The Incidental Steward
Reflections on Citizen Science
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A search for a radio-tagged Indiana bat roosting in the woods behind her house in New York’s Hudson Valley led Akiko Busch to assorted other encounters with the natural world—local ecological monitoring projects, community-organized cleanup efforts, and data-driven citizen science research. Whether it is pulling up water chestnuts in the Hudson River, measuring beds of submerged aquatic vegetation, or searching out vernal pools, all are efforts that illuminate the role of ordinary citizens as stewards of place. In this elegantly written book, Busch highlights factors that distinguish twenty-first-century citizen scientists from traditional amateur naturalists: a greater sense of urgency, helpful new technologies, and the expanded possibilities of crowdsourcing.
The observations here look both to precisely recorded data sheets and to the impressionistic marginalia, scribbled asides, and side roads that often attend such unpredictable outings. While not a primer on the prescribed protocols of citizen science, the book combines vivid natural history, a deep sense of place, and reflection about our changing world. Musing on the expanding potential of citizen science, the author celebrates today’s renewed volunteerism and the opportunities it offers for regaining a deep sense of connection to place.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this charming series of essays, Busch (Patience) demonstrates the ways in which volunteers in her area of Upstate New York have learned to notice the natural world around them. In the same way that Thoreau took time to examine his corner of the pond, "citizen scientists" observe and report on the wilderness near their homes. Each essay concentrates on an aspect of change, with invasive species and diseases that attack plants and animals her main focus; for instance, weeding water chestnuts that clog rivers becomes a time of reflection on the ecosystem. Busch views "mile-a-minute vines" that smother trees as a metaphor with a clear message: "hen events happen too quickly, it is no good." She also notes that nature adapts to some invasive plants, like loosestrife, making it do the job of the plants it has replaced. One of the stranger newcomers is the eastern coyote, who moved from the west, interbreeding with wolves and dogs, until it became a new and variegate animal. In recounting her experience, Busch shares her considerations on nature and how individuals can use their observations to add data to scientific studies; her work is both informative and inspirational.
