Celebrating the Stories Behind Community Science

Thanks to a generous grant for the Moore Foundation, AGU Thriving Earth Exchange commissioned four videos about recent community science projects. Each video shares the people, stories, and the science that make community science so powerful. We hope you will join us in celebrating and sharing these videos.

Rooting for Parrish, Alabama

This is a story about the infrastructure of our lives and Jubilee House’s ambitious plan to transform an old football field into a garden for all. Working with AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange, Capacity Collaborative, and scientists from Auburn University, the local community is looking to tackle a collapsed culvert head-on and turn this land into a crop growing powerhouse. The end game? Grow enough food to feed this corner of the world one person at a time.

Resilient Futures in Burlington, Vermont

Between 2023 and 2024, flooding around the Winooski River in Vermont destroyed dozens of homes and sixteen bridges. More rain and more flooding battled Central and Northern Vermont in the weeks that followed. Hardest hit were refugee communities in the Burlington area who are vulnerable to socioeconomic challenges and language barriers, making the damage to their homes and lives especially harrowing. Partnering with the AGU American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange and Nurture Nature, the Islamic Society of Vermont wants to survey the threat and create a risk assessment toolkit that can help more than 5,000 refugees prepare for the next flood. Relocation is not an option for them and as weather events become more severe and frequent this community will need to develop greater resilience in the face of a changing landscape. This is a story about forging a resilient future against the worsening odds of climate change across Vermont and beyond.

Fighting for Higher Ground in Detroit

In Detroit, faith communities are uniting to tackle environmental challenges with the help of AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange. At Scott Memorial United Methodist Church, members are addressing illegal dumping, researching sustainable waste solutions, raising awareness through education, and planning community cleanups. A few miles away, Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church is planting seeds of resilience with a community garden, water recycling and composting, creating new opportunities for education and connection. Together, these projects supported by Creation Justice Ministries and Thriving Earth Exchange show how faith and action can transform communities.

Waiwai: The Wealth of Water

On Maui’s north shore, KAʻEHU is restoring 64 acres of coastal wetlands at Ka`ehu Bay, once home to thriving fish ponds and a productive part of Maui’s ecosystem. Decades of development took a toll, but since 2012, k has been healing the land and revitalizing Hawaiian culture. With support from the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange and Kansas State Center for Hazardous Substance Research, they are launching a new water monitoring program blending traditional knowledge with STEM education to help the community to care for the bay and protect it for future generations.

Thank you to Team Three, who developed, filmed, and created the videos.