KiDS, a volunteer program, empowers the next generation of scientists. Group of students raise their hands outside.
Students from Lower Lake Elementary raise their hands around UC Davis research fellow Leta Landucci during the KiDS Program Field Day at the NRS’s McLaughlin Natural Reserve (Photo courtesy: Malia Reiss)

KiDS, a Volunteer Program, Empowers the Next Generation of Scientists

  • by Malia Reiss

"It was the fifth graders’ first field trip of the year, and the excitement was off the charts.

Tiny fingers pointed and asked “What’s this flower?” at the pollinator station. Binoculars pointed towards the red-winged blackbirds across the pond. A yellow string was passed student to student to demonstrate a complex food web. 

This field trip to the NRS’s McLaughlin Natural Reserve in spring 2023 was the culmination of the 10-week Kids Into Discovering Science program, led by UC Davis graduate students and faculty for the fifth graders of Lower Lake Elementary School in Lake County.  

Completely volunteer-based, the KiDS program has served around 80 fifth graders every year since 2010, seeking to inspire academic and scientific achievement in low-income and under-served school districts."

Read the full story at UC Natural Reserve System News

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