9 votes

Citizen science

4 comments

  1. [3]
    rinnetensei
    Link
    Thought-provoking article, thanks for sharing. It's interesting how though the focus of the article is on the relationship between humans and unseen wildlife, it manages to say a lot more about...

    Thought-provoking article, thanks for sharing. It's interesting how though the focus of the article is on the relationship between humans and unseen wildlife, it manages to say a lot more about the alienation, division inattention and careless destruction caused by humans and our infrastructure. It's difficult to pay attention to things that we probably should pay attention to in a world where we don't have the capacity to care about every issue plaguing society, but I don't think it's helped by our detachment from nature, and each other.

    6 votes
    1. [2]
      monarda
      Link Parent
      I'm not good at reading something and then putting into words what I liked or found interesting about an article, so I appreciate that you did so. You summarized my thoughts so well. One of things...

      I'm not good at reading something and then putting into words what I liked or found interesting about an article, so I appreciate that you did so. You summarized my thoughts so well.

      One of things I took away from the article that the author didn't emphasize, was that she found something to do literally right outside her house. I have often found it difficult to care about anything when there are so many things that require action. I get overwhelmed. But maybe if I just narrow it down to something more tangible, something smaller, something more local, something not monumental, maybe I could do something.

      After I wrote the above, I searched for citizen science opportunities in my county. The very first hit was a link to our state college who had a large list of things to get involved in! Things with small time commitments, things with larger commitments, things ongoing, and things that happen annually. Super cool.

      3 votes
      1. rinnetensei
        Link Parent
        You've inspired me to now do the same - there's so much out there that you wouldn't know about unless you searched for it. Like the amphibians, a lot of them aim to collect data on things that are...

        You've inspired me to now do the same - there's so much out there that you wouldn't know about unless you searched for it. Like the amphibians, a lot of them aim to collect data on things that are common but seem to fade into the noise, competing with all of the other things that occupy our minds. I think I'll pick one and see what I find when I'm entirely in the natural world.

        Tangentially, I'm a big advocate of localised, smaller action. It's part of what drove me to Tildes in the first place. Things are less overwhelming and seem more possible when they're on a human scale.

        1 vote
  2. monarda
    Link

    In her thoughtful eco-essay “Citizen Science,” Meg Stout writes about the phenomenon of amphibian migrations or “Big Nights,” the danger posed to nonhuman animals by paved roads and speeding cars, and human efforts to save them.

    5 votes