What is Community Science?
Community science or citizen science is the act of scientists and community volunteers coming together to research community issues through observation and data collection. Whether you’re pursuing a career in a science field or simply enjoy being engaged in learning opportunities, your contribution to a community science program is greatly valued.
Community Science engages volunteers of all ages in hands-on, scientific learning and exploration on issues that directly impact your neighborhood, your city and its surrounding environment. Participation provides community volunteers the unique experience of collecting valuable data and contributing to real scientific research.
If you love to discover, investigate and learn, the Community Science programs below offer you an opportunity to engage in your community in a new and exciting way.
LRNow Community Science Programs
Once a month volunteers can participate in a LRNow Waterway Cleanup. During the cleanups, each bag of trash is weighed, and the total amount is recorded and on a map. This helps us determine if cleanup sites are improving or becoming more littered over time. The data also helps us determine the frequency of attention to established cleanup sites and determine future sites across the city of Virginia Beach.
If you are interested in volunteering as an individual or as a group, visit our Waterway Cleanup page to learn more and register for upcoming cleanups. Cleanups are usually family-friendly, and they may be water and/or land-based.
The LRNow Stewardship & Access Committee meets monthly to plan and support our cleanups.
Help LRNow “catch” oyster spat (baby oysters) to collect data on the native oyster population in Virginia Beach’s tidal waters. Comparing various substrates against oyster shell, participants provide valuable information on oyster spat’s settlement, distribution, density and substrate preferences. This program is fun and easy – a perfect family activity for participants with year-round access to a pier or dock in the tidal waters of the Lynnhaven River, Owl Creek, Rudee Inlet or Little Creek in Virginia Beach. After the data is gathered, the spat caught through this program is relocated to conservation reefs in Virginia Beach waterways to continue to help protect and clean our local tidal waters.
For more information and to volunteer, see our page about the spat program and e-mail Cristin with any questions.
Catch the King High Tide Event
Join the effort to Catch the King in this locally developed, environmental survey. All you need is a smart phone, the app and the willingness to tromp along the shoreline during high water events.
LRNow partners with Wetlands Watch to map the King Tide in Virginia Beach in September and October. Volunteers will use the Sea Level Rise App to collect flooding data and map the tide in order to calibrate flooding models created at the Virginia Institute for Marine Science.
If you would like to know more about the Virginia Beach event including locations and tide tables, please complete this form or email cristin@lrnow.org.
The King Tides are the highest tides of the year and occur in September and October. These are significant because due to sea level rise these highest tides will become the regular tide. During the king tide and storm events we can expect another 3-5 feet of rising water. More information and training events can be found at Wetlands Watch.
From the Wetlands Watch website: “The Sea Level Rise phone app was developed by Wetlands Watch to crowdsource information about flooding events, giving flood modelers, emergency managers, and planners detailed data about where flooding is happening on a street level. Users of the app have a GPS mapping tool at their fingertips, logging data points with the tap of a button as they walk along the waterline of a flood zone.”
Water Quality Monitoring Program
Community volunteers help Lynnhaven River Now keep an eye on Virginia Beach waterways by becoming Water Quality Monitors. In partnership with HRSD, water samples from locations around Virginia Beach with a concentration in the Lynnhaven River Watershed are tested for nutrients and contamination. Our community scientists collect water samples and gather site data at locations throughout Virginia Beach. Volunteers deliver water samples to HRSD for processing on the first Tuesday or second Monday and digital site data is sent to LRNow. The results are collated at LRNow and shared with volunteers and the public.
The LRNow Notable Tree Program identifies, catalogues, memorializes, and publicizes the largest Old Growth trees that are the remainder of Virginia Beach’s Old Growth Maritime forests. This program uses the measurement criteria from the Virginia Big Tree Register to determine a tree’s identification level. For a tree to be eligible for the Virginia Big Tree Register, it must be at least 13’ tall and have a trunk circumference of at least 9.5” measured at 4.5’ above ground line. Additional measurements based on the species of the tree will be taken by LRNow staff to determine the status of tree in relation to the state champion for that species. Trees may be reported on private or public property anywhere in Virginia Beach.
Everyone is welcome to identify and report candidate trees for inclusion in LRNow’s Virginia Beach Notable Tree program. View more information about the Notable Tree Program or nominate a tree to bring a candidate tree to our attention. If you have questions about this program email Brent or call 757-962-5398.
Additional Community Science Programs
If you are still looking for the right Community Science opportunity for you, we have listed a few below.
Click the title links to learn more.
GENLAB@GWU is engaging citizen scientists to help document the formation of ghost forests at a larger scale. The goal of this initiative is to raise awareness about the pace of change in coastal landscapes, while also collecting data that can inform ghost forest research.
Help us document ghost forest formation and record your observations. View your observation on a collaborative ghost forest map and learn more about ghost forest research.
As of July 1st, 2021 the intentional release of balloons is illegal in Virginia and carries a fine of $25 per balloon. Learn more. When balloons are released, accidentally or with purpose, they eventually come down often getting caught in trees where they entangle birds or drift to the ocean where they are mistakenly ingested as food by marine animals.
Help scientists better understand the sources and impacts of balloon litter, by reporting a single balloon or multiple balloons found in a single cleanup by registering the balloon(s) at the site above. This site also allows balloon litter photos. This study is supported by Clean Virginia Waterways of Longwood University and the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center.
Become a certified NestWatch Monitor, confirm your nest(s) and add your data on the success and failure rates of nesting birds to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Observing the reproductive biology of birds including the number of eggs laid, hatched, and how many hatchlings survive provides scientists with information that helps to identify illness, predation, climate impacts, and other stressors that can impact our feathered friends. Nest visitation is required every 3-4 days. You must be certified to participate in this project. Approaching nesting bird can be disruptive to these avian parents and hatchlings so following standard, controlled protocols is a must. Find out how to start this spring by visiting the NestWatch website.
Don’t have the time or desire to search for a bird nest in the wild but enjoy observing them from the comfort of your home? Then look no further, Project Feeder Watch may be the perfect project for you. This winter-long project begins in November and ends in April. Through this program, The Lab at Cornell is gathering data to quantify the abundance of the winter birds and their movements. All that is required of observers is a bird bath, bird feeder, or plants that are known to attract birds. Observations can be taken at any location at the observer’s pace. Visit the Project Feeder Watch website to find out how to get started.
From the Midwest to the East Coast, Canada to California, whether squirrels live in your neighborhood or not, you can become a squirrel monitor! Submit your squirrel observations from your school home or office. This project is great for all ages. Squirrels are active 365 days out of the year so monitoring them can help us better understand the ecology of our neighborhoods through a squirrel’s eyes.
This project relies on individuals for the data needed to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection. Identify the bumble bees photographed and have the identifications verified by experts. Help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees. Locate rare or endangered populations of bumble bees. It’s easy to get started.
Watch this video to discover more about our Citizen Science and Advocacy Program!
Provided by The Meridian Group
PEARL HOMES are places where people care about our environment and want to do what they can to help protect our resources.
Lynnhaven River NOW recognizes schools providing outstanding environmental education as a Pearl School.
PEARL BUSINESSES are essential to truly move towards a more sustainable Virginia Beach and cleaner waters.
We all want to do our part to restore the health of all of our sacred waterways and protect them for future generations to enjoy.
SUSTAINABLE YARDS PROGRAM: Let us help you “green” your Lynnhaven watershed home. This unique program provides specific stormwater management practices to your yard at a significantly reduced cost to you.