Welcome to the Citizen Science Corner, our quarterly feature to acknowledge those who recently reached a milestone in our Volunteer Fish Survey Project. We are celebrating those who moved up an Experience Level or who achieved the 2021 Super Surveyor Challenge in April, May, or June 2021.
REEF's Volunteer Fish Survey Project database totals almost 260,000 surveys. A small group of highly dedicated surveyors, known as the Golden Hamlet Club, have contributed significantly to this total by each conducting 1,000 or more REEF surveys. It's with great excitement that we welcome Cassandra Neal to the Golden Hamlet Club!
Welcome to the Citizen Science Corner, our quarterly feature to acknowledge those who recently reached a milestone in our Volunteer Fish Survey Project. Below are the REEF members who achieved a survey milestone in January, February or March 2021.
Experience Level Advancements
Here's a goal to shoot for in 2021: conduct and submit 25 or more REEF surveys in any region or combination of regions to complete the 2021 Super Surveyor Challenge! Everyone will reaches this goal will receive the waterproof decal pictured here.
Congratulations to everyone who has completed the 2021 Super Surveyor Challenge so far:
REEF's Volunteer Fish Survey Project database totals more than 258,000 surveys. A small group of highly dedicated surveyors known as the Golden Hamlet Club have contributed significantly to this total by each conducting 1,000+ REEF surveys. Congratulations to Dennis Bensen, our newest member of the Golden Hamlet Club!
Dennis has been a REEF member since 2001 and is an expert level surveyor in both the Tropical Western Atlantic and Hawaii regions. He's conducted surveys in 7 of REEF's 11 survey regions, and over half of his 1,000 surveys done in the Hawaii region.
We are pleased to announce Rhoda Green as our 2020 REEF Volunteer of the Year. Rhoda lives in the Seattle area, and has been a REEF member since 2000. She is one of REEF's most active surveyors, having completed 1,210 surveys for the Volunteer Fish Survey Project.
Of those surveys, the majority have been done in the Pacific Northwest, mainly in Washington State. She has also done some surveys in Hawaii. Rhoda was also the first to conduct REEF surveys in the Seychelles, part of our Indian Ocean/Red Sea (IORS) region.
This year, as part of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project, join in the Super Surveyor Challenge! Everyone who conducts and submits 25 surveys during the calendar year will receive a limited-edition decal and be entered into the grand prize drawing at the end of the year.
Here's how to complete the Super Surveyor Challenge:
With a new year about to begin, we've put together a full schedule of online programs for you to look forward to. We'll continue to offer our Fishinars, which are free marine life ID webinars. We have also added a variety of other online programs including Fishy Hour Game Nights, Fish Face-to-Face socials, quarterly Into the Blue Book Club meetings, an annual holiday craft, and more. Sessions are hosted on either GoToWebinar or Zoom, and all details are avilable on each online program registration page.
Upcoming Online Programs:
Get ready for the race with this fun social time where you can meet your team and race mates, and get more details about the event.
You'll want a working webcam for this one if at all possible. (phone, tablet or computer all work well)
Mark your calendars and set your alarms - there are no reminder emails with Zoom!