Our December webinar took place on Wednesday, December 16, 2020 from 12-1pm and we discussed citizen science with two of the Bay region’s most far-reaching citizen science programs: the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (CMC) and Chesapeake DolphinWatch. During the first half of the webinar, our invited speakers provided an overview of their respective programs. For the second half of the webinar, we invited your questions and lively discussion from all participants.

Citizen science, particularly within environmental monitoring programs, boosts public understanding of and trust in environmental protection and restoration programs by engaging the community in data collection. Citizen involvement also greatly increases the volume and spatial extent of data collected, well beyond what academic researchers and government agencies can do alone.

Speakers:

• Liz Chudoba, Water Quality Monitoring Initiative Director, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
• Jamie Testa, Project Coordinator, Chesapeake DolphinWatch