Ladybugs are the target of the summer research project for Citizen Scientist volunteers at Monroe Lake. New volunteers are invited to get involved by joining a training session at Paynetown SRA on Friday, June 13 at 7 p.m. (register by June 10) or Sunday, June 22 at 10 a.m. (register by June 20).

You can register for either training session by emailing [email protected] with your training date selection, name, phone, and # of people in your group, or call the Paynetown Activity Center at 812-837-9967. The Property Entrance Fee will be waived for registered participants.

“This summer research project is all-ages friendly,” observed Jill Vance, Monroe Lake’s Interpretive Naturalist. “It’s a great opportunity to volunteer with your children or grandchildren.”

Information collected by Citizen Scientist volunteers will be used to build a species inventory for Monroe Lake. It will also be submitted to a larger research initiative, the Lost Ladybug Project, run by entomologists at Cornell University.

This 90-minute training session will cover the basics of ladybug biology, where and how to look for ladybugs, how to photograph ladybugs for scientific purposes, how to record and submit data, and an intro to ladybug species identification.

The research period runs through the end of September. Trained volunteers are asked to commit a minimum of 4 hours to the project (in addition to the training session). Volunteers can set their own schedule, and/or participate in scheduled group research days.

Cost: Free, but registration required

For more information contact:

Paynetown Activity Center
(812)837-9967