Covering the people, projects and phenomena of citizen science
Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
Map an important bird habitat: your own backyard
By Darlene Cavalier, Aug 03, 2010
Is your yard for the birds?
This fall, Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology will unveil YardMap, a citizen science project that asks participants to map their yards and green spaces to help researchers better understand where birds live.
The project provides a Google satellite image of your yard (or another green space of your choice), then lets you mark the locations of vegetation and other landscape features, such as compost bins and bird houses, on your online YardMap page. Pages can be shared and compared by researchers and participants. Learn how your yard stacks up to your neighbor’s when it comes to creating a host environment for birds and the plants, berries, and insects they eat.
ScienceforCitizens.net members are invited to test the beta version of YardMap. Sign up here if you are interested.
Here’s a slide show explaining more about this project:
Darlene Cavalier is a Professor at Arizona State University's Center for Engagement and Training, part of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Cavalier is the founder of SciStarter. She is also the founder of Science Cheerleader, an organization of more than 300 current and former professional cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers, and a cofounder of ECAST: Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology, a network of universities, science centers, and think tanks that produces public deliberations to enhance science policymaking. She is a founding board member of the Citizen Science Association, a senior advisor at Discover Magazine, a member of the EPA's National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, and was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences "Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning" committee. She is the author of The Science of Cheerleading and co-editor of The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science, published by Arizona State University. Darlene holds degrees from Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania and was a high school, college and NBA cheerleader. Darlene lives in Philadelphia with her husband and four children.
