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Making nature science accessible to all: mobilizing trained observers to tackle biodiversity and climate challenges while providing critical data to local, regional, and global projects.

Ecological change is happening everywhere, from urban parks to coastal dunes, yet sustained, structured observation on the ground remains rare. Conservation science increasingly depends on people who can notice, document, and track change over time in the places they know best.

In this talk, Claire O’Neill draws on nearly a decade of community-based research through Earthwise Aware to explore the role of the scientific naturalist in today’s conservation landscape. She shows how trained volunteers, guided by clear field protocols and consistent documentation practices, become reliable observers of ecological systems rather than casual nature watchers.

The presentation highlights how EwA’s participatory research programs generate long-term datasets that go well beyond simple species lists. Observers document presence and absence, relative abundance, seasonal timing, activity patterns, and species interactions, together with the habitat conditions in which they occur. Over time, these observations build a detailed picture of how ecosystems function and change, providing information that can guide site management, restoration, and climate adaptation planning.

Through field examples and stories from community monitoring programs, the talk shows how networks of skilled observers can produce meaningful ecological knowledge while deepening people’s connection to the places they help steward. Attendees will leave with concrete ideas for how a land trust or conservation organization can collaborate and join a network of scientific naturalists to support long-term monitoring of woods, wetlands, dunes, and rare habitats.

This Nature Talk is Free. No need to register.

About Claire O’Neill

Claire O’Neill is the founder and executive director of Earthwise Aware (EwA), a nonprofit advancing participatory science, biodiversity monitoring, and community-grounded ecological research in the Greater Boston region and beyond. Since 2016, EwA has developed field-based programs that train volunteers to document species, seasonal change, and habitat conditions across urban and peri-urban landscapes, generating more than one million open ecological records now used by researchers, municipalities, and conservation practitioners.

Claire’s work centers on rebuilding a culture of careful observation and long-term engagement with place. Through EwA’s programs, participants learn to document biodiversity and ecological conditions using clear, rigorous protocols, contributing data that inform conservation planning and ecological research. Claire regularly collaborates with conservation organizations, land trusts, universities, and community groups to strengthen local biodiversity knowledge and climate resilience through sustained observation.