Local Community Science
Recognizing that the amount of monitoring needed will only be accomplished by mobilizing our communities, the MRC feels it is crucial to “support local monitoring efforts that engage community members as trained volunteers.” The Prioritized Monitoring Strategy goes on to recommend that “any entity that requires or is involved in monitoring in the San Juan Islands contribute funding to support locally based programs that will then augment or conduct these monitoring efforts.”
There are examples of successful local monitoring efforts that involve trained community members who volunteer their time. In 2007, Waldron Islanders began an effort with the help of Kwiaht and Beach Watchers that is being modeled in other locations around the Islands. The Lopez Community Salmon Team followed in 2008. There are currently three additional efforts know as Marine Health Observatories (MHOs) with members of all ages and walks of life who are learning more about their beaches and backyards while collecting valuable ecosystem monitoring data.
The following local organizations train and coordinate volunteers:
Beach Watchers (WSU Extension San Juan County) - provide an extensive 2 month training course to adults who then give back to their community by participating in projects; coordinate volunteers for other organizations and their projects throughout the San Juans.
Beam Reach - a marine based research effort that involves graduate students monitoring the effects of boat noise on orcas, and collecting phytoplankton, among many other projects.
Center for Whale Research - conducts monitoring focused on Southern Resident Orcas.
K-12 Outreach & Education - a University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories program that works through the schools.
Friends of the San Juans - working with volunteers and interns around the county.
Kwiaht - working with interns and volunteering community members of all ages on all islands.
San Juan Nature Institute - working with school children throughout the Islands.
The Whale Museum - conducts monitoring focused on Southern Resident Orcas, as well as other marine mammals.
The autumn 2010 issue of Stewardship Connections featured articles about most of these programs.
An amazing 'multiplier effect' is evident in these programs.
- Volunteers learn about the components of our shared ecosystems, both during training and while collecting data
- They collect additional information in more locations than would otherwise be possible
- They participate in the most effective types of outreach and education while sharing their stories with families, friends, neighbors, church groups, service organizations, and their community at large.
When we understand where we live – our home ‘place’ – we treat it with more respect. More and more people are embracing the importance of stewardship, and are doing what it takes to care for the ecosystems that support us. An important part of stewardship is to understand the impacts of our choices on ecosystem benefits, and then to make the changes that will improve the health of our backyards, beaches, shorelines, wetlands, fields and forests. This is ‘adaptive management’ in a nutshell. Community members taking part in monitoring their neighborhood ecosystems play a key role in adaptive management.
- P = People
- L = Learning
- A = About their
- C = Community’s
- E = Ecosystem!
We need your help! Follow the links above and find an organization that excites you. You’ll learn about our local ecosystems, how they support us, threats, and what you can do to help keep them healthy. After all, we share our Marine Stewardship Area with a vast diversity of species, and we bear the responsibiltiy for the health of their, and our, home place. Together, we can make a difference!