The
new smartphone app for the Outsmart Invasive Species Project that lets people
learn about, identify and report invasive species using an iPhone or Android is
now available for free through iTunes and Google Play.
Thanks
to a new collaboration between the Center for Public Policy and Administration
(CPPA) at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst
and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), efforts to
combat potentially devastating species are gaining momentum. Now anyone with a
smartphone or a digital camera can help scientists collect valuable data about
invasive species throughout Massachusetts.
Charles
Schweik, associate professor of public policy and environmental conservation at
UMass Amherst, and Jennifer Fish, director of DCR’s Service Forestry program in
Amherst, have
received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to enlist the help of
“citizen scientists” to map invasive species using smartphone
technology.
“There
are already organizations throughout the commonwealth actively working to
identify and eradicate harmful bugs and plants. What we’re trying to do is
complement their efforts by allowing Massachusetts
residents to communicate directly with these groups about what they see,” said
Schweik. The Outsmart Project is already working with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, the Sudbury-Assabet-Concord River Watershed Cooperative
Invasive Species Management Area, the Westfield Invasive Species Partnership,
and the Trustees of Reservations.
