VS Blog

The Maine Forest Service will begin a hemlock woolly adelgid survey on Mount Desert Island. Today's press release encourages people on MDI and throughout Maine to check hemlock trees for the adelgid, and to use Vital Signs to report what they find. Check it out....

On my way to work the other day, I got off the bridge, turned the corner towards Commercial Street, and did a double take. Were they really digging out that street-long stand of Japanese knotweed? Superstar and his team published a "Japanese knotweed FOUND" observation there just a year ago.

Jamien and Amy are two teachers in the Vital Signs community. Their students have been hard at work exploring their local ecosystems. I'll give you some hints, and see if you can guess where these student scientists are hard at work.

Great entries were submitted for our Faces of Vital Signs Photo Contest and our Create and Share Project Contest. Thanks to all for sharing your work!

Congratulation to our winners!

Flip to the Letters to the Editor in today's Portland Press Herald and you'll find a Massabesic student wishing us all an invasive-free holiday season! Here's the direct link: http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/letters/invasive-wreaths-need-careful....

Here's Elizabeth's letter (thanks for the plug, Elizabeth!!):
Invasive wreaths need careful disposal....

Sarah K, our fearless Program Manager, shares how GMRI is internalizing and acting on the ideas and vision of the Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Here are Sarah’s thoughts….

From my first read of the Executive Summary I’ve been excited about the direction in which the Framework for K-12 Science Education Standards is driving science education.

722 species observations were contributed this fall by students, educators, and citizen scientists! The Vital Signs community would like to recognize and thank the teachers and students from these schools for their incredible data and project contributions during the field season. One species observation from each school is highlighted below.

On the sunny and brisk Saturday that was November 5, 2011, a community came together to learn about their local Vital Signs mission.

Check out the video blog to see what we did!

There have been so many awesome species observations this fall. Check out these observations. Tell us what makes a good observation or even a great observation!

The fall field season has been a busy one. Students and citizen scientists have added valuable found and not found data to the Vital Signs database on invasive and native species across the state, playing an essential role in statewide efforts to document and respond to invasive species.