I enjoyed getting to see this great example of a capstone project centering on sustainable seafood, as this is the subject I hope to get more involved in for my project. I opened my pitch by listing the various meals that were served by the Fish to Families program over the course of a year. I named dishes like gazpacho and escabeche, asking the audience what they thought these meals might have in common. I hoped to conjure up images of 5-star meals with these fancy names. I revealed that these were all dishes that were served for free, to those who needed them in the San Diego community. I used a simple surprise to catch the attention of my audience, and have them wondering how dishes like these came to be served. I followed with the story of the program and how it intersected with my capstone. I thought this would serve as a quick, effective, and memorable way to hook the audience. I also stressed "the why" of this project, hoping to further drive home the importance of analyzing these types of programs in order to support community based seafood systems in the future.
My capstone project (hopefully) will study the impacts of nutrient enrichment from wastewater and land-use change on coral reef ecosystems. I have past experiences and a deep personal connection with these intricate, beautiful ecosystems. I plan to tell my personal concrete stories of seeing, first-hand, the damaging impacts of pollution on corals and their ecosystems. I've seen the impacts of land-use change (i.e. removing reefs for seaweed farms or destroying mangroves for coastal development) and pollution (from poorly managed sanitation or direct dumping). I will use my past experiences to build credibility and establish a simple, concrete message through personal storytelling. I will also discuss the communities' dependence upon these ecosystems in order to instill emotion and further credibility.
As with Annie, I am also working on my idea. I think I have an interesting question with a charismatic central character - Chinook salmon. But I am grappling with my core idea, the answer to "so what?". I am leaning towards zooming out and making my story a mystery about whether increased sea surface temperatures are preventing fishery managers from accurately predicting stock abundance, which in turn prevents them from setting sustainable catch limits. Then I can use the story of Chinook salmon as a concrete example. So instead of making it a story about Chinook salmon specifically, making it about the challenges of setting accurate harvest limits in a rapidly changing environment. The latter story seems like it may have broader appeal.
For my capstone pitch, I will start off with a story of when I did a street theatre performance as a sea turtle (with associated photos). I want to convey the potential efficacy of experiential engagement through the performing arts, so I want to tell the story of how some of my past experiences left strong impressions on people, including a young woman who reached out to me months after the performance to tell me that she still thought about it. I also like the idea of starting out with something unexpected - seeing a photo of me in full makeup and costume as a sea turtle, with a plastic bag in my mouth and caught in a net. Hopefully the visual along with the story will engage people from the beginning and provide credibility as I go on to explain how experiential engagement through the performing arts can be an effective platform for science communications, community involvement, and policy-based calls to action, all of which can ultimately contribute to broader social change.
While I still have quite a bit of work to do to flush out my capstone idea, I hope to be able to explain the need for my project through simple, concrete stories that show the impacts that the area has already faced from sea level rise and how the project can provide multiple benefits to the surrounding communities. I think the topic of sea level rise can create a lot of empathy because we are already seeing flooding impacts and it's something that, for many people, is not difficult to relate to.
I enjoyed getting to see this great example of a capstone project centering on sustainable seafood, as this is the subject I hope to get more involved in for my project. I opened my pitch by listing the various meals that were served by the Fish to Families program over the course of a year. I named dishes like gazpacho and escabeche, asking the audience what they thought these meals might have in common. I hoped to conjure up images of 5-star meals with these fancy names. I revealed that these were all dishes that were served for free, to those who needed them in the San Diego community. I used a simple surprise to catch the attention of my audience, and have them wondering how dishes like these came to be served. I followed with the story of the program and how it intersected with my capstone. I thought this would serve as a quick, effective, and memorable way to hook the audience. I also stressed "the why" of this project, hoping to further drive home the importance of analyzing these types of programs in order to support community based seafood systems in the future.
My capstone project (hopefully) will study the impacts of nutrient enrichment from wastewater and land-use change on coral reef ecosystems. I have past experiences and a deep personal connection with these intricate, beautiful ecosystems. I plan to tell my personal concrete stories of seeing, first-hand, the damaging impacts of pollution on corals and their ecosystems. I've seen the impacts of land-use change (i.e. removing reefs for seaweed farms or destroying mangroves for coastal development) and pollution (from poorly managed sanitation or direct dumping). I will use my past experiences to build credibility and establish a simple, concrete message through personal storytelling. I will also discuss the communities' dependence upon these ecosystems in order to instill emotion and further credibility.
As with Annie, I am also working on my idea. I think I have an interesting question with a charismatic central character - Chinook salmon. But I am grappling with my core idea, the answer to "so what?". I am leaning towards zooming out and making my story a mystery about whether increased sea surface temperatures are preventing fishery managers from accurately predicting stock abundance, which in turn prevents them from setting sustainable catch limits. Then I can use the story of Chinook salmon as a concrete example. So instead of making it a story about Chinook salmon specifically, making it about the challenges of setting accurate harvest limits in a rapidly changing environment. The latter story seems like it may have broader appeal.
For my capstone pitch, I will start off with a story of when I did a street theatre performance as a sea turtle (with associated photos). I want to convey the potential efficacy of experiential engagement through the performing arts, so I want to tell the story of how some of my past experiences left strong impressions on people, including a young woman who reached out to me months after the performance to tell me that she still thought about it. I also like the idea of starting out with something unexpected - seeing a photo of me in full makeup and costume as a sea turtle, with a plastic bag in my mouth and caught in a net. Hopefully the visual along with the story will engage people from the beginning and provide credibility as I go on to explain how experiential engagement through the performing arts can be an effective platform for science communications, community involvement, and policy-based calls to action, all of which can ultimately contribute to broader social change.
While I still have quite a bit of work to do to flush out my capstone idea, I hope to be able to explain the need for my project through simple, concrete stories that show the impacts that the area has already faced from sea level rise and how the project can provide multiple benefits to the surrounding communities. I think the topic of sea level rise can create a lot of empathy because we are already seeing flooding impacts and it's something that, for many people, is not difficult to relate to.