Our history
Since 2002 the Gulf of Maine Research Institute has been exploring ways to create an support effective collaboration among scientists and the public. Vital Signs was born from the question of what might we all learn by seeing bodies of water through the eyes of scientists, of fishermen, and of youth.
This vision evolved over the next years, becoming one of the first citizen science projects that deliberately engaged education audiences and delivered useful data to scientists. In 2009 we launched a fully web-based program focused on giving kids an experience with data and evidence, and giving scientists and state resource managers first pass data on the presence and absences of invasive species in habitats across the State of Maine. Vital Signs provided teachers with professional development opportunities, standards-aligned curriculum, and a collection of Field Missions from which to choose. In a decade, over 200 Maine educators participated in the program, and thousands of young scientists made observations of the presence and absence of invasive and native species, sharing their evidence and reasoning with some two dozen scientists.
Through these years, our practice evolved again, this time towards richer research questions that provided students with truer opportunities to engage the full arc of scientific investigations. Projects naturally tilted towards exploring the impact of climate change on species and communities. As the urgency of these explorations grew, our ambitions did as well.
With essential support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, we designed the Ecosystem Investigation Network to serve all kinds of people. This platform is complemented by tools that can help scientists or communities design projects to address their priorities, deliver good science, and create meaningful and satisfying experiences to those who participate. We’ve left the political boundaries of Maine behind, and are moving into the more ecologically significant Gulf of Maine Watershed. We’re focused on questions that explore the impacts of climate change -- in corners or across our region of interest. And we’re intent on partnering with the organizations and people throughout this region who share our interest in characterizing and more deeply understanding how our corner of the globe is changing today and into the future.
If you are interested in creating a project on the Ecosystem Investigation Network, please contact us.
