Volunteer to participate in the MN Frog and Toad Calling Survey (MFTCS) to help monitor the number and distribution of frog & toad populations in MN. Participants will be assigned to pre-selected routes and asked to conduct nighttime "listening surveys" on 3 evenings per year between April and July. Available route locations and other information can be found on the MFTCS website. Training materials including a CD of frog calls, maps, and data forms are provided. Volunteers need a vehicle, good hearing, interest in frog conservation, commitment to completing assigned route, and desire to participate for multiple years.
The CBC database is the repository of early winter bird observations recorded since 1900. Currently there are over 2100 count circles submitted each year (as of 2008). The database provides information for compilers, regional editors, Audubon conservation staff, ornithologists, academic researchers, federal, state and local wildlife and land planning agencies, educators, birders, chapters, ornithological societies, and the general public to learn about citizen science, bird distribution and population trends.
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National Audubon SocietyBird Studies CanadaNorth American Breeding Bird SurveyCornell UniversityFrank Chapman
This is a USDA supported project that aims to better understand the spread of invasive plants in forested parklands that have high conservation value and high levels of public use. There is very little information about this in our region, which makes it difficult for park managers to determine the magnitude of the problem or how to manage it. Citizen volunteers help us to gather data on infestation during hikes on trails in areas of concern.
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Rutgers UniversityNew York-New Jersey Trail Conference
This is one of three focus point presentations as part of the session titled "Community Building for Citizen Science," delivered on day three of the Citizen Science Toolkit Conference at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York on June 20-23, 2007. Geoff LeBaron, Director of the Christmas Bird Count at the National Audubon Society, provides a brief overview of the citizen science program and how it is used. In particular, LeBaron discusses the challenges of rewarding and maintaining an audience, your participants, and diverse users.
California NatureMapping is starting up through individual Centers that are trained and supported by the National NatureMapping Program. The goals are the same to link natural resource agencies with citizens and schools through biodiversity data collection and analyses. Currently, K-12 students are the main focus for NatureMapping training and local research projects. These projects include inventorying and monitoring wildlife through the Fresno County Schools and bioblitzes and tracking in the Bay area.
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Karen DvornichRiekes Center for Human EnhancementScout Island Education Center
Every year, strong northerly winds push thousands of raptors from Maine and Canada south along the eastern coastline as they migrate to warmer areas for the winter. With its wide-open views and tallest vantage point in the area, Acadia's HawkWatch location on Cadillac Mt. can often provide visitors with a close look at the raptors. Park rangers, volunteers, and visitors count and identify the raptors as they pass by. Ranger program is conducted daily (weather dependent) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Acadia National ParkHawk Migration Association of North America
This new 'citizen science' project is a cooperation between Audubon California, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and PRBO Conservation Science. The goal is to determine how important California's Central Valley is for wintering Long-billed Curlews.
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Natural History Museum of Los AngelesPRBO Conservation ScienceAudubon CaliforniaMelissa Pitkin
Puget Sound Seabird Survey (PSSS) is a citizen-science survey organized by Seattle Audubon since the fall of 2007. PSSS empowers volunteer birdwatchers to gather valuable data on wintering seabird populations in Puget Sound. Over sixty sites are surveyed in central and south Puget Sound (Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston counties). All survey sites are visited within the same four-hour window on the first Saturday of each month (Oct-Apr), thus taking a synchronized "snapshot" of seabird densities on nearly 5 square miles of near-shore salt water (that's 2,200 football fields!). It is the only land-based, multi-month survey in central or south Puget Sound and it's 100% citizen science!
Washington NatureMapping links natural resource agencies with citizens and schools through biodivesity data collection and analyses. NatMappers report observations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, nearshore marine, aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates either using Naturetracker data collection software on Pocket PC's or spreadsheets. NatMappers can report observations as individuals or working on field research projects through certified NatureMapping Centers. These data are used for statewide and local land planning and for communities to learn what in their own backyards.
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University of WashingtonWashington Department of Fish and WildlifePacific Education InstituteKevin Dvornich
The Raptor Population Index Project (RPI) uses migration counts collected by citizen scientists and professional biologists to monitor population trends of vultures, hawks, falcons, and other birds of prey. RPI generates indices of annual abundance, generates status assessments, and makes information available to the general public, wildlife conservation agencies, and the scientific community.
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Ernesto InzunzaHawk Watch InternationalHawk Mountain SanctuaryBird Studies Canada
This project trains volunteers like you to conduct acoustic bat surveys of your local area using an AnaBat detector attached to a PDA with GPS. The detector picks up the echolocation calls emitted by bats and translates it to a frequency the human ear can hear. Each detection system records information about phenology and species presence. Data is entered into the Wisconsin Bat Monitoring Program database, with the long-term scope of this project to compile information about phenology, species presence, migration timing vs. residence, and trends of the bat species in Wisconsin.
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Sarah BraunWisconsin Department of Natural Resources