candace gossen 

“NASA’s citizen science projects are collaborations between scientists and interested members of the public. Through these collaborations, volunteers (known as citizen scientists) have helped make thou- sands of important scientific discoveries.” (NASA) In January 2021, using the GLOBE Observer app, the Mt. Tabor community joined this global network of scientists, students, teachers, hikers, and nature lovers in collecting Earth Science data and sharing in this international network spanning 120+ countries. Be- ginning in January 2021, what began as Tree Medicine Hikes led by Dr. Candace Gossen through the Port- land Hiking Meetup Group, more than 400 hikers began observing, sharing and learning about the trees of Mt. Tabor Park. Forming small groups, they began measuring the old growth forest known as Mt. Ta- bor. Collecting tree height, circumference, and age on more than 150 trees between January and April, Dr. Gossen and the Friends of Mt. Tabor wrote a small conservation grant to the Mazamas to continue collect- ing data during the Fall and winter 2021. The Ronin Institute, supporting Independent Scholars was in- strumental with supporting Dr. Gossen’s mission to train Citizen Scientists and expand the ecological knowledge of the park. Four dates were organized at the end of October and 48 eager community mem- bers showed up, ready with app in hand to learn more about the trees. Another 46 hikers attended the Tree Medicine hikes making it a collective of 94 new Citizen Scientists with a mission to observe, collect and add new information about the trees and forest ecology into the global community. In this Field Re- port, we summarize the Citizen Science Trainings which will continue on into 2022.