Allen Hurlbert Wants You To Contribute To Citizen Science

In this episode, I catch up with one of the smartest guys I knew at Amherst College, Professor Allen Hurlbert. Many of Allen's college classmates will remember him for his fondness for birds. While that interest has flowered into a successful and prolific teaching career, birds provide just one input into the focal point of his research today: building an understanding of the processes that shape global patterns of biodiversity and how those patterns are being impacted by global change. For the last several years, he also has spearheaded a citizen science project that invites all of us to track, record, and share information on the insects we find in our own backyards. It works a lot like birdwatching and can be just as fun and important for the advancement of our understanding of biodiversity. In this episode, you'll learn: All about Allen's citizen science project, Caterpillars Count, and just how easy and fun it can be to participate The ways in which climate change may produce winners, losers, and species that are likely to adapt Why overall bird populations have declined over the last several decades What attracted him to the study of biodiversity in the first place The Amherst College classmates he'd like me to interview next To contact Allen, email him at [email protected]. You also can learn about Caterpillars Count at https://caterpillarscount.unc.edu/.