Park Announces Workshop on Loons: Public Invited to Assist in Common Loon Research

The Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center (CCRLC) at Glacier National Park is hosting a series of one-day citizen science training workshops for the NPS Centennial summer. The first workshop, including a field trip, will be held on May 12, 2016 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Park Headquarters in West Glacier.

The training will focus on identification and monitoring of common loons. The same one-day loon monitoring workshop for citizen scientists will be repeated on June 16 and July 8 in West Glacier and on June 3 in St. Mary on the east side of the park. Participants must attend the one-day training session before collecting data for the project.

Participants in the workshop will learn to identify, observe, and record information about common loons in Glacier National Park. This species has been selected because of their sensitivity to human disturbances and changes in habitat. Glacier National Park is home to about 20% of Montana's breeding Common Loons.

Since 2005, trained citizen scientists have conducted field surveys at 45 priority lakes in Glacier National Park. The purpose of the Common Loon Citizen Science Project is to document population size and reproductive success of common loons. Monitoring takes place May through September.

Funding and support for the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center's Citizen Science Program is provided by the Glacier National Park Conservancy.

To sign up for the workshops, email glac_citizen_science@nps.gov.

For more information on this and other training workshops, contact the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center at 406-888-7986 or visit http://www.crownscience.org/getinvolved/citizen-science.