Community Science

Durant Nature Preserve Program: Pollination, and the Great Southeastern Pollinator Census

lepidopteran — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 10:56:16 +0000

Durant Nature Preserve Program: Pollination, and the Great Southeastern Pollinator Census lepidopteran Sat, 02/24/2024 - 05:56

Sat, Aug 24 2024, 10am - 12pm

Join NCBP member Tracy Feldman at Durant Nature Preserve in Raleigh.

Description: Pollinators help many plants make fruits and seeds--without them many of our foods would not be available to us. Yet pollinators are declining worldwide. Come learn about pollinators and help monitor pollinators for a citizen science project, the Great Southeastern Pollinator Census! Children must be accompanied by adults. Children and adults must register.

Durant Nature Preserve Program: To Bloom or Not to Bloom?

lepidopteran — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 10:50:54 +0000

Durant Nature Preserve Program: To Bloom or Not to Bloom? lepidopteran Sat, 02/24/2024 - 05:50

Wed, Aug 14 2024, 6 - 7pm

Join NCBP member Tracy Feldman at Durant Nature Preserve in Raleigh to learn about how to get involved in Project Budburst, iNaturalist, and community science.

Description: As the climate changes, plants are changing when they put out leaves, bloom, and produce seeds. Those changes in timing affect animals and other critters that depend on these plants. Come learn about these changes in timing, their effects, and what we can do as citizen scientists to help monitor the changes. Children must be accompanied by adults. Pre-registration is required.

Durant Nature Preserve Program: To Bloom or Not to Bloom?

lepidopteran — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 10:05:38 +0000

Durant Nature Preserve Program: To Bloom or Not to Bloom? lepidopteran Sat, 02/24/2024 - 05:05

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 6 - 7pm

Join NCBP member Tracy Feldman at Durant Nature Preserve in Raleigh for a program on how to get involved in Project Budburst, iNaturalist, and community science.
Description: As the climate changes, plants are changing when they put out leaves, bloom, and produce seeds. Those changes in timing affect animals and other critters that depend on these plants. Come learn about these changes in timing, their effects, and what we can do as citizen scientists to help monitor the changes. Children must be accompanied by adults. Pre-registration is required.

Using citizen science to bridge taxonomic discovery with education and outreach

lepidopteran — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 07:59:44 +0000

Using citizen science to bridge taxonomic discovery with education and outreach lepidopteran Sun, 02/12/2023 - 02:59

Biological collections are uniquely poised to inform the stewardship of life on Earth in a time of cataclysmic biodiversity loss. Efforts to fully leverage collections are impeded by a lack of trained taxonomists and a lack of interest and engagement by the public. We provide a model of a crowd‐sourced data collection project that produces quality taxonomic data sets and empowers citizen scientists through real contributions to science. Entitled MicroPlants, the project is a collaboration between taxonomists, citizen science experts, and teachers and students from universities and K–12.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5851566/

M. von Konrat, T. Campbell, B. Carter, M. Greif, M. Bryson, J. Larraín, L. Trouille, S. Cohen, E. Gaus, A. Qazi, E. Ribbens, T. Livshultz, T. J. Walker, T. Suwa, T. Peterson, Y. Rodriguez, C. Vaughn, C. Yang, S. Aburahmeh, B. Carstensen, P. de Lange, C. Delavoi, K. Strauss, J. Drag, B. Aguero, C. Snyder, J. Martinec, A. Smith

2018

von Konrat M, Campbell T, Carter B, Greif M, Bryson M, Larraín J, Trouille L, Cohen S, Gaus E, Qazi A, Ribbens E, Livshultz T, Walker TJ, Suwa T, Peterson T, Rodriguez Y, Vaughn C, Yang C, Aburahmeh S, Carstensen B, de Lange P, Delavoi C, Strauss K, Drag J, Aguero B, Snyder C, Martinec J, Smith A. Using citizen science to bridge taxonomic discovery with education and outreach. Appl Plant Sci. 2018 Mar 9;6(2):e1023. doi: 10.1002/aps3.1023. PMID: 29732254; PMCID: PMC5851566.

Vascular plants

The Value of Citizen Science in Increasing Our Knowledge of Under-Sampled Biodiversity: An Overview of Public Documentation of Auchenorrhyncha and the Hoppers of North Carolina

lepidopteran — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 08:28:42 +0000

The Value of Citizen Science in Increasing Our Knowledge of Under-Sampled Biodiversity: An Overview of Public Documentation of Auchenorrhyncha and the Hoppers of North Carolina lepidopteran Thu, 02/09/2023 - 03:28

Due to the increasing popularity of websites specializing in nature documentation, there has been a surge in the number of people enthusiastic about observing and documenting nature over the past 2 decades. These citizen scientists are recording biodiversity on unprecedented temporal and spatial scales, rendering data of tremendous value to the scientific community. In this study, we investigate the role of citizen science in increasing knowledge of global biodiversity through the examination of notable contributions to the understanding of the insect suborder Auchenorrhyncha, also known as true hoppers, in North America. We have compiled a comprehensive summary of citizen science contributions—published and unpublished—to the understanding of hopper diversity, finding over fifty previously unpublished country and state records as well as dozens of undescribed and potentially undescribed species. We compare citizen science contributions to those published in the literature as well as specimen records in collections in the United States and Canada, illuminating the fact that the copious data afforded by citizen science contributions are underutilized. We also introduce the website Hoppers of North Carolina, a revolutionary new benchmark for tracking hopper diversity, disseminating knowledge from the literature, and incorporating citizen science. Finally, we provide a series of recommendations for both the entomological community and citizen science platforms on how best to approach, utilize, and increase the quality of sightings from the general public.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.710396/full

Kyle Kittelberger, Solomon Hendrix, Çağan Hakkı Şekercioğlu

2021

Kittelberger KD, Hendrix SV and Şekercioğlu ÇH (2021) The Value of Citizen Science in Increasing Our Knowledge of Under-Sampled Biodiversity: An Overview of Public Documentation of Auchenorrhyncha and the Hoppers of North Carolina. Front. Environ. Sci. 9:710396. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2021.710396

Hemipteran Hoppers

Odonata Central

lepidopteran — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 08:10:44 +0000

Odonata Central lepidopteran Thu, 02/02/2023 - 03:10

Odonata Central is a citizen science project which allows public submissions of sightings of dragonflies and damselflies across the Western Hemisphere. It is a useful resource for identification and research into the distribution and abundance of Odonata.

Resource Link

https://www.odonatacentral.org/#/

eBird

lepidopteran — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 06:01:33 +0000

eBird lepidopteran Thu, 02/02/2023 - 01:01

Started by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird is a citizen science project that allows birders from around the world to submit their checklists. With over 100 million sightings submitted annually, eBird is an excellent resource for researchers interested in determining ranges, seasonal abundances, and migratory behavior of bird species in North Carolina and worldwide.

Resource Link

https://ebird.org/home

iNaturalist

lepidopteran — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 03:55:54 +0000

iNaturalist lepidopteran Wed, 02/01/2023 - 22:55

iNaturalist is a massive citizen science project which allows users to submit their sightings anywhere in the world, either through the iNaturalist website or mobile apps. In addition to being a platform for millions of amateur naturalists, the site is moderated by experts in many fields. It is an excellent resource for scientific research, though records still require vetting, as any user can confirm an ID (making the sighting "research grade").

Resource Link

https://inaturalist.org/