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The study of seabirds can provide a fascinating subject for the integration of datasets and data practices with scientific phenomena. Workshop participants will examine trends and correlations in several decades of National Audubon Society data about puffins, using an accessible open-source education data tool (CODAP). They will examine relationships among variables including sea surface temperature, fish in the puffin diet, fledgling weight, and survival to breeding age. They will use present-day data from puffin webcams and sound recordings to supplement their work with historical datasets. They will train an artificial intelligence (AI) system to differentiate puffin vocalizations from those of other birds and puffin images from other bird images. 

Data science is not a spectator sport: It involves adventure, observation, perseverance, and service, as demonstrated by the 50-year-long endeavor to re-establish puffin colonies in Maine. Our project, based on lead scientist Stephen Kress’s children’s books about the puffins’ comeback, engages middle school science students in the data-driven work of ornithologists. Monitoring seabird restoration demands different types of data, ranging from physiological characteristics of birds to environmental factors, such as fish availability and changing sea surface temperature. Scientists doing restoration work must be persistent and inquisitive users of data. Our project’s aim is to demonstrate to middle school students the centrality of data in saving seabird species that are threatened or endangered. Research on the project’s impact focuses on data competencies, data values, and data fascination. A major audience is multilingual learners who are recent Maine immigrants, along with other sixth-grade students who, like puffins, consider Maine their home.