When you picture a biologist, you might imagine someone alone in the wilderness, quietly taking samples during fieldwork. Conservation biologists Dr. Chuck Sexton and Lisa O’Donnell would tell you that is partially true, but there are plenty of moments of camaraderie and community. Maybe even some boisterous conversations over iNaturalist about the identification of a particular critter. Chuck and Lisa love the individual pursuit of knowledge as their work submerges them in the world of science and history, but it wouldn’t be quite as much fun without the people.
Lisa (left) and Chuck’s (right) fieldwork looks.
Look through Lisa O’Donnell’s photos of her work at the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve and you’ll see someone surrounded by fellow nature lovers. A group poses in front of new plantings protected by cages. Two faceless scientists, because full-head mosquito netting is a must at certain times of year, give a thumbs up as they search for salamanders.
Lisa and her husband Jim, who were also brought together by science while working at the Vireo Preserve in the 1980s, have built up a community of volunteers who help with habitat restoration and avian monitoring at the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Local Master Naturalist chapters have trained up a wonderful group of volunteers for scientists like Lisa. Community projects include nature-based solutions to infiltrate rainwater, control erosion and rebuild soils, and promote a diverse, carbon-rich mix of native plants for pollinators and seed-dispersing wildlife. Volunteers from Master Naturalists and Travis Audubon also help to search for color-banded Golden-cheeked Warblers each spring, providing valuable information on survival and dispersal.
Now that he is retired, Chuck Sexton is still contributing frequently to community science, especially on platforms like eBird, BugGuide, and iNaturalist. “iNaturalist has been my world for the last 13 to 14 years,” says Chuck. That is not an exaggeration, as you’ll see Chuck’s handle @gcwarbler all over the Texas iNaturalist community. As just one example, during 2017’s City Nature Challenge, Chuck topped the national leaderboard of some 4,500+ observers with 777 species of plants and animals documented in the Austin Metropolitan Area during just that 5-day event. His iNaturalist contributions now number more than 65,000 observations which document upwards of 12,000 species in the Western Hemisphere, and–most importantly–he has supported this community with nearly 130,000 identifications of plants and animals.
Long before Chuck was uploading photos of the organisms that cross his path, he was having his own pre-iNaturalist moments out in the field. In 1989, while searching for Black-capped Vireos in the (future) Refuge area, Chuck took a break in a shady ravine where he saw a plant he couldn’t identify. He took a sample to University of Texas botanist Steve Ginzbarg, as you did before iNaturalist, and Steve eventually named it, new to science, as Croton alabamensis var. texensis, a new Texas variety of Alabama croton. Chuck later found out that some of his friends and fellow wildlife biologists working at Fort Hood had discovered what we now call “Texabama Croton” just a few weeks earlier in Coryell County, but the botanist they took the specimen to ignored it, so Chuck was the first to have his new-to-science plant identified and named.
Chuck and Mindy Anderson with one of the hundreds of plant specimens he collected, now part of the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge’s herbarium.
iNaturalist has popularized and simplified the observation process for professional and self-trained naturalists alike out in the field, especially during campaigns like City Nature Challenge, and this new wave of interest is having some serious benefits for science. There are many stories of someone rediscovering a presumed-extinct species or discovering a new-to-science creature all from snapping a quick photo with iNaturalist. Community science is incredibly helpful, say Chuck and Lisa, and they also recognize that public outreach is the second half of the equation.
Chuck (front with dog) and crew participate in an iNaturalist bioblitz at Big Thicket National Preserve.
“It does no good for science to collect dust,” says Chuck. “Science communicators are the heroes.” At a time when the validity of science is routinely questioned in mainstream media, it’s important to share findings and make general scientific concepts and new discoveries as accessible to the general public as possible. This is reflected in our mission to inspire conservation through birding. Pique someone’s curiosity about a plant or critter they come across, and that’s the building blocks for further outreach about conservation issues affecting that organism.
We look forward to having both scientists share their stories and ways to get involved in community science at our Victor Emanuel Conservation Award Celebration on October 3rd.
