![HELPING HANDS: “Citizen scientists” can be found all over North America, including in Pender Harbour [above] helping researchers collect data in order to determine the health of an ecosystem. A research biologist based on the Sechelt Peninsula is hoping to find more helpers in the qathet region.](https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/powellriverpeak/images/stock-images/2816_fish_monitoring_pender_harbourjpg.jpg;w=960;h=640;bgcolor=000000)
Citizen scientists are hardworking volunteers who help collect data and work alongside trained scientists, to monitor changes to the environment, and the possible reasons for that change.
Jen Blancard, research biologist for the Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS), hopes to inspire qathet region residents to become their own citizen scientists.
Blancard’s talk, Pender Harbour Coastal Waters Monitoring Program (PHCWMP), in partnership with the Loon Foundation, is a part of Malaspina Naturalist Club speaker series. This will be the third speaker of the year, happening March 16.
Blancard is concerned about coastal and marine biodiversity loss.
“There are so many changes happening to [our environment], but we have no idea how these changes are impacting marine biodiversity,” she said.
She believes that having real-world data will help policy makers make better informed decisions.
“The goal of the program is to develop long-term monitoring of changes in the aquatic ecosystems of fresh and marine waters of the Pender Harbour region.”
Since the closure of the Department of Fisheries offices in 2015 in Madeira Park, “we have lost a substantial resource and there are virtually no federal programs now in place to keep an eye on local marine and freshwater resources,” said Blancard.
There are monitoring stations all along Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, and Blancard said she hopes to “identify potential trends, which will allow us to network with other monitoring stations throughout the region to investigate potential causes of disruption, such as land development, pollution, resource extraction. invasive species, and climate change.”
“The PHCWMP involves hours and hours of work in the field at some of the most remote and stunningly beautiful locations on the coast. Citizen scientists are the backbone of the program and complete surveys day and night,” she added.
Currently, the Loon Foundation is a Canadian charity responsible for spearheading and funding these projects. Created in 2002 by a group of local naturalists, the organization has established nine long-term monitoring programs that include seaweed monitoring, counting returning salmon to creeks, invasive species monitoring, counts of seals and sea lions and their eating locations, coastal waterbird monitoring, and identifying waterbirds and their abundance.
Blancard says the talk will focus on types of surveys, why they are important and what the data trends have been so far. She hopes (with the support of PODS) to inspire people in the qathet region to set up their own marine monitoring initiatives in the future.
The talk will take place at 7 pm on March 16 in the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 164 basement.
