It Takes a Village: Community Science in Portland’s Urban Waters
Start Date
3-16-2026 3:20 PM
End Date
3-16-2026 3:29 PM
Abstract
The Pacific Northwest is an optimal region for community science in urban watersheds; we have it all! Armed with a notepad and a pen, volunteers observe and record habitat and abundance data on beavers, salmon, freshwater mussels and clams, stream macroinvertebrates, dragonflies, amphibians, and more. Community science continues to grow in popularity and plays an important role involving the public in boots-in-the-stream field data collection. From a research perspective, programs provide an exciting opportunity to leverage community interest and augment limited budgets of nonprofit and academic institutions. For primary and secondary education students, programs provide invaluable field experience, soft skills of data collection, localized scientific networking, and the gratification of volunteering in the name of science.
Join an overview of available Portland metro area aquatic and ecology-focused community science programs, reviewing academic literature quantifying accuracy and pitfalls, bringing science to the K-12 classroom, best practices for program design, and resources available for anyone wanting to incorporate the community into their research program.
This talk will highlight programs from local watershed councils, nonprofit conservation organizations, and academic initiatives actively engaging our neighbors in a stewardship mindset.
Subjects
Conservation biology, Environmental education, Land/watershed management
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
It Takes a Village: Community Science in Portland’s Urban Waters
The Pacific Northwest is an optimal region for community science in urban watersheds; we have it all! Armed with a notepad and a pen, volunteers observe and record habitat and abundance data on beavers, salmon, freshwater mussels and clams, stream macroinvertebrates, dragonflies, amphibians, and more. Community science continues to grow in popularity and plays an important role involving the public in boots-in-the-stream field data collection. From a research perspective, programs provide an exciting opportunity to leverage community interest and augment limited budgets of nonprofit and academic institutions. For primary and secondary education students, programs provide invaluable field experience, soft skills of data collection, localized scientific networking, and the gratification of volunteering in the name of science.
Join an overview of available Portland metro area aquatic and ecology-focused community science programs, reviewing academic literature quantifying accuracy and pitfalls, bringing science to the K-12 classroom, best practices for program design, and resources available for anyone wanting to incorporate the community into their research program.
This talk will highlight programs from local watershed councils, nonprofit conservation organizations, and academic initiatives actively engaging our neighbors in a stewardship mindset.