Have you heard about the awesome ways in which people can get involved in scientific research? Projects like Fold.it, COASST and Whale.fm are only a few of the examples of the burgeoning opportunities under the term “public participation in scientific research” (or PPSR or citizen science). A conference devoted to this topic took place in Portland at the beginning of the month and it was a huge success. 

The “Early Career Ecologists” blog is hosted and written by a collaborative group of early-career scientists. Contributors work in a variety of systems (forests, riparian areas, deserts, the arctic tundra) and study a variety of species (from pines to microbes) all across the globe (from Alaska to Antarctica). They hope to encourage enthusiasm for and understanding of our systems beyond our own tiny, academic circles. 

Curious about what the Arctic is doing this year, and how it compares to other years? Check out these awesome interactive graphs and explanations. UW’s Polar Science Center is mentioned; read up here. 

This week a team of marine researchers have published an index to assesses overall ocean vitality. The index, described this week in Nature, comprises ten separate measures that are aggregated into a single score of how well the seas are doing. The ten measures — which assess features such as food provision, carbon storage, tourism value and biodiversity — were chosen to reflect both the needs of humans and ecosystem sustainability. 

A series of forest searches by dogs specially trained to sniff out northern spotted owl pellets – the undigested bones, fur and other bits regurgitated by owls – improved the probability of finding the owls by nearly 30 percent over a series of traditional vocalization surveys. This is important, as spotted owls may be adapting to the invasion of barred owls by vocalizing less.