Proposals Accepted for First Wyoming Citizen Science Conference

The University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute is accepting presentation proposals for the first Wyoming Citizen Science Conference and associated workshops, scheduled Thursday, Dec. 1-Saturday, Dec. 3, in Lander. Proposals are due Sunday, Aug. 21; K-16 educators may submit proposals until Sunday, Sept. 4.

The first of its kind in the state, the Wyoming Citizen Science Conference will focus on the problems and solutions that citizen science program managers and volunteers face when implementing and participating in programs.

“Wyoming faces some interesting and specific challenges when designing, delivering, maintaining and evaluating citizen science programs,” says Brenna Marsicek, project coordinator for the UW Biodiversity Institute. “The Wyoming Citizen Science Conference will involve keynote and breakout sessions to help program managers address these challenges as well as provide opportunities for citizen science participants to weigh in on what works well in these programs.”

Conference organizers are seeking proposals for oral and poster presentations to be delivered Dec. 1-2, and workshop presentations that will take place the afternoon of Dec. 2, and all day Dec. 3.

Oral presentation concurrent sessions will be organized around themes, such as funding, data use and dissemination, and integrating citizen science into classrooms. Poster presentations will introduce conference participants to specific citizen science programs or highlight success stories. A variety of workshops will be offered to enhance participants’ skills to teach, participate in or conduct citizen science programs. Workshops may include species identification, science communication to the public, computer program tutorials and other topics.

For more information and to download the call for proposals, go to www.wyomingbiodiversity.org/programs/wcsc.

Individuals will be notified of proposal acceptance by Friday, Sept. 23.

For questions, contact Marsicek at (307) 766-6240 or brenna.marsicek@uwyo.edu.