The Cibolo Center for Conservation provides crucial data on land, water and wildlife through its community science initiatives.

Our twenty-two years of collecting data have afforded us a place among respected conservation leaders in the field, with our research informing local, state, national, and international science. Our community science initiative engages community members in collaborations with professional scientists and conservation partners in order to carry out research. Community volunteers, with or without a scientific background, can help with data collection that will contribute to the projects of scientists across the globe.  

Our Community Science Initiatives  

Here at The Cibolo, Community Science is used to track environmental changes. Individuals from all walks of life get involved in counting birds, butterflies, snakes, frogs, surveying vegetation, assessing water quality, and many other endeavors. We use observations made by community scientists to monitor the wildlife of the park and inform land management.  The data collected during these surveys is also made available to researchers through online databases that serve a worldwide audience. 

Some of the surveys require participants to attend a training workshop while others are learned in the field.  Once in the field, team leaders bring new community scientists up to speed, providing instruction and guidance on how to conduct surveys and record information throughout each survey. 

Since its inception, community science data has proved to be very valuable to human knowledge about wildlife and the environment.  Many wildlife populations are spread across entire continents and migrate over massive distances that are impossible for researchers to effectively survey. This is why ecologists and wildlife researchers have turned to citizen science as a reliable source of information about these populations.  

Cibolo Monitoring Projects  

Nest Box Monitoring

Once every week from February-July, volunteers will meet once every week at pre-determined time and collect nesting/breeding data on bluebird nest boxes. Data will be entered to Cornell’s Nest Watch portal. Volunteers will receive training prior to monitoring. Contact if interested: Sarah Vergara sarahv@cibolo.org

Sisterdale Sanctuary

Stay tuned for future wildlife surveys, BioBlitzes and Nest Box Monitoring! For now, monthly bird surveys are scheduled. On the 2nd Mondays of every month from 8am-11:30am volunteers will walk designated paths, count, and identify bird species. These surveys are led by local bird experts. To learn more and sign up visit cibolo.link/research.

See the results of our community science projects on our Community Science page in our Resources.  

• Monarch Larval Monitoring at Cibolo Nature Center Patch and at Herff Farm Patch
• Bird Box Monitoring 
• Cibolo Nature Center Bird Survey
• Herff Farm Bird Survey 
• Winter Prairie Bird Survey 
• Great Blue Heron and Great Egret Rookery Monitoring 
• Water Fowl Survey 
• Water Quality Monitoring  
• Upper Cibolo Creek Watershed Monitoring 

Learn more about our Wildlife Field Research and volunteer to be a part of it!

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Our Community Science work is done in close partnership with The Cibolo Preserve, the neighboring 645-acre natural habitat and watershed area along the Cibolo Creek. We invite you to learn more about the Cibolo Preserve and its powerful mission.  

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