Community Science

Your local knowledge is vital science. Community science connects community expertise with scientific research. Residents like fishers, farmers, and naturalists possess deep, generational knowledge of our environment. By contributing your observations, you help develop effective, locally-relevant conservation strategies.

This collaboration ensures the plan protecting our natural resources is both scientifically sound and culturally aligned, making every resident a partner in conserving the USVI.

Get involved using the apps and programs listed below:

>> iNaturalist is important for community science by leveraging large-scale, crowd-sourced biodiversity data to accelerate scientific research, conservation efforts, and public education. The platform allows anyone to contribute "research-grade" data by documenting observations of plants and animals, which helps scientists monitor species distributions, track invasive species, discover new species, and understand biodiversity patterns on a global scale.

>> The Merlin Bird ID app is vital for community science because it lowers the barrier to entry for bird identification, which in turn increases participation and data collection for ornithological research. By providing tools like AI-powered visual and sound identification, Merlin helps users of all ages and backgrounds contribute valuable, publishable data to global databases like eBird.This expanded dataset supports crucial scientific studies, helps monitor bird populations, and engages more people with nature and conservation. 

>> Birds Caribbean - A vibrant international network committed to preserving Caribbean birds, engaging people of all ages to learn about Caribbean birds

>> eBird is vital for local community science because its large-scale platform collects bird observation data, enabling scientists to monitor bird populations, track migration and occurrence, and understand the impact of climate change and habitat loss on a global scale. By contributing data, local birders engage in data-driven conservation, inform local and global conservation actions, and foster environmental citizenship, providing essential information for both local initiatives and broader ecological research.

>> UVI VIMAS Citizen Science - “Citizen Science is the collection of scientific data by both researchers and non-scientists. Through this collaborative effort, research tasks that would otherwise be too expensive, can be accomplished in a much quicker time frame and allows non-scientists to develop skills and a deeper understanding of scientific work. Essentially, Citizen Science can help to facilitate education and outreach goals as often partnerships are formed between researchers and teachers/students. With recent advances in technology, i.e. smart phones, more citizen science programs are becoming accessible, increasing involvement and participation to collect crucial data that improves the quality of ecosystem health.”

>> Terra Ay Ay Project - “The Terra Ay Ay Project is an initiative dedicated to collecting community-sourced data on St. Croix’s air, water and soil quality.”

>> Reef Response - “Reef Response is a coral restoration program located in the US Virgin Islands. The program was created to increase coral cover and diversity of coral reefs around the Virgin Islands while empowering the local community to help mitigate the effects of changing environmental conditions.”

Read more about Community Science in the VI in these articles and blogs:

‘Citizen Science’ Empowers the USVI Community by Elisa McKay June 18, 2019

VI EPSCOR citizen science blogs: https://www.viepscor.org/news/tag/Citizen+Science