Getting Into Citizen Science- FireFly Atlas Participation Journal

 

Throughout this summer, while spending time playing lacrosse and hitting the pool at Strasburg Park, my family and I engaged in citizen science by participating in FireFly Atlas.  The following chart outlines the some of the dates and activities performed while collecting field data.

Date	Time	Activity
06.20.26	19:30	Introduction to FireFly Atlas and objectives of citizen science. Some background on Fireflies and their importance within our ecosystem.
07.04.26	20:00	Took photos of and chased fireflies waiting for 4th of July fireworks and celebrations with friends and family.
07.11.26	19:45	Got our 7/11 day Slurpee’s and caught fireflies to look at them closer to compare to different types of fireflies. We recorded how many my  kids gathered and whether they came from the open field area or closer to the riparian buffer project at the park. The kids then released their fireflies after a 20 minute observation and discussion.
07.25.26	19:00-19:45 & 20:30-22:00	Counted and compared the number of fireflies at our house to those from the managed park land. We had more fireflies present at our house in our yard. We had discussions around our firepit about what factors could contribute to differing numbers.
08.08.26	20:30-23:00	Visit a friends house for a grill and chill bonfire near the park and had discussion about why the number of fireflies were fewer in numbers during this time of year compared to earlier in the summer.

 

As with most things, I used my opportunity to learn as one to also teach my children. The time spent was enjoyable leading to not only learning about fireflies but learning about the perspectives of children when discussing ecological sciences. As my kids are of different ages and in different stages of their academic journey, it allowed me to better understand the different approaches required for engagement of different groups of students or people in general. The realization that terms like field studies, science, research, and ecology had drastically different meanings for each of them. Casing fireflies was a favorite activity of mine as a kid growing up. Sharing this experience and how and why these insects exist with my kids, reignited a lost summer fun joy. I will most likely continue to participate in the atlas by expanding my area of observations from the Northern Shenandoah valley to more urban and coastal environments like Washington, D.C. and it’s surrounding suburbs. This will allow me to further investigate different things that impact firefly populations.