Social Networking and Citizen Science

To engage youth in the collection of urban ecological data, UEI is harnessing the power of social media by launching a Twitter feed for the collection of ecological observations, to be displayed on the Field Studies Wikispace. Students and teachers can now send a text message directly to their Twitter accounts, using a specific tag, to record their ecological observations, such as unique bird sightings, signs of seasonal change, and animal behaviors. Here's a recent photo upload of blooming skunk cabbage in Newton:



Social networking tools such as Twitter have become a new and vital resource for the citizen science movement, used to gather and organize ecological research data, and to informally communicate with others who are also conducting research.

Field Studies in Fall River

Over 600 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Fall River students are using their new schoolyard as a field site for conducting hands-on, scientific investigations. In September 2009, UEI received funding to work with teachers at the Matthew J. Kuss Middle School in Fall River, MA, thanks to a grant from the Dominion Educational Partnership. Since then, field studies investigations have been thriving as teachers deliver UEI's innovative field studies curriculum modules and supporting lessons for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes.

During the fall, 8th grade classes conducted studies in different areas of their field site to investigate the plants, animals, soil, light, and weather. Students were introduced to the different habitats present with a focus on the interactions of living and non-living factors of the ecosystem. They have also been conducting biodiversity studies of birds, insects, invasive plants, and trees along the established transects.

Soon, the 7th grade students will begin water quality studies of samples from the mouth of the Taunton River. Along the river, students will gather data about water temperature, salinity, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen levels, specifically examining the effects of tides on salinity levels in the river. In addition, the classes will also be measuring nitrates, phosphates, and pH levels of water samples from the Taunton River, Mount Hope Bay, and other nearby water sources.

Fall River, a city with a population of just under 100,000, is a post-industrial town to the south of Boston, lying at the mouth of the Taunton River, which empties into Mount Hope Bay.

The Growth of Citizen Science

Darlene Cavalier has been instrumental in building momentum for increased public participation in the collection and processing of scientific data, better known as the citizen science movement. UEI's Field Studies students are actively playing the part of citizen scientists by collecting and reporting on ecological findings in the urban setting, becoming engaged in the "doing" of science and being able to claim a stake in the outcomes of their findings.

Here, along with Oxford University associate fellow Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Cavalier makes the case for keeping this movement alive.

Inmates Conduct Ecological Research on Slow-growing Mosses

NSF-funded citizen science project in Oregon engages prison inmates in ecological field studies.

'Citizen scientists' watch for signs of climate change

From the Christian Science Monitor: Field studies data collection performed by people with no formal training yields accurate and informative results about the ecological effects of climate change