2019 Participatory Science Annual Report
Participatory Science is special because volunteer efforts help to produce new knowledge and discoveries. However, usually, our volunteers only get to see a tiny slice of the research that they are contributing to. So, we think that it is important to show you the results of your efforts. We could not have done any of this work without you!
During the 2019 year, all but one of SERC's labs worked with volunteer scientists. We had a total of nearly 550 volunteers who contributed nearly 17,500 hours to SERC's research programs. When we count volunteers who helped online and students who helped in classrooms, there were more than 3,100 people contributing to SERC research and education this year! Thank you to all our volunteer scientists who contributed to our projects this past year! You help us to do more and better science than we could on our own. We also really just like having you around.
We are excited to share some of the results of our Participatory Science projects from the last year. This year our Participatory Science team (Nicole Esch, Cosette Larash, and Alison Cawood) created infographics for each project. Check out what we were up to, by clicking on a project to learn more about it or download the PDF version HERE:
Topic |
Project Name |
| Environmental Chemistry | The Salt Marsh Plant Census |
| History | Archaeology (volunteer run) |
| Marine and Estuarine Ecology |
Fish Conservation |
| Marine Invasions |
The Chesapeake Bay Parasite Project |
| Terrestrial Ecology |
Bluebirds (Volunteer run) |
| Education and Outreach |
Volunteer scientists counting and measuring plants as part of the annual census.
SERCs Kirkpatrick marsh has had experiments running for over 30 years!
Learn more about the project or if you are interested in getting involved contact Alison Cawood (cawooda@si.edu) for more information!
Volunteer scientists helping the archaeology lab during a public dig day.
Volunteer, Jim Gibb, explaining what we found at a Java Ruins dig site to a group of students.
Lab volunteer, Chloe Moyer, analyzing archaeological data.
Volunteer Scientists cataloging archaeology artifacts.
Volunteer, Olivia Williamson, analyzing bone fragments.
Volunteer cleaning archaeology artifacts.
Learn more about the project or if you are interested in getting involved contact Rachael Mady (madyr@si.edu) for more information.
Volunteer, Dave Norman, and staff out in the field for Fish Conservation.
Fish Conservation volunteer counting samples in the lab.
Learn more about the project or if you are interested in getting involved contact Rachael Mady (madyr@si.edu) for more information.
Oysters to be analyzed by the Marine Disease Ecology Lab.
Tissue samples on slides to be looked at under the microscope.
The black dots are Perkinsus in an oyster tissue sample.
Learn more about the project or if you are interested in getting involved contact Rachael Mady (madyr@si.edu) for more information.
Volunteers counting and measuring baby oysters.
Baby oysters (spat) on shell.
Oysters grow in cages that are hung off docks.
To learn more about the Oyster Growth in the Rhode River click HERE.
Volunteers collecting mud crabs for the Chesapeake Bay Parasite project.
We search for parasites in different rivers throughout the Chesapeake Bay.
Volunteers help with counting fish and shrimp that are found in the mud crab collectors.
Learn more about the project or if you are interested in getting involved contact Rachael Mady (madyr@si.edu) for more information.
Janell Clark, sampling a flower pot found in the North Pacific Gyre (Great Pacific Garbage Patch) aboard S/V Blue Moon. Photo credit: Captain Russ Johnson, S/V Blue Moon
Learn more about the Floating Ocean Ecosystem Tracker project.
Tile covered in marine invertebrate organisms.
Experimental set up of a tile hung off a dock.
Volunteer helping identify organisms online.
Learn more about the Invader ID project or if you are interested in getting involved contact Rachael Mady (madyr@si.edu) for more information.
Volunteers learning about different marine invertebrates.
A volunteer helps collect environmental data.
Interested in learning more about Plate Watch project, click HERE.
Bluebird fledglings.
Interested in learning more about the Bluebird Project, click HERE.
Intern, Nicole Esch, at the project site.
Volunteers collecting soybean samples.
Volunteers collecting samples for soybean experiment.
Learn more about Ecosystem Conservation Lab and the various projects they work on.
Volunteer, Charlie Staines, analyzing beetles.
Charlie and Sue Staines out in the field.
Charlie and Sue Staines collecting beetles.
Learn more about or how to get involved with the Entomology project at SERC by contacting Rachael Mady (madyr@si.edu) for more information.
Volunteers assisting with the Fossil Atmosphere project.
Volunteers taking leaf samples inside one of the Gingko tree chambers.
Electron micrograph of Gingko leaf stomata.
Learn more about the Fossil Atmospheres Project or if you are interested in getting involved, contact Rachael Mady (madyr@si.edu) for more information.
Students presented their findings to researchers, family, friends, and teachers.
Students presenting their classroom's orchid data.
Students presenting their orchid data from the Orchids in the Classroom project.
High school students planting and measuring orchids.
Check out what is going on with the Orchids in the Classroom Project.
Volunteer, Mark Sucy, in the workshop for the Photobiology and Solar Radiation Lab.
Learn more about the Photobiology and Solar Radiation Lab.
A group of volunteers pose with a Northern Saw-whet Owl.
A Northern Saw-whet Owl posing for a photo.
Using a blacklight, researchers are able to age Northern Saw-whet Owls based on pigments in their wing feathers.
Students, John Hair, Jacob Haley, and Joe Lewis, sharing information on how to code Pepper robots.
High school students present their findings at South River High School.
Jim Bryson has built over 1,000 dendrometer bands for Forest Ecology and helped to install over a hundred to measure growth of local trees.
Volunteer scientists out in the field for the Nearshore Ecology project.
Mary Ann Christenson helping the Plant Ecology Lab create species distribution maps for their future orchid field guild.
Jay O'Neill assists the Plant Ecology Lab with orchid research and education.
Lab Volunteers
In addition to our more structured Participatory Science projects, SERC also has a group of volunteers who aren’t part of specific projects, but work on a wide variety of activities within a lab. These volunteers are generally at SERC on a regular basis (one or more days per week), and they often have specialized skills and knowledge that they bring to the labs. They help with chemical analyses, build and maintain equipment, create content for websites, help in the library, assist in the field, and a wide variety of other activities. Nearly all of the labs at SERC have at least one of these volunteers, many of whom contribute hundreds of hours per year to SERC research. They are integral parts of the labs and the SERC community, and we very much appreciate their time, talents, and dedication!