Thousands of people live on the 660-acre University of Maine campus. So too, do many other species. The School of Biology and Ecology Graduate Organization (SBE GO) wants to learn how many and invites members of the UMaine and local communities to take part in a BioBlitz on Sept. 18-19 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. each day. BioBlitzes are citizen-science events — that are held worldwide — to record all organisms observed in a given area within a short timeframe, usually 24 to 48 hours. Scientists, naturalists, nature aficionados, and interested members of the community take part.
The BioBlitz will serve a number of functions, including building connections with the local environment and promoting interest in and awareness of biodiversity and conservation. The BioBlitz will be a field research experience for college and high school students, serve as a chance for graduate students to mentor undergraduates, and showcase UMaine programs to high school students and the public. Pre-registration is encouraged. Please visit this link or click the registration button below to register. People also can register on campus anytime during the event. Upon registration, all participants will be given instructions, a lesson on using the iNaturalist app on smartphones to record their specimen observations, and have a chance to ask questions and get help identifying unknown specimens. Registered participants can survey an area anywhere on campus, in groups or on their own. Throughout the two-day event, graduate student, faculty, and alumni volunteers will lead educational demonstration sessions, introducing participants to a variety of taxa, technology, and techniques to help them engage with their natural environments. The weekend’s collections will be compiled into a database in which the specimens identified through the iNaturalist app can be represented geospatially using freely available GIS softwares (QGIS) — this data will be accessible to all. For more information, please visit https://umaineblitz.weebly.com/ To request a reasonable accommodation to participate, please contact this email address. Please bring your smartphone, a mask, and sun protection. This event will be held rain or shine. All participants are asked to follow the CDC guidelines for COVID-19 safety. If you are vaccinated, you are not required to wear a mask if you are outdoors and practicing social distancing, though we highly recommend that you wear a mask while around other participants. All participants are asked to practice social distancing throughout the event. Given recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, we are asking participants to adopt the following measures:
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. |
From the National Geographic BioBlitz Program webpage:
"A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get a snapshot of an area’s biodiversity. These events can happen in most any geography—urban, rural, or suburban—in areas as small as a backyard or as large as a country. Smartphone technologies and apps such as iNaturalist make collecting photographs and biological information about living things easy as part of a BioBlitz. High quality data uploaded to iNaturalist become part of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, an open source database used by scientists and policy makers around the world. " Become a Blitzer!If you want to join us for the University of Maine BioBlitz 2021, please click on the button below and fill the registration form.
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