at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), The University of Texas at Austin and the students themselves, and compared to data collected by students in previous years. Students are able to quantitatively observe how the beaches and dunes change through the course of the program. Time series of coastal measurements are important in understanding coastal processes, and the continuation of the THSCMP adds to the Texas coastal database maintained by the BEG. By participating in an actual research project, the students obtain an enhanced science education. Furthermore, public awareness of coastal processes and the Texas Coastal Management Program is heightened, and the students’ efforts provide coastal communities with valuable data on their changing shoreline.