Scientists When We Can

Life Sciences

The Great Sunflower Project

Project Goal:

Gather information about urban, suburban and rural bee populations to assess the status of bee populations and the impact that a decline could have on the pollination of flowering plants.

Your Role:

Observe sunflowers for pollinator activity, records your observations and submit your data to the website.

Website:

Visit the website for additional details.

Bee Hunt!

Project Goal:

Assess whether pollination by bees is in decline and if climate change is causing a mismatch between bloom times and pollination.

Your Role:

Find bees and document them with photographs, GPS location, a description of the habitat and additional details about the environment. Visit the Bee Hunt! website for details, and upload your data.

Website:

Visit Bee Hunt! for futher details.

ZomBee Watch

Project Goal:

Determine where in North America, the zombie fly, Apocephalus borealis is parasitizing honey bees, determine how often honey bees leave their hives at night.

Your Role:

Collect honey bees that are stranded under porch lights or on sidewalks. You can also set up a light trap and test for presence of zombie fly infection. Upload your results to the ZomBee Watch website.

Website:

Zombee Watch website

Cetacean Sightings Worldwide

Project Goal:

Document the distribution of whales, dolphins and sea turtles to better understand their biology and support conservation decision making.

Your Role:

Document your GPS location, data about the animals and take photographs or video.

Website:

Project Mainpage

Humpback Whale Flukes

Project Goal:

Use photography of whales to identify individuals and document their movements.

Your Role:

On your next kayaking, sailing or boating expedition be sure to photograph the underside of humback whale tails.

Website:

Project Mainpage

Worldwide Beetle Collection

Project Goal:

Understand the history and ecology of fungi that live on insect exoskeletons.

Your Role:

Collect a few beetle specimens in ethanol while visiting a snowline during your next adventure.

Website:

Project Mainpage

Lichen DNA

Project Goal:

Determine how lichen evolved and got distributed throughout the world.

Your Role:

Travel to mountain tops or wherever tundra grows and collect samples of one particular species of lichen (Thamnolia vermicularis).

Website:

Project Mainpage

Banded Gull Sightings

Project Goal:

Determine: where gulls go during the winter, how far juveniles travel, and the survival rates of adults and juveniles.

Your Role:

Photograph and report sightings of gulls with bands on their legs.

Website:

Project Mainpage

Roadkill Survey for Road Bikers

Project Goal:

Document the location and species of roadkill. Data will support research efforts on the mitigation of the impact transportation has on ecosystems.

Your Role:

Report a roadkill via the website.

Website:

Project Mainpage

Global Cave Biology Initiative

Project Goal:

Fill in gaps in scientific knowledge the inhabitants of caves and how these animals use caves.

Your Role:

If you visit a cave, document all animals or evidence of animals encountered from the front to the back using non-invasive techniques.

Website:

Project Mainpage

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