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Welcome to our ongoing effort to catalog citizen science and other public participation in scientific research (PPSR) projects for UC California Naturalists and other citizen scientists.  We invite you to browse the listed projects or enter key words (like birds, youth, invasive, coast, Alameda, etc.) in the search box above to find projects in your area. It's a great way to stay involved and keep developing your skills as a natural scientist!

A vast majority of the information in the database was gathered from project websites and may be out of date. We encourage you to contact projects directly to get involved and learn about most recent opportunities. If you work with a listed project and would like to add to, update, or correct the information we have, please email cghdixon@ucdavis.edu. Also, please consider filling out the "PPSR perspectives" survey. Click here to access the survey, which will help guide this project in the coming year.

If you know of a project not on our list, please go to the "tell us about a project" link on the left so we can list the project here. Thanks for your help!

Special thanks goes to the National Science Foundation Informal Science Education program and the Stephen J. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation for supporting this database of projects.

eBird

  • Organization Name
    California eBird
  • Organization Website
  • Partners
    N / A
  • Contact Name
    N / A
  • Contact Email
    eBird@cornell.edu
  • Contact Phone
    N / A
  • Other Contact Information

    eBird
    Cornell Lab of Ornithology
    159 Sapsucker Woods Road
    Ithaca, NY 14850

  • Project Purpose (taken from project materials)

    eBird's goal is to maximize the utility and accessibility of the vast numbers of bird observations made each year by recreational and professional bird watchers. It is amassing one of the largest and fastest growing biodiversity data resources in existence.

  • Participant Activities

    A birder simply enters when, where, and how they went birding, then fills out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. This data is then submitted online to eBird.

  • Data Entry
    • Website
    • Data Sheets
  • Other Participant Activities
    N / A
  • System Studied
    • Birds
  • Geographic Scope
    International
  • Region
    All (see 'geographic scope')
  • Location
    Anywhere you would like to observe birds.
  • Location - Map
    Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850
  • Time Commitment
    • Other (see Other Information below)
  • Volunteer Qualifications

    No special skills are required. A spotting scope or binoculars are helpful.

  • Volunteer Training
    N / A
  • Cost to Participant
    N / A
  • How will the findings be used?

    Researchers in the fields of conservation and ecology frequently conduct studies that are aimed at answering two questions: Where does a given species live? and How abundant is it? With each checklist that you submit to eBird, you provide scientists with an increasingly valuable resource for answering questions about the distribution and abundance of birds. Answering these questions is important to conservation efforts because they show where species live, how abundant they are, and whether their numbers are changing over time.

  • Other Information

    Observations can be made anytime during the year.

  • Photo
    V-BR-APLA-AD.005
  • last update:
    N / A

If you work with this project and would like to add to or update the information below, please email cghdixon@ucdavis.edu.

If you know of a project not on our list, please go to the "tell us about a project" link on the left so we can list the project here. Thanks for your help!

This database is focused on projects in California focused on the environment. For opportunities outside California, as well as national projects that don't have a California-specific components, check http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects.