Community Service in Action

Mountain Rain or Snow Tracking

Tracking winter precipitation as rain vs. snow near freezing during winter can be challenging, so scientists need your help. When it comes to the “grey area” between rain and snow, people are often better than technology at differentiating what is falling from the sky, especially in mountain regions.

Join via text message, and during winter storms, send reports of what is falling from the sky. With your observations, scientists are working to better estimate how much water falls during winter. Your observations will be made available in real-time to your local NWS office and other regional forecasters to help us monitor where it is raining, snowing, or a wintery mix. 

To sign up, text WINTER to 855-909-0798, or on your phone, click https://www.rainorsnow.org/signup and select your region to send a text. This is NASA-funded collaboration between DRI, Lynker, and UNR.

Become a community scientist!

Community science, also known as citizen science, is the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the general public, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists.

Through community science, people around the world take part in real scientific studies using set protocols. Every year community scientists contribute thousands of observations to a variety of studies, allowing new questions to be asked of the natural world. 

Interested in taking part? The Mojave Desert Land Trust has put together resources to help you get involved in this global effort. https://www.mdlt.org/community-science

From studying Joshua trees to light pollution to bird species and more, there are so many ways for you to put your passion for the earth to work.

Opportunities

Mojave Desert Land Trust – sign up to volunteer!  https://www.mdlt.org/volunteer

The Nature Conservancy - Help protect and restore nature near you, connect to our conservation work and build community.  https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/volunteer/

Truckee River Watershed Council - Are you handy? We are looking for some help making additional wood holders that volunteers use to test the amount of dissolved oxygen in our rivers and creeks in our Adopt-A-Stream program. Contact us at info@truckeeriverwc.org if you'd like to help!
These measurements help us track long term trends in watershed health. Streams high in dissolved oxygen indicate quality habitat for trout! Read more about our Adopt-A-Stream program here!