The South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement involves volunteers of all ages in hands on habitat-restoration along the coast of SC. Volunteers also monitor reef development and water quality, entering data online. Volunteers can work with marine scientists on related aspects of the project (e.g. sampling fish and invertebrates using created habitats).
You are invited to join Project Squirrel, a Citizen Science program for all ages. Participation only takes a few minutes--simply log on to ProjectSquirrel.org to tell us about the squirrels in your neighborhood. Join people all across Chicagoland as we learn more about the ecology of our neighborhoods through the eyes of squirrels. For more information go to www.projectsquirrel.org.
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Peggy Notebaert Nature MuseumUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoWendy Jackson
The Global Garlic Mustard Field Survey is a collaboration of scientists, students, conservationists, resource managers and 'amateur' scientists. Our goal is to collect high-quality data on the abundance and distribution of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) in its native (Europe) and introduced (North America) ranges. This sampling protocol is designed to be simple and achieved with just a few hours of work, once populations have been located. It well help to fill an large gap in data on native and introduced plant populations.
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Global Invasions NetworkRobert Colautti
Volunteer "Species Stewards" adopt one or more species of native prairie or savanna plants. On semi-monthly or more frequent visits, stewards log locations, bloom dates, and seed ripening dates, and collect seed to be used to restore additional prairie on old field sites. Additional opportunities for individual or group seed collection and sowing are provided. Buckthorn-busting is also available.
Monarchs in the Classroom provides a wide variety of materials and professional development opportunities for teachers, naturalists and citizens throughout the US. Two groups of behind the scenes people work together in a unique partnership to make this program successful: classroom teachers and scientists committed to sharing their expertise with the broader community. All of our programs reflect this partnership, combining real science with techniques that work for teachers, students and citizens, and promoting practices in which children learn science in ways that reflect the inquiry methods used by scientists to understand the natural world.
Operation Possum was a large-scale, community-based study of possums in South Australia. In 2008, Operation Possum collected data about possum species, how people manage possums, and participants’ attitudes towards possums, with a total of 2,234 online surveys completed from 462 different suburbs and towns. The conservation of wildlife living close to people can be complex, especially when the species behaves in ways that disturb or distress people, as possums certainly do. However, we found that a general admiration of possums, with a caveat regarding their less desirable behaviours, defined the relationship with these adorable yet troublesome marsupials: the paradox of the possum. Results from this project, including information about possums, stories submitted by participants, management strategies (and their effectiveness), and an introduction to Citizen Science, have been published as a book - The Possum-Tail Tree: Understanding Possums through Citizen Science.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (RTHU), Archilochus colubris, are the most widely distributed of the 339 species of hummingbirds, occurring in all ten countries of North and Central America. They come frequently to nectar plants and backyard sugar water feeders and are easily observed. Nonetheless, many aspects of RTHU natural history are not well understood, so “Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project” has teamed with EarthTrek to allow citizen scientists to collect data about RTHU migration and nesting. Operation RubyThroat has been in operation since 1984 as a outreach initiative of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History in York, South Carolina USA. The project is also affiliated with The GLOBE Program, through which K-12 teachers and students make hummingbird observations and submit data through the GLOBE Web site. Now, through EarthTrek, adult citizen scientists and independent students also can contribute important data to the overall Operation RubyThroat project. Principal Investigator for Operation RubyThroat is Bill Hilton Jr., an internationally known educator-naturalist recognized by Discover Magazine as one of the top ten citizen scientists. Each winter Bill takes groups of adult citizen scientists to Central America to help with hands-on studies of RTHU on their wintering grounds. These trips to Central America are coordinated through Holbrook Travel, one of EarthTrek's concept partners; while in the Neotropics participants continue to collect RTHU data to earn additional EarthTrek points through participation in Operation RubyThroat. To learn about these successes—or to find out how you can join Bill on one of his exciting trips in 2010 or beyond—please visit the Operation RubyThroat Web site. You may also wish to keep abreast of hummingbird activities and other natural history happenings by subscribing to "This Week at Hilton Pond," a regular series of award-winning photo essays written by Bill and available on line through the Hilton Pond Web site.
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Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
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
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
Observations taken each year at the same place over a long period of time are valuable for showing phenological trends. The Konza Environmental Education Program (KEEP) began recording phenological events at Konza Prairie several years ago, and those observations are posted on the KEEP website. “What’s Blooming?” lists the procession of native plant species in bloom, and “Who’s Here?” lists the first sightings of the most common birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects that migrate, hibernate or otherwise appear on the landscape after an absence. A phenology database is available for each of the animal groups and also for plants that are commonly found on Konza Prairie in Kansas. These lists are not exhaustive but represent those plants and animals easily observed or abundant. The data added by volunteers and students becomes part of a long-term data set to show trends and relationships among plants or animals across Kansas. Phenology of the tallgrass prairie is observed by volunteers annually for the last eight yeas for the plant community and for the last five years for animals.
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Konza Prairie Biological StationValerie Wright
Monarch is an educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas with a focus on education, research and conservation. To facilitate science education, we promote the use of monarch butterflies in classrooms and for independent studies of monarch biology by students. Through monarch tagging we engage the public in research on the monarch migration and dynamics of the population. Our conservation message is articulated through our Monarch Waystation program that encourages the public to create, conserve and protect monarch habitats.