The Department of Environmental Conservation and MA DCR Launch Smartphone Project to Track Invasive Species

Provided by: Poliblog March 7th, 2012 by policy Through the use of popular mobile phone technology, a UMass professor of environmental conservation and public policy and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) are collaborating to engage more people in governmental and scientific efforts to collect valuable data about invasive species. Charles Schweik, associate professor of environmental conservation and public policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Jennifer Fish, director of DCR’s Service Forestry program in Amherst, have received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to enlist the help of “citizen scientists” to map invasive species using smartphone technology. “Invasive species can hurt the environment, businesses and communities,” Fish said. She pointed out that the 2008 outbreak of the Asian longhorned beetle in Worcester led to the loss of 30,000 trees, a costly blow to the city and the urban canopy. “With more people equipped with the tools to identify and report invasive species in their hands while out in...
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