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Author: Bassett, Delbert
Email: dmbassett@neo.tamu.edu
Phone: 512-858-4923
Organization: WFC, Texas Master Naturalist, Texas A&M University
Address:
16600 Westview Trail,
Austin,
TX,
78737
Abstract Title: CITIZEN SCIENTISTS BATTLE ALIEN INVADERS. Delbert M. Bassett, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
Abstract Text: No, this is not the title of the latest Spielberg sci-fi movie. Instead of science fiction, it refers to good old-fashioned science. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has teamed up with a national consortium to help define the scope of the invasive-species intrusion in this country. There is a problem, but the extent of the plight, on the national scale, has yet to be quantified. We do know it is massive, so the consortium has gone to the masses, i.e. volunteers, to help tackle the problem. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, New England Aquarium, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and Woodland Park Zoo have all initiated pilot programs for their respective areas. Volunteers have been recruited and trained to identify a cadre of key local invaders. Armed with GPS units, digital cameras, and the ability to identify the invasive species, the volunteer citizen-scientists roved across their local areas, collecting vital information. Two months of collecting data has verified the viability of the pilot program. The consortium is now fine-tuning the program before promoting it nationwide. Hopefully, like all good sci-fi movies, the aliens will be driven back to their place of origin.
Conference
Year: TIPPC_2005
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Presenter Type (Student or Regular):
Session: 2. Early Detection and Rapid Response
Submission Date: 2005-10-04
