Pictured here is one of two monitoring stations to be installed at the Accokeek Foundation in Piscataway Park. Made possible by a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, these Chronolog stations will allow the Accokeek Stewardship team to track environmental changes in our space. "When it comes to plants, we notice the obvious season to season changes, but miss the small things, like the first leaf out or the timelapse as leaves change colors in the fall," says Risharda Harley, Accokeek's Stewardship Manager. "I like that anyone can help capture these changes by simply taking and uploading a picture. And because the bracket is mounted and facing in a particular direction, we all get the same picture, but from different days, months, seasons, and hopefully, years!" Not only does the Stewardship team want to track environmental changes, but they also want to keep track of the work and efforts put in by their dedicated volunteer team and partners. "Our volunteers come out each Friday and work hard to create a more balanced ecosystem, and how rewarding would it be to see those changes and the fruits of their labor?" This is a great citizen science opportunity for visitors to help track changes in Piscataway Park.
The Stewardship team hopes that this information will guide their efforts to sustain healthy forests and encourage biodiverse ecosystems. The stations will make their debut in early May and are planned to be placed at points both near the Visitor Center and in the far reaches of the park to encourage visitor exploration. Visitors are encouraged to be a part of this process by taking a picture at a station and following the instructions to upload it to the Accokeek timelapse site which can be found here: https://chronolog.io/site/ACC101
For more information on the project, please contact the stewardship team at nativeplantsquadd@accokeek.org.
For more information on this and other Chronolog projects around the country, see here: https://www.chronolog.io/about-us