Crowdfunding to protect our indigenous forests
American forest pathologist in training, Joey Hulbert, recently completed a MS at Oregon State University and is currently prepping to move to South Africa to do a PhD with Prof. Michael Wingfield at FABI. Here he'll be surveying the indigenous forests of South Africa for Phytopthora species.
Phytophthora is a group of micro-organisms well known as plant pathogens. These organisms cause disease in trees and can wipe out large numbers of them, such as the 'Sudden Oak Death' in the US.
What makes his project unique is that it aims to get the public involved in the research (paid for through crowd funding) so that they can go into local forests and search for this organism. Joey plans to create a citizen science program, in conjunction with his PHD Research, that teaches the public about forest health and invites them to help sample the trees in forests near their communities.
To help fund the citizen science program they have launched an inspiring crowdfunding campaign. They have until 6 April to reach their target of $5000. He has 35% funding now (+-R20 000) – so people around the world are watching and supporting and you can also make a contribution to this project. Below are links to more info and how YOU can get involved...
Take a look at this 5-minute video which summarises the scope and value of this project:
For more information on this project and how you can support, click here.
Complimentary open-access lab notes below:
– Six Reasons to Back this Research: https://experiment.com/u/
– What is Citizen Science? https://experiment.com/u/
– Gallery of a recent excursion into Sudden Oak Death infected lands: https://experiment.com/u/
