Projects

Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network

AHAB is a community-based monitoring program designed to address human and wildlife health risks from toxic algal blooms in Kodiak region. 

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification, Fisheries Management/Seafood

Alaska Sea Grant

Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network

The Alaska Stranding Network is a group of dedicated volunteers and organizations that help support rescue, stranding and rehabilitation efforts statewide.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Alaska Sea Grant

Aquatic Invasive Species Monitoring - Marine Species

Engage community members in monitoring for marine aquatic invasive species.

Invasive Species

California Sea Grant

Beach Sweep/River Sweep

Clear environmentally sensitive areas of debris, collect data on the type and quantity of litter picked up, develop a sense of community pride, and increase environmental stewardship.

Restoration/Clean-ups

South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium

BeBot and Pixie Drone Project

Utilize trash removal technologies to remove marine debris from beaches and calm coastal or inland waterways. Collect data on items removed by the equipment. Data collected includes item type, amount, and weight. 

Microplastics/Debris, Restoration/Clean-ups

Ohio Sea Grant

Bering Watch

BeringWatch is a tool for citizen scientists to record and communicate significant environmental and ecological events in order to empower remote communities to better deal with the effects of climate change.

Climate/Weather, Naturalist/Stewardship

Alaska Sea Grant

Bugs Below Zero

We hope to expand understanding of winter active aquatic insects and their importance to food webs. Specifically, this program will increase our knowledge of how the unique Minnesota climate reveals valuable insights about interactions among weather, water, insects, and food webs for researchers across the globe.

Climate/Weather, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Minnesota Sea Grant

California King Tides Project

Provides citizen science opportunities to document sea level rise in coastal communities.

Flooding/Water Level

California Sea Grant

Citizen Science Marine Debris Monitoring and Outreach

This project takes part in marine debris sampling, specifically microplastics.

Restoration/Clean-ups, Microplastics/Debris

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium

City Nature Challenge

Coordinate and train citizen scientist to identify shellfish species in Massachusetts coastal habitats, and record photos and data for a larger regional and national effort to characterize regional biodiversity.

Naturalist/Stewardship

MIT Sea Grant

COAST SB Community Alliance for Surveying the Topography of Sandy Beaches

Conceived in 2017, CoAST SB is a community science program enabling volunteers to measure beach profiles monthly at low tide in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties to support efforts in tracking the erosion and accretion of sand along our dynamic coastline. 

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion

California Sea Grant

Coastal Blue Carbon

Engage and train citizen scientists and student interns in carbon cycling processes.

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion

MIT Sea Grant

Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST)

COASST is a rigorous citizen science project that trains coastal residents to conduct monthly beach surveys on birds, marine debris and evidence of human use of the environment.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Alaska Sea Grant

CoastSnap

The project began as a simple outreach project to increase awareness of coastal change, and recently enlarged to include participation by scientists doing volumetric measurements of the beach. 

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Flooding/Water Level

Woods Hole Sea Grant

Commercial Fishing Apprenticeship Program

We are developing an apprenticeship to help educate young people about the opportunities in commercial fishing, while educating about the regulations, skills and co-management approach necessary to keep commercial fishing economically, ecologically and socially sustainable.

Fisheries Management/Seafood

California Sea Grant

Community Collaborative Research Grant (CCRG)

The CCRG program supports collaboration between scientific experts and local knowledge experts to address coastal challenges and statewide water resource issues. 

Climate/Weather, Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Fisheries Management/Seafood, Flooding/Water Level, Invasive Species, Mapping/Tools/Computer-Based, Microplastics/Debris, Naturalist/Stewardship, Restoration/Clean-ups, Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

North Carolina Sea Grant

Community Science in Global Change Ecology in the Chesapeake Bay

This project integrates that describes Chesapeake Bay water quality and oyster performance, addressing the question of how oyster performance correlates with environmental conditions.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Virginia Sea Grant

Community Science Salt Marsh Restoration and Monitoring Project

The Community Science Salt Marsh Restoration and Monitoring Project involves local communities with salt marsh restoration to support habitat resiliency and ecosystem services.

Restoration/Clean-ups, Naturalist/Stewardship

South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium

Cooperative Research Blue Crab Discards

Researchers partner with blue crab fishermen to collect data to better understand the discard rate and reason of blue crabs from the commercial industry.

Fisheries Management/Seafood

Louisiana Sea Grant

Cooperative Research Soft Shell Crabs

Soft shell crab shedders are partnering with university researchers to collect water quality and crab data to better understand the blue crab virus CsRV1 that causes mortality in the industry. 

Fisheries Management/Seafood

Louisiana Sea Grant

Crab Team

A volunteer-based early detection and monitoring program for European green crab in the Washington Salish Sea.

Invasive Species, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Washington Sea Grant

Crab Trap Rodeos

Citizen scientists help collect ghost fishing data during derelict crab trap cleanups held in the state's coastal estuaries. 

Restoration/Clean-ups

Louisiana Sea Grant

Cradle of Texas Chapter of the Master Naturalist Chapter

To develop and support a corps of well-informed volunteers that provide education, public outreach, and service in support of our area’s natural resources.

Naturalist/Stewardship

Texas Sea Grant

Crayfish Monitoring Program for Educators

Including educators and their students in community science projects that monitor ecosystems for aquatic invasive species can help increase early detection and rapid response efforts, as well as promote environmental literacy in classroom settings. The data collected from community scientists can also inform management agencies and larger basin-wide surveillance databases, such as the Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System (GLANSIS) and the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.

Invasive Species, Mapping/Tools/Computer-Based, Naturalist/Stewardship, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant

Derelict Trap Reward Program

This project engages the fishing community to remove marine debris and quantify impacts in Mississippi Sound. 

Restoration/Clean-ups

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium

Diadromous Fish Research and Management

Engage and train citizen scientists and student interns in diadromous fish passage and habitat restoration projects, population distribution and movement studies, ecosystem characterizations, food web analysis, the use of stable isotopes in ecological analyses, ecosystem connectivity through diadromus fish movements, telemetry tracking, and scientific research field and lab methods, and fisheries management.

Fisheries Management/Seafood, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

MIT Sea Grant

Drowning Hotspots in the St. Louis River Estuary: Characterizing, Forecasting, and Risk Communication

Project objectives are to: (1) Characterize historical drowning locations, as well as potential drowning areas under current and future conditions; (2) Forecast imminent drowning hotspots.; and (3) Increase water safety knowledge among recreational users of the St. Louis River, and share data and tools with the local search and rescue community.

Mapping/Tools/Computer-Based

Minnesota Sea Grant

Dune Restoration & Research

The Coastal Research Volunteers work with UNH’s Coastal Habitat Restoration Team to restore and maintain healthy dunes in New Hampshire and Massachusetts by engaging volunteers to plant native grasses, install sand fencing, post educational signage, and actively survey the dunes to document sand gains and losses. 

Restoration/Clean-ups

New Hampshire Sea Grant

Eel Monitoring

In collaboration with the New Hampshire Fish and Game in volunteers participate in daily monitoring to observe American Eel migrations.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology, Fisheries Management/Seafood

New Hampshire Sea Grant

Eyes on Seagrass

Volunteers receive training (in-person or virtually) and monitoring gear, and will work in teams of at least two to conduct seagrass surveys at an assigned site. When and how frequently volunteers are expected to conduct surveys varies by site location.

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Naturalist/Stewardship, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology, Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Florida Sea Grant

Fishermen Led Injury Prevention Program

This effort seeks to better understand and prevent non-fatal injuries in the West Coast commercial Dungeness Crab fishery.

Fisheries Management/Seafood

Oregon Sea Grant

Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch

Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch helps understand crab population numbers by documenting movements, reappearances of tagged horseshoe crabs and beach locations.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Florida Sea Grant

Florida Microplastics Awareness Project

Citizen scientists collect and analyze water samples from around the state for the presence of microplastics (also tied to an outreach component to have people reduce plastic waste).

Microplastics/Debris

Florida Sea Grant

Florida Water Watch

Individuals are trained to take monthly water samples, analyze the samples, and input their readings in an online database. Not only can they see the results in real-time, but the data is given to local resource managers to fill a gap where county or state monitoring does not exist.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Florida Sea Grant

From Seeds to Shoreline

From Seeds to Shoreline® (S2S) is South Carolina’s only salt marsh restoration program designed for students! By getting your school involved in cultivating and transplanting young seedlings of salt marsh grass, your students will not only learn about the importance of this critical coastal ecosystem, but they will be helping restore areas of salt marsh. There’s no better way to learn, serve our local communities, and have fun in the process!

Restoration/Clean-ups, Naturalist/Stewardship

South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium

Great Goliath Grouper Count

This is a fisheries CS Program that relies on volunteer divers to collect fisheries data on goliath grouper.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology, Fisheries Management/Seafood

Florida Sea Grant

Green Crab Surveys

Volunteers search the coast for green crabs sighting to evaluate the potential for a commercial fishery to help control this nonnative species. 

Invasive Species, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

New Hampshire Sea Grant

Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands King Tides Project

The University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program’s Hawai’i and Pacific Islands King Tides Project needs your help to document today’s high water level events, also known as King Tides, to better understand tomorrow’s impacts from sea-level rise and other coastal hazards.

Climate/Weather, Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Flooding/Water Level

University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant

Horseshoe Crab Spawning Survey at Big Stone Beach

A horseshoe crab spawning survey is conducted to collect data needed to manage the Delaware Bay population of horseshoe crabs.

Fisheries Management/Seafood, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Delaware Sea Grant

iSeaTurtle

iSeaTurtle, was created to encourage and involve citizens to contribute to sea turtle science.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Texas Sea Grant

LA Coastal Naturalist Training

This training course brings together traditional and scientific knowledge about coastal regions to be used to foster effective interpretive programs.

Naturalist/Stewardship

University of Southern California Sea Grant

Lake Erie Charter Boats Water Quality Monitoring

To train charter captains to collect water samples in Lake Erie to augment the scientists' data and educate people on the science that addresses water quality issues.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Ohio Sea Grant

LIMPETS - Long Term Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students

LiMPETS is an intertidal citizen science program that monitors the coastal ecosystems of California and helps youth develop a scientific understanding of the ocean. 

Naturalist/Stewardship, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

University of Southern California Sea Grant

Marine Invasive Monitoring

Participants conduct surveys for green crabs (Ketchikan) and tunicates and other invasive species (Ketchikan, Kodiak, Unalaska) to better understand the range of these invaders. 

Invasive Species, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Alaska Sea Grant

Marine Invasive Species Rapid Assessment

The primary objective of these surveys is to identify native and introduced marine species in order to assess the introduction status and range extensions of documented introduced species, and to detect new introductions. 

Invasive Species

MIT Sea Grant

Microplastics

Volunteers assess the quantity and type of microplastics debris collected at beach sites.

Microplastics/Debris

New Hampshire Sea Grant

Mississippi Coastal Cleanup Program

Citizen science marine debris monitoring and outreach.

Restoration/Clean-ups, Microplastics/Debris

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium

Mississippi Master Naturalist

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Invasive Species, Naturalist/Stewardship, Restoration/Clean-ups, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology, Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium

Monarch Monitoring

This is a project that works to establish Monarch waystations and tag individual migratory Monarchs on their way to Mexico to better understand the changing population. 

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Ohio Sea Grant

MPA Watch

MPA Watch trains volunteers to observe and collect unbiased data on ocean users and their activities. Data are meant to inform the management, enforcement and science of California’s marine protected areas and allow us to see how human uses are changing as a result of MPA implementation. 

Mapping/Tools/Computer-Based, Naturalist/Stewardship

University of Southern California Sea Grant

MyCoast NY

MyCoast NY is a tool used to collect and analyze photos of changing shorelines, inland and coastal flooding, and hazardous weather impacts across New York State. 

Climate/Weather, Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Flooding/Water Level, Mapping/Tools/Computer-Based

New York Sea Grant

MyCoast/CoastSnap

MyCoast: Rhode Island is a portal to collect and analyze photos of shorelines across the Ocean State. Information collected by the public is used to capture the impact of flood hazards today, and to illustrate possible future conditions.

Coast Snap: Through use of personal smartphones, the public can take photos of the coast and data will be used to understand shoreline erosion and recovery cycles, and any long-term changes, helping us understand why some beaches are more dynamic or resilient than others.

Climate/Weather, Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Flooding/Water Level

Rhode Island Sea Grant

Nā Kilo 'Āina

A community based monitoring program to actively care for the shoreline and marine ecosystem through ongoing, monthly activities and training. 

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion, Naturalist/Stewardship

University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant

New Hampshire Volunteer Beach Profile Monitoring Program

Volunteers meet once a month to measure the beach profile to observe long-term patterns of sand erosion and accretion. 

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion

New Hampshire Sea Grant

Our Project in Hawaiʻi's Intertidal (OPIHI) Program

OPIHI program undergraduate  interns partner with collaborating scientists to collect meaningful data used to characterize the Hawaiian intertidal to determine if and how intertidal organisms’ abundance and diversity is changing over time.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology, Naturalist/Stewardship

University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant

Panhandle Terrapin Project

Diamondback terrapins are a flagship species for coastal salt marshes. In the attempt to assess health of estuaries, Florida Sea Grant seeks volunteers to help monitor selected beaches across the Florida panhandle for the presence of these animals.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Florida Sea Grant

Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey

The Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey (PARS) is an important state-sponsored atlas project launched in 2013. PARS will determine the distribution and status of all amphibians and reptiles throughout Pennsylvania, building upon previous atlas efforts and combining modern technology with an army of citizen scientists

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Pennsylvania Sea Grant

Red Tide Rangers

The Red Tide Rangers assess and monitor red tide blooms in Texas Coastal waters.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Texas Sea Grant

River Herring Monitoring Program

Coordinates and trains volunteer river herring monitoring groups to provide discussions on river herring ecology, habitat requirements, fisheries management, state-wide population assessments, and historic value in Massachusetts.

Fisheries Management/Seafood, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

MIT Sea Grant

Sand Watch

In collaboration with UNESCO, stakeholders are taught to survey and measure different aspects of their local beach geomorphology and water quality parameters.

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion

Puerto Rico Sea Grant

Shell Day

Coordinate and train citizen scientists to collect and analyze water samples and shellfish specimens from Massachusetts coastal waters.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification, Climate/Weather

MIT Sea Grant

Shoreline Monitoring Toolbox

A website to provide information to various citizen scientists and local groups on shoreline monitoring protocols, provide guidance on what type of monitoring might be relevant in different conditions, and provide info about relative skill level and cost requirements of various monitoring protocols.

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion

Washington Sea Grant

Signs of the Seasons Rockweed Phenology

Volunteers collect biweekly information on rockweed at one coastal location throughout the late spring and early summer. Signs of the Seasons is a program of Maine Sea Grant with whom the NH Sea Grant Coastal Research Volunteer program partners.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

New Hampshire Sea Grant

Signs of the Seasons: A New England Phenology Program

A New England Phenology Program has volunteers collect information on 22 indicator species, or Signs of the Seasons, to better understand the biological effects of climate change, and encourage citizens to become part of the solution.

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Maine Sea Grant

Soundscape Phenology of Bats of the Lake Erie Islands

To track the timing of bat migrations by detecting the calls of bat species from spring through fall seasons to see if climate change is affecting bat migration.

Climate/Weather, Naturalist/Stewardship, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Ohio Sea Grant

SoundToxins

SoundToxins, a diverse partnership of Washington state shellfish and finfish growers, environmental learning centers, Native tribes, and Puget Sound volunteers, is a monitoring program designed to provide early warning of harmful algal bloom events in order to minimize both human health risks and economic losses to Puget Sound fisheries.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Washington Sea Grant

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Citizen Science Program

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, with assistance from extension staff from North Carolina, Georgia and Florida Sea Grant, has developed a comprehensive Citizen Science Program over the last several years. The mission is to build and maintain a program that improves information for fisheries management through collaborative science.

Fisheries Management/Seafood

North Carolina Sea Grant

Southern California HABWatch

We train and support partner institutions who collect and analyze plankton samples and post results current results are used by California Dept. of Health for early detection of Harmful Algal Blooms.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

University of Southern California Sea Grant

Southern Maine Beach Profile Monitoring Program

Teams of volunteers across Southern Maine collect coastal beach erosion data on a monthly basis, generating data used to guide beach management decisions.

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion

Maine Sea Grant

Stakes for Stakeholders: Community Based Erosion Monitoring

Alaska Sea Grant funded researchers and partners created a system for residents to monitor local erosion, installed equipment and trained residents in five Bristol Bay communities. Researchers will expand the program to Utqiagvik with K-12 education and community outreach support by ASG.

Coastal Processes/Shoreline/Erosion

Alaska Sea Grant

Taking it to the streets: Developing an urban neighborhood trash monitoring protocol and education program to reduce coastal trash

Our project goal is to reduce the amount of trash in coastal waterways by improving our understanding of urban neighborhood trash sources through development of standardized protocols and implementation using an experiential education program.

Microplastics/Debris

California Sea Grant

Texas Monofilament Recovery and Recycling

Community project to collect and recycle used fishing line.

Microplastics/Debris

Texas Sea Grant

The Great Scallop Search

This project is to monitor the abundance of bay scallops in the Pensacola Bay System.  

Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Florida Sea Grant

Tres Palmas Marine Reserve Monitoring

The Amigos de Tres Palmas is a citizen group in charge of co-management of a marine reserve established in the town of Rincon. The trained volunteers for a Citizen Science Monitoring Project done within MPA boundaries to supplement the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program's dataset and provides a baseline for co-management strategies.

Naturalist/Stewardship, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Puerto Rico Sea Grant

University of Delaware Citizen Science Monitoring Program

To collect verifiable water quality data to support public policy decisions and to increase public participation and support for the management and protection of the Delaware’s waterways.

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Delaware Sea Grant

Urban Tides Initiative

Urban Tides Initiative: we recruit, train and engage the public in helping to asses extreme high tides, especially in areas needing additional clarity for USGS modelers and city planners.

Flooding/Water Level

University of Southern California Sea Grant

Using Game Cameras to Monitor Mammals on the Lake Erie Islands

To estimate population sizes of mammal species on South Bass and Middle Bass Islands using game cameras istalled by residents and businesses of the islands. 

Naturalist/Stewardship, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology

Ohio Sea Grant

Vermont Lay Monitoring Program

Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Lake Champlain Sea Grant

Washington King Tides Program

The Washington King Tides program invites people to visit the shoreline during a king tide or high water event, take pictures of important waterfront locations and help researchers understand how sea-level rise and storm surges our communities.

Flooding/Water Level

Washington Sea Grant

Watershed Alliance

Students take chemical, physical and biological data to engage in stream monitoring (mostly) and conduct lake monitoring. 

Naturalist/Stewardship, Species Monitoring/Conservation/Phenology, Microplastics/Debris, Water Quality/Biotoxins/Ocean Acidification

Lake Champlain Sea Grant