From orcas to birds to bears, the Squamish area is regarded as a haven for nature lovers of all types.
It’s in that spirit that the Squamish Environment Society (SES) has decided to bring all of those different passions under one roof at the first-ever Citizen Scientist Initiative (CSI) on May 10 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Squamish Startup facility on Cleveland Avenue.
“What we call a citizen scientist is someone who is involved in a lot of interesting studies and are ordinary citizens, but take great pleasure in doing what they do,” said Larry Murray from the SES. “Sometimes they join groups, but most of them are working solo and in many cases they don’t know if anyone else is doing the same thing they’re doing.”
Murray said the event is all about networking and trying to get local nature groups to work together and help each other out.
“We want to reach out to everyone in the corridor who has an environmental interest or wants to get involved,” he said. “It’s about bringing people together and we want to try and attract some of those hidden or underground people with keen interest. They can come get excited at this event, learn about what others are doing and share what works for them.”
The event aims to celebrate local environmental science being performed by individuals and groups, to network the activities of the many environmental projects and interests and to learn from one another the strategies and approaches that are effective.
The format of the event will see five or six guest speakers talk not only about nature but also how to get resources and funding strategy. Speakers will chat for 20 minutes, take questions from the audience and then break into groups for further discussion.
Murray said the sharing of information between groups and individuals could help everyone out in his or her individual nature quest.
“There are so many local groups that have so much in common and I think they could share a lot of useful information with each other,” he said. “And then there’s the hidden environmentalists — folks who might even think they’re silly for studying slugs or firs. We want everyone to come and get involved. It’s going to be a rich and interesting mix of environmental understanding. We all want to celebrate, network and learn.”
Admission to the event is a $5 donation and all interested can contact Murray at [email protected].
