Wolf Inquiry Project - volunteer opportunity coming up this weekend.

We thought you might be interested in this opportunity - please contact Laura Sebastianelli directly if you would like to participate.  Thanks!

Wolf Inquiry Project Offers a 2nd Volunteer Training 

Holden – Due to popular demand, the Wolf Inquiry Project, an indeendent citizen science program, will be offering volunteers a second training opportunity to participate in research to proactively investigate Maine's north woods for the presence of gray wolf. Over 45 volunteers attended the first training workshop held May 30. “Attendance far exceeded our expectations.” said Project Director, Laura Sebastianelli. “We received over 60 calls and emails from potential volunteers who could not make our first workshop, asking us to please consider offering another training. Since we have enough equipment to engage more people, we realize training more volunteers means collecting more data.”

The 2nd Wolf Inquiry Project training session for new volunteers will be held on Saturday, June 20th at Maine Audubon’s Fields Pond Center in Holden from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The hands-on workshop for new volunteers will train participants in the use of digital audio recording equipment and field techniques to effectivel conduct “howling surveys”. Project protocol, data collection, and other documentation methods will be reviewed.

Mark McCoullough, a biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, will speak on the status of gray wolf, nationally and in the northeast. Conservation biologist, Geri Vistein, will engage participants in an interactive learning experience about coyotes, as these wild canids will be “communicating” most frequently with Wolf Inquiry Project volunteers. Project Director, Laura Sebastianelli, adds, “What we learn about eastern coyote vocalizations is an important piece of our research. In using spectrograph analyis we need to learn more about differentitating between coyote, wolf, and other canids. For instance, will the fact that eastern coyotes are larger than western coyotes make distinguishing between species more difficult here than it has been in the west? These are just a few of the related questions we hope to learn more about in our research to investigate the presence of gray wolf in Maine.” 

Piloted in the summer of 2008, The Wolf Inquiry Project, is made possible through support and partnerships with Wildlife Alliance of Maine, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Audubon, Maine Earth Institute, private donations and many dedicated volunteers. Participation is open to all and volnteers are needed both in field and office. To RSVP, or for additional information, please contact Laura Sebastianelli at wolfinquiryproject@hotmail.com (email preferred) or 207-350-9535.