Citizen Science in Saipan: Engaging an Island Community

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Exploration-Forward Archaeology Through Community-Driven Research", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The 2023 NOAA Saipan project included a significant public outreach component. A major part of the grant focused on re-visiting sites included in the WWII Battle of Saipan Maritime Heritage Trail to conduct monitoring and update site plans. Since these sites first were documented to create the Trail in 2008, they were due for a thorough inspection and evaluation, which also provided opportunity to collect eDNA for analysis. The key to completing this objective was engaging and training on-island volunteers, particularly veterans who wished to become involved in the project. Task Force Dagger Foundation members and their families also joined in the training and field work, maintaining ties with Special Operations Forces veterans. This paper discusses public engagement strategies developed to inform island residents of the project and to publicize the project farther afield, training developed for the citizen scientists, and educational materials produced for Saipan’s community and schools.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Exploration-Forward Archaeology Through Community-Driven Research

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow