A Volunteer's Perspective: The Four C's

What a day! Season 2 is complete, Season 3 is up and running, and we have the chance to highlight one of our favorite and most active citizen scientists on the blog!

My name is Jolanda van Weeren and I’m 49 years old. I live in Almere in the Netherlands, but I was born and raised in Amsterdam. I’m married, mother of 2 sons  and grandmother of 2 beautiful grandchildren. I work parttime in a bookshop called Bruna, which is ‘worldfamous’ in the Netherlands! As we live in a big city, twice a year we hook the caravan behind the car and look for a campsite in the woods. We love to ride our bikes and take long walks hoping to see some wildlife. We haven’t been very successful yet, but the anticipation is half the fun !

In May of last year, there was a request on tv for a project called Snapshot Hoge Veluwe. They were asking for volunteers to look at millions of photos made with camera traps at our national park. I love wildlife and nature, so I signed up even before it started! Once you sign in on zooniverse, you get requests to try out new projects. I’ve tried a few, especially the ones from Africa and other exotic places seemed appealing. And yes, it was nice to see Elephants and Cheetahs and more of those animals you usually only see in zoos, but that’s what it felt like, a trip to the zoo! Then the request came from Eyes on the wild! First I’ve read the background, then I’ve read the notes the other volunteers left with the sets. I think I was hooked when I saw the first White-tailed deer! They are so beautiful and remind me of my favorite, the Roe deer. And even the surroundings look a lot like the Netherlands, so it really feels like home.

I’m usually up really early, and I start my mornings with my 4 favorite C’s : On my Couch, Cat on my lap, Cup of Coffee and Classifying! 

First I look to see if I have any notifications, then I read all the notes. I learn so much from all the comments, questions and answers. I love the sense of humour and positivity that is given in the feedback from other volunteers and especially researcher Caitlin Potter. She always gives extra info and links, so you never feel hesitant to ask more questions. And I especially love that she gives feedback when there are no questions asked!

I think one of my favorite sets was one of a young deer covered in snow, pretty closeup. Caitlin made a little gif of several sets and I think I watched it at least 10 times! 

And then there was the one with the doe and newborn fawn, so sweet. The one that made me laugh out loud, was the one of the raccoon staring into the camera. He or she had been standing there for a while, because I found several sets.

We’ve had a few sightings of wolves, cranes and raccoons in the Netherlands, so I’m hopeful I’ll see them in real live once!

I hope this project will go on for a long time, I’m really going to miss it when it should stop! Might need some therapy for the withdrawal symptoms! 

Happy classifying everyone !

Jolanda

Want to share your experiences on the project? Email Caitlin (caitlin@umn.edu) and Emma (bubli018@umn.edu) with your text and we'll help fill in the images!