What is citizen science?
Citizen science is the collection of data by the general public. Citizen science usually forms part of a collaborative project alongside professional scientists. It is important because it connects people to nature and allows us to all participate in scientific outcomes.
Citizen science and I AM WATER?
We will be using the miniSASS tool on our River Guardians Workshops to learn more about river health and how it affects the health of the ocean and the health of humans! But what exactly is a miniSASS? SASS is a tool that stands for Stream Assessment Scoring System and a miniSASS is a simplified version of the tool that can be used by anyone to monitor the health of a river. The tool shows how healthy a river is based on the invertebrates found living there.
The data gathered on our workshops will become part of a huge open source resource detailing the health of rivers globally. We are so excited to introduce learners to this amazing tool and to see their excitement as they find all the weird and wonderful critters that call our rivers home! Keep your eyes peeled on our various social media platforms to see us kick off our River Guardians Workshops…