The Grand Portage Reservation is at the northeastern tip of Minnesota. The Air Quality Program has many ongoing projects in order to maintain healthy indoor and outdoor air. These projects include monitoring for regional haze and particulate matter, indoor air quality, invasive plant removal, public outreach, environmental education, alternative energy, and climate change.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

How You Can Do Science In Your Own Back Yard


Project BudBurst 2009 is a way for all of us to contribute data to a serious study on climate change. The National Phenology Network is reaching out to people around the country to record the growth stages of their local flora and report it online.

The advent of technology such as digital cameras, GIS, Google Earth and social networking sites like Facebook have allowed ordinary citizens to be amateur naturalists and take photos of the first flowering of different species and upload them to a database. This will allow scientists to track changes over time of when flowers bloom in different locations and cover a far larger area than the scientists could possibly do by themselves.

So dig out your cameras and join me in searching out the local flora. Together we can make a unique contribution to the science of climate change.

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