Planning Meeting -- 11-12 May, 2006, Omaha, Nebraska |
Discover Life and help manage
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Melanerpes formicivorus (Swainson, 1827)
Acorn woodpecker
Updated: 31 August, 2007
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Organizers: Mark DePoy, Buffalo National River, John Pickering, University of Georgia and The Polistes Foundation Overview Global climate change, invasive species, pollution, and fire threaten our National Parks and other natural areas. Here we propose a large-scale scientific study to better understand and mitigate these threats. We will establish a network of citizen scientists to study and monitor important functional groups and indicator species. We will focus the study in and around National Parks, because of their extensive geographic coverage, biological diversity, expertise in working with the public, and logistic support. We invite other organizations and individuals to join us and extend the study to sites outside of National Parks. The website Discover Life and its partner organizations will provide the technology necessary for participants to identify specimens, process samples, report and edit findings, map and analyze results, and share information on-line in real time. Participating teams of scientists will develop and test research protocols locally. They will then work with NPS interpreters to train teams of citizens to implement each protocol elsewhere. Successful protocols will provide policy makers and land managers with high-quality data that will help them make better decisions. The protocols will also provide a basis for teaching scientific methods and critical thinking in schools, universities, and other venues. Combined with lesson plans, they should inspire students to be creative and develop their own ideas into independent research projects that further unravel nature's mysteries. Let's use exploration and discovery to counter the classroom tedium of the known world. So that we can analyze trends and compare results at a continental scale, we will implement each protocol in a standard way across parks and other study sites. Each protocol will be straight forward, targeted at an age-appropriate level, and require only equipment that can be made readily available through parks, schools, universities, libraries, or other local organizations. We envision a range from simple to complex protocols that will allow everyone from grade schoolers on up to help collect the data we need. For example, "Learning lessons looking for ladybugs" is aimed at grade schoolers helping to monitor the spread and impact of non-native invasive ladybugs on rare native one. "Ant Hunt!" requires microscope skills and is more appropriate for older students. We will expend considerable effort during the development, testing, and implementation of research protocols to assure that the data are sufficiently accurate and reliable to be of use to scientists, land managers, and policy makers. Our computer network will track the source of each datum, rank its reliability based on other evidence, and filter out or flag suspicious information. The protocols will require participants to confirm important observations by submitting digital photographs and attaching unique barcode labels, which we will provided via the web, to voucher specimens. Because National Parks limit collecting and experiments through research permits, we will develop protocols that require minimum amounts of collecting and manipulation within National Parks. We will emphasize observation, photography, and low-impact measurements to study populations within parks. Whenever possible, we will restrict collecting and experiments to sites outside of parks and other protected areas. In the first and second field season after funds become available for each scientific team, the team will develop and test their protocol in the Ozarks or another selected park. In the two years following the successful testing of a protocol, the team and NPS interpreters will implement it across participating parks in the Midwest and selected parks in other regions. After we incorporate feedback from these sites, we will implement the protocol throughout all parks and other sites who wish to participate. Thus, we anticipate our most successful protocols will form a national network by year-5. The proposed network could become a foundation for the NPS's Centennial Initiative. Ultimately, we hope this model of using the web to coordinate scientists, educators, citizen scientists, and land managers will develop into a global network. If our dreams become reality, think "a million points of science" helping to better understand and manage our planet. Rather than attempting to study all species, we will focus on critical groups of organism that will give the project the highest return. The following are potential groups that we might choose. Within these groups, we will choose subgroups that we expect to be both sensitive and insensitive to the potential threats. With butterflies, for example, we propose to compare changes in the abundance and distribution of widespread, common species, such as the Tiger Swallowtail, with rare species and locally endemic ones.
On May 11-12, 2007, we propose an initial planning meeting in Omaha. This meeting will be a brainstorming session between NPS employees, independent scientists, and other participants.
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Schedule -- 11-12 May, 2007, Omaha, Nebraska
The Midwest Regional Office of the National Park Service will host a planning meeting for approximately 20 NPS staff and 10 invited scientists and other interested parties. The goal of this meeting will be to present the project to the region, seek feedback, and brainstorm how to proceed. 10 May
11 May
12 May
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Participants | |||||
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Name | Affiliation | Mailing Address | E-mail address | Phones: O-Office, C-Cell, F-Fax | |
Walt Carson | Univ. of Pittsburgh | 148 State Street Grove City, PA 16127 |
Walt@Pitt.edu | O- 412-624-5496 | |
Steve Cinnamon | NPS-MWRO | 601 Riverfront Drive Omaha, NE 68102 |
steve_cinnamon@nps.gov | O- 402-661-1864 F- 402-661-1865 |
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Mark DePoy | Buffalo Nat'l River | 402 North Walnut Street, Suite 136 Harrison, AR 72601 |
mark_depoy@nps.gov | O- 870-741-5446, 270 H- 870-577-7106 |
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Sam Droege | USGS-Pautuxent | 102 Queen Anne Bridge Road Upper Marlboro, MD 20774 |
sdroege@usgs.gov | 301-487-5840 | |
Mike Irwin | Schlinger Foundation, Univ of Illinois | 15634 E Wandering Creek Place Vail, AZ 85641 |
meirwin@uiuc.edu | ||
Sue Jennings | NPS-MWRO | 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, NE 68102 | sue_jennings@nps.gov | 402-661-1648 | |
Dan Kjar | Elmira College | Elmira College, 1 Park Place, Elmira, NY 14901 | dkjar@elmira.edu | 0- 607-735-1826 | |
John Losey | Cornell University | Dept of Entomology, Cornstock Hall Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 |
JEL27@cornell.edu | ||
Jim Mattingly | NPS-MWRO | 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, NE 68102 | james_mattingly@nps.gov | 402-661-1762 | |
Theora McVay | NPS-MWRO | 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, NE 68102 | theora_mcvay@nps.gov | 402-661-1662 | |
Albert Meier | Western KY University | Dept of Biology, Western KY Univ, 1906 College Heights, Bowling Green, KY 42101 |
albertmeier@wku.edu | 0- 270-745-3696 |
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John Pickering | University of Georgia | Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia Athens, Ga 30602 |
pick@discoverlife.org | O- 706-542-115 H- 706-353-7076 |
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Ernie Quintana | NPS-MWRO | 601 Riverfront Drive Omaha, NE 68102 |
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Elizabeth Sellers | USGS-NBII | 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 302 Reston VA 20192 |
esellers@usgs.gov | 0- 703-648-4385 F- 703-648-4224 |
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Michael Soukup | NPS | mike_soukup@nps.gov | |||
Carmen Thomson | NPS-MWR | 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, NE 68102 | carmen_thomson@nps.gov | 0- 402-661-1876 F- 402-661-1877 |
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Gary Vequist | NPS-MWR | 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, NE 68102 | gary_vequist@nps.gov | 0- 402-661-1860 F- 402-661-1861 |
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Della Streaty Wilhoit | NPS; Upper Middle Mississippi CESU | NPS, U. Missouri, Mumford Hall 226C Columbia, MO 65211 |
della_streaty_wilhoit@nps.gov | 0- 573-882-7023 F- 573-384-2199 |
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Gary Willson | NPS; Great Plains CESU | 515 Hardin Hall, UNL, 3310 Holdrege Lincoln, NE 68583-0985 |
gary_wilson@nps.gov | 0- 402-572-5047 |
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