Community Science Projects and OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers

Community science projects, like climate or invasive species tracking, are reliant on observant volunteers, on the ground, able to report back findings. Think about how the Asian Giant Hornet was recently discovered in Washington State: Whatcom County residents served as the eyes and ears alongside scientists to spot, locate, and eventually destroy the nest.

In 2016, we developed guidelines to encourage OSU Master Gardener Volunteers to engage in community science projects and to have those hours count towards volunteer hours. These guidelines require that community science projects must:

  1. Align with the Master Gardener educational mission of discovering and disseminating research-based gardening information,
  2. Advance one of both of the flagship programs of the OSU Extension Master Gardener program: sustainable gardening and/or home and community food production,
  3. Involve participation on one or more levels of the community science typology.  These levels are (from least to most involvement): crowdsourcing, distributed intelligence, participatory science, collaborative science.

The following are Oregon and national community science projects which are approved for indirect volunteer hours with the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program as of 12/2020. You may count your hours as the actual time spent collecting and submitting data.  When reporting volunteer hours associated with participation in approved community science projects, volunteers should report in the category of ‘Citizen Science’ (indirect volunteer hours).

Projects approved for OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer hours

Project NameDiscipline(s)Sponsoring Organization(s)Website
Oregon Season Trackerclimate monitoring, phenologyOregon State University Extensionhttps://extension.oregonstate.edu/ost
Vegetable Variety TrialshorticultureOregon State University Extensionemail: brooke.edmunds@oregonstate.edu
Forest Pest Detectorsentomology, invasive speciesOregon State Universityhttp://pestdetector.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
eButterflyentomologyOregon State Universityhttp://www.e-butterfly.org/
Oregon Native Bee Atlasentomology, pollinatorsOregon State University, Oregon Department of Agriculturehttps://extension.oregonstate.edu/bee-atlas
PNW Bumblebee Atlasentomology, pollinatorsOregon State University, Xerces, Oregon Department of Agriculturehttps://www.pnwbumblebeeatlas.org/
The Hazelnut ProjectagronomyOregon State Universityhttps://www.arborday.org/programs/hazelnuts/
Project Budburstplant phenologyNational Ecological Observatory Networkhttp://budburst.org/
Great Backyard Bird CountornithologyNational Audubon Societyhttp://gbbc.birdcount.org/
Hummingbirds at HomeornithologyNational Audubon Societyhttp://www.hummingbirdsathome.org/
iNaturalistbiodiversityCalifornia Academy of Scienceshttp://www.inaturalist.org/
    
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)climate monitoringNOAA, Oregon State Universityhttps://www.cocorahs.org/state.aspx?state=or
A Tree’s Lifeclimate change, urban forestryNorth Carolina State Universityhttp://ecoipm.org/a-trees-life/
Oregon Garden Spring BioblitzbiodiversityOregon State Universityhttps://www.inaturalist.org/projects/spring-2021-master-gardener-bioblitz

Want to know if another community science project qualifies for Master Gardener volunteer hours?  Please check with your county MG Coordinator.