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Special Weekend Set For Citizen Scientists In Ruskin

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: February 18, 2009

RUSKIN - Take time out to smell the wildflowers, admire the new greenery on the cypress trees and delve into a discussion about pressing scientific questions involving the natural landscape.

Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center is encouraging people to get out into nature as part of a run-up to its Citizen Science Symposium, scheduled for March 20 and 21.

In 2009, designated the Year of Science, the center is hosting the symposium to get people to learn more about the natural world around them.

"I've been very passionate for years about citizen science," said Dolly Cummings, director of Camp Bayou. Participating in activities like this, she said, increases the average person's awareness, making questions being asked in the scientific community more relevant to a person's life.

Visitors to the symposium can participate in hands-on activities, trail walks, displays and seminars, and study aquatic invertebrates, frogs, plants, birds and more.

The March 20 schedule, entitled The Science behind Citizen Science, includes hikes, a seminar on Understanding Science and a demonstration of botanical sketching.

On March 21, the event is titled Community Connection and includes a seminar called Bacon and Eggs: Roger and Sir Frances Bacon and the Beginnings of Science. The day's activities also will include a discussion with a panel of scientists.

The symposium is free for those who pre-register at www.campbayou.org. There will be a $5 admission fee at the door for guests who do not pre-register. Visitors also will have the option of joining in a Science of Food lunch at a cost of $5 each day.

To get people out sooner, the center is hosting a photo contest focusing on photographing Camp Bayou plants in various stages of growth, including flowering, new leaf growth and fruit.

Photographers can hit the trails at Camp Bayou between now and March 20 to photograph the plants, then submit photos to camp bayou@yahoo.com. Photos should be full-size and in digital .jpg format.

The center is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Those who want to take their participation in the photo contest a step further can submit their photos to the national science venture called Project BudBurst, headed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., and the University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation.

The idea behind project BudBurst is to gather valuable environmental and climate change information from across the United States.

The project engages the public in making careful observations of phenological events such as first leaves, first flowers and first fruit ripening on a variety of trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses.

People all over the country have already signed up to participate in the study.

"The great thing is that if professional scientists tried to do this on their own, they'd never have the time or money to get it done," Cummings said.

For information on Project BudBurst, visit www .windows.ucar.edu/citizen _science/budburst/

For the Camp Bayou contest, photo winners will be announced at the end of the symposium. The pictures will be available for public display at Camp Bayou and can also be posted at www.flickr.com/groups/projectbudburst.

Camp Bayou is at the south end of 24th Street S.E., three miles south of SR 674.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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