Citizen science is getting a lot of attention these days. More and more people from all sorts of backgrounds and all walks of life are assisting in scientific research projects. And they are making a huge difference in advancing our knowledge, especially of natural phenomena. While many scientists were skeptical at first, citizen science has definitely gone mainstream. Lay people have amply demonstrated that they can make enormous contributions to scientific research.
We have a couple of citizen science projects going on on the ranch. One is a part of a much broader project run by the Xerces Society to monitor monarch butterfly populations. We are contributing to an annual census, along with hundreds of other sites in California, in order to ascertain population trends for monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains. We are also conducting a couple of independent citizen science projects. We are gathering data to better understand the environmental conditions suitable for monarchs to overwinter on the ranch. We are also gathering data to better understand the ecology of the Monterey Pine forest and promote forest health. It is this last project that we need help with right now.
Our monthly Community Volunteer Day is coming up next Saturday, July 15th. We’re going to use this opportunity to collect data in our forest test plots so we can evaluate the success of our treatments over time. We’ll be gathering data on the number of trees, number of seedlings, number of diseased/damaged trees, etc. We’ll then compare this to data we collected before the project, as well as future years. With your help, we can gather the information needed to maintain a healthy forest.
We’ll meet at the Tipton entrance at 9:00AM and work on Test Plot 3 first. This plot has very little poison oak and it is fairly easy to avoid. The other plots have more. If you are extremely allergic to poison oak, this is probably not the best event for you. If you are willing to brave it, wear long pants, long sleeves, boots or high top shoes and socks. I will have gloves & soap & water & Technu.
For more info or directions, call Holly at (805) 239-3928 or email hslettel@calpoly.edu.
