Boston Flora

Tag: Citizen Science

  • Saturday, December 18 – Christmas Bird Count, Live and Online

    Join the Christmas Bird Count on December 18, the longest continuously running bird data event in the area. Contact Dave Small for additional information and to participate in this nationwide annual event: 978-413-1772 or Dave@atholbirdclub.org  Covid-19 rules are in effect National Audubon has issued guidelines which ABNC will use.  Then, enjoy the Christmas Bird Count Wrap-up and Party, online. Join us as we find out the preliminary results of the Annual Christmas Bird Count. An informal group discussion and meeting. Find out what unusual birds were seen during the days’ count. 

    You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: Dec 18, 2021 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
    Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkd-iorj8sE9wnkJnlGODdr5O6n1tsjP-D  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

    up party

  • Community Collaborative: Rain, Hail & Snow Network

    If you are looking for a fun and purpose-filled project that you or the whole family can enjoy from the convenient location of your own backyard join the ever-growing nationwide ranks of CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network) volunteer precipitation monitors. 

    The saying “Rain doesn’t fall the same on all” really proves to be true. How often have you seen it rain in your neighborhood and a few blocks away not a drop has fallen. If you get the chance, please take a moment to tell a friend or neighbor about this exciting grassroots effort of citizens measuring precipitation right in their own backyards.  It’s easy to join, takes only five minutes a day and is a fun way to learn about this wonderful natural resource that falls from the sky.  Your observations continue to give scientists an ever clearer picture of where and how much precipitation falls throughout our communities.


    What better way to start your day than getting outside, checking your rain gauge and reporting your findings to a database that will be used in real time by several agencies including the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). If your mornings tend to be hectic, you can have an impact by providing weekly rainfall and general condition reports. Warning! Once you start monitoring rainfall you may become an expert on drizzle, downpours and drought. Otherwise you might just find an enjoyable pastime that connects you to the weather happening in your own and your community’s backyard.  

    CoCoRaHS (pronounced KO-ko-rozz) is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities. By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. The only requirements to join are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.

    Our Web page provides the ability for our observers to see their observations mapped out in “real time”, as well as providing a wealth of information for our data users.

    For more information, please click here: Information about CoCoRaHS

    If you would like to sign-up as a volunteer observer and become part of our expanding network, please click here: “Join the CoCoRaHS Network“.    

  • Monday, February 12, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Taking Note: Connecting Citizen Science to Science Learning

    Colleen Hitchcock, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ecology, Department of Biology and Environmental Studies Program, Brandeis University, will speak on Monday, February 12 at 7 pm at the Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, about the value of taking note of natural phenomena and the contributions such actions can make to science, society, and one’s own scientific and bio-literacy.

    She will share how citizen science is used in courses and on campus to educate and engage students. Finally, Colleen will introduce the 2018 City Nature Challenge on iNaturalist, a citizen science project coordinated by Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, UMass Boston, Zoo New England, New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative, Mass Audubon, Encyclopedia of Life at Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, MIT Senseable lab, and Earthwatch Institute.

    Following Colleen”s presentation, Danny Schissler, Research Assistant in the Friedman Lab, will introduce TreeVersity, an online citizen science initiative at the Arnold Arboretum to classify over 25,000 historic and contemporary plant images. Free, but registration requested – email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu, or call 617-384-5277.

    https://dailyzooniverse.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/26172306463_c7e1ce761a_o-1.png?w=640

  • Saturday, December 19 – Christmas Bird Count

    Visit http://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count to learn everything you need to know to help with this Citizen Science project, the longest continuously running bird data survey nationwide.  The event takes place all day Saturday, December 19.  You can add to a century of science by signing up now.

  • Saturday, December 14 – Christmas Bird Count

    Join this “Citizen Science” project, the longest continuously running bird data in the area, on Saturday, December 14. Contact Dave Small for additional information and to participate in this nationwide annual event: 978-413-1772 or dave@dhsmall.net. Note: team leaders and participants will meet again this year at the Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol.  We will gather between 6:00 and 7:00 am and plan to hit the field by 7:00 am. We’ll have coffee available and potluck breakfast treats to share would be great to bring. Please let Dave know if you have a good dish you can provide.  Image of evening grosbeak from www.birds.audubon.org.

    http://birds.audubon.org/sites/default/files/photos/evening_grosbeak_vivek_tiwari_palo_alto_cbc_113th.jpg

  • Friday, April 12 – Sunday, September 15 – Early Spring: Thoreau, Concord, and the Citizen Science Tradition

    Drawing upon its outstanding Thoreau collection, in April 2013 the Concord Museum will present an exhibition and related programs that explore the work of Henry Thoreau as a scientist studying seasonal phenomena. These phenomena include such episodes as the flowering times of flora, arrival dates of migrating birds, leafing out of trees, and ice-up at Walden Pond.

    Thoreau’s choice of Concord as a subject was emulated by a number of citizen scientists, some amateur and some professional, over three centuries.

    Currently, Dr. Richard Primack, Professor of Biology at Boston University, and his team have been systematically comparing the data collected by Thoreau with current data gathered in identical Concord locations. Early Spring will offer general audiences a new understanding of Thoreau and the importance of his work in a contemporary context. The Museum is located on the Cambridge Turnpike at Lexington Road in Cambridge, and hours and directions are available at www.concordmuseum.org.

    http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/winter-spring12/climate-change/climate-change.jpg

  • Saturday, December 15, 7:00 am – Christmas Bird Count

    Join this “Citizen Science” project, the longest continuously running bird data in the area. Contact Dave Small for additional information and to participate in this nationwide annual event: 978-413-1772 or dave@dhsmall.net. Note: team leaders and participants will meet this year at the Millers River Environmental Center 100 main Street Athol (Cinnamon’s is closed and not available) We will meet between 6:00 and 7:00 and plan to hit the field by 7:00 am. We’ll have coffee available and we are looking for a few volunteers to make a breakfast dish to share. Please let me know if you have a good dish you can provide we can pick up the day before and heat up that morning at the Center.

  • Firefly Watch

    Spotting fireflies is a special part of any warm summer night, because we so rarely see them. Are fireflies disappearing from our landscape? If so, why? What can we do about it?

    The Museum of Science has linked with the Citizen Science website, co-sponsored by the Museum of Science, Tufts University, and Fitchburg State College, helping researchers determine why fireflies seem to be declining, and offering the general public an opportunity to learn how to collect scientific data in a manner that is both useful to firefly researchers and fun for the whole family.

    Using your own backyard as a data collection site, chart the occurrence of fireflies from May to August. Each week, you can upload your observations to the website, joining the data from hundreds of other citizen scientists to track the status of fireflies in your area.

    Becoming a citizen scientist is easy and fun, and your collective data is essential to helping scientists learn why firefly numbers are declining, as well as what can be done to reverse the trend. Whether you participate as an individual or family, it is a great way to foster a lifelong interest in science and a greater understanding of natural history. To learn more about the project, and to register, log on to www.mos.org/fireflywatch.