Be a Citizen Scientist
Welcome to Butterflies of India—an online peer-reviewed resource designed to disseminate comprehensive information on various aspects of the biology of Indian butterflies, encourage their observation to study their natural history and ecology, gather population and distributional data in a centralized database, and spread awareness about their conservation.
BOI now has 100,000 reference images, making it the largest library of curated images of butterflies of the Indian Region. The data from these images helps map the detailed distribution and seasonal occurrence of Indian butterflies. These images also capture morphological variation of Indian butterflies like never before, along with information on their nectar plants, larval host plants, predators and parasitoids, etc., making it a critical resource for amateur butterfly-watchers and professional biologists alike.
We are offering four fellowship to students and independent researchers to develop natural history resources, assets, databases and other materials on Bio-diversity Atlas – India a citizen science platform. Each fellowship includes an honorarium and a citation.
This year’s focus is on butterflies, moths, dragonflies and mammals. Fellowships can be used for,
- Building taxon-specific databases
- Developing identification keys and field guides for citizens scientists
- Data curation and analysis of data from AirAtlasIndia and other citizen science platforms
Required Qualifications
- Bachelors degree or higher in biology, such as in biodiversity, wildlife science or entomology. Ph.D. students are welcome to apply.
- Experience in natural history and citizen science projects, especially on animal groups that are the focus of this tear
- Knowledge of databases and data analysis (basic to mid level using Excel and/or R)
- Prospective fellows cannot be government employees and public servants
How to apply
Email your brief proposal (4-6 lines or bullet points) indicating what you would like to do using this fellowship, and a CV outlining educational background, natural history, academy and citizen science interests and relevant experiences to citsci@ifoundbutterflies.org
