"PhenoRangers" aims to establish interactions between current research on the impact of climate change on the forest and the public, using phenology as the main tool.
Phenology in realtime
Aim of the project
PhenoRangers aims to show how nature around us changes with the seasons and how global warming is affecting these changes. Seasonal natural phenomena (so-called phenological events) such as the appearance of leaves, the start of flowering, the time when insect eggs hatch or the return of migratory birds to their breeding grounds are all events that make these changes perceptible and visible. Together with the Swiss rangers, we are launching a nationwide monitoring campaign to study how these seasonal events change and to make them accessible to a wide audience. The communication and expertise skills of the rangers, combined with their strong presence in many nature conservation and recreational areas, make them ideal mediators between science and the public. The project enables close collaboration between the rangers and WSL researchers, accompanied by a team of science communication experts. During the course of the project, interactive tours and excursions will be organised, enabling young people and the general public to discover the topic of phenology in a playful way.
Core team of the project
Frederik Baumgarten, Arthur Gessler, Yann Vitasse, Sylvain Eichhorn
Funding
PhenoRangers is an Agora project funded by the Swiss National Foundation. "The Agora instrument promotes dialogue between science and society: it supports researchers who strive to communicate the results of their current research to a lay audience. Agora projects enable encounters and mutual listening, thereby stimulating dialogue between science and society."