Getting Into Citizen Science: Who am I working with?

 

The Firefly Atlas is a comprehensive, collaborative initiative specifically organized to map and conserve the biological diversity of fireflies across North America (Firefly Atlas, 2026). At the helm of this study is the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a science-based non-profit organization that manages the initiative's primary framework and infrastructure (Firefly Atlas, 2026). To effectively implement the project, the Xerces Society operates in close partnership with the New Mexico BioPark Society and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Firefly Specialist Group (Firefly Atlas, 2026). The inclusion of the IUCN (2026) brings a vast global network of scientific expertise to the project, as the overarching union leverages more than 15,000 volunteer experts across various specialized commissions to tackle critical environmental challenges. By utilizing this shared framework, researchers affiliated with these organizing bodies—such as those within the specialized IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group—are able to systematically analyze extinction risks, coordinate volunteer community scientists, and advance conservation policies targeting threatened or data-deficient insect populations (Firefly Atlas, 2026; IUCN, 2026).

References

Firefly Atlas. (2026). About. https://www.fireflyatlas.org/about

International Union for Conservation of Nature. (2026). About IUCN. https://www.iucn.org/about-iucn