Winterberry

Welcome to Winterberry!

Winterberry is a community ("citizen") science project where University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists and community volunteers investigate how shifting seasons could affect when berries are available to animals and people.  

In the far North, springs are coming earlier, summers are warmer, and falls are more variable. Shifting seasons may have an effect on when berries are available to people, birds, and small mammals that eat them.  Many of Alaska's berry-producing plants hold on to their fruits into the winter and even spring, and these berries are very important to animals such as voles, foxes, and grouse. 

Will a longer time between when berries ripen and when the snow falls mean more berries will rot or get eaten?  Will this leave less for the animals that depend on these berries in winter and spring? 

We invite you to join the individual volunteers, K-12 classes, after school programs, parents and children—anyone interested in berries—throughout Alaska and northern regions of the globe in answering these questions. Berry tracking is simple and fun!

Three publications from this work are now available

Berries in Winter: a natural history of fruit retention in four species across Alaska  (by Christa Mulder, Katie Spellman and Jasmine Shaw) features the fabulous dataset collected by all the Winterberry participants. It's part of a special issue of the journal Madroño on phenological patterns of the flora of western North America. Check out those Acknowledgements - everyone who contributed to the dataset is there!

Connecting Community and Citizen Science to Stewardship Action Planning through Scenarios Storytelling  (by Katie Spellman, Doug Cost and Chris Villano) features the groups that participated in the scenarios exercises. 

Redistributing Power in Community and Citizen Science: Effects on Youth Science Self-Efficacy and Interest (by Sarah Clement, Katie Spellman, and others) investigates the differences in types of entry points and delivery models for Winterberry educators and the impact it had on youth. 

We are really proud of how the Winterberry participants made this work possible!