Calling All Backyard Biologists! A Sneak Peak Into A New Community Science Intern Project

By Noelle Daley, Summer 2024 Intern

White Ibis on a birding tour

As a summer education intern at the Conservancy, my weeks have been filled with leading nature tours, helping out at summer camp, and catching blue crabs in the marsh. In addition to our departmental duties, interns at the Conservancy are also responsible for completing an intern project over the course of the summer. These projects vary greatly across the departments, but every project contributes to the mission of the Conservancy as we discover, learn, conserve, and preserve the natural environment around us at Bald Head Island. 

For my project, I have been creating a program that encourages Conservancy guests to partake in community science projects, which are science projects the general public can participate in. Through community science projects, people of all ages and backgrounds are eligible and encouraged to participate in scientific research opportunities and engage with the natural world in a meaningful way, all while contributing to the ongoing studies of real scientists and researchers. Adding more community science programs at the Conservancy will expose more people to the topic of community science and hopefully give them a stronger desire to participate in large scale projects. 

Looking for shells to contribute to community science projects

During my research, I found that there are many different community science projects, but they often have one thing in common: documentation through technology. For example, most community science programs have participants upload nature observations to applications such as iNaturalist. Observations may include photos of trees, flowers, insects, birds, fish, and more, which help researchers understand which species are present in a studied area and how they interact with one another. Some community citizen science projects are more specific and focus on only observing clouds or birds or pollinators.

New Bald Head Island community scientist identification card

For my project specifically, I am creating ID cards that participants can write their name on and add sticker badges to once they have participated in or completed a community project. So far, I have developed ten different badges for participants to work towards, including observing shorebirds, pollinators, and critters that live in tide pools. Overall, these cards and stickers will introduce Conservancy guests to community science and motivate them to take part in community science projects! Bald Head Island offers a lot of beautiful diversity with our large maritime forest and ocean tide pools—let’s get out there and explore!