Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’
Wildlife Viewing and Nature Tourism Working Group
2018 Fall Webinar Series
Using eBird’s Data to Provide Useable Metrics
November 13, 2018 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EST
Nature tourism projects are often a tough sell, partially because success is difficult to measure. Hard data on wildlife watcher activity (e.g., birdwatchers) often requires expensive, rigorous human dimensions surveys. The eBird service provides a free, wildly-popular, and easily-accessible method for the general public to log and view bird sightings. eBird not only informs an improved understanding of bird distribution, but also the location and activity of the birders themselves. For example, in North Carolina alone, 3,748 eBirders spent 72,102 hours completing 68,679 checklists in 2017. Scott will present the benefits and caveats of harnessing the massive and open-access eBird Basic Dataset (EBD) to devise visitation metrics for sites, cities, communities, or regions. These data have the potential to provide a low-cost method to inform marketing strategies and provide measures of effectiveness for bird tourism programs.
Presented By: Scott Anderson
Scott grew up in Texas, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut before attending University of Delaware and earning a BS in Environmental Science. After spending 3 years working field jobs on northern goshawk, three-toed woodpecker, burrowing owl, and marine mammals, Scott worked as a database manager and computer software trainer. To move back towards a career in the natural sciences, Scott completed an MS in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University investigating foraging habits of Caspian terns in the Columbia River Estuary. After graduation, he began as a database manager for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Scott is currently a statewide bird biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (ncwildlife.org) and coordinator of the NC Birding Trail (ncbirdingtrail.org).
Connection:
Join the webinar at fwc.adobeconnect.com/wildlifeviewing (sign in as guest, with first and last name, no password required).
Conference call audio: 888-670-3525
Participant code: 835-369-4269
Download flyer here.
