Finished! Looks like this project is out of data at the moment!
Thanks to the work of more than 1800 of you, we've completed the first stage of the project! We're going through the results now and will have new workflows for you to help with in the coming months.
Research
We need to unearth data for reuse, and you can help
Data in the student papers of the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) collectively cover more than 100 years of research on ecology, environmental change, and plant and animal species. These data provide valuable information to researchers and students continuing to study these areas. Your task is to unearth the data so that it can be reused in current and future projects.
Currently
Researchers have to sift through pages and read reports to find data. In this Zooniverse project, you will identify which pages of the student papers actually have data, such as tables, photographs, maps, and observations. Once we have isolated the data with your help, we will be able to transcribe pages into a database. Then, the public, researchers, students, and policy makers will be able to look at and reuse data relevant to their research projects.
Examples of Possible Reuse
Possibly toxic algal species previously unseen in sites around northern Michigan have been observed in recent years, according to UMBS faculty. The blue-green alga Planktothrix that could have toxic strains was newly observed in a nearby lake by faculty who have taught and studied in this area since the 1970's. Identifying the observations of algal species listed in the student papers will make future research much more efficient.
Another way to apply data uncovered in this Zooniverse project is in research on bats. In recent years, White-Nose Syndrome appeared in Michigan and has been killing bats. In 2018, researchers counted bats with the same methodology as a 2014 study to compare. If there are earlier counts as well, UMBS student papers could contain the data. These counts would inform research as additional points of comparison.
History of the Biological Station Land
The University of Michigan Biological Station was founded on Douglas Lake in northern Michigan in 1909 when faculty-student teams began investigations of northern Michigan plants and animals and chronicled the recoveries of forest lands and water following the heavy industrial logging of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Biological Station land and nearly all land in northern Michigan, is the traditional home of the Annishinaabeg people, known also as the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomie tribes.