Before You Launch: Quick Start Guide Part 2
Guide to Building a New York Phenology Project Monitoring Site
Crucial Preparation Tasks:
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Be clear about your target audience (Community? School groups? Both?)
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Consider how many people you want as “core observers” and decide how to recruit them
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Know if you have a particular scientific question beyond the New York Phenology Project focus on plant–pollinator interactions (and whether you are monitoring both plants and pollinators/animals)
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Decide whether other activities and content areas will link with this project (i.e. Will you plant a pollinator garden? Will you build bee hotels? Will you engage other organizations to help you get related projects going? What ecological concepts or educational standards will you address?)
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Before you set a launch date make sure you have adequate time to:
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choose species (See Quick Start Guide, Part 3)
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choose specific specimens or locations for plants you will monitor
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mark plant specimens or locations – since it is difficult to ID plants in winter, do this in another season if possible
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plan one or more trainings for your participants (See Quick Start Guide, Part 4)
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Make plans to:
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train participants multiple times each season
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stay in frequent email contact with participants
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organize gatherings intermittently
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Establish a well-defined budget for materials (i.e., large sign < $200, Smaller herbarium signs ~ $10-$20 per sign, Small tags and flagging: $10-$20 for 60+.) or find sources for donations. Be prepared to replace damaged items and consider whether items will need to be replenished every year.
You’ve got a basic outline of what you want to do…
Now build your action plan for the first year:
Can your staff prepare to launch your project or will you need to engage a consultant to help get you started?
Do you want to launch as a pilot with your staff gathering data or do you want to engage the community right away?
What do you need to do to get your staff//board ready to take on this project?
Set dates!
Date of launch:
Date of first training:
Date of follow up training:
(Remember to allow time for all the tasks and decisions that have to happen before launch.)
What needs to be done to get the site ready?
How many species?_____ How many individual plants tagged?:
What staff members will monitor? ______ How many participants do you want to engage?_____
Long-term strategic goals:
First year accomplishment objectives:
How will you assess your project’s success?
Other Quick Start Guides ...
Questions to Ask: Quick Start Guide Part 1
Choosing Species to Monitor: Quick Start Guide Part 3
Training and Leadership: Quick Start Guide Part 4
