Everyone as Conservationist - Citizen Scientists (That’s us)

In my "Everyone as Conservationist" posts my goal has been to illustrate two things:
1) Many of the environmental problems faced by the world are caused by human behavior
2) Because they are caused by human behavior, changes to our behavior can solve them.

In others words we are uniquely qualified.

We are also uniquely qualified to be scientists. So what if you don't have a lab coat, safety goggles, or advanced degrees? Do you have eyes to wield the powers of observation? A passion about some part of nature? Or maybe you're just curious. Ok, you'll do.

I supposed that I can't speak for all kids, but I think I can say with confidence that many if not most kids are fascinated by nature. They love animals; they want pets; they love the zoo and the aquarium. They pull flowers and blow dandelion seeds. They pick up yellow and red leaves in the fall and collect pine cones and acorns from the ground.

You were a kid once too. Maybe you chased butterflies or made a bouquet of weeds. Maybe you had a rock collection. Odds are at some point you had a passion for science even if it wasn't memorizing the periodic table.

Scientists, as part of a number of universities or non-profits, need our help. Not so much for experimenting but mostly in data collection. So find something you are passionate about. Get outside on occasion and take part.

Citizen science is voluntary and many of the opportunities are seasonal, some are one-offs, and some are ever present and ongoing. Here are some which may grab your interest.

Timing	Type	Project
Anytime	Birds	ebird.org
Migration	Hummingbird, Butterflies, Migrations etc	Journey North
Migration	Butterflies	Monarch Watch
Specific Dates	Birds	Great Backyard Bird Count
Specific Dates	Birds	Midwest Crane Count

The above list is just a tiny fraction of what's out there. Do some googling, and you'll find many others. Interest, scale, and skill necessary may vary. You may want to get involved collecting water samples to monitor phosphorous in your watershed or join a group helping to remove invasive species from a local trail or arboretum. You can even get your kids involved.

A couple of weeks back, we traveled as a family to Horicon Marsh. Early Saturday morning, I set out to photograph birds and count what I could, logging what I found to ebird. In the afternoon, the whole family joined scientists from the Wisconsin DNR to catch and tag monarch butterflies. While our family was only successful in catching a Viceroy (Wrong but similar species), other families caught the correct butterflies and many were tagged to aid research into their migration to Mexico. Not only was our time spent valuable to the DNR and butterfly researchers, but it was fun. It got the kids outdoors and engaged with nature. While we weren't successful in catching a Monarch, we did see Painted Turtles, Leopard Frogs, White Pelicans, Painted Lady Butterflies, and a lot of other wildlife.

Citizen science isn't just about you participating to help some researchers. It's an opportunity for you to reconnect with nature in a way that is meaningful to you and hopefully have some fun doing so.



Actual Monarch Butterfly at Horicon Marsh - not the butterfly we caught.