Community Science

 

Your observations can assist with Isle Royale research.

Paul Brown

Community Science is a program that allows park visitors and community members to get involved in Isle Royale National Park research projects, in order to increase community engagement and enhance understanding of island ecology.

Isle Royale Investigators

Isle Royale Investigators is the Community Science program at Isle Royale. This program allows participants to help collect data for current natural resource projects on the island. Current projects include:

• Isle Royale Pollinators
• Isle Royale Wolves
• Isle Royale Fungi

 

Get Involved

To join Community Science and become an Isle Royale Investigator, follow these steps:

1. Download the iNaturalist app on your smartphone, or visit the iNaturalist website on a computer.
2. Create an account.
3. Find "Isle Royale Investigators" in the search bar navigation and select "join" to add yourself to the group.
4. Start recording your observations from the island by uploading a photo or sound.
5. Your observations will be automatically added to the Isle Royale Investigators program, and to corresponding research projects.

Didn't visit the park this season? You can still participate remotely by logging on and uploading past observations, or by helping identify the observations of other Isle Royale Investigators.

For assistance, see partner video-tutorials: How to Make an Observation on iNaturalist, and How to Join a Project on iNaturalist.

 

Impact

As a small, remote National Park, Isle Royale researchers and staff are limited in their ability to maintain large scale monitoring projects. The contributions of park visitors and community members can help! These contributions provide researchers with vital information needed to monitor populations and understand ecological trends on the island.

 

Your Observations at Work

The observations recorded by program participants will be collected by Isle Royale researchers and staff to be analyzed. This data will help researchers make informed natural resource management decisions in the future.

 

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  Research Video Library

  See what scientists in the park are up to with videos featuring various Isle Royale research projects.

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  Flowering Plants

  Isle Royale is home to over 600 flowering plants, several of which are rare or found only in small populations.

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  Wood Frog

  Isle Royale Research and Monitoring

  "Frog loggers" record amphibian sounds around Isle Royale. Learn more about research conducted across Isle Royale.