Community Science
Whether you have a background in science or just a passing interest, community science gives the “everyday person” the opportunity to participate in real research by helping collect data in the field.
Scroll on for opportunities to get involved at Rogers Center.
The B-Team
In 2023 the Friends of Rogers established its first community science project: The B-Team. This project currently focuses on inventorying the native bees in nine Central New York counties (Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Otsego, Thompkins). We are looking to establish some baseline information of what species are present - looking especially for those species that are in decline and whose populations are listed as critically imperiled.
Anyone can join. All you need is a digital camera (could be your phone), and the ability to download the iNaturalist app (phone or computer). All photos of bees taken within the nine counties and uploaded to iNaturalist are automatically added to our project.
Check out our Central New York Native Bee Survey project on iNaturalist.
City Nature Challenge
City Nature Challenge is a friendly world-wide competition to see who can log the greatest number of species on iNaturalist during this four-day event, which takes place the last weekend of April.
Friends of Rogers participated for the first time in 2023. We logged 740 observations and 308 species!
How is it community science? Just like similar events, such as Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, City Nature Challenge provides a snapshot of species on the landscape at a particular time of year, each year. This can help scientists spot changes in cycles and population trends.
This is a great way to introduce students, scouts, homeschoolers and individuals to community science and nature observation.