Greetings!

Happy Spring! We’ve reached both the meteorological start to spring (Mar 1) and the astronomical start to spring (Mar 20), so hopefully you’re starting to see some ecological signs of spring. I’ve seen recent reports on Twitter of skunk cabbage and crocuses blooming and ice houses being moved off frozen lakes… and the Tidal Basin cherry blossoms in Washington, DC are due any day to make their grand appearance. When will they actually flower? The National Park Service predicts now (Mar 22-25). Dozens of contestants in the first (annual?) Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition predict bloom to occur a bit later – more like Mar 30-Apr 2. Wish I was there to verify things in person!

Whatever signs of spring you see, please consider documenting them formally – either in Nature’s Notebook or another system. I know I don’t need to remind you of the importance of these records for understanding how things are changing! Thank you for all of your efforts to document and share the word about phenology - this spring and always.
Warmly,
What's new at the USA National Phenology Network
Welcome, Samantha!
We are very excited to introduce Samantha Brewer, our new Volunteer Engagement Coordinator. Samantha communicates with new and existing Nature’s Notebook observers, organizations, and Local Phenology Leaders through engaging activities, newsletters, campaigns, and training materials.

Samantha earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biology at Northern Arizona University. She has worked across the state of Arizona studying avian ecology. She also has a background in education, - teaching at both the college level and K-12 settings. Prior to working for the USA-NPN, she worked as an educator and Certified Local Phenology Leader for the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. In her free time, she loves cross-stitching, gaming, and running along The Loop trail. 
New researcher-led Nature's Notebook campaigns
This spring, we have two new researcher-driven campaigns. The Redbud Phenology Project, led by Dr. Jorge Santiago-Blay at National Museum of Natural History and Penn State York, seeks to refine understanding of redbud phenology and masting. Quercus Quest, supported by an NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity award and involving researchers representing The Morton Arboretum, University of Oklahoma, University of Minnesota, Duke University, and USGS, addresses hybridization in oaks and interactions with insects and fungi. Both of these campaigns are excellent examples of how you can collaborate with the USA-NPN to amplify phenology data collection to support your research. 



Data and data products
Updated 30y normal period backing anomaly products
Our current-year and historical annual Spring Index and growing degree day anomaly maps and long-term average maps are now calculated based on the 1991-2020 normal period. Anomaly maps created using the 1981-2010 anomaly period are still available, if desired; please contact us for more information. Details for all products are available in the associated metadata files.


New hummingbird, monarch, and milkweed data available
The Journey North program recently published 25 years worth of monarch, hummingbird, and milkweed phenology observations from across the U.S. These data are ripe for analysis, perhaps combined with phenology observations contributed through Nature's Notebook!

New phenology-themed R package
The Tempo R package provides data simulation and model fitting functions for discrete time-to-event data in a Bayesian framework. This model accommodates both time-dependent covariates and censoring of observations (left, right, and interval).

Opportunities
Post-doctoral opening at Cornell University: phenological modeling and airborne pollen
The Katz Lab in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to develop predictive models of the timing of pollen release for wind-pollinated trees in North America. The candidate will analyze observations of flowering and pollen release from the USA-NPN as a function of satellite-based measurements of land surface temperature and environmental variables.

Call for papers: Special issue of Flora
The journal Flora is currently soliciting papers for a special issue titled "Ecology and evolution of plant-pollinator interactions: the importance of natural history."

Upcoming meetings
Phenology 2022, June 20-24, 2022. Avigonon, France
Contact
Theresa Crimmins
Director
520-621-8523