Nature ‘Nerds’ Keep A Photographic Eye Trained On Mount Diablo
DUBLIN (KPIX) — A group of self-described “nerds” is keeping close watch on Mount Diablo as it recovers from last summer’s massive wildfire.
Ken-Ichi Ueda is a proud member of “Nerds for Nature” and he wants everyone visiting Mount Diablo to join him and his group by taking a picture to document how plants and animals are responding in the aftermath of the Morgan Fire.
Near the mountain’s summit are four citizen-science camera stations, marked by signs with L-shaped brackets.
“[We] encourage people to put their cellphone or camera in the bracket and that will allow them to take the same picture from the same angle again and again,” Ueda explains.
California State Parks scientists are happy to be the beneficiaries of this kind of crowd-sourced science. There isn’t much data from the 1977 Diablo fire but, with this project, there’s a chance to learn a lot.
“[We'll learn] when certain plants sprout, start to flower. What species move in, at what rates,” Senior Environmental Scientist Cyndy Shafer says.
The project will continue for at least a year. Ideally, Nerds for Nature would like to see how the mountain responds after a normal winter rainfall.
Nerds for Nature Website