The Topeka Zoo will offer its second Citizen Science evening for the community at the Kansas Museum of History on Saturday, July 14th, 7:30 – 9:30 PM. Through an on-going partnership with the Kansas Museum of History, Citizen Science Night on July 14th will explore how ordinary citizens can provide information to scientists about our diminishing number of fireflies, and what factors could be causing this.
Fireflies have always brightened our summer evenings, but in recent years their populations have dwindled. With help from Citizen Scientists, we hope to learn more about the distribution of fireflies, where they are found and in what numbers, where they are not found, and more about their activities during the summer. Firefly Watch is asking for help from citizens across the U.S. to obtain this information. The Topeka Zoo and KS Museum of History are offering a presentation to learn how and why fireflies glow, demonstrate how to identify fireflies by their flash colors, determine their locations and patterns learn how to record and report this information, and of course, learn how to count fireflies.
So grab your flashlight, dress for the outdoors, and join us at the Kansas Museum of History to combine an evening of old-fashioned firefly watching with modern science on these flying night lights. The presentation and hands-on search for fireflies will be held at the Kansas Museum of History, on Saturday, July 14th from 7:30-9:30 PM.
For questions or additional information, contact Dennis Dinwiddie at ddinwiddie@topeka.org, or 785-368-9134.
