WHAT IS COMMUNITY SCIENCE?
Community science (also referred to as “citizen science”) is a movement to work with the general public to collect scientific data. This collaborative effort between scientists and those curious, concerned, or motivated to make a difference in the natural world is invaluable, as large, volunteer-based networks help accomplish projects that would otherwise be too expensive or time-consuming.
By encouraging public participation, community science builds connections between people with shared interests in advancing knowledge, understanding, stewardship, and engagement with the natural world. It also can bring science within reach for those who are not (or not yet) scientists and help to dispel stereotypes and biases toward science.
HOW DOES GTRLC USE COMMUNITY SCIENCE?
Community science allows GTRLC and other land managers to substantially grow their capacity to protect and manage critical lands and waters that sustain us all. By enabling people to submit quality observations or conduct research traditionally executed by trained scientists, we expand our knowledge of the natural world while creating community support for the management of these special places.
Community science allows the public to gain new knowledge and skills associated with data collection and species identification while contributing to the care of local habitats. For those who already enjoy spending time in nature and learning about local flora and fauna, the opportunity to contribute time to collecting data is a wonderful way to give back to the natural areas we all cherish.
ACTIVE COMMUNITY SCIENCE PROJECTS
BEACH CLEANUPS
Trash in our waters and shorelines endangers wildlife through entanglement and ingestion and poses a contamination risk. Large-scale and long-term monitoring is needed to gain an accurate and meaningful assessment of plastics and their influence. If you want to help reduce litter on our area’s beautiful beaches, you can participate in a beach cleanup to clean public beaches and record the most commonly found litter.
STREAM WATER QUALITY MONITORING
Our region is home to many beautiful streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Partnering with local waterkeepers, we invite our volunteers to join the Adopt-A-Stream program to help protect our sensitive watersheds.
Run by The Watershed Center of Grand Traverse Bay, the Adopt-A-Stream program is an exciting effort to track water quality by sampling benthic macroinvertebrates (a fancy word for aquatic insects), crustaceans, and other small creatures. It’s a perfect volunteer opportunity for groups composed of children and adults alike – anyone who cares about the health of our watersheds.
iNaturalist
GTRLC is excited to use iNaturalist to increase the visibility of the species (plants, animals, and fungi) present on our nature preserves. We encourage anyone to collect and report their observations when traversing our properties so we have the best, most up-to-date picture of what’s present on our preserves.
To get involved, download the iNaturalist application to your phone and start sending in biological observations! If you’re hiking at one of our properties, you can snap pictures of interesting plants and animals with your phone and upload them directly to the iNaturalist database, where GTRLC will have access to your observations – automatically!
Collected data are applicable for management plans, habitat restoration projects, landscape-scale research projects, and grant reporting and fundraising. Because iNaturalist is a public tool, the data collected may also be used in research projects beyond the scope of the Conservancy.
You can view our iNaturalist project homepage here.
eBird
GTRLC uses eBird to share which species are present in our nature preserves, connect people with the natural world, and foster stewardship of our natural resources. We hope that bird-enthused visitors, community scientists, and GTRLC staff will collect and report their observations when traversing our properties so we can have a complete and up-to-date picture of the species on our preserves. Data collected are applicable for various Conservancy activities, and because eBird is a public tool, this data may also be used in research projects beyond the scope of the Conservancy. Get outside and explore a preserve near you!