T3 students were back at the Anan Wildlife Observatory to install a new and improved livestreaming system. With the help of U.S. Forest Service Wrangell staff and explore.org, we refined the power system and doubled the number of cameras at the observatory. This was all to better capture the beauty of one of Southeast Alaska's most abundant pink salmon runs.

T3 Alaska, Teaching Through Technology, is a federally funded program run through Upward Bound at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to help students learn technology skills that can be used in the STEM field.

"The technology projects we accomplished built a multitude of both tech skills and life skills, with a good dose of confidence to overcoming obstacles for achieving large projects," said parent Brian Ashton, who frequently assists with many of the Wrangell T3 students' projects.

Earlier this month, a team of 12 Upward Bound T3 students went out to Anan in two separate trips, staying at the cabin for four to five days each. Last year T3 installed two cameras, but this year the students installed two more cameras overlooking the stream where the bears feast on salmon.

The first trip to Anan consisted of the students splitting up into groups taking on different jobs. The students completed tasks such as installing a Starlink satellite dish on the roof of the deck, bolting power system boxes on the bathroom wall and mounting two cameras to the lower observation deck.

"I enjoy climbing around and getting the job done," Haines student Walther Jim - the only non-Wrangell member of the team - said of his experience working in bear country. He enjoyed his experiences and using his climbing and wire-crimping skills to complete the job.

During this year's trip, T3 students focused on the storytelling side of the project, making social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, producing long-form documentary style content on YouTube and journaling all the events to share T3's story.

As the first trip came close to its end, students were able to complete more work such as creating videos on their social media account on TikTok, BearsAreUs, installing two more cameras to the observatory, organizing wires for the batteries and solar boxes and setting up the networking system.

With my experience joining Wrangell T3 and working on the Anan project, it pushed me to be a leader; making sure things are running smoothly, allowed me to have a better understanding of networking, solar power and bear behavior. It also gave me great opportunities for work. I got to be an intern at the Wrangell Forest Service, working with Claire Froehlich.

Brian Reggiani, director of student engagement for the Alaska T3 Alliance, said the project was a great opportunity for students to try new skills. "I have seen the students grow in so many different ways from crimping wires, climbing on the roof to installing solar components and doing behind the scenes networking. Each student has been able to try something new and it has been amazing working with them one on one."

He is excited for the future of the Anan project because it will allow for more work in outreach and research, with opportunities for students to learn more ways to use technology, including using artificial intelligence bear recognition, and learning on how to tell the story of the Anan project.

It has been a year since the Forest Service, explore.org and Upward Bound T3 got together on a grant application to pay for equipment, transportation and student stipends over the course of five years to build and install the streaming system.

Tory Houser, the Forest Service district ranger in Wrangell, explained some of the history of Anan and the limitation on the number of daily visitors during the peak bear viewing season July 5 through Aug. 25.

"The answer is Anan has always been popular for different reasons and purposes and due to the popularity the American public determined ... that we want to protect these three qualities: economy, environment and the social pieces," Houser said. "The best way to do that was to limit the number of people coming to Anan."

Federal funds paid for a new observation deck and trails to improve the experience. And there were plans to put in a video system, but it was not until the Forest Service's Jennifer Kardiak saw a vision for Anan and contacted explore.org to set up a livestream for the whole world to see.

The Forest Service reached out to Wrangell T3 to help install the system.

"I love the on-the-ground work that the students are doing," Houser said. "I consider them as contractors; skilled people coming and doing an installation of this really technical equipment and they are doing a really good job."

T3 has been a partner with the Forest Service on trail mapping, making cabin layouts and putting together a life-support watering system for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree that traveled from Zarembo Island to Washington, D.C., for last year's holiday display on the Capitol lawn.

T3's work with the Anan project not only strengthened the relationship with the Forest Service but allowed an opportunity to build a new connection with explore.org, learning a lot about its history and experiences with other livestream cameras around the world.

Candice Rusch, media coordinator at explore.org, explained that the organization began as a documentary film company highlighting nonprofits protecting wildlife. It made the transition to livestreams when the founder, Charles Annenberg Weingarten, came up with the idea of having the joy of seeing nature in a person's home.

Explore.org grew into a livestreaming network with its first camera focused on polar bears in Canada in 2012. Their most popular event is Fat Bear Week, showing the brown bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve as they feast on salmon at Brooks Falls and along the Brooks River. The public votes each year on their favorite fat bears.

There are some differences between Katmai and Anan. "Anan has a cozier vibe to Katmai and the interactions between the black and brown bears make Anan very unique," Rusch said. "There are not a lot of places where you can see black and brown bears together; Anan may be the only place."

Rusch said she appreciates working with the students because it is good to have more hands on board for bear season, "I am very impressed with the rate of how you guys learned put things together, the system came online as expected for me this year and the quality of the work was top tier."

As the T3 team this week finishes up the livestream system with a few more refinements, they will continue to test the system before the camera stream goes live on explore.org on Friday, June 20.

To view the live streams, visit explore.org and navigate to the Tongass National Forest tab.

Students who participated in this year's Anan installation included newcomers Paige Hoyt, Annabell Muir, Angus Booker, Brogan Brooker, Lennex Gurule - and Jim from Haines. Returning students included Ander Edens, Spencer Petticrew, Natalia Ashton, Kalee Herman, Andrei Bardin-Siekawitch, Timothy Garcia and myself.

The team was led by Reggiani, high school principal Greg Clark, teacher Heather Howe and Michelle Cordell. Jackson Carney and Ben Houser also helped with the project.