The OSU Extension Home Horticulture working group (comprised of faculty & staff involved with the Master Gardener program) met in November 2016 in Corvallis.  One of the items discussed was how citizen science projects relate to the Master Gardener program requirements.  The group agreed to the following:

To be approved for Master Gardener volunteer hours, citizen science projects must:

1. Align with the Master Gardener educational mission of discovering and disseminating research-based gardening information,
2. Advance one of both of the flagship programs of the OSU Extension Master Gardener program: sustainable gardening and/or home and community food production,
3. Involve participation on one or more levels of the citizen science typology.  These levels are (from least to most involvement): crowdsourcing, distributed intelligence, participatory science, collaborative science.

 The following are Oregon and national citizen science projects which are approved for indirect volunteer hours with the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program as of 11/2016. You may count your hours as the actual time spent collecting and submitting data.  When reporting volunteer hours associated with participation in approved citizen science projects, volunteers should report in the category of ‘Citizen Science’ (indirect volunteer hours).

 

Projects approved for OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer hours

Project Name	Discipline(s)	Sponsoring Organization(s)	Website
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)	climate monitoring	NOAA, Oregon State University	http://www.cocorahs.org/state.aspx?state=or
Vegetable Variety Trials	horticulture	Oregon State University Extension	email: brooke.edmunds@oregonstate.edu
Forest Pest Detectors	entomology, invasive species	Oregon State University	http://pestdetector.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
eButterfly	entomology	Oregon State University	http://www.e-butterfly.org/
Oregon Native Bee Atlas	entomology, pollinators	Oregon State University, Oregon Department of Agriculture	http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/beeproject/
The Hazelnut Project	agronomy	Oregon State University	https://www.arborday.org/programs/hazelnuts/
Project Budburst	plant phenology	National Ecological Observatory Network	http://budburst.org/
Great Backyard Bird Count	ornithology	National Audubon Society	http://gbbc.birdcount.org/
Hummingbirds at Home	ornithology	National Audubon Society	http://www.hummingbirdsathome.org/
iNaturalist	biodiversity	California Academy of Sciences	http://www.inaturalist.org/
Backyard Bark Beetles	entomology, invasive species	University of Florida	http://www.backyardbarkbeetles.org/
NW Pollinator Initiative	entomology, pollinators	Washington State University	http://nwpollinators.org/citizen-science/
A Tree’s Life	climate change, urban forestry	North Carolina State University	http://ecoipm.org/a-trees-life/

Want to know if another project qualifies for Master Gardener volunteer hours?  First check with your county MG Coordinator.  Other contacts are Gail Langellotto (statewide MG coordinator) or Brooke Edmunds (project coordinator).