Citizen Science

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Citizen Science Field Workshop—March 23

Saturday March 23, 2019 from 9am-12
Tule River Parkway in Porterville

Enjoy the native vegetation along the Tule River and learn how to use Observer Pro, a smart phone app, which provides a platform in which to upload plant observations to CalFlora. The group will meet in the Jaye Street parking lot just south of the Jaye Street Tule River bridge. Cathy Capone will give a brief presentation on CalFlora, the website where the Observer Pro observation data is stored. She will then take the group on a walk in the riparian forest, while demonstrating and coaching participants to input their observations.

To find the location, enter the parking lot while traveling south on Jaye Street immediately after you pass the bridge railing. Bring water and wear sturdy shoes. Event will be held rain or shine. There are no bathrooms available at the event. The walk will be on a paved path with the option to walk into the natural areas for close observations. The walk is under a mile in length and includes an elevation gain of less than 50 feet.

To make full use of the training, log in to calflora.org and register as a contributor. Then download the Observer Pro app to your phone. There is no charge for the workshop or the app. Cathy Capone is an officer of both the Tule River Parkway Association and the Alta Peak Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.

For more information, contact her at 559 361 9164 or tulerivergarden@gmail.com

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Tule River Parkway Workshop in Porterville on Feb 23, 2019 from 9-11 am

Cathy Capone will be leading a citizen science project to document the plant populations along the Tule River Parkway path in Porterville. Part of the Tule River Parkway Association’s plans to preserve and restore the Tule River riparian corridor is to document the existing vegetation, both good and bad.

Cathy will be using and demonstrating the use of Observer Pro to document locations of plants along the paved paths. Observer Pro is an application for smart phones that allows you to quickly and efficiently report wild plant occurrences. This application makes it easy for you to report the species name, date, and location of over 10,000 California native and non-native plant taxa. You can also add a photograph to a report and share it with others later to confirm identification. Your reports are transmitted wirelessly to the Calflora database, where you can edit them and see them on a map.

Download the app Observer Pro before the walk if you want to learn on your own device. Meet at the trail entrance lot off Jaye Street.  Enter from southbound lanes just south of Tule River Bridge rail. Easy walk 1 mile, no elevation gain. Wear closed toe shoes, bring water, no restrooms are available.

For more information, email tulerivergarden@gmail.com or call Cathy Capone at 559-361-9164.