Noah - Networked Organisms and Habitats

January 17, 2010 1:31 PM

Noah - Networked Organisms and Habitats
What is Noah? Noah helps people discover local wildlife and connects aspiring citizen scientists with current research projects focused on documenting various plant and animal species. Think of noah as a tool that nature lovers can use to explore and document local wildlife, as well as a common technology platform that research groups can use to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere. You can upload photos from the website or sign up for the beta test of our free iPhone app to get started.
posted by martini (6 comments total)

I would loooove to see this used to track sightings of introduced species (it's my schtick as a grad student). I'll be keeping an eye on this project!
posted by pemberkins at 8:36 PM on January 19, 2010

Interesting, interesting. I remember a MeFi post in the last 2 years or so about aggregating phenology data as an early indicator of climate change. This could be useful for that too. Have you seen that post? Worth searching for - it was an interesting discussion.

Nice idea.
posted by Miko at 9:25 PM on January 20, 2010

This is neat!
I hope it takes off. I will definitely contribute as winter fades and I see more wildlife.
posted by Adridne at 3:03 PM on January 22, 2010

thanks all! yea pemberkins, we are grad students as well, though hoping to take this out of the academia bubble! do you know a good source of data for introduced or invasive species?

miko, that's really interesting, i'm reading about phenology now! seems highly relevant. the question is what you can gather from this kind of sparse dataset, or how can you guide users methodology to turn it into something scientifically relevant. we are exploring the best approach to these things, but it is a daunting challenge. feel free to message me with any feedback.

cheers! -martin
posted by martini at 12:02 PM on January 26, 2010

Aggregating phenology data would be super cool. I can see people submitting dates for when various bird species returned to their area, or when a plant species started flowering (at least for species that are easily identified). Actually, as long as a date is submitted with each observation, it seems like this is the kind of thing that could be pulled out of the data pretty easily, given enough time and enough submissions.

I sent you a MeMail with some invasive species links.
posted by pemberkins at 4:14 PM on January 26, 2010

OK - here's one of the threads about phenology and MeFites participating in the aggregating project. Here's another thread, andhere is sort of one more.
posted by Miko at 7:35 PM on January 26, 2010