Partner Showcase
How others are using Nature’s Notebook
September 8, 2015
The Webinar Team
And partners!
What’s Phenology
Phenology refers to recurring plant and animal life cycle
stages, such as leafing and flowering, maturation of agricultural
plants, emergence of insects, and migration of birds. It is also
the study of these seasonal changes, especially their timing
and relationships with weather and climate.
USA National Phenology
Network
Primary goal
• Create a standardized dataset
for use in multiple types of
research.
UNDERSTAND HOW SPECIES
AND LANDSCAPES ARE
RESPONDING TO CLIMATE
CHANGE.
Mission
• Make phenology data, models
and related information available.
• Encourage people of all ages
and backgrounds to observe and
record phenology.
Photo credit: C. Enquist
Photo: L. Romano
Nature’s Notebook
for scientists, naturalists,
volunteers, land
managers, park rangers,
and YOU!
https://www.usanpn.org/nn/connect/project
https://www.usanpn.org/nn/central-AZ-phenotrail
http://www.nyphenologyproject.org
http://umaine.edu/signs-of-the-seasons/
http://edweb.tusd1.org/borton/bell/index.php
Central Arizona Phenology Trail
Considered what local groups are focused on
the natural world
Asked these groups about partnering on this
Their answer was : YES!!! Let’s do this!!!
For us it was these groups :
•
•
•
•
•
Highlands Center for Natural History
Community Nature Center
Prescott Creeks/Watson Woods
Prescott College
Walnut Creek Center for Education and
Research
• Native Plants Society
Communicated with key partners via email
Submitted a list of plants found in Central
Highlands to include in NPN’s database
Held two workshops that included:
• overview of phenology
• how to set up Nature’s Notebook accounts for
each site
Recruited volunteers from workshop participants
Use email to communicate
Establish your trails
• Decide on a route
• Select the species and individuals
you will monitor along each trail
• Tag individual plants with flags first
• We attached temporary plant ID
signs with Nature’s Notebook logo
Having a map of
the trail can be
helpful
• We identified an administrator for each site
• Each administrator could then generate on
their Observation Deck a list of plant species
in the order that they are encountered on the
trail
• This list then synchronizes with the
Nature’s Notebook app
• Data collection sheets for each site can also
be generated from the Observation Deck
Get out on the trails!
Take small groups out to learn
your species’ phenophases
and to become familiar
recording your observations
using Nature’s Notebook app
Always:
• Appreciate your volunteers
• Communicate with them
• Engage them
From Citizen Science to Community Science
Research
Education
Networked monitoring across communities
– activating regional networks by building
collaborative partnerships in unexpected
places
What made us start this crazy ride?
•
•
•
•
Stimulate new kinds of community engagement/collaboration
Create an ARMY of citizen/community scientists in New York!
Establish baseline data for new species, build long-term data set
Create robust regional dataset on plant/pollinator
synchronization
• Build new curriculum and resources (maps, brochures,
almanacs)
• STEM, Science/Climate Literacy
• Science-Nature-Self relationships
• Replicable networks (Nodes become training and demonstration
site, experiment with different models of participation)
*similar motivations reported for partner sites!
How we actually got things going…
• 2012 Launched 501c3 (Community
Greenways Collaborative), Cofounded EMMA (Environmental
Monitoring and Management
Alliance). Collaborative network of
similar orgs dedicated to research
and education. Pitched NYPP as a
project for EMMA to adopt.
• 2013-2014 Created website and DIY
tools www.nyphenologyproject.org
• Took on consulting assignments to
help organizations get citizen science
projects underway
• Gave talks, workshops, conferences
• 2015 Organized networks in specific
locations (e.g. LI)
www.nyphenologyproject.org
Estimated numbers for 2015
• Logged observations:
+150,000
• Sites: 23
• Observers: >150
• Community/volunteer
observers: ~100
• Interns/college students: ~25
• Staff: ~25
• K-12 Teachers trained:>200
• K-12 students: >1500
• Training sessions,
outreach/education events:
>65
• Active
training/outreach/education:>
3500
• Passive outreach (interpretive
signs on trails, articles,
Site Diversity
• Research Institutions: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies,
Vassar College, Mohonk Preserve
• Nature Centers/County Preserves/Land Trusts: Mianus
River Gorge Preserve, Tea Town Lake Reservation, Huyck
Preserve, Ward Pound Ridge Preserve (Westchester County
Parks), Finger Lakes Land trust
• National Park/Wildlife Preserves: Jamaica Bay Wildlife
Refuge at Gateway National Recreation Area
• Botanical Garden/Public Education: New York Botanical
Garden
• K-12 Education sites: New Paltz High School
• Private lands preserve: Community Greenways
Collaborative, Intervale Lowlands Nature Preserve
• Faith organizations: Zen Mountain Monastery, and KTD
Tibetan Monastery
Phenology Trail
Monitoring
Pollinator/Phenology
Gardens
Image: Mohonk Preserve Foothills
Trail
Image: Jamaica Bay Wildlife
Refuge
- Can be done on school grounds, at a local park or
preserve, in a “container garden”, urban or rural, with or
without mobile apps
- Can stand alone, or be connected with other local,
regional, national, global initiatives
The Fun Part: Examples and Highlights
• High school student starts a phenology monitoring site at high
school and is training teachers in how to use it with other
students
• Two monasteries get involved to use phenology monitoring as
a method of mindfulness training
• Mohonk Preserve: first year 2014 ~50 observers 17,000
observations, adults with disabilities group begins to use the
trail (not organized by program facilitators!)
• Research: Collaboration with Hawthorne Valley Farmscape
Ecology Program to compare historical dataset with modern
NYPP Citizen Science dataset
• On-boarded 7 new sites by holding one workshop targeted to
particular region (Long Island) with a particular focus (building
a regional network for ecological research and education
collaboration)
Example from LI: Connect the green dots…
determine what’s important on a regional level…
build the network
Example of research project using NYPP collected data:
6/28
Then and Now: Historical and Modern Average
Flowering Dates for Five Plant Species in the Lower
Hudson Valley
6/19
6/10
Dates
5/29
Historical
Data
1827 –
1858…
5/11
5/6
4/29
4/25
4/10
4/3
3/30
4/20
4/18
4/11
Common Flowering Red maple Spicebush Trout lily
milkweed dogwood
Species
Example of one of the most successful sites: Mohonk
Site Administrators hold potlucks, group trainings, schedule “meet
ups” showcase data and show observers that they are part of the
big picture at seasonal celebrations.
Observer
Groups
Community
Greenways
Collaborative 4/25
Mohonk Preserve 4/9
Cary Inst. 4/14
How did the Onset of Open
Flowers in Red Maple Vary
Across the Hudson Valley
Last Year?
Observations
(not to scale)
National Phenology
Network (NPN)
New York Phenology
Network (NYPP)
1,300,000 +
90,000+
Teatown Lake Reservation 4/10
Phenology Observers
at Mohonk Preserve
New York Botanical Garden 4/3
Your Sitel? (Or you!)
17,000+
A Few Unexpected Learnings…
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•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Site diversity is key to building an interesting and robust regional
network
Big bang for the brand buck (quick way for orgs to have cit sci as
part of their programmatic delivery)
Potlucks and social events are integral
Consulting model effective way to get a program started
Best to begin the summer before you want to launch (to tag
plants when they are up and get site details organized)
Board support and even a small bit of funding helps
Site administrator that is in a paid ‘long-term’ position and/or has
a job description with citizen science activities (or specifically
phenology program) helps
Having a volunteer network already established really helps
Mowing regime needs to be in place before the program gets
started. Seriously. Common milkweed always get mowed.
Signs of the Seasons:
A New England Phenology Program
Signs of the Seasons Partners
a project of the USA-NPN
Volunteer Observers:
• 4-H Youth and Families
• Master Gardeners
• K-12 Students and Teachers
• Informal Education Organizations
• Public Libraries
• State and National Parks
• Land Trusts
• Environmental Monitoring Groups
• Interested Citizens of All Ages!
Signs of the Seasons
Signs of the Seasons
a project of the USA-NPN
Training Outline
2.5 hours, usually 4:00 – 6:30pm
• Introductions
• Pre-survey (with clickers, if possible)
Follow-up
• Hands-on phenology calendar activity
• Immediate follow-up email
with links and resources
• Overview phenology-climate links
• Signs of the Seasons objectives and
partners
• Overview of target species and protocols
• Practice inside (or in the field)
• Show web resources (ours and NPN’s)
• Practice with Nature’s Notebook Database
• Post-survey
• Q&A
• Annual evaluation survey
• Email updates, webinars,
seminar opportunities, etc.
a project of the USA-NPN
Phenology Calendar Activity
Signs of the Seasons
Examples we use to
highlight phenologyclimate links
22 June 1917
Timing of the initial dandelion growth in the spring
160
June
150
140
May 16
Day of the Year
130
120
April 28
April 28
110
April 21
100
April 2
90
80
70
March
60
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
First recorded growth by individual in ME and
Protocol Overview, Examples, and Tips:
Monarch
Monarch egg
American robin
An example: observations in my “Side Yard”
 On your site visit, you slowly walk along your
transect
for three minutes and see:
• One robin fly through the site
• One robin perched and singing
• No monarch butterflies, but you
see an egg on a milkweed plant
http://www.learner.org/jn
orth/sounds/RobinSong_
LangElliott.mp3
Signs of the Seasons
a project of the USA-NPN
4/19/14
9:30AM
2
1
Do you see…breaking leaf buds?
Breaking leaf buds: One or more breaking leaf buds are
visible on the plant. A leaf bud is considered "breaking" once a
green leaf tip is visible at the end of the bud, but before the first
leaf from the bud has unfolded to expose the leaf stalk (petiole)
or leaf base.
No
Yes
Do you see… increasing leaf size?
Increasing leaf size
A majority of leaves on the plant have not yet reached their full size and are still
growing larger. Do not include new leaves that continue to emerge at the ends of
elongating stems throughout the growing season.
What percentage of full size are most leaves?
Less than 25%; 25-49%; 50-74%; 75-94%; 95% or more
Signs of the Seasons
a project of the USA-NPN
Hands-on Practice
Signs of the Seasons
Advisory Committee
Observer5
Sites in
Maine and New Hampshire
created using the
Data Visualization Tool in
Nature’s Notebook
Milkweed and Monarchs
Credit: Courtney Celley / USFWS
Credit: Ethel Dyer
What's up for 2015?
New England Leaf-Out Project
• Are trees leafing out earlier now than in the past?
Dr. Richard Primack
• Do trees leaf out at different times across New
England?
Researchers at Boston University are hoping to answer these
questions by comparing observations of deciduous tree
phenology collected by observers in the northeast, like Signs of
the Seasons, to historical records.
Dr. Libby Ellwood
You can help out by continuing to track red maple (Acer rubrum)
and sugar maple (Acer saccharum). The observations you
submit to Nature’s Notebook directly contribute to this research!
www.usanpn.org/nelop
Green Wave: Northeast
Pam Bell
http://umaine.edu/signs-of-the-seasons/
What are we finding?
Total Observations of SOS Indicator Species
Number of Observations in NN
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
Citizen science is the only way these
data can be collected in such large
numbers!
Thank You!
https://www.usanpn.org/nn/webinars
Connect with USA-NPN…
• Sign up for a phenology
quarterly e-newsletter
• Become an observer
• Discover new tools and
resources
www.facebook.com/USANPN
www.pinterest.com/USANPN
www.twitter.com/@loriannebarnett
LoriAnne Barnett
lorianne@usanpn.org