Project Budburst

Got flowers, shrubs or trees?

Sick of winter?

Into science?

Well, then, what are you doing here? Head on over to the Project Budburst website and learn how you can gather important information about the plants in your own backyard … and help scientists understand climate change in the process.

I’ll be leading the Burns household in a three-pronged Project Budburst study*: we plan to choose one flower, one shrub, and one tree in our backyard, watch it closely throughout the year, and report the date of each major phenophase. (That’s a fancy word for the life cycle stage of plants. Drop it into conversation today and impress your friends!)

For the record, the phenophases (catchy, isn’t it?) of interest are First Leaf, Full Leaf, First Flower, Full Flower, End Flower and Seed/Fruit Dispersal. Spring is a great time to begin your observations, and Project Budburst is a great way to get outside and see spectacular transformations that we (and I include myself here) mostly forget to notice.

My first task is to identify plants from the BudBurst study list, preferably ones growing in my backyard. This will make my observations as simple as a walk in the yard. Sounds easy enough but, um, I’m not so good at plant identification. Which is why I borrowed this from the library:

I’ll let you know what plants we decide to study. You let me know if you decide to jump on the phenophase bandwagon.

* By “three-pronged Project Budburst study” I mean, of course, more research for my new book on citizen science!