rePhotoSA at ADU Citizen Science Day, Pretoria National Botanical Gardens, 25 February 2017

Samantha Venter, the project coordinator of rePhotoSA, presented at the Animal Demography Unit’s (ADU) 24th Citizen Scientist Day held at the National Botanical Gardens in Pretoria over the weekend (25 February 2017).

rePhotoSA is the repeat photography project of southern African landscapes and is a joint initiative of the Plant Conservation Unit and the ADU. Samantha described the value of repeat photography and its role to play in understanding how landscapes have changed (and are changing) over time. She discussed current contributions of repeat photographs by citizen scientists and how the public can get involved further.

Overall the day was a great success. Many people commented to say that the day was memorable and that they felt inspired to get involved in the various projects as citizen scientists!

Below are some pictures of the day but please also visit the Pretoria ADU Citizen Science Page (https://www.facebook.com/events/1458135430895820/).

Les Underhill (Director of the ADU) welcomed everyone to the citizen science day. He also spoke about the history, protocol and importance of SABAP2, and finally, at the end of the day, Les wrapped up this wonderful event by speaking about the future of the ADU. 

Dieter Oschadleus spoke about Safring and the importance of citizen science in this long-term project; and in a separate talk, Dieter walked through the different projects of The Virtual Museum.

Peter Greaves then spoke to us about the BIRPing project (Birds in reserves) and Jerome Ainsley spoke to us about the adventures in Atlasland - A citizen scientists perspective. Jerome demonstrated the usefulness and importance of the second South African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2).

Samantha Venter gave the second last talk of the day. She spoke about rePhotoSA and thanked citizen scientists for their contribution to this important project so far.