Combining Visuals, Data, and Volunteer Participation to tell your Story

Presented by:Santiago Pelaez, Conservation Corps Minnesota VolunteerAngela Gupta, Extension Educator

Contact: pelae018@umn.eduagupta@umn.edu

Invasive Blitz Story Mapping

Invasive Species Volunteer Programs at UMN Extension

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Forest Pest First Detector (FPFD) FPFD & AIS

Detector

FPFD & AIS

Detector

Emerald Ash

Borer (EAB) only

EAB + additional

insects

EAB + insects + Oriental

Bittersweet (OB)

OB survey

Ash survey

EAB & OB

survey

OB surveys

Poison hemlock &

Starry stonewort

Ash wood, green

roof, bike shed

Invasive Blitz Buckthorn & Soybean Aphid

Wasp Watchers

ISMTrack

UAV, 3D, AR

Levels of invasive speciesNew infestations Established populations

Story Mapping: The data usage flow

• Taking programing data • Organizing programing data• Finding visuals that help better represent the impact

and relevance of such data• Bringing data and a visuals together to tell a story• Evaluate engagement • Adjust for future programing• Archive data for future use

https://www.minnesotamasternaturalist.org/invasivespecies/

Story map by Christian Wood, AmeriCorps & UMN Extension

The Initial Story Map: Invasive Blitz

• Basic in nature– Highlights the

individual workshops – Uses a narrative that

links the progression of participation from class to class

– Uses photography as the main story telling visual

Future Goals: Second story map

• Have an easy to access and updated dataset that can be used to find specific details about the Invasive Blitz Program

• Use the dataset to develop informative maps for story mapping use

• Expand visuals to enhance the story telling capability of the map– The use of video to hammer down specific topics discussed in

the workshops– The potential use of audio to enhance the narrative– Attention to the flow of the story map so that each section is

easy to understand

Non-native Species Field Guide Image Crowdsourcing

Non-native Species Field Guide

• What we needed:– The non-native species of Minnesota field guide provides

detailed descriptions of non-native species and their distribution within Minnesota

– The project was in need of well shot, and accurate images– We brought up the idea of working with MN Master

Naturalist volunteers– They showed great enthusiasm and excitement for finding

and documenting these species

The Results

Musk thistle – Diane Newberry Japanese beetle – Dana Boyle

The Results

Brown knapweed – Andy Birkey Purple loosestrife – Earl Woolsey

The Results

• Over 30 of the species covered in the field guide had images directly sourced by volunteers

• Over 400 submissions• 17 Contributors

What we learned

• Asking volunteers to take part in an engaging volunteering opportunity like this is easy!

• Keeping track of their work and making sure you are getting what you need can be difficult and requires serious work

• There is always a need for up to date visuals when dealing with non-native species

• Opens up the possibility of working with volunteers on other multimedia projects