Friday, November 22, 2019 - 1:15pm to 2:00pm
Legacy Ballroom
Session Description
Volunteer management is inevitably a part of managing a citizen science project. This is your opportunity to hear directly from your audience! This panel of volunteers will answer questions from the participants perspective about what it's like to be a part of a citizen science project. What draw them to it? How can you keep them engaged? What kind of feedback do they want to hear?
Thank you to our panel of volunteers for sharing your experiences with us!
Chris Cowen is a lobbyist for the Pesticide Action Network and the Natural Resources Defense Council. His work focuses on keeping pollinators safe from pesticides. Chris is an active participant in the Minnesota Environmental Partnership Pollinator Cluster and is a member of the MEP Board. He also wore many hats in a long career with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Elizabeth Heeren has been a MN Master Naturalist since 2017. Elizabeth serves as a tree pruner, completes prairie restoration work, educates school children, and serves as a docent at the Bell Museum. Citizen science projects Elizabeth has contributed to include Wasp Watchers; iNaturalist; Zooniverse Eyes on the Wild, Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas, and Mapping Change; Monarch monitoring for MNRRA; Starry Trek; Storm Damage Data Collection; and MycoBlitz/Minnesota Mycoflora Project.
Don Leaon has completed all three Minnesota Master Naturalist courses: Northwoods-Great Lakes, Big Rivers-Big Woods, and Prairies and Potholes. Don participates in the University of Minnesota Extension’s Bee Atlas as a photographer/observer, and has created a bee presentation which he shares with Master Naturalists and others with an interest in MN native bees. Don is involved with prairie restoration and tree planting projects and volunteers at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge and at St. John’s Outdoor University.
Louise Ogden has been a Master Naturalist since 2017, when she completed the Prairies and Potholes course. An Eastman Nature Center volunteer for many years, Louise has served as an educator and harvests honey from their beehives. Most recently, Louise completed training at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve to map glossy buckthorn. Louise is an avid iNaturalist contributor, and is a citizen scientist in her own backyard through FeederWatch
Carol Stiteler became a Minnesota Master Naturalist in 2015, and has completed Big Woods & Big Rivers, Prairies & Potholes, and North Woods & Great Lakes. Carol has been active with several citizen science projects, including the University of Minnesota Entomology Department's Wasp Watchers Survey and Warner Nature Center’s Frog & Toad Survey and USGS bird banding lab program. Volunteering as a trail guide for Warner Nature Center has been her most satisfying experience.