OutdoorNebraska

40 Nebraskaland • December 2019 monitored milkweed, measured light pollution, searched for salamanders and even tested designs for artifi cial bumble bee houses. All of this is done without pay, both indoors and outdoors, by people of all ages, backgrounds and interests. A Closer Look "I think science has this reputation for knowing the facts, when really, science is exploration," said Louise Lynch- O'Brien, an assistant professor of insect biology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "It's knowing that you don't know something and you have to pursue an answer." For Lynch-O'Brien and other researchers, partnering with the public through citizen science is a valuable way of fi nding those answers. For one thing, it puts numbers on your side. "The poster boy example is always the monarch," Lynch- O'Brien said. "Tracking their migration across continental North America would be so diffi cult for a team of even 20 researchers. So having volunteers throughout the country, looking and observing and trying to fi nd monarchs, just allows the research team to expand their geographic reach." Having a volunteer network in place also allows researchers to study a question over a longer period of time. Individual research team members might come and go, but an enthusiastic and engaged group of citizen scientists can contribute to a project indefi nitely. For the citizen scientist, projects like the Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas can lift the curtain behind how science is done, allowing average, untrained people to participate in actual research and see how it works, Lynch-O'Brien said. "It kind of democratizes science, so that's why it's a lot of fun." Most citizen science projects are created and designed by a science team who recruit volunteers to provide data. In some projects, citizen scientists are involved at a deeper level, helping analyze and interpret data. And a small amount of projects are "co-created," in which researchers and citizen scientists collaborate throughout the entire process. Citizen science data can be used in a variety of ways. It might turn into maps, publications and long-term databases. It can also potentially impact policy and conservation Bees are chilled before being photographed and released as part of the Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas project. Earl Agpawa of Lincoln discovered a katydid while surveying for insects at Denton Prairie.

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