I think the “Digitizing Virginia’s Herbaria for Research and Education” project made a smart decision by partnering with Virginia Master Naturalists. In my experience, Master Naturalists make fabulous volunteers. Their initial class training is extensive and rigorous. Once trained, Master Naturalists need to complete 40 hours of service annually, along with 8 hours on continuing education, to keep their certifications current.
Beyond these requirements, Master Naturalists are often genuinely passionate and interested in conservation. Because of these factors, this volunteer group has a tremendous impact on Virginia’s environment. In 2017, 1841 volunteers completed more than 155,000 service hours (2017 Annual Report). This figure is also conservative—most Master Naturalists that I know fail to properly record their hours.
The online transcription program may have trouble keeping this group’s attention. Throughout the state, Master Naturalists participate in over 100 citizen science projects. That means as long as they’re not trying to schedule their activities in February and March, there’s likely some competition for volunteers among these projects. That said, the online format would be useful for volunteers trying to cram in those final hours in order to certify.
Beyond the Master Naturalists, it’s not clear who (if anyone) participates in this program. So if the project would like to expand its outputs, I suggest finding new sources of volunteers would be the first step.
For more information on the Master Naturalists, check out their website to find a chapter new you!
Digital Ecology 