Citizen Science Program Sat 4 Aug 2018 – Sun 19 Aug 2018 9:00am – 5:00pm Offsite From the 4-19 August we are asking Western Australians to participate in Mini Beasts in My City - Citizen Science Program. Using your smartphone, we want your help to get as many reports of Mini Beasts as possible from all around our State! It's as easy as heading to your local parks and bushlands, finding an insect or a Mini Beast, photographing it, and sending in a using the app. Your report will then be reviewed by entomologists and other Mini Beast experts and a response with more information will be sent back to you. The information we collect will not only help with research, but also be collated and publicly displayed at the end of this project. Reporting app You will need the MyPestGuideTM Reporter. It will be set up to include Mini Beasts in My City during the Program. Head to your favourite App store or the Mobile App Centre from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development website. How to use the MyPestGuideTM Reporter app There are only a few steps to start contributing. Select Create a report. Take a photo or up load an existing photo (a macro lens is useful to get a sharp image). Turn on the GPS. Under Send Report To, scroll through and select Mini Beasts in My City. Add text to tell us more about the location. Leave your email to receive your report. Press send! We take your privacy seriously. If you agree to share your report, your personal details will not be displayed. Get a good photograph – use a macro lens A macro-lens is like a magnifying glass for your phone's camera and can be used to capture images of small insects and other creatures. These clear crisp images really make a difference in identifying the Mini Beast. Macro-lenses are available online and in certain camera stores, phone stores and electronic stores. By taking digital images and forwarding reports to Mini Beasts in My City using the MyPestGuideTMReporter, an identification of the insects should be possible without harming them. City of Perth citizen scientists The City of Perth is interested in what insects are in the parks located in their area to gain knowledge of the biodiversity present. So if you are in Perth head to any of the following parks: Ozone Park and Lake Vasto Point Fraser Reserve Claisebrook Open Space Mardalup Park Heirisson Island John Oldham Park/ David Carr Memorial Park Victoria Gardens The City of Perth integrates environmental consideration with social inclusion and economic prosperity to ensure that it grows as a sustainable city. The City of Perth Environment Strategy is a 15 year Strategy to work towards sustainability goals, and ensure growth is sustainable, healthy, climate responsive, energy resilient, water sensitive and waste conscious. More recently in 2017, the City of Perth commissioned an Invertebrate Survey at a number of its Parks. The results from this survey are yet to be released. Reports from this Mini Beasts in My City – Citizen Science Program will provide useful extensions to the information gained in that survey. Other citizen science programs Through the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s activities, citizen science has enabled an extensive amount of information to be gathered, deciphered and policy decisions implemented. More details can be found on this website. If you have any queries about other programs under the MyPestGuideTM program, send them to mypestguide@dpird.wa.gov.au Murdoch University is involved in a range of citizen science programs that rely on contributions from citizens and are always interested in more participation. These include Dolphin Watch, run by Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Murdoch and Curtin Universities. Dolphin Watch focuses on the dolphins in the Swan and Canning rivers to better understand the dolphin ecology and health of the river systems. Citizen science is a broad description of when non-scientists participate in gathering data that are later collated to inform reports and decisions. In many cases, non-scientists gather data according to specific scientific protocols and are involved in the process of using and interpreting that data, and in other cases non-scientists are engaged in true decision making about policy issues arising from these data or other scientific findings. Return to Mini Beasts Homepage Caption: Download the Reporter app to your smartphone! Credit: WA Museum