AVEO citizen science projects are part of a community-based environmental research and monitoring network that includes individuals, citizen groups, local non-profit organizations, schools, universities, municipalities, state-level non-profit organizations, and even state and federal agencies.
Keene State College (KSC). We are deeply grateful for the mutually beneficial partnership and patronage of Keene State College, where we create active links between the College and the community, provide research opportunities for KSC students, and integrate citizen science into undergraduate courses.
Antioch University New England (ANE). Graduate students from Antioch University New England have taken a lead role in coordinating several of AVEO’s citizen science projects including Project Nighthawk in Keene, and a number of ANE faculty members serve as advisors or direct partners in AVEO research initiatives.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Trout Unlimited (TU). In partnership with TNC & TU, AVEO trained and coordinated over 80 volunteer “Culvert Operators,” who surveyed nearly 1000 culverts and bridges throughout southwest New Hampshire in 2006 & 2008 to determine where fish and aquatic wildlife passage is most impacted by road structures. TNC used these data to prioritize sites for aquatic connectivity restoration throughout the Ashuelot watershed, and AVEO Program Director Brett Amy Thelen now serves on Ashuelot River Stream Crossing Improvement Project team, a collaborative effort to restore stream connectivity in the Ashuelot watershed led by Trout Unlimited.
New Hampshire Audubon. In partnership with New Hampshire Audubon, AVEO coordinated volunteer monitoring of the state-threatened Common Nighthawk in Keene from 2007 – 2009, and placed fifteen experimental gravel “nest patches” on flat rooftops throughout the city in an effort to restore nighthawk nesting habitat.
The Monadnock Conservancy. AVEO and the Monadnock Conservancy are working together to explore ways in which citizen scientists can collect data to enhance stewardship and monitoring of conservation easements.
New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, Division of Forests and Lands. In 2008 and 2009, AVEO citizen scientists surveyed 54.4 miles of trails and roads in Pisgah State Park for the presence of invasive plant species. These data were included in the draft Pisgah State Park Management Plan proposed by the NH Division of Forests and Lands.
Other important partners include Friends of Open Space in Keene, the Ashuelot River Local Advisory Committee, Friends of Pisgah State Park, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, and, of course, our dedicated volunteers.
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