Enjoying Outdoors! - What is Community Science?

Kristie Ehrhardt • November 7, 2024

Do you love to be outside and have a keen eye for making observations? If so, you might be interested in participating in Community Science! Community Science, sometimes also called citizen science, crowd science, participatory science, or civic science is a program where the public contributes their observations, research and data to better the overall public knowledge of a location or region. Definitions and uses of Community Science vary between organizations or communities but generally it is community members volunteering their time to gather information and donate their findings to a general database for public use and contribution.

 

"Citizen Science" was first used in the mid 1990’s in the United States by ornithologist Rick Bonney and in the United Kingdom by British sociologist Alan Irwin. Bonney used the term to describe projects in which amateur scientists such as birdwatchers volunteered their personal data. Irwin used the term as “developing concepts of scientific citizenship which foregrounds the necessity of opening up science and science policy processes to the public.” Interestingly, neither Bonney nor Irwin was aware of the other's work and defined Citizen Science independently. In 2014, the term made it into the Oxford English Dictionary and is defined as “scientific work undertaken by members of the general public, often in collaboration with or under the direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions.” Citizen Science may play a role in a wide range of studies including natural resource conservation, biology, ecology, health studies, astronomy as well as communications, information and media studies.

 

There are many opportunities to participate in Community Science in our region, below are a few of the larger events that you may or may not be familiar with.

 

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Invasive Species Program

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Invasive Species Program which recruits the assistance of outdoor enthusiasts and concerned community members to assist invasive species monitoring and management. Those involved conduct surveys, collect data and report their findings to CDFW. With the help of many sets of eyes and a new smartphone app, CDFW hopes to get a leg up on identifying and managing invasive species in California. Some of the invasive species at the top of their list range from mammals to invertebrates and include nutria, brown-headed cowbirds, water snakes, red-eared sliders, bullfrogs, carp, piranhas, quagga and zebra muscles, channeled apple snails and New Zealand mud snails among many other species. Click here if you’d like to learn more about the app and to learn more about the project visit here.

 

Bushy Lake

The Bushy Lake restoration project in Sacramento County is another example of Community Science at work. The project is an ecocultural restoration project and is located near Cal Expo on the Lower American River. The goals of the 86-acre project is to protect, enhance and restore sustainable habitats for northwestern pond turtles, California’s only native turtle, and to enhance the educational interpretation of resources in the Lower American River Parkway. And the turtles aren’t the only species benefiting from the project, there are 139 additional species that call Bushy Lake home as well. The project provides an opportunity for community service for students as well as habitat and species monitoring for private citizens. The data is collected under the Sacramento County Department of Regional Parks as part of the obligations and policies under the American River Parkway Plan. To learn more about the Bushy Lake project here.

 

The City Nature Challenge

The City Nature Challenge (CNC) began in 2016 as a competition between the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Los Angeles to see which city could document the most species observed during an eight-day period. The competition began as a fun and creative way to embrace and better understand urban biodiversity. During the first year over 1,000 people participated with over 20,000 observations being made. The result was outstanding with an approximate 1,600 species documented in each city with new occurrences for both locations.


The idea was too big to keep local and the following year the CNC went national and the next year international and species are now being cataloged across the globe! The CNC now an annual “bioblitz” where cities around the globe compete to see who can record the most species with the most people participating while working together toward a common goal of witnessing and sharing nature. The 2024 CNC resulted in just under 2.5 million observations with 65,682 species being observed by 83,528 participants. To see past results click here. Observations are recorded in iNaturalist and if your city isn’t registered to participate, you can still play along and record your sightings as an individual. To sign up for iNaturalist, visit https://www.inaturalist.org/.

 

The 2025 CNC will begin on April 25, 2025 at 12:00 am and run until April 28, 2025 11:59 pm. Any observations posted in iNaturalist in the Yolo, Sacramento, Sutter, Placer, Nevada, San Joaquin, El Dorado, Yuba and Amador Counties during that time will be counted toward the Sacramento Region’s total. 

 

Other well-known Community Science projects include the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count where community members document bird species and numbers annually around Christmas time and Purple Air, the largest real-time air quality database that collects air quality data using sensors on public and private property and reports the results via their website or app. Community Science creates good will in the overall community by engaging community members to notice and appreciate nature.

 

Keep an eye on our events page, Tuleyome is hosting a Bioblitz at the Woodland Regional Park Preserve on December 14, 2024. Join us so you can participate in Community Science and add your own observations to iNaturalist!


-Kristie Ehrhardt (kehrhardt@tuleyome.org)

Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager

RECENT ARTICLES

By Bryan Pride April 4, 2025
A lot has happened in the Public Lands space since our last Policy Corner. Doug Burgum took his role as the 55th Secretary of the Interior, and Kathleen Sgamma received confirmation to head the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The House Natural Resources Committee has held several oversight hearings on topics ranging from selling off public lands to establish American Energy Dominance , defunding federal agencies such as BLM as a method to incentivize Multiple Land Use by private companies and undercutting the efficacy of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and calling it a “needed reform”. Through questionable actions made by DOGE, we have also seen thousands of Forest Service, BLM and National Park employees fired and, through court order, rehired . With all this chaos happening far and near, the real question becomes: What does all this chaos mean for Californians? Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land is concentrated in 12 western states. California holds nearly 15 million acres of BLM lands. In addition to BLM land, California has land that is managed by other federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The recent reductions to staff across all federal agencies directly impacts National Monuments, National Parks, and National Forests, that are located within California. Every year, Californians, residents from nearby states, as well as international tourists visit the public lands within California as a way to spend time with families, enjoy the great outdoors, and experience mental healing. The National Park Service reported that 36.2 million people visited the 28 national parks in California in 2023 . Those visitors spent roughly $3.2 billion dollars, which supported 39,678 California-based jobs and contributed $5.1 billion dollars to our state economy. While it may not be as visible, the presence of BLM and U.S Forest Service also creates jobs in California and positively contributes to the local economies of our communities and the overall economic strength of California as a whole. Public Lands are more than recreation; they create employment opportunities and contribute to economic prosperity. Despite National Monument and public lands holding immense value in the hearts and minds of Californians and the American people in general, our public lands are being threatened. It was announced earlier in the month that DOGE plans to close federal offices across the United States. One of the offices that has been targeted to close is the Ukiah BLM office . The Ukiah BLM office plays a significant role in coordinating protection for the federal lands in California ranging from the intercostal mountain range and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, which includes the Mendocino forest. The Ukiah office assists with issuing permits for timber harvesting, livestock grazing, off highway vehicle recreation, and overseeing proper adherence to environmental preservation practices. Additionally, Ukiah is essential in coordinating CalFire dispatch and response to the wildfires that affect our forests and our communities. The Ukiah BLM office also houses the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Manager. Without a Ukiah office, the Monument Manager's ability to respond to fires, guarantee safety, and ensure that conservation practices are taking place in and around the monument is reduced. This means that our public lands and forests are at heightened risk of wildfires and trails we love to hike become unsafe to those who use them. The closure of the physical office is not the only threat to Ukiah BLM operations. Many of the staff have been in their posts for years and have recently been promoted, meaning the invaluable staff is at risk of being terminated due to their probationary status. We run the risk of losing these public servants and the institutional knowledge they have of our public lands. 1.5 million Californians throughout the region will be affected if we lose the Ukiah office or staff. The Department of Interior (DOI) is also proposing selling an area of federal land larger than the city of Los Angeles as part of the agency's plan to use public lands to help solve the recently announced "housing and energy crisis." The DOI is looking to sell about 400,000 acres—625 square miles—of federal lands for housing. Federal lands that are within a radius of up to 10 miles of all cities and towns with a population greater than 5,000 people are at risk of being sold to private companies. This has the potential to affect communities that are near the Berryessa Snow Mountain Monument. 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Each time you call, it is documented and demonstrates the urgency associated with the cause. Even if you called once before, call again and keep calling. Reaching out to friends, family members, and community groups and encouraging them to call their representatives is a powerful way to advocate. Don't know who your representative is? No problem—use these links to find both state and federal representatives by using your zip code. You can also send letters to elected officials. Using this link , you have the chance to send a letter to your elected officials and customize what you want to say about public lands. We encourage folks to use these grassroots options and join the fight to keep our public lands public. All of us have the ability to advocate for our public lands and its resources – wildlife, flora, fauna, water and culture. If you're interested in learning more ways to help raise awareness and advocate for your public lands, feel free to reach out to me. Until then, Happy Hiking! -Bryan Pride ( bpride@tuleyome.org ) Policy Director
By Kristie Ehrhardt April 4, 2025
We know how special Molok Luyuk is; to the indigenous people that call it home, to those of us who visit it regularly and for posterity. With 500 different types of plants - 40 of them rare, Bald and Golden Eagles, Tule Elk, unique soils and fascinating geology, we already knew that Molok Luyuk deserved to be protected inside the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument boundaries. And now, it's getting some well-merited attention from BayNature.org . Check out what they have to say about one of our favorite places! -Kristie Ehrhardt ( kehrhardt@tuleyome.org ) Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager
By Kristie Ehrhardt April 4, 2025
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