Data Management and Outreach Strategies for a Sustainable Phenological Species Monitoring Program in a Great Lakes Research Reserve.

With a changing climate, understanding the phenology of critical aquatic ecosystems is a top priority. Citizen Science monitoring provides a powerful, positive, and low-cost avenue, yet faces challenges regarding validity and durability.

Old Woman Creek is a National Estuarine Research Reserve on Lake Erie that maintains 8 volunteer-driven initiatives to monitor keystone and indicator species phenology.

These projects have been underway since 2016, and are maintained by new interns and volunteers each year with varying levels of expertise in the natural and data sciences, as well as the Great Lakes region overall. High turnover has enabled inconsistent data collection, entry, and organization, compromising the program’s integrity and utility.

I developed and applied dynamic data management strategies and synthesized outreach materials to enhance utility, resist long-term degradation, and increase scientific rigor. I used Microsoft Excel to restructure and clean each dataset, with measures to ensure consistent and accurate future entry. These changes were recorded in a comprehensive data management protocol, establishing a permanent methodology. I synthesized supplementary monitoring materials to minimize ambiguity and improve precision, and produced community outreach materials to present findings in a scientifically rigorous manner yet comprehensible for the public.

The resulting datasets are accessible and resilient, with management strategies that can be applied broadly to benefit monitoring programs nationwide.