Among
the parents and children swarming Norman Bird Sanctuary one Saturday morning
last month was a 10-year-old girl who claimed to have considerable skill using
an insect net. She was right, and she happily put her skills to work in the
name of science.
She
was one of 13 volunteers who joined sanctuary staff to identify and count
butterflies, part of a nationwide effort to document changes in butterfly
distribution and abundance and to monitor the affect of climate and habitat changes.
It’s the second year the sanctuary participated in the event, and program
organizer Mark Pagliarini called it a great success.
“We hit habitats where we knew there would be butterfly diversity, and in an
hour-and-a-half we counted 21 species,” he said, including monarchs, three
species of swallowtails, and an uncommon juniper hairstreak, which Pagliarini
called “a super super cool, metallic-looking emerald butterfly.”
The data the group collected will be submitted to the North American Butterfly Association, which will combine it with the results of about 450 other counts
from across the country for use in future research.
The butterfly count is one of a growing number of citizen science projects
sprouting up around the nation that are designed to engage the public in
collecting data that can be used in scientific studies. It allows researchers
to collect more data from a wider range of locations much more inexpensively
than if they were to try to do it alone.
If butterflies aren’t your thing, however, there are plenty of other citizen
science projects to join. Some take place on certain dates for a set amount of
time, while others can be conducted at your leisure whenever you happen to be
out and about. And still other projects are computer-based, allowing you to
participate without leaving home. The following is a sampling of projects, but
many more can be found online.
Rhode Island Jellyfish Monitoring
Program
Organizers: Brown University
What they need: Reports of observations of any of
the eight species of jellyfish that commonly occur in state waters.
How to help: Surfers, beachgoers, fishermen,
boaters and others can download an app to their smartphone or tablet and report
the species, location and estimated quantity of any jellyfish they see.
Why this research is important: The researchers are
trying to document the year-round occurrences of jellyfish to better understand
where each species is likely to be found – and where they aren’t. According to
the project’s website, jellyfish are sentinels of ecological change in coastal
waters, and changes in their abundance or distribution could be the result of
over-fishing, warming waters, changes in water quality or other factors.
International Coastal Cleanup
Organizers:
Save the Bay
What they
need: Hundreds of volunteers on Sept. 17 to help pick up and record beach
litter and marine debris.
How to help:
Join teams of volunteers at one of 80 coastal locations around the state.
Why this
research is important: Beach trash is unsightly and can be harmful to a wide
variety of marine organisms. The tally of the quantity and variety of litter
collected will be included in a global report by scientists at the Ocean
Conservancy. The data will help identify the primary sources of litter, which
will aid in focusing prevention efforts.
Nature’s Notebook
Organizers:
National Phenology Network
What they
need: Reports of the timing of flowers blooming, bird migration, insect
emergence, and other seasonal natural history events.
How to help:
Observe nature in your backyard or nearby each week, and record online what you
see.
Why this
research is important: The data will help scientists track the impact of
weather and climate change on wildlife across the country. It will be used by
researchers, land managers and policy makers to ensure the protection of
natural resources.
Rhode Island Bird Atlas
Organizers:
University of Rhode Island, R.I. Department of Environmental Management
What they
need: Birdwatchers who can identify the birds that winter in Rhode Island and
document breeding activities in spring and summer.
How to help:
Sign up to identify birds in one of 165 ten-square-mile blocks in the state,
then join others to scour your block for as many species as possible.
Why this
research is important: Data from this five-year project will be compared with
the results of a similar atlas in the 1980s to document changes in bird
distribution and abundance.
More
info: www.ribirdatlas.com
Watershed Watch
Organizers:
University of Rhode Island
What they
need: Volunteers to make weekly visits from May to October to one of about 200
ponds, lakes, streams and bays to monitor water quality.
How to help:
At a designated water body, test for water clarity, temperature, algae and
dissolved oxygen every week, and collect water samples on several designated
dates. Training provided.
Why this
research is important: The program helps local communities identify the sources
of pollution and the factors contributing to water degradation. Data is used by
DEM and other agencies to identify the effect that weather and land use
patterns have on water quality.
This article first appeared in the Newport Mercury on August 16, 2016.
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