COMMUNITY SCIENCE
WATER QUALITY MONITORING
Our volunteer community scientists collect water quality data and monitor the ecological health of creeks in the Southern Bay Area. Community engagement at our local creeks not only increases awareness of human caused impacts of our urban streams, but also inspires stewardship of the watersheds we live in.
VEGETATION MONITORING
We monitor the success of our native plantings and invasive plant management by measuring plant cover and how many and how many types of insects are present. We can compare this data to areas that have not been restored to see how our work is progressing. Volunteers, students, and interns assist us in these efforts while also getting hands-on experience.
BIOBLITZES
Our bioblitzes bring volunteers together to observe, identify, and record as many as possible plant and animal species in a given geographic area during a specific period of time. Observations from these surveys are recorded using the application iNaturalist, a crowdsourced identification tool where community members and scientists document and identify organisms. Once the identifications are confirmed by several community members and scientists through the app, they are deemed to be research grade. Results from past Bioblitzes can be viewed on iNaturalist.