An Ohio program is trying to get people involved in citizen science. The H2Ohio Wetland Monitoring Program has set up stands where visitors can place their phones to take photos of recently constructed or restored wetlands. The idea is to email the photos to a site to create a time-lapse of the wetlands evolving.
“A lot of them start looking like a field of mud, basically because they were being developed. And then over time, you get all of this wonderful vegetation and you get changes in the water level and things that are really valuable to the program,” explained Siena Larrick, the program’s outreach and engagement coordinator.
At the Martin’s Run Wetland Complex in Lorain, Ohio, visitors and neighbors have taken a lot of photos. Larrick said this is a simple introduction to the idea of becoming a citizen scientist.
“I mean, it’s very accessible. And one of our goals further down the line is to have people doing more involved things, you know, helping us measure water depths or even take water samples like what you’ve been seeing our staff do to some extent.”
The H2Ohio Wetland Monitoring Program monitors 180 new and restored wetlands that are expected to reduce agricultural nutrients getting into Lake Erie. The state of Ohio wants to determine if investing in wetlands results in the kind of reductions needed to reduce the nutrient load into the western basin of Lake Erie by 40%. That's part of a goal of reducing toxic algal blooms on the lake.
The 10-year program will also determine which wetlands do the best job, as well as why some work better than others. At this point, the program has not gathered enough data to make any determinations.
