CLAY COUNTY – The Clay County 4-H program will host an educational workshop and citizen science activity to teach the public more about Clay County’s Moon Trees. The 4-H Moon Tree & Citizen Science workshop will start on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 9:30 a.m. at the Keystone Heights Historic Pavilion and conclude around 11:30 a.m. at the UF IFAS Extension Clay County Office in Green Cove Springs.

The workshop’s goal is for youth and families to learn more about the Apollo Moon Tree & Artemis Moon Tree seedlings here in Clay County and to measure the tree height of the Apollo 14 Moon Tree. The tree height measurements will be entered into NASA’s GLOBE Observer App. NASA’s GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program is an international science and education program that promotes scientific literacy and builds connections between people passionate about the environment. NASA and GLOBE student researchers use the data from citizen input in NASA’s GLOBE Observer App for their research projects. With Moon Trees specifically, researchers are looking at how these trees are helping to balance Earth’s carbon budget.

Families can engage in this citizen science project and hear from NASA’s Senior Earth and Science Specialist and Subject Matter Expert, Brian Campbell. Campbell, the GLOBE Observer Trees Science Lead on the NASA Moon Tree program, will Zoom into the workshop to share more about how NASA uses the Moon Trees data in research. According to the NASA GLOBE website, carbon calculations help scientists forecast climate change and showcase how trees are indicators of a changing climate. Tracking how trees change over time – both in height and in the number of trees that make up an area – is also a good indicator of an ecosystem’s health in a changing climate.

Clay County 4-H’s goal with the Moon Tree education program is to ignite a spark in kids to be interested in and engaged in science. With the 3 Moon Trees in Clay County, families can contribute to the research about how we can sustain life on the Moon and beyond in our own backyard.

Clay County is home to three Moon Trees – the Apollo 14 Moon Tree in Keystone Heights, the Artemis Moon Tree seedling at the UF IFAS Extension Clay County office, and the Artemis Moon Tree seedling at Orange Park Elementary School.

After hearing from Campbell and measuring the Apollo 14 Moon Tree, families are invited to drive to the UF IFAS Extension Clay County office to take initial measurements of the Artemis Moon Tree seedling in Green Cove Springs. While the Artemis Moon Tree seedling isn’t tall enough to be entered into NASA’s GLOBE Observer App, the Clay County 4-H program records measurements and will post them to their official Google website.

The workshop is free and open to all ages, but participants must RSVP by Friday, Nov. 1. They can RSVP at 4HMoonTreeWorkshop.4honline.com.