Over the past decade, Mount Auburn’s role in the community has evolved. It has always been an active cemetery, arboretum and cultural institution, popular among locals and tourists alike.  But now it is also a significant destination for biodiversity research of critical urban wildlife habitat.

The mission of the Citizen Science Naturalist Program is to create a community of well-trained volunteers to support field research at Mount Auburn Cemetery.  The volunteers will receive training from a diverse group of local experts that will enable each volunteer to become a capable research assistant and informal educator to the public.

The training program will include ten virtual classroom sessions covering flora and fauna, as well as field note taking, nature photography, history, informal educator training and the use of apps for crowd-sourced science.  Additional learning opportunities will be provided throughout the year, including tutorial walks and research project field trainings.

All volunteers are asked to provide their own:

• All-weather field journal
• Waterproof mechanical pencil
• Measuring tape or ruler
• 10x lens
• Binoculars
• Digital camera or a phone with a camera

All classroom trainings will be held on zoom in 2022.

Virtual Classroom Training Schedule

1. Fungi & Lichens
   • Saturday March 12, 2022 from 4:00 – 5:00pm.
2. Tree & Shrub Phenology Study
   • Monday March 21, 2022 from 7:00 – 8:30pm.
3. Insects
   • Wednesday March 23, 2022 from 10:00am – 12:00pm.
4. Amphibians & Reptiles
   • Saturday March 26, 2022 from 12:00pm – 2:00pm.
5. Birds
   • Wednesday April 6, 2022 from 7:00 – 8:30pm.
6. Mammals
   • Saturday April 2, 2022 from 1:00 – 3:00pm.
7. Informal Educators & Apps for Crowd-Sourced Science
   • Monday April 4, 2022 from 7:00 – 8:30pm.
8. Field Notes & Nature Photography
   • Saturday April 9, 2022 from 12:00 – 2:00pm.
9. Mount Auburn Cemetery History 101
   • Wednesday April 13, 2022 from 10:00 – 11:00am.
10. Intro to Plant ID & Botany
    • Wednesday April 20, 2022 from 7:00 – 8:00pm.

If you would like to sign up for trainings or would like more information about the program, please contact: Paul Kwiatkowski, Director of Urban Ecology & Sustainability: pkwiatkowski@mountauburn.org