American Prairie Foundation Recruiting Scientists for BioBlitz in North Central Montana

American Prairie Foundation will hold a BioBlitz event June 23 – 25, 2011 on American Prairie Reserve (50 miles south of Malta) and is currently accepting applications to participate from scientific experts and citizen scientists.

A BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which a team of scientists and volunteers conduct an intensive biological inventory of all species in a given area. The event is an important opportunity to capture baseline data as American Prairie Foundation works to assemble a large-scale grassland wildlife reserve.

Preeminent biologist and Harvard professor E.O. Wilson, who serves on American Prairie Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Council, co-sponsored the first BioBlitz event to catalog organisms around Walden Pond in the mid 1990s. Many states and other countries have now conducted similar events, with one of the most publicized taking place in New York’s Central Park where more than 800 different species were documented. American Prairie Reserve will be working with Rocky Mountain College as a lead coordinator and many other scientists from across Montana and the nation to conduct the biological inventory. This will be only the fourth BioBlitz in Montana.

American Prairie Foundation is currently accepting applications from scientists interested in leading or joining a taxonomic specialty team to survey for animals or plants. Accepted scientists will be provided with places to camp and meals.

Citizen scientists with some field experience are also encouraged to apply for a limited number of assistant positions. We especially encourage science schoolteachers to apply for this rare opportunity to work alongside scientists from all across the country. Applications for other volunteer positions will be accepted later this spring.

On June 25, the event will be open to the public at the American Prairie Reserve campground from 12-3:00PM for children, families and others interested in the project. Members of the public are invited to learn more from scientists about the animals and plants that were discovered in the "Discovery Field Lab". The afternoon will also include a community barbeque with a performance by the acclaimed WildCat Dancers from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

American Prairie Foundation aims to create and manage a prairie-based wildlife reserve that, when combined with public lands already devoted to wildlife, will protect a unique natural habitat, provide lasting economic benefits, and improve public access to and enjoyment of the prairie landscape. This landscape is some of the most intact prairie lands left in North America and contains herds of elk and pronghorn, sharp tail and sage grouse, mountain plovers, prairie dogs and burrowing owls. Most recently bison have been reintroduced on some of the property.

For further information please visit http://www.bioblitz.americanprairie.org or email [email protected].