In season one, we’re exploring the ever-growing field of citizen science–the participation of non-scientists in research at any level–and how it can help answer questions about our changing world. Can citizen science shape our relationship with nature?
Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park: www. Schoodicinstitute.org
Margie: For many people, nature is just this kinda flat backdrop to their world and they don’t really notice everything that’s in there, and there’s so much, if you can just tune into it, if you can listen to it, if you can get your senses going in understanding it.
Olivia: That’s Margie Patlak, a summer resident of Corea, Maine. In an effort to “tune in” to nature, each morning last summer, Margie went on what she called an “insect safari” in her backyard.
Margie: And I’m focusing on insects in specific because they outnumber us on the planet, but most of us aren’t even aware of them, you know because they’re so tiny and we just never notice them. But once I started this project of going on an insect safari every morning and seeing what I could find, then I started to realize that my world was getting bigger and bigger.
Olivia: Margie is a citizen scientist. Citizen science is the participation of non-scientists in research at any level, whether they’re volunteers helping to collect data or collaborators working to develop research questions and project designs. In Margie’s case, she’s documenting the presence of insects in her own backyard so that a record can exist within iNaturalist, a user-sourced global database of biodiversity. Equally as important to Margie, these insect safaris help her learn about the natural world.
Margie: So yeah, the more I learn about the natural world the more it flabbergasts me, it’s just amazing everything that’s out there. It’s sort of like when you look at the stars and all you can see is the Big Dipper, the universe doesn’t seem vast. But, when you can recognize all those other constellations, if not use a telescope to see galaxies, the world becomes much more immense. Some people find that overwhelming, you know, that they’re used to themselves having a greater importance, but I feel like if you can connect to a greater sphere, then you become more immense, right? It’s both humbling but also, uh, enlarging.
Olivia: From Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park, it’s Sea to Trees, a podcast that tells the stories of the science happening in and around Acadia from the rocky shoreline to the evergreen forests to the granite mountaintops. In this first season of the show, we’re exploring the ever-growing field of citizen science and how it can help answer questions about our changing world. We’ll follow citizen scientists as they wrangle seaweed in the intertidal.
Citizen scientist #1: It’s cool, I mean it’s neat to participate! Citizen scientist #2: Seaweed. [laughing] Who doesn’t love seaweed?
Olivia: And use iNaturalist, like Margie. Citizen scientist #3: Ooh, Harper! Citizen scientist #4: Centipede! Come here, little guy.
Olivia: I’m Olivia Milloway, this year’s Cathy and Jim Gero Acadia Early-Career Fellow in Science Communication. Acadia National Park is on traditional lands of the Wabanaki, People of the Dawn. Sea to Trees is coming to nps.gov and Apple Podcasts March of 2023.
