Khrista Nicholas is a Masters student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, studying Oceanography, specifically trends in transport of the Agulhas Current over the past 40 years and their impacts on regional and global climate. Her passion for marine and climate science stemmed from her upbringing in South Florida with Caribbean roots, understanding the importance of healthy ecosystems to the wellbeing of her coastal community, from fisheries providing food for the dinner table to the negative effects of pollution on wildlife and ecotourism.
Understanding that the ocean and her communities are intertwined at a young age allowed her to pursue a career dedicated to better understanding and preserving these essential ecosystems.
For her outreach project, Khrista decided to tackle an in person presentation on some of her research for an audience she had very little experience working with: adults, specifically adults in a retirement community in her hometown in Florida. Prior to this, Khrista had mainly worked with K-12 students, but was inspired by one of the YVoS workshops that discussed the importance of building trust between community members and scientists. She decided that, in order to achieve this goal and give back to the community that inspired her to pursue this type of research, she would give a presentation to the nature club at a nearby retirement community. Her presentation was very successful, providing a highly engaging evening where she discussed her background in science, her research, some implications for south Florida communities, and left plenty of time for thoughtful questions and vibrant discussions. Through this work, Khrista was able to build her in-person science communication skills, engage a new audience outside of her comfort zone and give back to her community in a very meaningful way.
