Citizen Science
The Port Royal Sound Foundation’s Citizen Science program inspires the conservation of the Port Royal Sound by engaging community members and organizations in meaningful, data-driven projects and initiatives that support the health of the Sound. Projects and initiatives include water quality monitoring, resilience building, species monitoring, beautification, and more.
Water Quality Monitoring
The Port Royal Sound Foundation is a partner and training orgnization for Adopt-A-Stream’s Tidal Saltwater Monitoring Program, managed by the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services. More than 50 Adopt-A-Stream volunteers have been collecting data on water quality across the watershed.
Adopt-a-Stream Training
Join us at the PRSF Maritime Center to become a certified Adopt-a-Stream water quality monitoring volunteer. This workshop is FREE and includes a classroom lesson, outdoor field practice, and an open-book certification test. Learn to measure temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, transparency, and salinity in tidal saltwater, and help monitor the health of the Port Royal Sound.
Adopt-a-Stream Recertification
All volunteers wishing to enter data into the SC AAS database must keep an active certification to generate high-quality and reliable data. This means that volunteers must recertify each year, either by attending a workshop or by completing this free online course that takes less than 2 hours. Volunteers whose certifications have recently expired or will expire before January 1, 2025 should take this online course opening November 1. If you need help figuring out when your certification expires, email scaas@des.sc.gov.
Conservation Volunteer Opportunities
The Port Royal Sound Foundation and many of our partners organizations and agencies that are contributing to conservation in the PRS watershed are often looking for volunteers to make things happen! We will post those opportunities here when we learn about them.
Manufactured Wire Reef Fabrication
November 5th
South Carolina Oyster Recycling & Enhancement program (SCORE), a program of SCDNR, is hosting several work days to manufacture wire reefs for oyster restoration projects across the Port Royal Sound. Events take place at the PRSF Maritime Center.
SCDNR Certified Saltwater Fishing Instructor
November 21st 3- 5 PM
We’re looking for volunteers ages 18 years and older to help and/or lead saltwater fishing clinics and participate in SCDNR fishing related outreach programs. These programs include:
–Saltwater Fishing Clinics: Volunteers lead/co-lead saltwater fishing clinics from shore, docks, piers, or the surf.
Citizen Science Projects
There are MANY citizen science projects that contribute to collecting meaningful observations and data that build a better understanding of our broader environment. Many of these projects you can do at home with minimal equipment. Other projects are more like events that take place at a certain times of the year. Port Royal Sound Foundation will send out information and updates on projects we are actively participating in.
CoCoRaHS
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network is a community-based network of volunteers measuring and mapping precipitation (rain, hail and snow) across the US.
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is a citizen science project designed for citizens of GA, SC, NC, and FL to monitor and report pollinator counts on a given plant for only 15 minutes between Aug 23-24.
Count and Include PRSF as Your Group in your Data Entry
Audubon Christmas Bird Count
The nation’s longest-running community science bird project fuels Audubon’s work throughout the year. The Christmas Bird Count occurs December 14 to January 5 every season.
PRSF will send out info about local bird counts closer to the date.
NestWatch
NestWatch is a nationwide nest-monitoring program designed to track status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds. Participating in NestWatch is easy and anyone can do it.
Ghosts of the Coast
Ghosts of the Coast is a citizen science project to help document the formation of ghost forests on a larger scale. Their observations will help us better understand where ghost forests are being observed and what these locations have in common.
MonarchWatch
MonarchWatch is a multi-faceted citizen science program to monitor and support the conservation of monarch butterflies across the US.
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