Feb 25, 2022 | 2:00 PM
Written by Jennifer Klein, Land Administration Coordinator.
Have you ever ever wished to know extra in regards to the pure group round you? Perhaps you’re in search of a option to volunteer whereas sustaining distance from others and inhaling some contemporary air. In that case, citizen science monitoring could also be simply what you want. There are a lot of citizen science alternatives in our space and the very best factor of all is that you just don’t want any expertise or a elaborate diploma. There are individuals eagerly ready to show you every little thing it’s worthwhile to know.
Citizen science monitoring is an effective way for anybody to be concerned in accumulating helpful knowledge which is used to make necessary habitat and wildlife administration selections in any respect ranges inside the state. Woodland Dunes companions with the Wisconsin Division of Pure Sources and others on a wide range of citizen science monitoring tasks. One instance of that is Water Motion Volunteers, or WAV. WAV is a program the place volunteers are skilled to check rivers or creeks for qualities equivalent to water temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity (how clear or darkish the water is). These measurements, and others, assist biologists decide the well being of a river system and monitor modifications over time. They will even assist detect a air pollution occasion proper after it occurs so clear up efforts can begin in a well timed method. There’s a related program to this for lakes referred to as the Citizen Lake Monitoring Community.
One other citizen science program is thru the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Woodland Dunes has been partnering with them to observe the migration of suckers from Lake Michigan into Overlook Me Not Creek within the spring. Different tributaries up and down the Lake Michigan shoreline are additionally being monitored by volunteers. Shedd Aquarium additionally displays the native air and water temperatures, and volunteers monitor the climate situations and water ranges and readability at their websites, in addition to noting any obstacles which can forestall suckers from reaching appropriate spawning habitat. This knowledge may be very helpful and is a part of necessary analysis. Different spring alternatives embody chook migration surveys, frog and toad surveys, salamander surveys, and even bald eagle nest monitoring.
At Woodland Dunes, we take part in all of that and extra, together with monitoring chimney swifts which roost and lift younger in our chimney within the nature heart. We coordinate the Manitowoc County space for the Worldwide Crane Basis’s Annual Crane Rely. We additionally monitor bee populations in our prairies as a part of the Wisconsin Bumble Bee Brigade. There are such a lot of fascinating species to observe relying in your pursuits. I might encourage you to succeed in out to Woodland Dunes and discover your ardour. Connecting with nature is an effective way to remain grounded and balanced. Nature is significant to our psychological and bodily effectively being and we may all profit from somewhat extra time connecting with the pure world.