Now that it’s finally spring and things are warming up and beginning to grow, it’s a great time to get your employees and your local community engaged in outdoor activities as part of your corporate conservation program. One great way to do this is by participating in a citizen science project.
Citizen science is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by non-scientific professionals. Citizen science projects are designed to be user-friendly for amateurs, and typically involve training to ensure everyone participating is comfortable with the techniques needed for surveys.
Here’s just a few examples of fantastic citizen science projects in North America that your team could participate in this spring and summer. There are many other great projects out there, of course, some of which (like Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count) are even conducted during the winter.
For those of you with corporate conservation programs located outside of North America, here’s a couple of great citizen science programs that are conducted worldwide:
https://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Lafarge-Paulding-Bear-Creek-Bird-Walk.jpg300375Colleen Beatyhttps://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tandem-global-logo-exp.svgColleen Beaty2015-04-17 09:00:512023-11-28 11:25:05Get Outdoors this Spring with Citizen Science!
We often think of soil as nothing more than “the dirt beneath your feet,” but soil is much more complex than that. There’s a whole other world of living creatures beneath our feet!
Soils provide habitat for a rich, dynamic ecosystem for organisms ranging from microscopic bacteria and protozoa, to fungi and plant roots, to insects, worms, mites, and other invertebrates, and even subterranean vertebrates like moles.
Most soil organisms live in the top few inches of soil, where oxygen and nutrients are most readily available, though a few microorganisms (like anaerobic bacteria) occur at lower depths.
Soil is more than just a home for these organisms, however. Many of these organisms can benefit the plant community growing above it by improving the availability of nutrients and organic compounds. Symbiotic bacteria known as Rhizobia, for example, can “fix” nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that plants can use, in exchange for essential minerals and sugars supplied by roots of leguminous plants. Soil organisms that decompose organic matter also break down complex organic molecules into nutrients that plants can use.
Soil organisms affect plant growth in other ways. Tunneling creatures like moles and worms move the soil around, which aerates it, improves drainages, and creates easier routes for root growth. Some microorganisms can stimulate plant growth by releasing special hormones.
Sometimes soil organisms can negatively impact the plant ecosystem above. For example, subterranean herbivores like voles and white grubs can impact plant growth by feeding on roots, and soil pathogens like wilt-causing fungi can harm or kill plants. Fortunately these species are kept in check by other creatures higher on the food chain.
So the next time you plant your garden, you can thank all those soil organisms for helping your plants grow!
Last winter, the Northeast and Upper Midwest U.S. were treated to sightings of a bird species rarely seen so far south—the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus). Snowy owls breeding in northern Quebec experienced a record nesting season the previous summer, believed to be linked to a boom of their prey, arctic lemmings.
Female snowy owl. Photo by Schnee-Eule, Creative Commons
So when it came time for the young owls to disperse in early 2014, many of them (mostly males) had to disperse further south than normal to find food. There was even a snowy owl seen as far south as Washington, D.C.
As it turns out, 2015 looks to be another year for a “SNOWstorm” (so called for the 4-letter abbreviation for snowy owls, SNOW). The birds had another record nesting season in 2014, this time for owls nesting in Nunavut, Canada.
If you weren’t one of the lucky folks in the Northeast and Upper Midwest U.S. last year who got to see a snowy owl, you might have another chance this year!
You can stay on top of this year’s snowy owl sightings through the eBird.org citizen science project — just sign up for eBird’s snowy owl alert service, or keep an eye on this custom up-to-date eBird map of recent snowy owl sightings to see if a snowy owl has been spotted near you this winter. And if you are one of the lucky ones to spot a snowy owl, be sure to report it on eBird too!
https://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Snowy-owl.png500800Colleen Beatyhttps://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tandem-global-logo-exp.svgColleen Beaty2015-01-29 11:32:572023-11-28 11:24:07Another Record Year for Snowy Owls
February 2 of each year is World Wetlands Day, which marks the date that the Convention on Wetlands (also known informally as the Ramsar Convention) was signed in 1971. World Wetlands Day provides private and public entities alike with the opportunity to raise awareness about the importance and value of wetlands.
Wetlands provide vital habitat to a number of species, including (but certainly not limited to) waterfowl, wading birds, frogs and salamanders, aquatic invertebrates, turtles, and fish. They also provide a number of essential ecosystem services like purifying our water, absorbing flood waters, and protecting coastal and riparian areas against erosion. Unfortunately, 64% of the world’s wetlands have been lost since 1900.
Voluntary efforts to manage wetlands and wetland-dependent species on corporate lands are invaluable for wetland conservation efforts, as well as in promoting wetland conservation within local communities. From vernal pool and wetland construction, to frog call surveys, to structural enhancements, WHC-certified programs around the world incorporate a wide range of conservation and education tools to further wetland conservation.
World Wetlands Day provides an opportunity to highlight the wetlands conservation work your program is already doing and raise awareness about the value of wetlands in your local community. There are numerous ways to celebrate World Wetlands Day at your site, even if your facility doesn’t have wetlands. The local community could be invited to help install native wetland plantings or artificial habitat structures for wetland species, or to participate in monitoring wetland birds or water quality. Even if you don’t have a wetland on site, you could use curricula like Project WET to educate young learners about wetland-related topics.
https://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Wetlands-great-egrets-Pepco-e1441249566474.jpg15071200Colleen Beatyhttps://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tandem-global-logo-exp.svgColleen Beaty2015-01-22 08:33:422023-11-28 11:21:53Celebrate World Wetlands Day on February 2
When Yoko Perez started working for the Environmental Team at Ricoh Americas Corporation’s West Caldwell Office in June 2013, she started working to align their Wildlife at Work program with the priorities of Ricoh Group’s biodiversity policy, as well as to better engage employees in the program. She and her team recognized that working with WHC offers the Ricoh Americas branch a unique approach from Ricoh Group’s other branches to aligning with the company’s biodiversity policy.
The West Caldwell Office’s program includes five pollinator gardens, which were installed last November with the help of the site’s landscapers to pick the garden locations and 20 volunteers to plant the garden. The Environmental Team chose plant species such as lupine, bee balm, Joe-pye-weed, and black-eyed Susan that would be shade tolerant and provide nectar to pollinators. A small rain garden planted with pollinator-friendly species was also planted in an area near the building that tends to collect water.
In addition, invasive species such as multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, phragmites, autumn olive, and Bradford pear have been observed on the property, so the Environmental Team is looking into controlling these species with the help of employees and local partner organizations.
Yoko and her team work hard to monitor and document their projects, including information on where each species was planted in the gardens and which of those plants survived. Monitoring is a critical part of every project because it provides information about what worked and what didn’t work.
Employees at the West Caldwell Office use the company’s intranet site, RWorld. Yoko attributes the success of her team’s program and the thoroughness of project documentation to their access to this interactive site, which allows employees across the country to post news and information, post comments and feedback, and share photographs. This makes it easy for the Environmental Team to share their monitoring data, wildlife photographs, and other documentation for the program.
Ruby-throated hummingbird observed in one of the pollinator gardens at the West Caldwell Office. Photo courtesy of Ricoh Group.
Yoko says she also uses RWorld to spur employee interest in and support for the Wildlife at Work program. For example, she told me how she posts articles for her garden blog on RWorld, and also posts information and videos for events such as National Pollinator Week and Ricoh’s Global Eco Action Month this past June.
If you’re looking for ideas to better engage your employees or document your program, please WHC.
https://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Ricoh-hummingbird1_resized.jpg600600Colleen Beatyhttps://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tandem-global-logo-exp.svgColleen Beaty2014-12-29 08:00:122023-11-28 11:21:32Designing the Ideal Project at Ricoh Group’s West Caldwell Site
With the winter holiday season upon us and Christmas only a few days away, many living rooms and office lobbies are now decorated (or soon will be) with live evergreen Christmas trees. But once the holidays are over, what should we do with all of those trees?
I suggest using them to create habitat!
A post-holiday Christmas tree collection drive through a local school or community center is a great way to reach out to your local community and spread awareness about your habitat enhancement program, while also providing valuable brush for your projects.
As part of my Three Rs blog series a couple of years ago, I briefly mentioned using old Christmas trees in brush piles. Start by removing the branches from a few trees and using the trunks to create a base that lifts up the brush and provides space for wildlife to move around under cover. Intact Christmas trees or their brush can then be loosely piled on top. The needles can be left on the branches, as they will provide more cover and will be used by many birds for nest building in the spring. Creating these kinds of brush piles along the edge of your woodland or grassland will provide cover for small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians to escape from predators, find shelter from the elements, and build nests and dens.
If you have a pond or lake, Christmas trees can also be used to create underwater cover for fish and aquatic invertebrates. You can tie together branches from the trees into a brush pile to be partially or fully sunk. Alternatively, you could sink single intact Christmas trees. Wood floats, so you’ll probably need to weigh the trees and brush piles down with a cinderblock.
It may seem obvious, but it’s still a very important to note: be sure to remove all decorations, including lights, artificial snow, ornaments, and tinsel, from the Christmas trees prior to using them in projects. These items will create litter that could harm wildlife and contaminate the water and soil nearby.
Monitoring is an important part of every habitat enhancement project. When you monitor a project after you’ve put it into place, you can track its progress and see what worked and what didn’t, and then use that information when making future management decisions for the project.
Making note of the wildlife you see using your project, whether it be a large-scale planting like a prairie restoration or a small-scale structure like a nest box, gives you information about whether the project is successfully providing quality habitat, and to which species.
I know that it can sometimes be challenging to incorporate wildlife monitoring into your program, so I would like to share a few ways to make it easier for your team – and hopefully a bit more fun.
Supply employees and visitors with critter cards. These can be as simple as index cards that employees can carry around and use to quickly write down which animals they see as they go about their normal work day. Providing a drop-off box for critter cards in a visible, high-traffic location will make it easy for employees to submit their observations.
Provide volunteers with laminated ID sheets of common species that use the project or habitat. Make sure to include photographs and simple identification tips that will make it easy for volunteers to identify a species.
Install a trail cam near the project to document species that use the project. This is especially handy for documenting nocturnal animals, as well as shy species that may hide or flee upon human approach.
In the same vein, you can install a nest cam to remotely view birds using nest boxes, osprey platforms, and other artificial nesting structures. If the bird species using the nest is sensitive to disturbance, a nest cam can help you closely monitor the nest without disturbance. (Check out my previous article on nest cams for more information.)
Keep a wildlife log near a main door so employees can write down the animals they see when they head into work in the morning or after their breaks.
Coyote on trail cam. Photo courtesy of Vulcan Materials Company.
Have another tip for making wildlife monitoring easy and fun at your facility that we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comment box below!
Last week I read a fascinating article about urban forestry, which argued that strategically reforesting a 1.5-square-mile area in Houston could help reduce ozone pollution in the city. Using weather data and computer models, researchers estimated that a freshly-grown forest could remove as much as 310 tons of ozone from the atmosphere over the course of 30 years.
This got me thinking about the various merits of urban forests. Did you know that even individual trees provide a multitude of benefits to urban areas? One of the most obvious and visible benefits is the habitat provided to urban wildlife – native trees provide nesting sites for birds, egg-laying sites for insects, shelter from predators and the elements, and food sources such as leaves, nuts, and fruits. Some of the other advantages urban trees provide include:
They produce oxygen
They absorb and sequester carbon dioxide, helping to mitigate global climate change
They absorb excess stormwater runoff and many of the pollutants it contains, helping to improve water quality and reduce flooding
They provide buildings with shade in the summer and insulation from winter winds, reducing energy use for air conditioning and heating
They help settle, trap, and hold particulate pollutants such as dust, ash, pollen, and smoke, benefitting air quality
They hold soil in place and buffer wind, reducing erosion
https://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Annual_tree_benefits_WisconsinDNR.jpg614717Colleen Beatyhttps://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tandem-global-logo-exp.svgColleen Beaty2014-09-18 08:07:032023-11-28 11:20:11The Many Benefits of Urban Trees
WHC member Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. recently partnered up with WHC’s Tucson office and the Arizona-based raptor rescue organization Wild at Heart to construct artificial burrows for rescued burrowing owls at Freeport’s Safford Operations facility. Freeport produced a video about this project and gave us permission to share it. You can watch the video to see the volunteers in action and find out more about this fantastic project.
If you live out in the western parts of the U.S., you may recognize the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia). Unlike most owls, they are diurnal (active during the day) and nest in underground burrows. However, they don’t dig their own burrows, relying instead on the burrows dug by other animals like prairie dogs. They can often be seen standing or perching near the burrow entrance, ever on the lookout for predators like coyotes and larger raptors. (As wildlife photographer Mac Stone described this behavior, they are “so completely neurotic it’s comical.”)
A common strategy for helping burrowing owls on both public and private lands has been the installation of artificial burrows, such as the burrows installed at the Safford Operations. This project is particularly useful in areas where burrowing small mammals are not desirable.
If you have an interest in installing artificial burrows at your facility, please contact your WHC Regional Biologist.
https://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Burrowing-owls.png500800Colleen Beatyhttps://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tandem-global-logo-exp.svgColleen Beaty2014-07-08 14:25:062023-11-28 11:19:42Providing Homes for Burrowing Owls
Native vines are an important but often overlooked component of butterfly habitat. Many vines serve as larval host plants (food sources) for caterpillars.
They provide cover for butterflies and caterpillars, and the flowers provide nectar for butterflies (and many other pollinators, including hummingbirds).
Most native vines also have attractive foliage and colorful flowers that would provide an aesthetically-pleasing addition to your site’s landscaping.
Spring is generally the best time to install native plantings, so if you’d like to add vines for pollinators, now is the time!
Here are 10 examples of native vines you could plant to attract butterflies in North America:
Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia spp.)
Trumpet creeper (Campis radicans)
Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Passionflower (Passiflora spp.)
Pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Virgin’s bower (Clematis virginiana)
Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)
American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)
Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata)
It’s important to remember that these examples are not native to all of North America, so when choosing vines to plant, you should always choose species that are native to your region. Also, some species like coral honeysuckle and American wisteria have non-native, invasive counterparts, so you should be sure that you’re planting the native vine species.
If you’re outside of North America, we encourage you to consult with local native plant experts to select appropriate native vine species.
https://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Purple-passionflower.png500800Colleen Beatyhttps://tandemglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tandem-global-logo-exp.svgColleen Beaty2014-05-06 11:13:422023-11-28 11:19:2510 Native Vines to Attract Butterflies in North America
