Project Noah is an awesome social media website that takes your wildlife encounters and puts them online to share with people all around the world, says David Munson, director of education for the project.
“In the same way that you would update your Facebook status, you can take this encounter that you have out in the field. Whether you’re out in the desert at the BioBlitz or just in your backyard, you can see a digital organism, take a digital photo of it, put in habitat information, and you can put in information about the organization itself, connect it with links and all kinds of other stuff, and then share it with tens of thousands of users all around the world.”
It’s a social experience, where you may meet people with a shared passion for wildlife, but it is also a way any of us can contribute to research. More than a hundred people are uploading images of species they are finding at the Saguaro BioBlitz, for example — including this blogger, who uploaded the image below of a coachwhip snake.
Streaming photos and information into a Project Noah mission creates data that researchers can use, Munson told me at the BioBlitz today.
National Geographic has partnered with Project Noah. There are many of us who think that citizen scientists uploading images of species where they find them can help scientists in a multitude of ways, including the changing patterns of species distribution and migration as climate changes, the spread of invasive species, the overall health of native species.
Sign up for Project Noah here. I’ll see you there.
David Braun is director of outreach with the digital and social media team illuminating the National Geographic Society’s explorer, science, and education programs.
He edits National Geographic Voices, hosting a global discussion on issues resonating with the Society’s mission and major initiatives. Contributors include grantees and Society partners, as well as universities, foundations, interest groups, and individuals dedicated to a sustainable world. More than 50,000 readers have participated in 10,000 conversations.
Braun also directs the Society side of the Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship.
