Citizen science in the aquatic reserves

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has designated eight Aquatic Reserves in the state of Washington that encompass important native ecosystems on state-owned aquatic lands. Seven of these reserves are in the Salish Sea, and of these, six are supported by Citizen Stewardship Committees. These Committees are made up of dedicated local volunteers who help the DNR implement the management actions of their nearby reserve through outreach, education, and citizen science projects. Within the network of the Aquatic Reserves, the current citizen science being conducted by volunteers is diverse and dependent upon the needs of the reserve and the skillset of the volunteers. Their work sometimes adds to baseline datasets, such as forage fish monitoring, intertidal monitoring, and bird and marine mammal surveys. Another important use of citizen science has been to address a sudden or unexpected need of a particular place and moment in time such as Sea Star Wasting Syndrome surveys or European green crab monitoring. Citizen science has also provided new data and insights on projects like bulkhead removal and tracking the changes that occur on beaches before, during, and after their removal and restoration. Having a group of local, experienced volunteers who are intimately involved and aware of what is happening in and around their nearby reserve is invaluable when it comes to tracking changes, implementing management decisions, or providing a group of willing and capable volunteers to researchers in need of helping hands. Through our poster presentation, we hope to provide attendees of the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference both an overview of the various citizen science projects currently taking place within the network of Aquatic Reserves and to spark conversation on how we can grow our collaborations with researchers, scientists, and students into the future.