Every month, groups of birders gather at the Woodbridge Wilderness Area, Cosumnes River Preserve and the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery to count birds.
Students from Lodi’s two high schools head out to Lodi Lake and the river to test water quality, while elementary school classes study the creatures that have moved into leaf packs.
Dedicated volunteers study wildlife at the zoo, and children track bugs and plants at local parks.
It used to be that science was something done by researchers with doctorates in a lab — or at least, that was the public perception.
Now, citizen scientists of all ages are learning more about the field — and the world around them — by helping the pros.
Read more at the Lodi News-Sentinel.
Volunteers or teachers who want to get involved with the citizen science projects that monitor Lodi water quality are invited to call Watershed Program Coordinator Kathy Grant at 209-327-2063 or email kgrant@lodi.gov. To view the data collected, visit www.lodi.gov/Storm_Drain_Detectives.