Monday, December 4, 2017, 7:00 pm: Joint meeting of INPS White Pine Chapter and Palouse Audubon Society
Speaker: Charles Swift, environmental scientist and information technology specialist
Program: “Citizen Science for Amateur Naturalists ”
Location: 1912 Center, Great Room, 412 East Third St., Moscow, Idaho
Opportunities abound for the amateur naturalist to contribute to science. Citizen science is not a new idea, but recent projects, such as eBird and iNaturalist, have made use of technological advances to provide powerful new tools. Connecting beginning naturalists to experts, they provide opportunities for education and enhanced enjoyment of nature. Data from these projects informs studies of global biodiversity and can also be leveraged for locally focused projects. This program will briefly review the history of citizen science, providing useful tips on what’s available, how to get started, and how organizations can benefit from these tools. Charles Swift, information technology specialist and environmentalist, has been an enthusiastic promoter of citizen science since his teens (the Christmas Bird Count), and also has more recent involvement in eBird and iNaturalist.
More information on eBird and iNaturalist:
iNaturalist quick start guide- https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started
eBird quick start guide – http://help.ebird.org/customer/en/portal/articles/973977-ebird-quick-start-guide?b_id=1928
iNaturalist observations from Idler’s Rest Preserve – https://www.inaturalist.org/places/idler-s-rest-nature-preserve
Pictorial guide to common birds of the Palouse Region – https://www.inaturalist.org/guides/6097
Location: 1912 Center, Great Room, 412 E. 3rd St., Moscow, Idaho.