Monday, June 22, 2009

backyard scientists

Thanks to another blog, I discovered this article on the so-called citizen science movement.

Isn't this what I'm doing blogging and faithfully going out in the late hours of the night every 2 weeks to look for grunions? My grunion greeting postings are more detailed than the others, b/c Dr. Martin knows she can find additional information on my blog if she has any questions about my online data submissions.

It's been a while since I published a handful of papers on Northeast Ohio moths. However, life stepped in and I got sidetracked along the way to pursuing a graduate degree. I enjoyed the field work, going out with my net and ID books, sharing with other nature lovers the secrets we witnessed, and relishing the sense of excitement at what new discovery I could make that day. Through creating Nature ID and following other blogs, I'm fully rediscovering my love of nature.

So, here's to all the backyard scientists and bloggers out there, cheers! Your knowledge and photographs are impressive and inspiring, regardless of whether you're "professional" or not. Thanks for sharing!

On a closely related topic, I particularly liked Bug Girl's Blog posting on pseudonyms and anonymity.

2 comments:

Tom said...

Hi Katie- 10 years studying NE Ohio Moths? Very cool. Now you are in Cali I see? Thanks for following my blog, looking forward to looking at your posts here.

Tom

Nature ID said...

Thanks, Tom. I feel like I should know you already, but I'm not sure I do. We probably know some of the same folks in OH.