Peggy Harte article - spinning salmon - 2025

Statewide study taps 3,000 students to research thiamine deficiency that sets salmon spinning

by Christine A Parisek
July 11, 2025

Quick Summary

High schoolers' efforts provide model for community-based conservation

High school students in Northern California are helping real scientists study a mystery that’s killing baby salmon – and they’re doing it right from their classrooms. Thanks to the Spinning Salmon Program, a university-community partnership with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS), California Department of Fish and Wildlife(CDFW), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Solano County Office of Education, and the GEAR UP STEM Rural Valley Partnership, the program collects data on salmon mortality rates in the Central Valley. Through the Spinning Salmon Program students set up fish tanks to monitor salmon behavior and collect important data on thiamine deficiency, a disease causing fish to swim in circles and die. The program helped turn a classroom science problem into a major five-year research project involving thousands of students from rural schools. Their observations are now helping scientists and environmental groups protect salmon in local rivers. The program shows how science doesn’t just happen in labs—it can happen anywhere, especially when young people are trusted to lead.

To learn more, see: "Statewide study taps 3,000 students to research thiamine deficiency that sets salmon spinning" by Peggy Harte. 2025. UC Davis School of Education, Center for Community and Citizen Science.