Finished! Looks like this project is out of data at the moment!
Thank you everyone for your help in pushing the project to more than 450,000 classifications! We don't have immediate plans for new workflows, but we will let you know if or when that changes. The entire CHANGES team is grateful for all of your hard work making this project such a success!
FAQ
What is the purpose of this project?
Archives at the Institute for Fisheries Research at the University of Michigan hold meticulous records of decades of surveys across thousands of lakes in the state of Michigan. We can now use these records of lake conditions and fish abundance and growth to understand how climate change and other factors have and will impact fish communities.
Can I change my classification if I realized I did something wrong? Will it mess up the data?
You can go “Back” while in process and redo or re-assess your work. Once you click "Done" you can't change your response. However, don't worry about it! The images are seen by several people. If there is a mistake, your incorrect answer will be outweighed by people's correct answers or there will be enough discrepancy amongst answers that members of the research team will look at the images.
Am I able to choose what image I classify?
For quality assurance purposes, images are shown at random to volunteers.
What happens after I classify an image?
Each image is classified by 4 different people. Once you and others classify all images, the research team will examine any disagreements in particular images. Then results will be run through a consensus program, to identify a "final version" of the data.
What should I do if I find an error on the card?
This may happen from time to time - people make mistakes! For consistency purposes, please transcribe all values as they are, even ones you suspect are erroneous, and then bring up this card on the talk boards (by pressing "Done & Talk") so that members of the research team can take a look and note an error if one is present.
Some of these lake names are offensive. What should I do?
While this project is more about the fish that swim in Michigan’s lakes than the names of the lakes themselves, we want to acknowledge that you may find cards that bear lake names reflecting the racism, prejudice, and white supremacy of those who named them. We have tried to remove cards that bear these lake names as best we could, but if you want to bring something to our attention, please make a note on Talk and we will take appropriate action. For more context about this on a national scale, read this article from the American Geophysical Union.
What if I have other questions that aren't in the FAQ or in the Tutorial?
Ask us in the Talk section! We will do our best to answer any questions you have. If you have a question or concern unrelated to a classification, the research team can also be contacted at changes-ifr@umich.edu for further inquiry.
Where can I find more information?
- Some relevant contextual information on the cards and the IFR surveys can be found in the project's field guide
- Reports of DNR Surveys for individual lakes since 1991
- DNR Fisheries Library
- Searchable database hosted by the University of Michigan for research reports from 2005 and earlier