Tag Archives: Robert Barossi

citizen science, environmental volunteers, Robert Barossi

The Increasing Importance of Citizen Scientists

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IMG_1538(Photo by Robert Barossi)

By Robert Barossi

A number of stories on this blog have mentioned the work of citizen scientists. These everyday citizens, not scientists by trade or profession, are doing invaluable and essential work. They are collecting and gathering data which is necessary in dealing with the environmental problems of our time. Or, as this article says it, they are “key to keeping pace with environmental change.” As mentioned in the story, we may be at a point where the amount of data we need to be collecting and following far outweighs our ability to keep up with it. There are so many changes happening, so frequently and in so many places, that citizen scientists are only going to become more and more important as we struggle to keep up with what’s happening around us.

environmental volunteers, League of Conservation Voters, midterm elections, Robert Barossi

Volunteering for Political Candidates

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IMG_1013(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

There are many, many ways an environmental volunteer can impact the issues they care about. One of the volunteers I met while writing my book volunteered for political campaigns, working for candidates who supported the environmental policies that she also supported. She made sure that the person elected was someone who had similar values and would protect and preserve her kinds of environmental interests. Leading up to the midterm elections next month, the League of Conservation Voters is mobilizing its members to do the same thing. The operation is called GreenRoots and it’s aimed at making sure candidates who will work for the environment are elected in a number of key Senate races. It is another way that people passionate about the environment can work, as a volunteer, to protect it.

Check out more information about the League of Conservation Voters here.

environmental volunteers, Philadelphia, Robert Barossi, Student Conservation Association

Inner-City Teens Volunteer in Green Spaces

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IMG_1206(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

Having lived in Philadelphia for a year, I’ve spent some time experiencing every part of that city. It’s not hard to imagine how the teens mentioned in this article from Philly.com might get very little exposure to nature and green spaces. Luckily, there are groups such as the Student Conservation Association, which spends six weeks every summer leading groups of inner-city teens in volunteer projects. The volunteer work includes removing invasive species and clearing nature trails. It also provides mentoring and real-world skills which the teens can take with them into their future education and career. This great program is providing these teens with job skills and a connection to nature that they might have little or no opportunity get.

Check out more information about the Student Conservation Association.

environmental volunteers, fracking, Nova Scotia, Robert Barossi

Volunteers Help Get Fracking Banned

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Sunset on Lake Michigan

(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

This editorial from The Chronicle Herald in Nova Scotia caught my attention from the first moment I saw the headline: “Fracking: Environmental volunteers got it right.” The author of the editorial, Zack Metcalfe, celebrates the fact that Nova Scotia is moving towards banning high-volume fracking for onshore oil and gas from shale, with legislation toward that end recently introduced by the government. Metcalfe offers praise to the people who worked with dedication and passion to make this happen, saying, “Around the table were well-informed, hard-working and often sleep-deprived people, sharing their ideas in a cafe once a week, most of them volunteers, finding time between work and home just to attend our meetings.” If the ban holds and there is no fracking in Nova Scotia, it may be in large part to the work of those dedicated volunteers.

environmental volunteers, New Jersey, Robert Barossi, Saddler's Woods

Protecting an Oasis

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Through the Trees(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

In urban and suburban areas, small patches of green space are invaluable and always in need of protection. Often, if not most of the time, it’s volunteers who do the protecting. In Haddon Township, in the middle of the heavily developed Camden County, New Jersey,  the tiny piece of forest known as Saddler’s Woods is maintained and preserved by an all-volunteer organization, the Saddler’s Woods Conservation Association. The work they do is invaluable and goes a long way to ensure that people living in this thickly settled forest of suburbia have “an oasis of beauty and tranquility” to experience and enjoy. At only twenty-five acres large, and just five miles from the city of Philadelphia, it is an important oasis indeed.

environmental volunteers, Robert Barossi, trees, Uncategorized

Learning to Identify Trees

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Up a Tree

by Robert Barossi

A recent volunteer story I posted talked about volunteer oceanographers, or volunteers who were collecting data to be used by professional oceanographers. In this similar story out of Northampton, Massachusetts, volunteers are helping out another group of professionals: foresters and arborists.  The volunteers were assisted by these professionals in identifying trees in the local area. Groups of volunteers worked to not only identify the trees, but also to gather information about them, including data such as diameter and bark and leaf health. The volunteers had the opportunity to gain knowledge and expertise in tree species and how to identify them while helping deal with the very real issue of canopy loss.

citizen science, environmental volunteers, Robert Barossi

Volunteer Scientists

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P1000068(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

As we’ve seen in all of the volunteer stories  discussed here, volunteers provide  an immense amount of data to environmental organizations, professionals and scientists. According to this recent study, volunteers are due a little more credit than they currently get. The study describes volunteer efforts as often “invisible,” as the work of citizen scientists typically goes unmentioned in scientific papers and journals. The study’s lead author, Caren Cooper of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, makes a great point that people often don’t volunteer because they don’t think they have the expertise or qualifications to do so. If citizen scientists were mentioned, credited, or even applauded in scientific papers and journals, people may be more likely to see that they can, in fact, contribute in important ways. Even something that people think of as only a hobby, Cooper notes , can contribute greatly to scientific work, through citizen science and volunteering.

climate change, environmental volunteers, New York City, People's Climate March, Robert Barossi

Volunteers and the People’s Climate March

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ID-10010562(Photo by Danilo Rizzuti, Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

by Robert Barossi

This past Sunday, the 21st of September, marches were held all over the world to raise awareness for climate change. I had the pleasure and the honor to be in the massive crowd that assembled in New York City. Surrounded by over 300,000 people (some have claimed it may have been close to 400,000) it was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was also inspiring. Words can’t really do justice to the energy, the enthusiasm and the passion that filled those streets as the crowd slowly marched the two-mile route. There were also many volunteers who helped to make the event happen and make it a huge, resounding success. Volunteers get a mention in many of the stories that appeared before, during and after the march. This story describes some of the work and preparations which occurred leading up to the event, including the work of volunteers. A story from Indiana demonstrates another way volunteers were involved in the march, by getting buses filled with people to NYC for the event.  In Montreal, according to this story, volunteers organized a march that  coincided with the march in NYC and, while smaller, was no less  important. Volunteers also lent a hand during a similar march on Sunday in Iowa City. This final story offers a fantastic set of photos which document the day in NYC. It also mentions volunteers and a few of the important roles they played.

Alabama, environmental volunteers, Robert Barossi, Uncategorized, water monitoring

Monitoring Water Quality Everywhere

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Winter Stream

(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

There’s no question that landscapes across the planet are filled with numerous bodies of water. Lakes, rivers, ponds, swamps, streams and everything in between. Every body of water performs a function in the ecosystem, provides something to the surrounding natural environment. And in many cases, if not most of them, the quality of the water has been greatly diminished or degraded in modern times. So, again in many if not most cases, it’s up to us to monitor the quality of the water, to make sure that the ecosystem is still healthy or can be brought back to health. The thing that caught my eye in this story out of Alabama is the quote, “Our vision is to have a citizen monitor on every stream, river, lake and coast in Alabama.” It’s a lofty and ambitious goal and one that should be applauded. Check out the websites for Alabama Water Watch and the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program to see how they are doing.

environmental volunteers, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Robert Barossi, Uncategorized

Volunteer of the Year

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P1000239(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

Many organizations, if not all of them, recognize and reward their volunteers. Among those recognitions, there is often a “Volunteer of the Year” award of some type. The National Wildlife Refuge Association recently bestowed this award upon two very worthy recipients, Sharon and Bob Waldrop. The retired couple clearly have a deep passion and dedication for all of the work they do. Traveling in their RV, they spend summers “up north” and winters in southeast Louisiana, where this story comes from. The list of their hands-on volunteer achievements is impressive, from wiring generators to renovating or rebuilding old buildings. Their efforts have likely touched every person who has visited one of the refuges where they have done this great work.