Commission Agenda Item No. 10
Presenter: Richard Heilbrun

Briefing
Wildlife Division’s Citizen Science Program
January 23, 2014

I. Executive Summary: Staff will brief the Commission on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), Wildlife Diversity Program’s Citizen Science Program.

II. Discussion: The Wildlife Diversity Program is charged with managing the state’s non-hunted wildlife populations, which include 95 percent of the terrestrial wildlife species in Texas.  Our largely urban constituency includes passionate volunteers that provide important data to our nongame scientists and the Texas Natural Diversity Database through our citizen science program, Texas Nature Trackers.   Texas Nature Trackers recruits, trains, and manages citizen scientists to improve our understanding of rare and sensitive species and increase public participation with our natural resources. This briefing will update Commissioners on citizen science efforts and new online reporting tools available to TPWD audiences.