Building Community - to delete

We work closely with iNaturalist.org, a social network through which anyone can record and discuss observations of the natural world. iNaturalist and the Academy share the belief that if enough people record their observations, we can create a living record of life on Earth. Scientists and land managers pose questions to the iNaturalist community and use the resulting data to monitor changes, but anyone can use it to learn more about the wonders of nature.

In 2013, we organized the first meeting of the Bay Area Citizen Science Coalition (BACSC). BACSC seeks to build community in the Bay Area around citizen science. While it consists largely of organizations that run local citizen science programs, it also includes teachers who do citizen science with their students, academics who research citizen science outcomes on participants and communities, city and land managers interested in data collected through citizen science projects, and some stellar citizen scientists themselves.

Nerds for Nature is an all-volunteer organization in the Bay Area that brings environmental professionals together with technologists and designers to create new tools that will help people discover, protect, and understand the world around them.

We partner with Nerds for Nature, iNaturalist, and other organizations, to hold one-day grassroots bioblitzes in urban parks and open spaces all around the bay.

Academy citizen science staff participate in both the San Mateo County and Golden Gate (Marin and San Francisco Counties) Marine Protected Area Collaboratives. These collaboratives provide a localized, comprehensive approach to MPA implementation in California by bringing together local experts and authorities in outreach and education, enforcement, research, and monitoring.

We work together with the West Marin Environmental Action Committee and the Point Reyes National Seashore to coordinate the Marin MPA Watch program, supported by the California Ocean Science Trust. Marin MPA Watch trains volunteers on how to observe and record human uses of the shoreline and ocean within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Marin County and how to interact with the public regarding MPA regulations. Please email rockyshore@calacademy.org to learn more.

The Academy is a steering committee member of the Citizen Science Association, a community of practice for the field of public participation in scientific research. The association plans to host its first Citizen Science Conference and Gathering in February 2015 as a pre-conference for the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting in San Jose, California.