If you hike by the Audubon Center at Debs Park in the morning this summer, you may see a group of people with clipboards, magnifying glasses, and pencils, crouched over milkweed plants, their heads almost resting on the ground as they inspect leaves and stems. The goal: to find and count every single egg or caterpillar of the beautiful western monarch butterfly. These migratory butterflies are threatened by habitat loss, so communities all over North America participate in a huge undertaking called the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project — or MLMP for short — to help researchers understand where monarchs are living and breeding.

On the other hand, you may be thinking to yourself, “I have seen people with clipboards at the Center, but they weren’t looking at the ground, they were looking up into the trees with binoculars.” Not only do we help collect data on butterfly populations, but we also monitor songbird nestboxes through a partnership with UC Davis to help researchers understand where birds are nesting and how much success breeding pairs have with their offspring. Audubon staff and volunteers collect this data by observing songbirds around each nestbox, and actually opening the box to count eggs and nestlings.

Both of these efforts are community science projects, meaning community members volunteer alongside researchers to collect data and answer questions in our shared environment. Science doesn’t always happen at a university with researchers wearing white lab coats and goggles — it also happens on the trails of the Audubon Center at Debs Park with you! Volunteers and community members have been a core part of these projects at every step of the way. From planting the milkweed plants that support a vulnerable butterfly species, to quietly opening up nestboxes and gently feeling songbird eggs, staff, volunteers, and partners at the Center are able to successfully participate in science when we work together in community.

To join these projects or similar community science efforts as they come up, email us at debspark@audubon.org!