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Investigating Nature at Bioblitz 2023

Explore the 鈥淲olf鈥檚 House鈥 or 鈥淎lligator Pond鈥 at a special nature education and data collection event

Bioblitz,鈥 (short for 鈥渂iological blitz") is an annual community science event that Kent State has been hosting since 2014. This year鈥檚 event is on Friday, April 21 was part of a full schedule of events during Kent State鈥檚 Earth Month celebration.

Michelle Escalambre, M.A., special assistant in Kent State鈥檚 Environmental Science and Design Research Institute (ESDRI), said 鈥淭he Center for Ecology and Natural Resource Sustainability (CENRS), Environmental Science and Design Research Institute, and Department of Biological Sciences, along with their partners, are excited to host this event in person for the first time since the pandemic!鈥

Bioblitz student collecting water

Each year at this event, regional experts, faculty, students, staff, and the greater community are invited to explore one of KSU鈥檚 lesser developed properties.鈥疶ogether, the teams work together with environmental experts using 鈥渃itizen science鈥 to inventory and identify a variety of living things, such as insects, fish, terrestrial animals and avian species. A water quality lab will also be conducted.  

鈥榃e are surveying all things biological and non-biological, rain or shine,鈥 said Escalambre.

Entering the 鈥淒ark and Spooky Forest鈥

The event took place at two Kent State properties, the CENRS Battaglia property near the Child Development Center (CDC) and the WKSU building on the east side of Loop Road and the White Hall Terrace site.  The event map of the Battaglia property was created by Jennifer Mapes, Ph.D., an assistant professor in Kent State鈥檚 Department of Geography.

Bioblitz 2023 Map

鈥淢any of the places on the map were named by the children at the CDC, said Mapes. 鈥淥thers were named by Lauren Kinsman-Costello's graduate students. The children often visit these places with Terri Cardy, who is their outdoor educator, as part of the CDC experience, which focuses heavily on nature and the outdoors. But as parents of children who went to the CDC, Lauren and I always use these names to identify these landmarks along the trail.鈥 (Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in Kent State鈥檚 Department of Biological Sciences.)

Addressing one feature that was named by the CDC children, Mapes said, 鈥淭he 鈥楧ark and Spooky Forest鈥 is neither 鈥榙ark鈥 nor 鈥榮pooky,鈥 but it鈥檚 one of the children鈥檚 favorite places.鈥

鈥淧eople can stop by the Bioblitz event to participate in the citizen science project which is open to the public,鈥 said Escalambre. 鈥淎fterward, the information鈥痠s compiled and assessed to establish baseline data, identify trends and guide future needs.鈥

Research at Kent State

Kent State is a strong supporter of S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and activities like Bioblitz that engage the community in science and research.  The high level of research activity involving faculty and students on Kent State's campuses has earned the university the prestigious R1 designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. R1 status is the highest recognition that doctoral universities can receive, and Kent State is one of only five universities in Ohio to have earned it. At Kent State, students have the opportunity to participate in meaningful research, working side-by-side with university researchers, as early as their first year of classes.

POSTED: Thursday, April 20, 2023 02:32 PM
Updated: Friday, April 21, 2023 01:38 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Phil B. Soencksen