Physically Distanced Citizen Science Community Building

Following the guidance of the best available modern modeling and medicine, we are all physically distancing and socially reaching out in every way we can.  As my children and I, and my community, all howled into the night, connecting in such a primal way, we were joined by the neighborhood dogs,  the coyotes on the back hill, and the always gleeful neighborhood turkeys.  It was dark enough that we could no longer see bats, and a great horned owl swooped down from the trees, soaring maybe 10' overhead, before silently gliding down the valley.  The rest of the ecosystem is still humming around our little containment pods.

This has been a busy time here.  I am teaching University science and field-classes, suddenly on-line, while also guiding my elementary-aged children through distance learning.  I've found myself grateful for the abundance of citizen science projects that are still available for people to participate in, especially in Marin.  These can still be participated in while following all of the Shelter in Place orders required by this and surrounding counties, and are all free.  Here are some of my favorites.

iNaturalist   - At its heart, this is a place where everyone in the world can share pictures and sightings of the plants and animals that they find with others.  You do not need to know what they are.  But it is really so much more.  For even beginning naturalists or the idly curious this App, and the associated iNaturalist community, will help you identify the species that you found.  The App offers a very good suggestions for the species in a photograph using built in pattern recognition software.  Then, once you submit an observation, the iNaturalist community will either verify your observation, or offer suggested alternatives.  You don't need to do anything with this additional information if you don't want to.  The information that is submitted to iNaturalist becomes part of a global mapping of the distributions of plants and animals over space and time.  The data can be used to track patterns of migrations, discovery range shifts, and many other scientific pursuits.  And - you don't need to trek off into the wilderness for this, your yard is a perfect place to start.  You can document the birds that come your your feeder, even the ones that come every day, the deer that trot down the street, the bay tree that grows in your yard, the mushrooms that pop up behind a rock in your garden, the western fence lizard that suns on your porch, the slender salamander you find under a stepping stone, the snail in your garden, the California maidenhair fern that pops up by your fence, the crows that fly overhead in the evening, the lichen and moss growing on bricks, the coyote sighting that you shared on NextDoor. It's even important to document where invasive species are, like the yellow flowered shrub, french broom that pops up on our hillsides.  This app will track your observations for you.  There is also an iNaturalist program specifically to document animals living insides homes, like spiders and ladybugs.  There is an associated App for children, called Seek.  Seek does not track location information, but it does allow children to earn badges for finding and identifying plants and animals.

eBird - eBird is similar to iNaturalist, although it is designed specifically for the birding community.  Also has an App.  You can track your life lists, get alerts about rare bird sightings etc.  This data can also be used to show how species migrate over time.

The River Otter Ecology Project - The Otter Spotter program one is truly a homegrown citizen science opportunity.  The founders of this organization are locals.  The premise is easy, if you see a River Otter, tell them using the online form.  Otter spotter reports allowed the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to revise the official distribution map for this species!  I've made Otter Spotter reports from Otters spotted from a parking lot before.  This is a fun and easy way to share those exciting spots.  And its totally fine to share ones that you saw a few years ago too!

Zooniverse Snapshot Safari - Help researchers categorize the images taken with wildlife cameras around the world.  Zooniverse is the world’s largest platform for citizens to participate in active research projects. More than a million volunteers around the world assist professional researchers remotely. Their Snapshot Safari gives you direct access to images collected with researchers during wildlife camera trapping studies, and you give you best guess to identify what is in the photo.  There are tutorials.  It is not expected that you know all the animals.  They just ask that you do your best!  There is a local version of this in Marin, The Wildlife Picture Index, through OneTam.  However, this was done in person and is temporarily on hold.

The following are some of my favorite nature observation Apps.

iBird - A field ID guide for birds with loads of cool features, like limiting the options to species likely to be found near you that time of year, pictures and illustrations of multiple forms, a button to show you similar looking species, and a library of calls for each species.

Sky Guide - For finding out where the constellations are during The Howl, a map of the stars in the sky.  It uses position detection of the phone to show you the stars that are right behind the phone, including the constellations and planets.

I will periodically update this with additional resources and opportunities.  Thank you for your contribution to our knowledge of the natural world!