Building a Knowledge Base

After meeting with Whidbey Island COASST volunteer Arlene, the dedication of citizen science volunteers is at the fore of my mind.  Arlene has volunteered with the program for about four years and shows no signs of stopping. In that time, despite monthly beach surveys, she has discovered only two beached birds (COASST volunteers comb the beaches for dead birds to monitor the baseline conditions of an area).  Yet Arlene is out every month walking her beach, even in the winter when it is dark and cold. Even more, many years ago, Arlene started documenting changes at her beach over time by collecting detailed photographs of the shoreline each spring (following annual winter erosion, or ‘sluffing’).

Documenting baseline conditions along the many
pebble beaches of Whidbey is a big part of COASST.

“Who knows if it will ever be useful to anybody,” she says, “but if there is going to be any contribution I make sometime in the future, it is the photographs I make every year.”  As Arlene demonstrates, documenting baseline conditions and gradual change isn’t as glamorous as chasing lions in the Sahara, but boy is it important! The observations collected by Arlene and her COASST colleagues contribute to a deep knowledge of local ecosystems and ecological patterns, often yielding subtle clues about complex interactions and potential abnormalities. This volunteer effort, while not always sensational, is the foundation for sound science. Many thanks to Arlene and others for their devoted contributions to a collective knowledge system that will live on for generations!