Community Science

Photograph Flowers and Fruit on your Hike with iNaturalist

our team of researchers count on the contributions of community scientists like you to better understand plant flowering and fruiting times across the region. This data is collected in the iNaturalist app, which empowers nature lovers to make observations and share them with research scientists. Here's how to get started:

1. Download the iNaturalist app and create your account: You can search “iNaturalist” in both the Apple and Android App on Google Play stores. 
2. Turn on location services on your mobile device: This ensures that your photos are dated and geo-tagged for scientists when you upload a photo to the iNaturalist app. 
3. Take photos of flowers: Take a photo of the whole plant if possible and a close-up of flowers or fruit. You should take photos while in the iNaturalist app, but any photo you have captured with your phone’s camera can be uploaded later. 
4. Join AMC’s iNaturalist projects: AMC is involved in six iNaturalist projects. Some cover massive areas, like the entire Appalachian Trail corridor. Others are as small as a single state park. When you join a project, your observation is seen by AMC’s researchers, and you can get updates on the project through iNaturalist journal posts. Be sure to select “allow researchers to see coordinates” when you join! AMC’s projects are: Flowers and Fauna along the Appalachian Trail Corridor, AMC Maine Woods, Northeast Alpine Flower Watch, Flowers and Fauna of the White Mountains National Forest, New England Trail Nature Watch, Flowers and Fauna in Harriman State Park, NY.

The Dragonfly Mercury Project

The Dragonfly Mercury Project (DMP) is a national-scale monitoring, research, education, and public engagement initiative. The project is currently managed by the National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey, with collaborative engagement from the Appalachian Mountain Club and Dartmouth College. Over the past 10 years, we have assessed mercury concentrations in dragonfly larvae in more than 500 water bodies across more than 140 U.S. national parks and other federal, state, and local protected areas, and engaged more than 6,000 public participants. Implemented under a community science framework, the Dragonfly Mercury Project enlists community scientists who work with National Park staff to collect dragonfly samples in the nation’s lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, and wetlands. AMC supports the national effort and is working to engage youth across the AMC region in this program.

In 2021, AMC launched the Merrimack-DMP program. Teachers and community partners are engaging youth and community members in sampling dragonfly larvae to determine relative risk around the lower Merrimack River watershed. This river and its tributaries have had a legacy of pollution, dating back to early industrialization. Lowell and Lawrence, environmental justice communities, are the focus of this work. Their results documented locations within the watershed with varying potential mercury risk; explore the project storymap to learn more.

Community Snow Observations

AMC is joining the Community Snow Observations project to improve observational data of snow depth in Northeast mountains. Northeast snow is disappearing too soon every spring, but how does that vary from open fields to forested trails? With the help of community scientists, we are collecting data to document trail-side snow depth and improve our understanding of snow across mountain landscapes. Learn more on how to get started here.

Globe at Night

What does your starscape look like? You can participate in Globe at Night wherever you are and measure and submit night sky brightness observation. Learn about the importance of dark skies and ways we can reduce light pollution. Visit AMC’s Maine Woods and nearby Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument (U.S.), which was designated an International Dark Sky Sanctuary in 2020, and compare Globe at Night observations there to other locations.