Marquette Salamander Migration Project
A Citizen Science Photography Project!
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Welcome to our Citizen Science Project! This project is operated by the Leonard Lab at Northern Michigan University with the goal of working with the public to develop a large database of photographs of the Presque Isle Salamanders during their migration. These photos, collected using iNaturalist, will be used to study the migration in a non-invasive way long into the future. Initial efforts will focus on identifying the different genetic morphs and sexes of the animals and determining if these different types of salamanders migrate at different times.
STEP 1
STEP 1
REGISTER for the Project through iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/marquette-salamander-migration
We need you to register so that we can identify you and your location easily. This is a SIMPLE and FREE process. You must have the iNaturalist APP on your phone first. Then, search for "Marquette Salamander Migration Project". You can find iNaturalist on your AppStore or visit their web site at https://www.inaturalist.org/.
STEP 2
STEP 2
Take pictures using our standard RULER and submit them through iNaturalist
To be able to use your photo, we need you to follow the instructions below about taking photographs of salamanders at the Presque Isle Park Migration in Marquette Michigan.
HOW TO TAKE PHOTOS FOR THIS PROJECT
HOW TO TAKE PHOTOS FOR THIS PROJECT
Make sure that you have your official Project Ruler! The ruler makes us able to use your photo for science!
Choose a subject salamander. It needs to be on the pavement (not on the sand, grass, or forest floor) at the road crossing site in Presque Isle Park.
Place the ruler down next to your salamander (do NOT touch the salamander). Its fine if the animal is not straight. The ruler should be about 2-6 inches away from the animal.
Take your photo from directly ABOVE the animal, making sure that you can see the entire ruler and the entire animal in the frame. Check that the animal and ruler are in focus. Try to avoid glare on the ruler (try it with no flash and use a flashlight from the side!)
Submit your photo to iNaturalist! Please submit only ONE photo of each animal per night. Please submit it the same night that you take the photo, if possible, so we can associate it with a date. You can photograph as many different salamanders as you like on as many nights as you like!!
What's the deal with the ruler? The Ruler is "special" not only because it allows us to measure the animal (important for age, sex and growth information), but because it has specific color bars that will allow us to correct for different lighting conditions. This is important because we are very interested in the color of the salamanders, but we need to have the photos standardized to be able to investigate their color. We can do this with fancy software, but we need to have a known block of color and the ruler provides this. The ruler also has a QR code that is a direct link to this page so you can always get to the instructions quickly.
You can certainly keep your ruler as a souvenir, but if you do not really want it, consider returning it to us in our bin so that someone else can use it!
Questions about the Project? Contact Dr. Jill Leonard at jileonar@nmu.edu or 906-227-1619
Want to learn more about the Presque Isle Salamanders and NMU's Research with them? Check out
https://sites.google.com/nmu.edu/jileonar-jill-leonard-lab/presque-isle-salamanders
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!
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