Greetings!

We hope that you had a restful Thanksgiving last week. We are feeling very thankful for you and all that you do to support your communities in the collection and sharing of phenology data and information.

On a more sober note, we have recently experienced some difficult and bittersweet staff transitions here at the USA-NPN. Education Coordinator LoriAnne Barnett is leaving her post after ten years with the USA-NPN. LoriAnne's strategic vision and commitment to relationships and community-building shaped the Education Program, led to the creation of Local Phenology Programs, and inspired a Community of Practice to enable the sharing of ideas. You can read LoriAnne's full note on her departure and what's next for her here. Join us in wishing her the best! And please know that we remain committed to supporting all of the wonderful individuals that she has engaged over the years and all of the Local Phenology Programs that she helped to launch.

Due to decreases in funding, we also recently lost several other wonderful long-time team members, including Data Product Coordinator Kathy Gerst, Participant Services Specialist Sara Schaffer, and Application Systems Analyst Kevin Wong. Their creativity, vision, and dedication to the field of phenology has shaped the USA-NPN into what it is today. Though our team and capacity are dramatically affected by these changes, we remain positive about the organization's future - phenology data and information are critically important to science and society.

Thank you, as always, for being part of our Network.
In appreciation,
What's new at Nature's Notebook and USA-NPN
Practice your skills with a new quiz!
We've added a brand new Module to our Nature's Notebook Observer Certification Course! This new Module, Practice Making Observations, guides you through the process of making observations on a deciduous tree. A quiz at the end of the Module tests your new skills. We will add more modules in the coming year, so stay tuned!

Recent happenings in the field of phenology
Light pollution benefits mismatched birds
Authors of a new study published in the journal Nature sought to understand how human-caused light and noise pollution might pose additional challenges to birds impacted by climate change. They found that light pollution caused birds to nest a month earlier in open environments and 18 days earlier in forested environments. This advance in timing allowed the birds to catch up to earlier spring onset and availability of food, resulting in better nesting success. Managers can use this information to know which species are at greater risk from climate change impacts, and prioritize habitat for vulnerable species. Communities can also use this information to assess their own light and sound footprints.


Photo: Tom Grey
Especially for Local Phenology Leaders
Annual Survey & PhenoChampion Award
It's that time of year when we seek exciting details about how Local Phenology Programs are doing! Look for an email in mid-December with a link to submit information for the the 2020 LPP Survey. The deadline to give us feedback will be the end of January 2021.

PhenoChampion Awards submissions will be due Feb 5th, 2021. Looking forward to hearing about all of your accomplishments!

Create a phenology annual report
The end of the year is a perfect time to compile an annual phenology report to document what you learned from your data collection. You can include information on observer participation, patterns in phenology data, and lessons learned. We invite you to use the Phenology Report Guide to create your Report!


Related resources
COVID-19 impacts on biodiversity
How has COVID-19 affected conservation biology? Join speakers Richard Primack, Amanda Bates, Abe Miller-Rushing, and our own Theresa Crimmins in a virtual seminar hosted by UMASS Boston on December 8th at 5 pm EST. Topics will cover how COVID-19 has disrupted research in ecology and conservation and impacted community science projects and how the COVID-related Anthropause has changed relationships between humans and marine systems.

Radar revolutionizing study of migration
Aeroecology is a new term for the study of organisms in the lower atmosphere. While the radar can detect the difference between a raindrop and a bird, the researchers rely on citizen scientists to report on the kinds of birds and other animals that they see from the ground. These observations can help researchers user radar to make predictions about what species are flying overhead, and how many.

Birds on radar Credit: eBird
Contact
Erin Posthumus
Outreach Coordinator
520-621-1670
LoriAnne Barnett
Education Coordinator
520-621-1803