Overview
The One Tam partner agencies are using motion-activated cameras to study wildlife on public lands around Mt. Tamalpais - primarily terrestrial mammal communities. Formerly known as the Marin Wildlife Picture Index Project, this community science project was started in 2015 and has had a robust volunteer program to help identify millions of images. This program will help establish baseline information about our mammal communities and look at changes over time, informing efforts to protect them.
View a more detailed program description to learn more about how this program works and to see early findings.
Learn more
- Read our FAQs, which may answer many questions you might have about this program.
- View a Bay Nature talk with One Tam Community Science Program Manager, Dr. Lisette Arellano.
- View presentations on preliminary findings from this work, presented at the 2017 Mt. Tam Wildlife Symposium.
- View the Marin County Parks webpage on this project.
- Questions? View our FAQs or email communityscience@onetam.org
Volunteer
Do you love wildlife? This may be the opportunity for you to help contribute to the wellbeing of wildlife in our region. Volunteers are an essential part of this program because they help us catalog the images captured by the wildlife cameras - turning them information that our scientists can use. You'll gain animal identification skills and get glimpses in to the daily lives of wildlife you wouldn't otherwise see.
The team launched a revamped volunteer experience and data management side of the project in 2024, welcoming a spring and fall cohort. The new Marin Wildlife Watch has all wildlife you love, with an updated volunteer experience:
- Volunteers will be able catalog at home (or wherever!) using a new cloud-based platform.
- Trainings will have in-person and online options to optimize convenience and fun!
- Volunteers will be asked for a quarterly commitment and can pick how much (or how little) to catalog depending on their time and interest.
You do not need any experience to volunteer with this program, but you do need to complete training that is offered as part of the program.
We do not currently have any open volunteer spots for the fall 2024 cohort. Please sign up for the seasonal One Tam newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated about this program, plus other events and opportunities. Questions can be emailed to communityscience@onetam.org.
Resources for current volunteers are available here.
