GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Girl Scouts are invited to participate in a night of exploration at the Florida Museum of Natural History’s “Girl Scouts Explore: Citizen Science” program May 11.

©Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage
Two Girl Scouts examine and categorize items while learning about the museum’s collections. ©Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage

Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts will be able to visit the museum after hours from 6 to 9 p.m. and engage in hands-on activities to learn what it means to be citizen scientists.

“The Girl Scouts will have an opportunity to meet female role models and broaden their understanding of what science can be,” said Florida Museum educator Chelsea Collison. “I hope the girls strengthen their curiosity of science and learn how they can play a role in some awesome research both in Gainesville and beyond.”

The citizen science initiative seeks to connect people from different backgrounds to diverse scientific issues, including local or global projects.

The program will feature researchers working on multiple citizen projects, including the Wings Over Florida certificate program, a recognition project for avid bird and butterfly spotters; School of Ants, a study of ants living in homes and schools; and Backyard Bark Beetles, which tasks citizens to monitor and track local beetles.

Other groups represented at the event include Integrated Digitized Biocollections, known as iDigBio, which is digitizing biological specimens; the Florida Museum Vertebrate Paleontology Division, which studies and cares for about 850,000 vertebrate fossils, and the Lepidoptera of North America Network, which works to document insect herbivores.

The museum will also lead activities in the “Northwest Florida: Waterways and Wildlife” and “South Florida People and Environments” exhibits.

The Scouts will earn a special patch created for the event and receive resources to help them become citizen scientists, which can be used to earn a “Citizen Science” badge through participation in the above projects.

The program cost is $15 per Scout and $5 per adult chaperone. For more information, please call 352-273-2062 or visit www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/event/girl-scouts-explore.

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Writer: Kelly Hayes, 352-273-2032, PRintern@flmnh.ufl.edu
Source: Chelsea Collison, 352-273-2062, ccollison@flmnh.ufl.edu
Media contact: Paul Ramey, 352-273-2054, pramey@flmnh.ufl.edu