Αύγουστος 02, 2023

2023 SF Bay Harmful Aglae Bloom

It is with great sadness that I'm asking your to join this project
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2023
in preparation for another potentially high mortality event in the SF Bay caused by a Heterosigma bloom.

CDFW's Dr. Karen Odkins is the manager of the project and is asking that when you join you do so letting project admin see coordinates for sensitive organisms that are usually obscured as it will make tracking sturgeon mortality more streamlined. Also please mark your organisms as "dead" as this is one of the factors being used to pull observations into the project.

The Heterosigma tide is already hitting Berkeley's shoreline and there are dead fish already in the project from Emeryville.
https://oaklandside.org/2023/08/01/algae-bloom-that-caused-lake-merritt-fish-kill-is-spotted-along-east-bay-shoreline/

@merav
@damontighe
@kerstinfirmin
@barbarab
@anudibranchmom
@keeferchunk
@thehyphaemovement
@emmashelton
@rockpaperstar11
@mattkoester
@possiblybuddha
@ian1039
@graysquirrel
@ktnoon
@gtgb
@kueda
@leptonia
@hawkparty
@morgancantrell
@eleggua
@catchang
@dmdevinc
@cole_margen
@ground_gazer
@mariettahikes
@metsa
@snoozehawk
@adrained
@dankillam
@tgran
@rvanderwerff
@weirdducksonly
@bellevuebelle
@jfmclaughlin92
@peggydaly
@rauzon
@alisutch
@michaelvoeltz
@mikeisnotcreative
@procyonlotor7
@rohan76
@wolmot
@andrewbutt
@edwardrooks
@emugang
@gyrrlfalcon
@hdettmer
@jzupan
@lcounts
@levinletlive
@skwee
@annej510
@cere
@emma11
@geodani
@jackscheinman
@jeremyreinhard
@meaander
@melissagarden
@noelleand
@sea-kangaroo
@szjhobbs
@teamsnyder
@vanessa1286
@al_kordesch
@all2human
@alojom
@ameet
@annamichelle59
@anne1618
@artmouse
@aslaught
@austin704
@bayareawalker
@belaoakland
@bthorsnes
@butjama
@caitlinboise
@ccowen
@cdkcdk
@christophermartin1
@clurd18
@dani_2
@daniel1720
@danielschow
@daveexclaims
@deantroi
@emma657
@epikurewicz
@foggyinsf
@greenrosettas
@hellion7
@hocuspocussambucus
@jalexknox
@jef_poskanzer
@jenniferlchandler
@juliandurante
@kate_kriozere
@katie877
@kayakmak
@kayllindgren
@king2d3d
@krisci
@kyanocitta
@l_m_r
@learkana
@lena100
@lenastray
@livypole
@luca_hickey
@matokie
@mhammond
@natureisra
@naturesarchive
@pafernandez
@parker_hs
@pistachioboy
@ramon234
@reverendshotwell
@rockybajada
@rosymopkins
@rowena-k
@salamandria
@santiago_mejia
@schwarje
@sljue
@ssmith298
@sstodola
@surf22
@sustainability4life
@suzannecarter180
@thesilverback
@thesunisbig
@vespertinus
@vsouza10
@weissfamman

Posted on Αύγουστος 02, 2023 0515 ΜΜ by damontighe damontighe | 15σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Σεπτέμβριος 13, 2022

SF Bay Harmful Algae Bloom data access request

Hi!

Thanks so much for helping track the effects of the SF Bay Harmful Algal Bloom
If you are being @ below it means that you have observations about the SF Algal Bloom that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife would like to use.

iNat auto-obscures white and green sturgeon observations since they are threatened species in the SF Bay and delta system and CDFW is very interested in understanding the effects of this bloom on them.

Please share your locations by joining the project:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/aggregating-sf-bay-harmful-algal-bloom-2022

click the cog wheel next to "Your Membership"
Trust this project with hidden coordinates?
= Yes, for any of my observations

Your observation gps location will only be visible to administrators of the project, which are me and 3 people from the iNat team.

If you don't want to share your data in this way, I respect that too, just let me know you are choosing not to share it.

Thanks once again for your help in understanding the effect of this harmful algal bloom
-Damon

@ameet
@edwardrooks
@suzannecarter180
@all2human
@sustainability4life
@vsouza10
@artmouse
@belaoakland
@sf_angler
@rholzman
@king2d3d
@hellion7
@l_m_r
@weissfamman
@jef_poskanzer
@jackscheinman
@donnal1
@gekirk
@katie877
@lena100
@emma657
@bio_alchemist
@cdkcdk
@kate_kriozere
@foggyinsf
@deantroi
@juliandurante
@mariettahikes
@reverendshotwell
@sstodola
@lookoutforamanitas

Posted on Σεπτέμβριος 13, 2022 0436 ΠΜ by damontighe damontighe | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Σεπτέμβριος 09, 2022

SF Bay Harmful Algae Bloom 2022 Followup

First of all thank you to all of you listed here. Your efforts were heroic. I can't believe how much shoreline got covered in such a small amount of time and some of these edges of the bay were very hard to access and you did it!

Baykeeper, working with SFEI and CDFW wants to be able to use your un-obscured GPS locations for sturgeons.

Specifically Jon Rosenfield of Baykeepers says " mapping reports of dead sturgeon will help us to understand the extent and spatial distribution of the impacts on sturgeon . From this, we can infer some things about where the sturgeon were, and how much of their Bay habitat was impacted. Also, the map will be an educational tool for managers and the general public"

If you are comfortable with your data being used in this manner, please join the project
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/aggregating-sf-bay-harmful-algal-bloom-2022
and select to TRUST project admin with coordinates. If you don't feel comfortable, don't feel obliged

Once again without all of you I don't think we could have known the full extent of the damage this Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) had on the bay and why we need as a community to take steps towards minimizing the chances of these in the future.

@merav
@keeferchunk
@barbarab
@damontighe
@ian1039
@thehyphaemovement
@gtgb
@leptonia
@possiblybuddha
@anudibranchmom
@morgancantrell
@kueda
@dmdevinc
@graysquirrel
@mariettahikes
@wolmot
@alisutch
@dankillam
@ground_gazer
@lookoutforamanitas
@michaelvoeltz
@mikeisnotcreative
@andrewbutt
@catchang
@emmashelton
@hdettmer
@lcounts
@luca_hickey
@skwee
@cere
@christinanativefishes
@darwinbondgraham
@meaander
@melissagarden
@agentredsquirrel
@all2human
@ameet
@annamichelle59
@anne1618
@artmouse
@aslaught
@belaoakland
@bio_alchemist
@bthorsnes
@butjama
@cdkcdk
@daveexclaims
@deantroi
@donnal1
@edwardrooks
@emma657
@emugang
@foggyinsf
@gekirk
@hellion7
@jackscheinman
@jalexknox
@jef_poskanzer
@juliandurante
@kate_kriozere
@katie877
@king2d3d
@kyansrussell
@l_m_r
@lena100
@lenastray
@mhammond
@natureisra
@pafernandez
@pistachioboy
@ramon234
@reverendshotwell
@rholzman
@rockybajada
@rowena-k
@sf_angler
@sljue
@sstodola
@sustainability4life
@suzannecarter180
@szjhobbs
@vanessa1286
@vsouza10
@weissfamman

Posted on Σεπτέμβριος 09, 2022 0642 ΠΜ by damontighe damontighe | 2σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Αύγουστος 30, 2022

SF Bay Harmful Algae Bloom 2022

There is a massive fish die off going on in the SF Bay and possibly further up the delta due to an ongoing algae bloom of Heterosigma akashiwo. Big fish die offs just started happening in the past few days in Lake Merritt, Palo Alto, Richmond....its really wide spread. If you are out and about in the SF Bay in the coming weeks and see fish or other organisms dead that you may think are associated with the algae bloom, please add them to this project:

"SF Bay Harmful Algae Bloom 2022"
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2022

If you are tagged in this journal post it is because you are one of the top 100 fish observers in the SF Bay Area.

Thanks for any contributions, they will definitely help agencies figure out the extent of this event and maybe, big maybe investigate the cause and help prevent similar events in the future.

@prickly_sculpin
@sf_angler
@anudibranchmom
@bayareafishn
@damontighe
@dpom
@chilipossum
@merav
@jmaughn
@kestrel
@sea-kangaroo
@rebeccafay
@norcalfishing
@leptonia
@ken_mateik
@muddphoto
@tiwane
@kookamongus
@phylogenomics
@gyrrlfalcon
@hikingsandiego
@dominic
@hfabian
@richardwasson
@cjs041
@passiflora4
@sec_research
@allisonjgong
@catchang
@thetorterra
@acastelein
@kueda
@lorri-gong
@edwardrooks
@wildlife1607
@chloe_and_trevor
@dlevitis
@adrained
@joe_cutler
@joescience1
@megansixt
@stuartrichardson
@loarie
@temminicki
@graysquirrel
@ktnoon
@mimiqt
@dloarie
@thefruithunter
@lglevanik
@truthseqr
@ulysses20
@marisa_a
@sandor_in
@thehyphaemovement
@michael_long
@matthewl
@xmcp
@al_kordesch
@natbat
@wild-by-nature-db
@jackroney
@robberfly
@julie_sf
@konshau
@p-m
@abbyt
@pmk00001
@bio_alchemist
@byersconspiracy
@garth_harwood
@joshuabobcatstacy
@nature1111
@socal_angling
@paulknoepfler
@smog
@carrion
@grant-bowler
@mike_rochford
@cae1
@dwest
@gofthejungle
@leslie_flint
@mazer
@pholroyd
@sharksteward
@teellbee
@direbecca
@ericsimons
@geodani
@js_young
@dorisaurus
@dutchbill
@floydehayes
@isaac_krone
@kayakmak
@david102
@feesh
@howardfriedman1
@rfields

Posted on Αύγουστος 30, 2022 0655 ΠΜ by damontighe damontighe | 1 παρατήρηση | 11σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάρτιος 11, 2021

Cryptomarasmius corbariensis hunt 2021 aka #CryptoHunt2021

We need your help documenting this rarely observed mushroom that you've already documented the host tree in iNaturalist (Olive trees)

Cryptomarasmius corbariensis (the Olive Leaf Crypto) is rarely documented likely because its small and ephemeral, but it is suspected to be in every county in California and as of now has only been documented from a handful. Right now is the time to look for them. They are popping this week and will likely start to fade as the temperatures warm and moisture goes away.

How to help:
Find your local olive tree, dig in the leaves until you either hit moisture or dirt, sort the leaves for black filaments (rhizomorphs), then look for tiny mushrooms, photograph and upload to iNaturalist. A lot of counties to cover to get an observation in all 58 of CA's counties, but it’s easy since olive trees tend to be where people live.

Video of finding them. You an also find them under Olive trees with much dries surroundings as long as their is a place for leaves to pile up.
https://www.facebook.com/701220531/videos/10164604119920532/

What they look like up close:

What they look like up close:

A little expectation setting for how small they are:

Example of the rhizomorphs (black threads):

CryptoHunt2021

Observers of Olive Trees in Counties with no observations of Crytpomarasmius:
@a536
@aarft
@abrahamlee
@ajcole
@alexadebrouwer
@aliaw
@aliciaflores1
@alteashea
@amarillas
@ambyhas
@amyhuie
@andrea1194
@andrewm4
@andyjones1
@anna_ringquist
@arijl
@ashleymmartin
@attran
@ayeshazafari
@barbaraf23
@beccaday
@beverly33
@biancabonilla
@bio120everett
@bird_attorney
@birgitknorr
@blueclay
@bonnienickel
@books179
@bouquetbabz
@brandon-m
@bryn_potter
@bryna16
@bspslp
@camilleholly
@castillejajosie
@cblicq
@cchamberlain
@cedric_lee
@ceruleanbutterfly
@chalon9
@cheryl61
@chicharra
@chris383
@chrysaetos
@clongo97
@conormcmahon
@cordova
@coronado_b
@cpolevy
@crustycharles
@dahliashahin
@dcstokes
@djkeddy
@dlbowls
@docprt
@dylanspangler
@ebergman
@eivins_m
@elanashenas
@elfinoaks
@emglad
@emily105
@ems3lj
@enakamura
@erin_lynes1
@evan_hernandez
@evanchella
@exploringplants
@fake_id
@finatic
@frankcolcord
@fritzieagustin
@g4inks
@ghazard
@gisellealvarez
@give2gid
@hannahswarthout
@harrier
@hasnainrahman
@hatcherdogg
@hayan
@heatherstevens
@heatherw3
@heyitskay
@hezz15
@hikingsandiego
@hubertszcz
@immorganic
@irenek
@ivyp
@jacksonkubal
@jacquelineaguilera95
@jayescholl
@jaykeller
@jcarlstrom
@jeilers
@jerrybreakstone
@jgon421
@jhvistendahl
@jimirob1
@jmacmartin
@john2047
@johnmartin
@jokim
@jonnysperling
@jorobins
@jpylipow
@jrebman
@jrennie1
@jtejeda
@judy
@juliakrider
@kaetta
@kamunoz
@kateboersma
@kayakerev
@kcerva
@kcmccarty
@kelly115
@kevin257
@kirthika_24
@kkm757
@ksboparai
@kseltmann
@kt_n
@kyleeleaves
@kzirk57
@labrats73136
@lagoondon
@landmanagerescondidocreek
@larsonjane
@latishatralka
@lavendermat
@lebedeff_j
@lenadam
@lglevanik
@lillianserrano
@liloutong
@liz455
@lnericcio
@loramay
@maartenvansegbroeck
@mady11
@maggie81
@mamaslugglet
@margaretelizondo
@marianissen
@mariomaldonado
@mariposaranchfoundation
@mason_d
@matthew_salkiewicz
@mdmango
@megan_rebecca
@michaellajackson
@miguelgrande
@milliebasden
@mlf
@moorehsu2
@morgan301
@mrtorrence
@mskipwor
@mtu
@munnecke
@mwalschl
@natalieventura
@naturalistspace
@natureloon
@naturenate
@ndoughty
@nicole_argueta
@noelle_milin
@notu
@nunez_t
@orihart
@paanderso
@paige111
@paolinaharris
@pataxte
@photosynthesis_slaps
@pmoon2
@ppauchnick
@quercus_elizabeth
@quercusboletus
@rachelblumer
@rachelparker17
@randypotter
@rangerwild
@rob007
@robin_valtchev
@rsolis
@ryanandrews
@sagevinje
@saharaviolet
@sandiegomike
@sara_atashbar
@schoutens1
@serpophaga
@sgcacc
@shayna_g
@shihshells
@sierracampisano
@sierra-darin
@silversea_starsong
@skeletonsuga
@skylukr
@smfang
@snakeinmypocket
@sngyj
@somesecretpie
@songs
@sophieadams
@sphuemmer
@squiresk
@sruss
@stephanieizazaga
@sulavanderplank
@sundowner
@susanhewitt
@sydrudy
@tania02
@tarawise1
@thecrowmother
@tiyumq
@tmroadcap
@torem
@troybamford
@tyler_curl
@valeryyie
@vincer
@vyesenia002
@walkingman
@warriorgoddessfarm
@windyc
@wofford
@zenab_a
@zrogers0512

Posted on Μάρτιος 11, 2021 1038 ΜΜ by damontighe damontighe | 11σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Δεκέμβριος 29, 2019

Voucher Label making from Observation data



>

I've been handwriting voucher labels for a while now and realized that if I ever want to do any collecting in volumes that this has to stop because 1) it takes a lot of time since I like to have a fair amount of info on my voucher labels 2) My penmanship is poor so cursed is the person that inherits my vouchers.

Below are two approaches for making labels. Both start with making a download of data from your observations.



>

I usually select
id

observed_on_string

observed_on
user_login

description
place_guess
latitude

longitude

positional_accuracy
scientific_name

1) Microsoft Office Approach

Open up Microsoft word and select "Mailings" from the option bar. Select "Step by step Mail Merge Wizard."
Step 1 - Select labels as you document type.
Step 2 - Select label options and click "New Label" my labels are the following dimensions:
Top margin 0.1"
Label Height 2"
Side margin 0.1"
label width 2.8"
vertical pitch 2.1"
Number across 3
Horizontal pitch 2.8"
Number down 5
paper size Letter (8 1/2 x 11 in)
Step 3 - Click "Browse" and select your CSV file or Excel workbook.
Step 4 - Click "More Items" and arrange your labels how you desire by selecting on the fields you want in the label. You can type in front of the data to be merged. Then click "Update all Labels" Mine look like
iNat# «id»
Date «observed_on»
Colletor «user_login»
Place «place_guess»
«latitude», «longitude»
Species «scientific_name»
Notes «description»
Step 5 - Click "Preview Your Labels"
Step 6 - Click "Print"

Labels look like this:


>

1) 2) Avery Design and Print Online Approach

I really wanted to do this in google sheets but the only label / mail merge apps want access to my gmail etc., which I'm not comfortable with, so the Avery Label platform feels less intrusive. You can upload a CSV tell it the label you want to use and then modify how they look and easily print to pdf or to your printer
a) Go to https://www.avery.com/software/design-and-print/
b) make an account
c) Select Label Template 5871 - its not perfect, but its the best fit for the size of voucher labels I want
d) Click "customize" at the next screen
d) From Left side bar click " Import Data Mail Merge" and select your exported CSV from iNat
e) Use the prompts to layout your label. When moving fields in I type the following in front of the fields
iNat# «id»
Date «observed_on»
Colletor «user_login»
Place «place_guess»
«latitude», «longitude»
Species «scientific_name»
Notes «description»


>

f) Avery will display a single label and if you click on it you can make adjustmetns. I like to center and left justify my labels, so I do so there. I also change the font to 7. Since the iNaturalist Place guess can sometimes be long I will also take the text box and slide it so that the text is only filling 2/3 of the space.
d) Click Preview and Print



>

Posted on Δεκέμβριος 29, 2019 0821 ΜΜ by damontighe damontighe | 1 σχόλιο | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 25, 2018

Acer macrophyllum Citizen Science Project needs help!

Hi, you observe a lot of Acer macrophyllum and this project could potentially benefit from your help

A friend of mine works for a group that is collecting Acer macrophyllum material to make a DNA database so that illegal logging of A. macrophyllum can be traced. They are hoping to complete sample collection this summer from diverse locations across the western US.

All it takes to be involved is signing up here:
http://www.adventurescientists.org/timber-volunteers.html

An hour or so online training and then the team can get you collection packages. They are looking to collect samples as widely dispersed across each zone as possible to make their library as diverse as possible, since this should make tracing back illegal harvested material to the harvest site easier.

in the comments I'm going to @ the top 100 Acer macrophyllum observers in hopes that you might participate or can get the word out. Thanks!

Posted on Μάιος 25, 2018 0355 ΜΜ by damontighe damontighe | 14σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Σεπτέμβριος 28, 2017

DIY Moth Light

Due to the slippery slope of curiosity that iNaturalist has made for me around organisms I never even knew I could care about I've put a fair amount of time this summer into trying to build a cheap and effective moth light that could easily fit into a backpack and weigh a pound or less. The below link gets you to the blog of what I've learned and how to make your own for about $50 that you can also use to charge your cell phone with in the backcountry.

https://calnature.org/blog/2017/9/27/diy-moth-light

Thanks to @catchang for all of your encouragement and testing of demo units, including those that just melted and fell apart. Electronics is just as new to me as moths. Also thanks to @robberfly for all the lepidopterist stories and general enthusiasm around beautiful winged creatures. Thanks to @kueda @finatic @leftcoastnaturalist @leptonia @tiwane @seakangaroo for letting me hang around moth lights with you. Big thanks to all of the identifiers that have been brave enough to take those moth pictures closer to species level calls: @jimjohnson @k8thegr8 @hkmoths @gwark @cedarleaf @cedarleaf @ericwilliams @treegrow @loarie @leannewallisbiologist @sambiology


2022.06 update. Here are my current pieces for building the DiY Moth light:

My current system is as follows:

Light
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073Y7LRRT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

"Screen" aka a shower curtain liner
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002H9W9X8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I run fishing line through the shower curtain liner holes and at both ends put ~2 ft of line with loops at the end, this allows me to wrap around tree trunks and hold it up with just 2 thumbtacks. Although I find frequently I'm just finding other things that I can loop through the fishing line inbetween holes in the liner and use that to hold it up.

I sometimes will use a USB extender so that light's USB cable easily gets to my USB battery.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XCB5234/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Currently I'm using this USB battery, but really anything over 10,000mAH is going to be good for ~ 6-8 hrs of mothing
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09F9QGH2M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Posted on Σεπτέμβριος 28, 2017 1012 ΜΜ by damontighe damontighe | 67σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Δεκέμβριος 31, 2016

Pushing Performance - a reflection on 2016

I started the year with a little challenge to myself based upon looking at a number of other iNaturalist users; make one observation for everyday of January. It wasn't easy, but it was rewarding as it caused me to see things I don't usually look for since in an average workday the "natural" space I may have a chance to interact with is very low.
http://www.inaturalist.org/journal/damontighe/5333-1-observation-a-day-for-1-month-my-january-2016-challenge
I wasn't able to keep the pace for the entire year, but as the year finishes out, I've some how compiled 7,000+ observations!

The challenge pushed me to be more curious about what was right around me, so I started a project on just the apartment complex I manage to see how many organisms I and maybe some of my tenants could document on this little slice of urbania.
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/1502-alice-street-biological-monitoring
This project got me at some level to recognize the potential humans have to transform their own living areas/ecosystems as through this project I documented a fungal parasite (Entomophthora muscae) that I intentionally brought home a year previously and saw it emerge time and time again.

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3916249

I also sped down the slippery slope of aided observations using clip on macro lenses for my cell phone, Foldscopes, and all sorts of other microscopes, which did nothing but get me excited to no ends about all that can be found even in an urban landscape. I attempted to share that fascination with others by hosting workshops and Bioblitzs focused on the use of these tools
Here are the tools for learning to use a cell phone macro lens:
https://calnature.org/blog/2016/8/18/cell-phone-macrophotography-insects
and here are some notes from one our our Bioblitzes using Foldscopes:
https://calnature.org/blog/2016/10/17/tardigrades-and-friends-a-microbioblitz

The scientific value of iNaturalist became more and more apparent to me as the platform became not only a place for me to learn by documenting, but also a place researchers could find things I had seen and ask for them. One of my favorite interactions in this realm for the year was hunting down various forms of Laboulbeniaceae and sending them off to Harvard for @dhaelewa. An entire class of fungi I hadn't even been aware of!
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3830004
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3291539
I started using a tag "collaborationDT" so I could easily find these instances of observations that became useful for someones research.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?q=collaborationDT&search_on=tags

The social value of iNaturalist also became more apparent to me as I found myself on trips with people I met through iNaturalist and even one fateful afternoon I was identifying mushrooms on iNaturalist and realized @catchang and @robberfly were out exploring nearby in the East Bay Hills in real time and was able to message them and go join in the adventure. http://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/damontighe/2016/11/23
and on another occasion I was invited out to Mineral King to help researcher with a survey for mycoviruses which ended up being an epic backpacking trip
https://flic.kr/p/Mp1VYo

The educational potential of iNaturalist also became more apparent as @leptonia and I used it as part of a 1 week high school course in fungi with @lgottlieb where students surveyed a local watershed and did sequencing of fungi they found.
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/marin-academy-2016-fungi-course
I'm looking forward to seeing the next version of this in 2017 building upon the last years lessons learned.

Partly inspired from the Marin Academy course as it gets me thinking what makes a good fungal observation I've started in the background to gear up for what I hope to launch in 2017 and call "Barcoding the Lake" which will be an attempt to make observations, collections of, and DNA Barcode organisms from Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. I've started a collection of all of the fungi that have come up this year, with relatively good images for the observations, spore prints and when time permits I'll get to imaging the microscopic features and ultimately DNA sequencing ITS for all of them.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?field:herbarium=Damon%20Tighe%20personal%20herbarium
After fungi I hope to move into the water and start with the mollusks, pollychaetes and eventually all of the other wonderful organisms I've been photographing there: https://flic.kr/s/aHskeL4LFD. I find the prospect of sequencing a bunch of organisms that have already been sequenced really exciting, because science is a process of repetition and for a lot of these organisms these conserved regions have only been sequenced a handful of times at best, so to get more looks at all of them on this level will hopefully be useful. Repetition is the "boring" part of science, but its what really makes it solid. Its the confirming that past experiments or observations holds true that tethers knowledge to something enduring.

I'm looking forward to all that 2017 has in store!

Posted on Δεκέμβριος 31, 2016 0306 ΠΜ by damontighe damontighe | 8σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Σεπτέμβριος 05, 2016

Amador Canal Bioblitz - Thank you!

Thank you for participating in the Amador Canal Bioblitz on Paloma Pollinator's Manzanita Ridge Farm.

Through your efforts in observing and identifying we now have 900+ observations of organisms in the Amador Canal Direct Impact Zone:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=114256

With over 100+ confirmed species:
http://www.inaturalist.org/places/amador-canal-direct-impact-zone

If you'd like to flip through all of the observations you can do so with the following link. Anything without a green banner beneath the image that says "Research Grade" still needs help being identified/confirmed. I think with some more effort we could get our confirmed species list above 200.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=114256&subview=grid

If you still have observations to upload and need help, please feel free to reach out to me and I can assist. If you used a camera and are trying to navigate how to upload them to iNaturalist.org use the Add Observations button in your dashboard screen when you log in.

Thank you for all of your time, expertise, and curiosity. It is amazing what a community of interested and motivated people can do!

We will work towards having another Bioblitz along the Amador Canal Direct Impact zone in another season and will share dates with you as soon as we have them.

Damon Tighe
California Center for Natural History
Calnature.org
damontighe@gmail.com
@damontighe on iNaturalist
510-282-4480

p.s. - if you have any photographs of the Bioblitz in action; people taking pictures of organisms or other parts of the day you would be willing to share, I'd love to have them to write a blog with, please add them to this folder: https://www.dropbox.com/request/dIQerBNGb3NhC1ksGXEr
You don't need Dropbox to add photos to the folder.

@damontighe @kueda @catchang @robberfly @tomv @bettyblue @constance @sea-kangaroo @palomapollinators @ang @suzannecarter180 @metsa @jowilliams @loloscheiner @benitaasher @christinawilliams @miles @lawman @midcau @julie94601 @michelle127 @pleewest @crystalwest @heathersullivan @sunearthenergy @dianek @mangle @rkmines

Posted on Σεπτέμβριος 05, 2016 0933 ΜΜ by damontighe damontighe | 1 σχόλιο | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο