Community Science Day

A slice of tidepool life at Otter Rock.\Photo by Dennis White.

CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Fawn Custer will be taking advantage of an accessible low tide to provide wide-ranging instruction in citizen science and shoreline monitoring at the Otter Rock Marine Reserve on Monday, Sept. 10.  Meet her on the beach north of the community of Otter Rock beginning at 7 a.m.  Fawn will be joined by CoastWatcher Karen Driscoll, who has been conducting several citizen science projects at Otter Rock. The event is free and open to all, and would be of interest to anyone wishing to learn more about the shoreline.  CoastWatch’s particular goal is to build a “community science team” that will coordinate citizen science projects focused on the intertidal interface with the Otter Rock Marine Reserve.

Among the projects for which Fawn and Karen will be providing information and instructions:  Sea star survey and tidepool ecology, 8 a.m.; marine debris survey, 9 a.m.; beached bird survey, 9:30 a.m.; marine mammal stranding survey, 10 a.m.  There will also be plenty of opportunity to learn about CoastWatch monitoring and to ask any and all shoreline-related questions.  Weather permitting, Fawn and Karen will also have a table full of informational materials.

For more information, contact Fawn Custer at (541) 270-0027, fawn@oregonshores.org.