Internships
Internships at the Southwestern Research Station near Portal, Arizona. The SWRS volunteer program offers outstanding opportunities to observe and become involved with scientists doing field research. Food and lodging are provided to volunteers in exchange for 24 hours/week of routine chores, with remaining time available for research activities or simply enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The program is open to non-students as well as undergraduate and graduate students (the latter may pursue their own research projects). If you are interested in becoming an intern at SWRS and working on HMN projects as well as other research projects or applications, please contact:
Dawn S. Wilson, Director
Southwestern Research Station
American Museum of Natural History
P.O. Box 16553
Portal, AZ 85632
Phone/FAX:520-558-2396
Website: http://research.amnh.org/swrs
Training Citizen Scientists
The successes of many HMN projects and programs depend on the commitment of the citizen scientists and their dedicated volunteer teams. Consequently, we have provided and will continue to provide training for students, scientists, and members of the public in skills required for hummingbird study.
Banding in Ecuador
People who train to become banders and to manage a monitoring site are the citizen scientists for hummingbird monitoring. Their training provides the skills that are required so they can become properly permitted by federal and state agencies. Once permitted, they are responsible for all work at a monitoring site. This includes strict adherence to the project's protocol, banding hummingbirds, ensuring that the data are taken correctly and accurately, submitting reports and the banding data after each session, working with land managers and owners, and managing the other volunteers needed to successfully complete a banding session. These are high expectations and require a deep commitment by our hummingbird banders/citizen scientists. Citizen Scientists have monitored hummingbird populations since 2002 for the Network. We are humbled and impressed by their commitment. They will say that the rewards of this work make it worthwhile.
If you are interested in becoming a citizen scientist who bands hummingbirds and live in an area where we monitor, please visit one of our public sites and discuss the possibility with the bander. They will provide the information that you will need to take the next step. For those interested but live in an area that is not currently monitored by the Network, please contact us and inquire about the possibility of the network expanding to your region. Our goal is to find the best long-term monitoring sites for all North American hummingbirds so that trends in each species populations can be detected.
Other citizen scientist opportunities and the level of the resulting commitment depend on the needs of our current projects and programs. Additional projects that would benefit from the hard work of citizen scientists include the botany program and the nesting habitat study. Please visit one of our public monitoring sites to talk with one of HMN's site leaders. They will be able to identify the right person for you to contact.