SI-Q: What tells stories of life and death but never speaks a word? #SeriouslyAmazing
By Cara Seitchek, Writer, Smithsonian Affiliations. Part of our Seriously Amazing Affiliates blog series.
Russell in the field with other Citizen Scientists. Photo courtesy Danielle Leland, riverside Metropolitan Museum.
“The only single unambiguous personal record of a scientist’s research is in his field book. They can contain stories of life and death that are fascinating,” said Rusty Russell, collections manager for the U.S. National Herbarium located in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).
On most days, Russell is surrounded by the quiet of the Herbarium and many shelves of dried plant specimens that record centuries of expeditions around the world. In his 30+ years working for the Department of Botany, Russell has brought order and innovation to these collections – creating a bar coding system, scanning specimens into a digital library, and placing botanists’ field books online.
For eight years, Russell has been bringing his encyclopedic knowledge of plants to Smithsonian Affiliate Riverside Metropolitan Museum (RMM), creating citizen science programs that take residents into the field and help them build their own collections of indigenous plants.
“Our citizen science weeks came about in an interesting way,” said James Bryant, RMM curator and a former student of Russell’s. “I discovered some specimens in our collections that had been collected by Edmund Jaeger, who also collected for the Smithsonian. When I contacted Rusty, he pulled the NMNH specimens and we started talking about the history of the mountains in this area and how they had been affected by climate change.”
Russell works in the field to bring Citizen Science Week to Riverside, California. Photo courtesy Danielle Leland, Riverside Metropolitan Museum.
The challenge of exploring an area that had not been studied for 70 years intrigued both men and soon, Russell was leading a team to explore the Santa Rosa – San Jacinto Mountains slopes that Jaeger had studied. This initial field trip grew into a larger program that brings California residents into the field to make their own observations and field notes. Every spring, Russell travels back to Riverside to lead a week-long citizen science program.
In one program, the week focused on wildflowers and how floral areas transition to the nearby desert. Activities included short hikes, making pressed flowers, workshops, and lectures, all designed to increase citizen awareness and appreciation of the region’s environments.
Russell’s visits to Riverside have increased the community’s awareness of the importance of their environment. The City of Riverside is now planning a city-wide citizen science project for its open spaces and was just awarded a California State Parks grant for $780,000 to build a nature center that will be the base for even more citizen science projects. “Rusty’s prominence in the field and our relationship with the Smithsonian contributed to Riverside receiving the grant,” said Bryant. “Citizen Science Week has been a catalyst for many spinoffs.”
These spinoffs include an invitation for Bryant and Russell to speak at a conference at the California Academy of Sciences, which is exploring how to create a state-wide citizen science program. The University of California, Riverside provides scholars and experts to serve as the research arm of the citizen science efforts, while nearby Redlands company ESRI has worked with RMM to create a geographic information system software for digital field notes, which is used by a wide network of volunteers who document plant changes and responses to climate change. “Our citizen scientists use this to collect and provide this data to scientists like Rusty,” said Bryant. “It’s sparked a revival of interest in this area.”
Russell in the classroom in Riverside, California. Photo courtesy Danielle Leland, Riverside Metropolitan Museum.
Both Russell and Bryant agree that RMM’s active relationship with the Smithsonian has benefits for both institutions. “Riverside is also helping the Smithsonian,” said Bryant. “We have helped the Smithsonian establish a presence in our community, and as a result we are providing the Institution new research data, programs and new members.”
The nice thing about this project is that it brings smaller places together with the Smithsonian,” said Russell. “Many people may not have the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C., but through this kind of outreach, the Smithsonian plays an ongoing role in this community.”
